Strawberry Maple Balsamic French Toast

What is better than french toast? well to me, nothing! I ADORE this food, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner and here I'm enjoying a rich french toast dinner. 

French toast couldn't be any simpler and rivals any baked desserts and cakes that take time to whip up. I picked up a nice Challah from the St.Lawrence market on friday (that's 5 days ago) and the beauty in this recipe is that you just let your bread go stale!

Slice the bread in thick slices. Set aside. 

I tend to do one and a half egg per slice since they're super thick. 

6 slices of toast is generous for 3 servings
Lots of butter (well about 1 tbsp per each slices)

9 eggs, break into a sieve set over a big bowl

Add milk

3 tbsp vanilla sugar (or sugar and vanilla extract)

A big splash of heavy cream (optional but oh so worth it!) 

Whisk the eggs into the sieve and once it all goes through remove the sieve and set aside, we just want to strain any stringy bits. 

Lay the slices of toast in a big casserole enough to hold them all laying flat (no overlapping) pour the custard over top and let it soak up. Flip them once for the other side to soak up. 

Heat your pan medium low and add 1 tbsp butter, you should be able to put 2 slices in the pan and then flip them half way through. 

Keep going until you're done all of them.

Strawberry Maple Balsamic:

3-4 cups fresh local Ontario strawberries, remove stems and slice roughly

1/4 cup sugar (or vanilla sugar!)
a drizzle Maple Balsamic (from Olive That!)

To serve: Lots of local Canadian Maple syrup!

Enjoy!

September Girl!

Yesterday I had one of the most amazing and memorable days! Lately I've been feeling extra nostalgic because a couple of weeks ago my sister and I were remembering one of our all time favourite birthday from our childhood.
My sister's birthday is in the beginning of October and mine is on the first of September, so on the year that we had just returned from living in Pakistan and were lucky enough to spend time in Canada with grandma  before heading out on a new adventure to live in Iraq we combined both birthdays in early September with cake!  Strawberries being rare in many parts of the world we lived in I requested a white vanilla strawberry cake without any hesitation. I just love strawberries, not to mention "strawberry girl" became a nickname of mine as a toddler because I was born with a strange bright strawberry red birthmark on one side of my upper lip, it was cute but luckily faded away as a I grew up. My mother says that while living in Pakistan and pregnant with me she craved strawberries like crazy!

As we reminisced about those days we had this idea to recreate the cakes this year, and a couple of days before the day it occurred to me that those memories were exactly 20 years old since it was the memory of my 7th birthday back then and this year I'd be turning 27!!  It was also my sister's 5th birthday memory and she's turning 25 this year, I'm going to keep details of my sisters cake a secret because we will try to recreate it in October so stay tuned for that :)

I chose a more grown up version of that strawberry vanilla cake, it's three thick layers of cake containing a bit of that special picual spanish olive oil from Olive That!  in the batter.

The filling is a roasted strawberry balsamic (an 18 year old balsamic vinegar, also from Olive That!) and all frosted up with two batches of vanilla swiss meringue buttercream in a white to rosey pink ombre colour.

I hope you enjoy this sequence of shots from yesterday's party as we also celebrated the end of summer on this labour day weekend.

Ombre Cake (Balsamic Strawberry and olive oil Cream Genoise Cake)

(Genoise adapted from Cookpad)

Makes one 18cm diameter cake

Genoise

(Note: I have baked the recipe below three times yielding 3 cakes)

3 eggs

120 grams caster sugar

105 grams cake flour

15 grams unsalted butter

15 grams spanish olive oil

38 grams milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make Genoise:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius (or 160 degree celcius fan-forced). Line a 18cm round cake pan with a removable base with parchment paper.

In a clean bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until thick and foamy. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisking constantly, until the mixture feel quite warm to the touch (about 40 degree celcius). Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to the bowl of your electric mixer. Beat on high speed until the mixture has cooled and holds soft peaks.

