Sometimes I take pictures of the food I make. I've even done the play by play with pictures. A picture of the ingredients. A picture of the pan I use. A picture of the raw meats etc etc.... Then the finished product. It's fun. Maybe it's my way of living out my "I've got my own cooking show" dream. I don't know.
We talked about eggs the other day. Again, I have to stress that I'm NOT a professional chef. I get to hang with a pro sometimes. I'm sure soon, if she lets me, I'll drop her name and encourage you to eat at her restaurant.
In fact, in this episode, I'd like to talk about a recipe she gave me. Well, I can't really call it a recipe. When I think of someone giving you a recipe, they give you a sheet of paper with measured out ingredients. You follow it to a T and your meal turns out perfect right? Well... sometimes.
She was doing a catering job and explained one of the dishes to me. I said, "Awww man that sound good." She then told me how to make it. It's easy enough to remember so I really didn't have to write anything down. But that's how I prefer to cook anyway. Flying by the seat of your pants. You have some stuff and you have to create something tasty and wonderful with it.
Since we're on the breakfast thing, I wanted to tell you about French Toast Casserole. Sometimes when you say the word "casserole" people get nauseous. It comes with the thought, "LEFTOVERS" or, "Everything in the fridge, thrown in a dish with some cheese melted on top." Not the most appealing. But you're gonna DIG THIS! I promise.
Go to your local bread store or bakery. Buy some day old muffins, some scones, some sweet breads and maybe a few dinner rolls. All the buttery, sweet, fruity breads you can get. I personally like getting scones, blueberry and banana nut muffins with one package of just straight dinner rolls.
Crumble them up into a big baking dish. Your "casserole" dish if you will. Set to the side for a bit while you sip some of that great coffee you made before you did anything! :)
Now... you're going to make that dipping goo that you'd make if you were making french toast. In a large bowl, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, nutmeg and some cinnamon. Mix it up all nice. Because you wanna make a big batch of this, you'll need to use a bit extra when it comes to the dipping goo. I would probably use at least 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cup milk... then just use your judgment on the spices. Like I said before, I fly free in the kitchen. When it looks right, it IS right. hehehehe......
Once again, a sip of coffee. (Tea if that's the way YOU roll.)
Now... grab that dish of crumbled up bread. Pour all of your dipping goo over that bread. Here's the deal. You want every crumb in that casserole dish to be coated with that goo. If it's still a bit dry in some spots, I'd go ahead and add a lil' milk to the dry spots. (if you're feeling on the wild side... see... just thought of this... you could add some fresh blueberries in there. Some raisins would be good. Even some thinly sliced granny smith apple could be really good. I might have to try that on my next one.)
Now I've been checkin' out Paula Deen a bit on the Food Network, so before I pop this in the 350 degree oven, I put some butter on top. 4 - 6 chunks. (tablespoons to the normal person) I might toss a lil' more cinnamon on top and a little bit of brown sugar. NOT much.
You'll wanna bake this for about 20 minutes. Closer to 30 probably. Just check it. When its brown on top, call it done. This is similar to bread pudding. I've never made bread pudding, but it's the same kind of vibe.
Cut into squares and serve. OH BOY! Talk about good eatin'! You could serve it with some syrup on top. But with all the butter, the cinnamon, the lil' bit of brown sugar on top? You may just wanna eat it as is.
It is freakin good!!!!!
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