Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

French toast is amazing. This french toast is to-die-for amazing. I have never had french toast with anything other than powdered sugar and syrup. Neither my husband or I needed the syrup for these because they were so tasteful on their own! I usually don't like french toast because I know it's not all that healthy for you and the syrup really makes it soggy. Well, here is a wonderful solution for those that have missed out on the amazing taste of french toast. I served this with some strawberries on the side, which were an amazing complement.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Adapted from: Annie's Eats, originally Williams-Sonoma

Yields: 4 servings

For the filling:

1 cup largely chopped strawberries
2 Tbsp white sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened

For the toast:
4 thick slices of bread (challah or soft Italian)
1 large egg
¾ cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
unsalted butter
Syrup, powdered sugar and fresh strawberries for serving

To make the filling, combine the sliced strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside to macerate for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese until well blended.

Meanwhile, to prepare the toast, carefully slice a pocket into the center of each slice of bread (parallel with the cut sides) almost all the way through. The easiest way to do this is when cutting the bread off of the loaf, cut a thin slice almost all the way down (for the pocket) and then move over and cut the slice of bread off.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. In a pie plate, whisk the egg and milk together. Add the melted butter and vanilla, whisking to combine. Stir in the flour, cinnamon and salt until smooth. Fill the pocket of each slice of bread with some of the filling mixture; don’t afraid to stuff until your heart’s content! Two at a time, place the filled slices of bread into the pie plate mixture, soaking for 30-40 seconds on each side. Set aside on a plate and repeat with remaining bread slices.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the heated skillet and allow to melt and coat the pan. Add the filled slices of bread to the skillet in a single layer. Cook until light golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining slices of bread and serve immediately.

Chicken Pot Pie, revisited

I've made this pot pie before. It is one of our favorite dinners of all time! I just wanted to share it again just so that it doesn't get lost in the archives. We really do have to restrain ourselves from eating it more than once a month. Yup, it's that good! One thing both my husband and I will not eat (ever) is peas. Normal chicken pot pie contains peas, but I substituted the corn and it has been a fantastic replacement. If I were to reccomend any weeknight dinner, this would be at the top of my list. One thing I might experiment with in the near future is purchasing some large rammekins and making individual pot pies.

Chicken Pot Pie

Adapted from: All-Recipes

Yields: One 9-inch pie

1 lb boneless, skiness chicken breasts (cubed)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup chopped onion, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp celery seed
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a stock pot, combine chicken, carrots, corn, celery and add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. About halfway through, heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat cooking the butter and onions until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Then, slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, about 8 minutes.

Unfold one pie crust into greased pie pan and place chicken mixture in. Then, pour liquid mixture on top making sure nothing overflows. Place second crust flat on top and cut off excess dough from edge of pan. Then, fold top and bottom crusts together and into a zig-zag (fluted) pattern. Cut slits on top crust for ventilation and bake for 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Lobster Tails

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't celebrate this holiday, but I do recognize that a lot of other people do. Here is a wonderfully easy and yet fancy dinner for that special someone tonight! Seafood is one thing that I've always struggled to be able to eat. Crustacean (lobster, crab legs, etc) was always my one exception. I'm not a big fish eater but crab legs and lobster tail .. sign me up! I have never ever braved making lobster tail mostly because I was very intimidated. Ironically this was one of the easiest dishes I've ever made! It only takes about 8 minutes to cook and 5 to prepare. I had to start my side dishes long before I even got the meat prepared.

* Any crustacean goes well with clarified butter. First, melt salted butter stovetop and spoon off the top layer of fat. So easy and very much worth it! Because this was so much fun to make (and interesting), I decided to take step-by-step photos:

First, place the lobster onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Preheat the broiler on high.

Next, cut a slit along the length of the top of the shell with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Then, gently pull the meat away from the sides and bottom of the inside of the shell. Once completed, you can pull out most of the meat and place on top of the shell. Spread a little melted butter on the meat.

Broil for 6-9 minutes (depending on size) on the second highest oven shelf position until lobster is opaque throughout.

Lobster Tails

Adapted from: Annie's Eats

lobster tails (we chose 5 ounce)

butter

First, place the lobster onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Preheat the broiler on high. Next, cut a slit along the length of the top of the shell with a pair of kitchen scissors. Then, gently pull the meat away from the sides and bottom of the inside of the shell. Once completed, you can pull out most of the meat and place on top of the shell. Spread a little melted butter on the meat. Broil for 6-9 minutes (depending on size) on the second highest oven shelf position until lobster is opaque throughout. *Serve with clarified butter (see above).

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe dinners are usually my I don’t feel like cooking and nothing sounds good dinners. Lucky for us, we both love sloppy joes anyways. I have never even attempted to make it homemade because the can is so good and so inexpensive that it would be much more cost effective (even with health reasons) to just use the can. When I saw this recipe in my google reader, however, I had to try it at least once. It came out tasting good, it was just less salty. I liked that part of it even though it took longer because with a can you just plop it in there and heat. Don’t worry though, it didn’t take that much longer. I also think the cost effectiveness outweighs the taste benefits. Don’t misunderstand me: it’s good, but just not quite the same taste as the can. It’s definitely worth trying though!

Sloppy Joes
Adapted from: The Cooks Next Door
Yields: 6-8 servings

1 lb ground beef
½ cup onion, diced
½ cup green pepper, diced
1 can petite diced tomatoes (15 oz)
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
3 Tbsp quick-cooking oats
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp seasoned salt
Dash cayenne pepper

Brown ground beef until halfway cooked throughout. Add onion and green pepper and cook until meat is no longer pink. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns immediately.

Traditional Crust Pizza

I know I haven't been the most consistent blogger lately and I sincerely apologize! I have lots of great recipes in the near future coming though. We have already tried a bunch and they are delicious! Pizza, however, is always a favorite in this household. I love that you can put anything on top and make it specific to your taste. My husband prefers simply meat and extra cheese. I prefer veggies of all sorts and a little meat here and there. One topping I've come to love is mild pork sausage. It gives the pizza some extra kick and tastes much better than traditional, tasteless sausage (make note, Hungry Howies). This recipe is very simple and the hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise.

Traditional Crust Pizza

Adapted from: Annie's Eats (crust)

Yields: 1 large, 8-slice pizza

1 pizza crust

1/4-1/3 cup tomato sauce

1 tsp sugar

4-5 cups mozzarella cheese

toppings of your choice (sausage, peppers, etc)

Preheat the oven with a baking stone in it to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating up, roll the pizza crust out onto a well-floured surface into a circle so it's about 1/2-inch thick. Place the crust on top of the heated pizza stone. Pour the tomato sauce on top of the crust and spread evenly leaving around a 3/4-inch diameter around the edges for the crust to rise. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the tomato sauce being sure to cover evenly and completely. Add toppings of your choice and bake for 15-18 minutes for a soft, but firm crust. Allow pizza to cool slightly. Cut and enjoy!