Meanwhile, combine butter, olive oil, milk and vanilla extract in a bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Once butter has melted, stir to mix, and when mixture feel quite warm to the touch, remove from heat, and set aside.

Sift flour over the egg mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour through thoroughly, taking care not to deflate the mixture too much.

Add a cup of the batter to the butter mixture and mix well. Add remaining batter, and fold in gently until combined.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden brown and springy to the touch. 

Immediately turn the cake out of its tin onto a cooling rack. Place a plastic container over the cake (This helps the cake to retain the moisture). When cake is cooled completely, slice cake horiontally to get 2 layers OR as I did simply use 3 cakes as three layers.

(Cake recipe source)

Balsamic strawberry syrup:

3 cups strawberries, remove tops and slice into half or quarters (if they're very large) 

1 tbsp balsamic (18 year old balsamic vinegar) 

1 tbsp sugar 

1 tsp lemon juice

Bake in a shallow glass casserole on 400 F in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it caramelizes and smells delicious! 

Allow the strawberries to cool and strain them in a fine strainer reserving only the juice for the cakes.  Use the rest of the mashed strawberry to make popsicles or in smoothies or ice cream! 

Spread a layer of the balsamic strawberry syrup over each layer of cake before spreading with buttercream. 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Make this recipe of buttercream twice to have enough to frost the cake above.  Make sure to wash all utensils and bowls between batches with warm soapy water to remove any grease and then wipe down with vinegar as well to remove traces of grease of else your egg whites (first step) will not come together and whip and the recipe will fail.

Yield: 5 cups

Ingredients

5 large egg whites (30g each–total 150g)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Method

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and vinegar, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly, until temperature reaches 160 degrees F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the mixture is thick, glossy, and cool. Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on medium speed continuously, add softened butter in chunks until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). Add vanilla and salt, mix well. You can also add a wide variety of flavourings, extracts, and more.

Note: Because it does take some time to make, I always make in batches of 3 (vanilla), because it freezes so well and saves time. A batch of 3 fits perfectly in a 5QT KitchenAid mixer bowl. You can then thaw, divide, add separate flavours, purees, etc. I have recently decreased the amount of butter I use in my buttercream, because I find it has a lighter, fluffier quality to it. I’ve adjusted the recipe accordingly, but you can add more butter if you prefer. I’ve also recently started heating the egg whites and sugar to 160° F, rather than 140° F, and I find the meringue comes together so quickly this way (just an observation, however 140° F has worked for me for years). Just a note!

Troubleshooting: After the egg whites are mixed add the butter in small thumb size pieces into the bowl while it whips and make sure it incorporates well, if it begins to split and go "soupy" place the bowl into the freezer for a couple of minutes and then rewhip using the paddle attachment and add the remaining butter in pieces until it looks like a butter cream.

It helps to watch a couple of videos on youtube too before attempting to make this buttercream recipe. 

... more of my favourite things!

Food is such an amazing journey, and lately I've been experimenting and discovering many new things in the kitchen! 

Last night I made my first rack of lamb, I was terrified but kept it simple and boy was it such a hit! All I remember hearing chef Ramsay's voice in my head and trying to avoid those mistakes that I've seen too many times on Hell's kitchen. The picture of him grabbing a flimsy lamb chop and throwing it around or asking "Come here! What is this?"  was playing over and over in my mind.   

Lately another favourite food of mine is Lebnah,with all that leftover yogurt in my fridge from Ramadan I whipped up a huge batch!  During ramadan yogurt was on sale and in the flyer almost every week so I stocked up and would prepare a yogurt drink of creamy plain balkan style yogurt mixed with water and seasoned with a sprinkling of salt.  This was the perfect drink to enjoy with a delicious date at sunset when we break the fast. 

If you want to prepare your own lebneh then head over to my other posts on the subject, here 

The perfect accompaniment with lebneh is a nice generous drizzle of good olive oil and every day of this week I've used a different (plain) olive oil from Olive That! ... Tunisian, Spanish, Mission... What an amazing canvas to showcase the olive oils.  All you need is a sweet mint tea, a piece of fresh bread for dipping and some nice juicy watermelon.  This is is my ideal breakfast and it reminds me of my childhood back in the Middle East.

