Sunday, March 11, 2012

I made Pain Perdu for breakfast this morning! I have been wanting to make this recipe for some time and today seemed like a good day to do it (slightly overcast and cooler than yesterday). Besides the fact that the French usually eat this for dessert, Pain Perdu is slightly different than our American French toast in that the bread is soaked in milk flavored with vanilla extract, then dipped in egg sweetened with sugar. You also brulee the tops after they are sauteed in a pan in butter (what else?!). Here is the Laura Calder recipe from "French Food at Home" on the Cooking Channel:


Pain Perdu

Total Time: 20 min
Prep:5 min|Inactive Prep:5 min|Cook:10 min
Level:Easy
Yield:4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup/250 ml milk, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 slices baguette
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for caramelizing
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more if needed
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Cherries and blackberries, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Stir together the milk and vanilla in a shallow dish. Soak the bread slices in the milk mixture for about 5 minutes, turning once so that they absorb the milk evenly.

Beat the egg with the sugar and pour onto a plate.

Heat the butter in a skillet until sizzling. Take the bread from the milk, holding it above the bowl to drain slightly. Dip into the egg mixture to coat both sides, then drop into the sizzling butter and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

At the last minute, sprinkle the tops with a little extra sugar and "broil" with a blowtorch (or place them on a baking sheet under the broiler until the sugar, melts, bubbles and turns golden).

Divide the bread among serving plates. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dribbling of fresh, ripe cherries and blackberries that have been sauteed in butter and sugar and possibly flamed.


Now I did not serve it with ice cream, lol, nor did I flambe cherries and blackberries. I just served it with fresh strawberries and sprinkled it with powdered sugar. If you serve it like regular French toast, then this recipe only makes enough for two people. The Pain Perdu truly was crisp on the outside and creamy, custardy on the inside, just like she said it would be!

I had every intension of baking today, but did not get any baking done. While I was doing some computer work, Jordan got a call from a friend of his who was in town and wanted to get together. Jordan invited him over for dinner. What to make??!!

I rooted around to see what we had and came up with Rolled Pork Florentine (also a Laura Calder recipe) served with a pan sauce (my recipe, lol), roasted fingerling potatoes, and steamed broccolini. It does pay to keep some meat in the freezer as well as frozen vegetables for occasional just like this. Keeps you from running out to the store all the time. For dessert I made individual Baby Tiramisu. Everything got rave reviews, for which I am always grateful!

Tomorrow maybe I will get some baking done, lol.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tonight we lose an hour by turning our clocks forward. Bummer! I hate losing sleep! Ah, well, whatcha gonna do? Life goes on, as they say.

Yesterday I made Coconus Macaroons. It's suppose to be a healthy recipe and other than the sweetened condensed milk in the recipe, there is no other sugar. I used unsweetened coconut flakes. Toasted sliced almonds, almond extract and egg whites. The recipe also calls for chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. I made half of the cookies without the pistachios and cranberries and half with. Both were good. Although they looked like the picture the recipe showed of the cookies, I was a little disappointed in their appearance. They taste great though! I had to do the cookies in batches and found that the second and third batch spread a little less, so next time I make them (Jordan loved them), I'll let the batter sit a while to firm up. Once the macaroons cooled, I drizzled chocolate over them.

Jordan and I went out to dinner last night to Sardina's. I'd never heard of it. Apparently Friday was their last day at this location (McCarran and Mira Loma. It is owned by a married couple. She cooks, he runs the front of the house. They moved here from Chicago to open a restaurant. Guess they've done well. The new restaurant will be on Longley Lane near Cafe de Thai. I thought the bread was dry and had little taste, but the salads were good and I liked my entree (Del Monico pasta-shrimp, scallops and clams in a white wine garlic sauce served over angel hair pasta). Jordan had Chicken Saltibucca. He also liked his entree. The couple seems very nice. We will definitely go again.

