Steel Cut Oatmeal

Grilled Cheddar Sandwich

With the Red Leicester CheddarI purchased from the SLM on friday  .. I made a grilled cheese this morning :)

To make 2 sandwiches

4 slices of Rye or Marble Rye bread (pumpernickel works too or any bread you like!) 

4 slices of cheddar (using Leicester Cheddar here, check out that COLOUR!) 

2 small knobs of butter (butter the outsides of each sandwich, both sides) 

1 frying pan set on medium heat, add a drop of oil if you're worried about the butter burning. 

Assemble sandwiches and place in the pan until browned on one side.  Flip over to the other side and brown, at this point the cheese should melt inside. 

Slice and serve with celery! 

Enjoy! 

Good Morning

Good Morning everyone!  Great couple of days here for working outdoors, I totally took advantage of the weather to clean the BBQ and hottub.

Later at night I tried out a blooming tea pearl, it's such fun watching it come to life in the teapot, takes a bit of time to "bloom" but really impressive (and tasty! This one was jasmine and peach) 

Ricotta Pancakes with Warm Blueberry Syrup

Ricotta Pancakes with warm spiced Blueberry Sauce

Yields 3-4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup ricotta

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup milk or buttermilk (yogurt mixed with water or milk with a squeeze of lemon juice)

Vanilla

For the blueberry sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons sugar

Dash of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and a nonstick griddle to 350 degrees F.

To make the blueberry sauce, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Stir in the lemon juice and cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Keep warm; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together the ricotta, butter, egg, egg whites, milk and vanilla.

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.

Lightly coat a griddle or nonstick skillet with oil. Heat over medium heat and scoop 1/3 cup batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side, about 1-2 minutes longer; keep warm in oven.

Serve immediately with blueberry sauce.

Eggnog french toast

3-4 eggs

A big splash of eggnog

A splash of vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Mix it up.

6 thick slices of your favourite bread.

A knob of butter for frying.

Heat pan, add some butter..

Dip the bread in the mixture, let it soak a few seconds then fry them up until golden on both sides flipping half way.

Enjoy with maple syrup or your favourite topping.

Banana Caramel French Toast

French toast

Serves 2

2 thick slices of stale(ish) bread

Beat and strain the following and add to a shallow dish:

4 eggs

3-4 tbsp milk

1-2 tsp sugar (Brown sugar is ok)

pinch salt

Vanilla

For frying:

2 tbsp butter

Heat 1 tbsp of butter in pan and if it browns a bit it's ok, it's just more flavour.

Soak your bread flipping so both sides absorb and fry them on medium high flipping, just a few minutes and they're done!

Set french toast aside.

Banana Caramel Sauce:

2 tbsp butter

3-4 tbsp brown sugar

2 bananas sliced in thick slices

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Wipe out your pan with a paper towel and add the butter and brown sugar on medium high, let it melt then add the banana in a thin layer. Allow to bubble a bit then flip the banana slices over one at a time.

Once the bananas look good pour the sauce over your french toast.

Garnish with whipped cream, optional.

Boston Cream Pie French Toast

Black Forest Cherry stuffed French Toast

Dutch Baby!

Dutch Baby with Orange Sugar

adapted from Gourmet April 2009

Print this recipe!

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes (run then under warm water if you’re in a hurry)
• 2/3 cup whole milk at room temperature ( I used 2% and was happy)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Put skillet on middle rack of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

Stir together sugar and zest in a small bowl.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and frothy, then beat in milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and continue to beat until smooth, about 1 minute more (batter will be thin).

Add butter to hot skillet and melt, swirling to coat. Add batter and immediately return skillet to oven. Bake until puffed and golden-brown, 18 to 25 minutes.

Serve immediately, topped with orange sugar.

Much thanks to Joy the baker for the recipe

... And a million hugs for my sister N, who whipped up this lovely breakfast for us all!! The animals and I watched her attentively as she put it all together.