A couple of weekends ago I also got lucky and found myself a frozen free range organic turkey at the most amazing price! Being the impulsive person I can be I put my money down and walked out of the store with a box of two huge frozen turkeys... one I've thawed immediately for the weekend and the other I stashed in my freezer for the coming Eid celebration which falls practically around the same time as this year's Canadian Thanksgiving!

First time I've grilled an entire turkey on the BBQ but it was delicious, I really love the taste of turkey and these organic ones are not dry at all, especially if you brine them beforehand. 

A couple of stuffed zucchinis I made back in Ramadan.  These zucchini boats were stuffed with a spiced ground beef (you could do lamb) and then smothered in a creamy bechamel sauce with a bit of cheese.  Baked to perfection! 

Balsamic fruits are another easy dessert idea, and if you're in Ontario I highly recommend heading over to Olive That not only their selection of fabulous and fresh olive oils but also their flavoured balsamics.  I picked up a big bottle of 18 year old balsamic vinegar and love adding it to fruit. Strawberries and cherries roasted in the oven with a splash of balsamic is so perfect to have around when you want to top ice cream or  pretty much any dessert!

Tuna Rice

Tuna Rice

In Iraq it is common to eat what we call "red rice" which is a tomato-y rice that brightens up and cuts the richness of seafood and fried fish main dishes.  Throw in a nice salad too and you've got the perfect meal!

Tuna rice is kind of a recipe I invented in my late teen years and upon my return from my trip to Yemen.  I think I was inspired by the amazing and flavourful canned tuna from Dubai and Yemen.  My family just fell in love with this dish and it's been a regular on our table for years!

- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 green pepper, diced

OR

- 2 of each (as you see in photo below) long red and green pepper. Not sure the name of the variety but these are popular in Turkish cuisine and we use them for stuffing. Some are hotter than others.

- 2 green chilies (optional)

- 1/4 lemon wedge

- 3 medium cloves garlic, minced

- 4 tbsp GOOD olive oil (I used a Spanish variety from Olive That!)

- 1 can firm chunk tuna packed in oil, this brand is found in Middle Eastern/Persian grocers, I like it better.

- 1/2 cup tomato passata

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- 2 cups basmati (sila or parboiled basmati is ideal) rinsed and soaked for 2 hours at least.

- 1 bunch cilantro (and more for serving/eating!)

- Salt & black pepper (or whole black pepper corns)

Boiling water from kettle



In a large pot add the olive oil and begin sauteeing the diced red onion, followed by the peppers on medium heat.

Add the garlic briefly then the tomato paste and puree. Sautee until it smells nice and all the raw tomato paste flavour is gone.

You may need to use a splash guard because tomato can splatter.  Turn the temperature down if needed.

Add the drained rice which has already been soaking for a couple of hours in advance. Add 1 tsp salt per cup of rice, so two teaspoons.

Gently toss until it's coated in the tomato/pepper mixture.   For 2 cups rice I add 3 cups boiling water.

Throw in the whole green chilies on top and lay the pieces of tuna from the can over top as well (gently so it doesn't break apart) I drained off most of the oil earlier but you can put it in, just decrease the initial bit of olive oil then.

The cilantro goes in as well as about 1/3 tsp black peppercorns (optional) or cracked black pepper. Throw in the lemon wedge too.

Cover and allow to cook on low heat for about 40 minutes.


Remove the rice from the pot and arrange on a platter. Serve warm! This is a perfect dish, one of my favourites!

Olive That! Balsamic Vinegar!

I've been having a blast this summer using the Olive That! Extra Virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars.

Over the weekend we made yummy french toast and drizzled with Olive That! Butter Olive oil and Maple Balsamic! Too good!!

I also put their 18 year old balsamic on my ice cream with fresh peaches.  Mmmm! Amazing!