Today I wrote two articles for Examiner.com and did some online research. Seemed like a lazy day-the weather is suppose to change to chance of rain the next couple of days. I was getting ready to make a pistachio cake but needed eggs, so I had to put it off a day or so.

After dinner (stuffed pork chops, broccoli and steamed fingerling potatoes), we watched the Indie movie "Flow". It's a Sundance film about water and big business taking over water rights in almost every country of the world. Parts of this movie were similar to what we had seen in another movie shown at UNR, but this movie was even move depressing. The World Bank apparently has it's fingers in everything and in some instances has forced small third world countries to turn their water rights over to one of three big water businesses or lose any World Bank financial aid. Amazing. I think I will not be buying any Coke, Pepsi or Nestle products anytime soon...

Not a movie condusive to a good night's rest, but it is bedtime (or should I say past my bedtime-due to the time change!).

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Another day of errands and computer research.

I went to check out homa'ge bakery this morning. Janell went with me. It's in the same house on Ralston that the Cake and Flower Shop used to own. The owner/baker is Nicholle Almbaugh and she opened her sop about two months ago. She has cakes, scones, muffins, cookies and cookie bars. Homa'ge also sells coffee, espresso, lattes, etc. Nice atmosphere, but I wish they had more tables and chairs. Ah, well, not my decision to make. The art on the wall is graffiti-type art, made by a local artist. Janell got coconut cake and thought it was a little dry (and it kinda was). I got a peach muffin, which ended up being a little doughy in the middle. It tasted like peach, but did not have as much spice as I would have expected. I also brought home a piece of carrot cake and a mystery bar. Jordan ate the mystery bar so I have no idea what that was like. The carrot cake was moist but a little too much clove and nutmeg. Everyone has different tastes!

Janell and I moved on to lunch at Chili's. I had a salad, Janell had their soup/sandwich combo. They run lunch deals all the time at Chili's, which is nice if you are watching your pennies.

After lunch, Janell went off and I got my hair cut, had Jordan's tires checked and ran an errand. I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out exactly what a "Nutraceutical" company is. I have an interview tomorrow for one of these companies. Apparently there are 4-5 nutraceutical companies in Reno. Who'd of thought?

Dinner (salad with Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes. I had made a few for my personal chef client, and they looked so good, I made them for Jordan and I. He enjoyed them, which is good!

A little reading, then bed....

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Even though I had the desire to sleep in this morning, Mr. cat (aka Bonda Ah Cho or just plain Ah Cho) would have nothing to do with it. He ran up and down the stairs, pawed at the window blinds, meowed, and ran cicles in the big sunken tub until I finally got out of bed. Killjoy!

After breakfast, I did some work online and talked to my mom for a bit. I had an appointment at Renown Imaging, then did some shopping at Trader Joe's (we were low on a few things and they have really good prices). When I got home, there was a call from Jordan Spinelli of Burger Me Reno. I am doing an article on the Burger Me in Truckee and Reno. Jordan is the General Manager of the Reno restaurant. So I asked him my interview questions and told him I would get over to Nurger Me on Robb Drive this week to try them out (again), then write an article for Examiner.com. He seems like a nice guy. And he offered to comp a burger. Nice!

I applied for two more jobs online, then ran some errands. My Jordan had several student meetings starting at 6pm so we did not eat until 7:30-8:00pm. Mini Meatloaves with potatoes and greens. Yum!

Now the cat and I are bonding as we both lounge. Almost time for bed....

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

It was snowing this morning when I got up! After such nice weather yesterday. Go figure!

Before I could go to work, I had to take Jordan to UNR first. I gathered all my equipment and my supplies (food and spices). I had to review lots of recipes to be sure I didn't forget anything, which sometimes seems an impossible task.

