In Hawaii for My Birthday!

I’ll be back to blogging in time for French Fridays with Dorie on May 24th! Aloha!

ffwD: Coupetade

Although this week’s assignment was included in the dessert section of Around My French Table, I thought of it more as a breakfast dish mainly because the slices of challah are fried up like French toast. Simply allowing the delicious grilled slices to soak in a milk-egg-sugar mixture and then baked doesn’t seem to push it over into the realm of desserts. Maybe it’s because I left out the raisins and dried fruit…But, then again, it was sweet enough to be considered a dessert, I suppose.

I did enjoy this dish a lot, however. I only made half the recipe but may have used too many slices of challah seeing as the lower portion of the slices were very custard-y and soaked after the baking, but the top portions peeked above the custard and ended up crispy. I think I can really see this as a dessert if I adorn it with whipped cream, fresh berries, and maybe a fruit or caramel glaze…

This coupetade was made as a part of French Fridays with Dorie, a group of bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.

Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Stacked Pancakes

For some reason, I consider pancakes “weekend breakfast” fare. Maybe it’s because I normally make them from scratch and a lot of time is needed to fully enjoy them. More likely it’s because I always order pancakes with a cocktail or two when I’m having brunch on Sundays. As usual, I was jonesing for pancakes all weekend, but my overindulgence in one too many liquor drinks prevented me from finding a fun new pancake recipe to try. So instead of waiting for next weekend, I found this vegan strawberry pancake recipe Monday night and made them for dinner. They were delicious, even without the cocktail! The recipe I followed can be found at Oh She Glows.

ffwD: Creamy Mushrooms & Eggs

When I first read the title of this week’s assignment, I figured we were making some type of omelette, which is fine because I enjoy mushroom omelettes. However, after I read the recipe, I definitely knew I’d enjoy this dish because I’ve made a similar appetizer-like recipe from Smitten Kitchen, creamed mushrooms on chive-butter toast, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Other than substituting chives for rosemary and using mainly baby bella caps instead of an assortment of mushrooms, Dorie’s recipe was extremely delicious, and it was filling enough as a main course due to the ruffly poached egg on top and thicker slices of toasted challah bread. This is definitely a make-again recipe and one that should be kept in your back pocket in case you need a dish in a hurry.

These creamy mushrooms & eggs were made as a part of French Fridays with Dorie, a group of bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.

TwD: Baking Almond Biscotti with Julia (Rewind!)

Today’s a Tuesday with Dorie rewind, meaning our assignment was to make a previously assigned recipe that was skipped for whatever reason. I’ll admit I chose an easier recipe because I was short on time: almond biscotti. Actually, the original recipe incorporated hazelnuts, but I had almonds on hand and thought those would work just fine. Plus, I had almond extract in my cupboard to help boost the flavor.

I’ve made cardamom pecan biscotti before using a different recipe, but this recipe was reliable enough. However, since giving up all forms of caffeine, the need for biscotti is pretty minimal in my house. Therefore, I only made 1/4 the recipe and shared them with friends. Don’t get me wrong. This recipe is great in a pinch, but only if you’re really jonesing for biscotti with your tea or coffee.

If you’d like to try these biscotti, head over to the blogs of the original hosts where they’ve posted the recipe: Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys.

ffwD: Swiss Chard Mini Pancakes

Ever since I’ve been on a green-smoothie-for-breakfast kick, I’ve been eager to try recipes that incorporate leafy greens in a blended way. These Swiss chard mini pancakes were perfect for that, plus they were extremely quick to make considering that I had to rush home Thursday evening to watch the NFL Draft!

These pancakes were quirky, green and tasty, though I may have been heavy handed with the garlic. And even with the Swiss chard, these pancakes reminded me of the buckwheat blinis we made awhile back. So, I can only believe that they would also taste good with smoked salmon on top especially since I served my green pancakes with sour cream. However, the pancakes were pretty dense due to lack of baking powder in the batter (unless I somehow overlooked it). I may try adding it next time to see if it lightens them a bit.

These Swiss chard mini pancakes made as a part of French Fridays with Dorie, a group of bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.

Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach & Mozzarella

This weekend was rather pleasant weather-wise in Chicago. Chilly enough to wear a sweater inside but bright enough to wear sunglasses outside. On this type of day, I want nothing more than to eat a satisfying dish of pasta. But, I didn’t want to indulge on one that was laden with tons of meat, cheese, or fat. So, I naturally turned towards Cooking Light to find a healthier, slimmed down pasta dish. This tasty fettuccine with seared tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella was in the March 2013 issue of Cooking Light, and it doesn’t skimp on flavor or seasoning. Although the original recipe calls for burrata, I substituted in a healthy-sized slice of buffalo mozzarella. Check out the recipe here.