Stuffed French Toast

This is my very first breakfast / brunch recipe for my blog but, trust me, it was well worth the wait! The recipe originally came from some cheap Pillsbury cooking magazine thing for "Brunches & Desserts." I don't think it's in production anymore. We modified the recipe a bit, anyway.

Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients:
French Toast
1 loaf French bread (I used Bâtard)
1 8 ounce container of cream cheese (the original recipe calls for pineapple cream cheese. My mom prefers strawberry flavor, which is what I used this time, and my aunt uses plain. So, really, use whatever kind your little heart desires)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Topping
1 quart (4 cups) fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Serves: 4 - 6 (Calories: 600, if divided into 6 servings); Prep time: 30 - 45 minutes; Cooking time: 25 - 30 minutes

Directions:
1. Cut the bread into 3/4-inch thick slices. I did it with an electric knife (or, actually my mom did), which is super easy but, obviously, you can do it the old school way.

2. Spray a baking dish (glass or disposable, approximately 13 x 9 inches) with nonstick cooking spray. Spread around a tablespoon of cream cheese on half of the bread slices. Top those with the other half to form little sandwiches. Place them in the baking dish.

3. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the milk, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.

4. Pour over the bread in the baking dish.

5. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Turn sandwiches over.

6. Cover dish and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight (I opted for the second choice).

7. For the topping (which you can do the night before or the morning of): remove the stems from the strawberries and slice them. Add in the sugar and lemon juice, mixing well. Cover and put in fridge until needed.

8 hours later or the next morning...

8. Heat oven to 400°F. Uncover the baking dish and drizzle the sandwiches with the melted butter. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

9. Serve and spoon the strawberry mixture on top. 

10. Stuff face.

Recipe Review: My family has loved this recipe ever since we first made it a couple of years ago. In fact, I actually had to double it when I made it because when I told my mom and grandma that I was making some to take into work last Sunday, they insisted I make enough for them to have it for breakfast too.  

Happy eating.

Cheers, 
Emma

P.S. Here's a picture of Zoë holding a rawhide in her mouth like a cigar.

Strawberry and Avocado Salsa

It's been over a month since I've posted on my blog. This is a sad fact, but such is life. Things get busy. Anywho, for this entry I made a super quick, easy, and versatile dish. I originally found this recipe on the Gardein website (Gardein is a company that makes fake meat products).

Strawberry and Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries, diced
1/4 avocado, diced
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped (the recipe calls for red, but I prefer white)
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (I know some people don't like cilantro, so you can substitute this for flat-leaf parsley or skip it all together, if you're not a cilantro fan)
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Serves: 2 - 4 (Calories: 86, if divided in half); Prep time: 15 minutes; Cooking time: like 2 seconds

Directions:
1. Chop / dice ingredients.

2. Mix ingredients together in bowl.

3. Serve and enjoy. You can have this salsa in a number of ways. I usually like to have it on a fake chicken breast (Quorn brand is my favorite), but if you're not a vegetarian or you're accommodating both meat and non-meat eaters, you can also have it on real chicken or fish. Or you can just have it with some tortilla chips. 

I brushed my Quorn Naked Chick'n Cutlet with olive oil, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and threw it on the grill.

And the final product:

Recipe Review: Delicious food should be this easy all the time. Honestly, this takes like 10 minutes total and it's amazing.

Happy eating.

Cheers, 
Emma

P.S. This week's cute animal is a belated Throwback Thursday photo of Pippa as a wee kitten.