I made it to my clients house around 11am, unpacked and started to work. Today I made Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Chickpeas, Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes on a bed of mixed green,
Chipotle Orange Glazed Chicken,

Maple Chili Glazed Pork Loin, Mini Meatloaves stacked with not only the meatloaf but sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes-everything you could want in one easy package,

a Hasselback baked potato (sliced but only part way so the potato remains intact with sliced garlic stuck in between the slices),

roasted broccoli, rice and Miso Mirin Glazed Broiled Salmon with rice and buttered green beans.

Long day! It was, however, a nice day spent cooking. But now I am most tired!

Monday, March 4, 2012

A beautiful day today! I think the temperature in Reno reached 70 degrees! But alas, it is not to last, snow and rain is predicted for tomorrow. Go figure!

I ran errands, making sure I also shopped for my personal chef client today. It makes things easier to go in already prepared.

Today I made French Silk Pie, a deep dark chocolate filling made with egg whites and chocolate pudding with a chocolate cookie crust. It is served with whipped cream as a garnish. This is for my personal chef client, who likes to have a dessert a week.

A trip to the Oriental market to buy shiro miso, (a white bean paste for a recipe I have for Miso-Mirin Glazed Salmon I am making tomorrow), then on to dinner at Silver Peak. I met my friend Neda there and we had a "girl date" and caught up on what's been happening in our lives. Friends are definitely a good thing to have!

Tomorrow I need to get back into a cooking routine. I've had a few weeks off with no professional cooking done. Now it's time to get back to work!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

I am finally feeling better, thank goodness! Life has not been very exciting over the last week, what with being sick and all. I got my computer back. I also went back and added some pictures to last week's blogs so I hope you'll go back and look at them.

Saturday I ran errands with my sister. We went to Barnes and Noble Bookstore. I could spend hours looking at cookbooks. Amazing what's out there!

Saturday evening, Jordan and I went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was ok. They are running a promo of Two Tapas, Two Entrees for $25. Such a deal!

We slept in this morning, not intentionally. Jordan has been working such long hours, no wonder he slept in. The cat is always ready to get us up, however, so when he lets us sleep in, it's a miracle, lol.

Breakfast was fruit and yogurt with toast. For lunch, I had asparagus that needed to be used so I went back to the book "Lunch in Paris" by Elizabeth Bard. The book talks about how she came to live in Paris and her life since moving to France. She included many recipes, most of which are fabulous! There is a recipe called Asperges au Pistou, Jambon Cru et Oeuf Poche. In English: Asparagus with Pistou, Cured Ham and a Poached Egg. French sounds so much better! You poach your asparagus (about 8-10 spears per person). Once they are done to your liking, toss them with a little Pistou (a mix of basil, garlic and olive oil) or if it is more convenient, you can use a nice Italian pesto. Plate them neatly on a large plate. Poach one egg to the soft boil stage, drain the egg and place it on top of the asparagus. Drape the sliced ham, or in my case, proscuitto, around the asparagus so it looks pretty (I knew I should have taken a picture, lol!) and serve. It was really good! Say what you will about the French, they know how to cook and how to make pastries.

I made Mini Baked French Donuts in the afternoon. One of my sisters gave me a donut maker so I decided today was the day to use it (plus I was in the mood for donuts). I mixed up the dough-

After some trial and error, I found my small cookie scoop was the best thing to use to place the batter in the little donut wells. Unfortunately, the instructions do not tell you how much of the batter to put in each space, so I had to guess.

The donuts take only about three minutes to bake in this machine. Once the donuts are nicely browned, you remove them with a wooden spoon/spatula (so you don't ruin the teflon), then dip them first in melted butter, then in Cinnamon Sugar. (Can you say YUM?)

They turned out well. I liked the French Donut recipe that came with the machine. So here is the plate of finished donuts. I must confess, it was hard not to sit down and eat the whole plate, but I stopped after two. Jordan asked me what I was going to do with them. I said-"eat them?" I think that would be a bad idea, lol. So I will likely give them away...

Dinner was leftovers, revisited. Seems like my sister had a much better meal! She emailed me this picture of the Orange-Soy Glazed Pork Ribs she made for herself today. Good job, Janell!!