French Toast - yeah, toast!

When the beau and I first met, he told me that french toast was his favorite food. I felt that was pretty fair - it's sweet, has a good ratio of crisp outer shell to soft luscious innards, can be savory or sweet, and can be modified with any number of toppings. Yeah, french toast is pretty great!

Then my heart dropped as he told me the story of how he used to make it in college. Adorable occasionally-bordering-on-health-nut that he is, his toast recipe was as follows: Whole grain wheat bread (goat food, as I call it), egg whites and nonfat milk (I cringed), honey to top it (I acquiesced), and cooked in - I shit you not - olive oil.

We almost broke up then and there. Not really, he's great, but still my heart sank.

Then I decided that education is the best recourse, and instead of punishing, I cooked. I educated. Four years later and he laughs at his sad college toast - though it was with a self-effacing grin that he ever told me the story in the first place; that toast was never a point of pride, more a dark hole in an otherwise fine venture into healthy eating.

So I showed him. French toast made with Hawaiian bread is the best toast. Nope, I don't want to hear it, best toast.

King's Hawaiian bread (obviously, king of breads) is already sweet and delicious, things you want the best french toast to be. This isn't health food, just know that. French toast is basically custard in a gluten shell, you can't church that up into something good for you, and any attempts to do so render it sad and nothing like the glorious manna it truly should be.

Hawaiian bread. Whole eggs. Half-and-half (heavy cream if you're feeling decadent). Cooked in butter. Always cooked in butter. No arguments! If you're going with syrup, real maple. Don't lovingly craft a bit of food porn only to drown it in gloopy, corn-syrupy, fakey sludge. Spices! Spice your egg dip.

A bit of culinary history - french toast, known as pain perdu in its native country, is essentially bread pudding. Used with leftover stale bread (pain perdu means "lost [or forgotten] bread"), the eggy dip is sopped up and makes it moist again. Using stale bread is, I would argue, essential - it ensures that the bread retains its structure even when absolutely dripping with proto-custard. Still, handle with care. To stale up your bread, slice it, lay in a single layer, and stash in the fridge overnight. If it's still too moist, you can toast it a bit to firm it up, but stale bread is the best bread for it.

To serve 4 people, use 6 eggs. Crack them into a large bowl with a flat bottom (for bread soaking) and whisk until the yolks and whites are combined. For a more decadent french toast, swap out one whole egg for two egg yolks, but I personally like the lightness lent by the whites. Add 2-3 tbsp of half-and-half - you can use a flavored one if you're feelin' frisky - along with spices. My dad - who first conceived this recipe which is ALWAYS served EVERY Mother's Day - favors vanilla coffee creamer. I like freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon, but then again, Alton Brown is my spirit animal.

Whisk it together, and stick some sliced bread in there while the pan heats over medium. Let the bread soak for about 30-60 seconds, add butter to the pan, and flip the bread to soak on the other side. Once the butter has melted, and the bread is soaked through, place it in the pan and fry on each side until golden brown. While one batch is cooking, stick the next round of bread in the egg mixture (I usually do this after the first flip). Et voilà, pain perdu!

I top mine with mashed frozen mixed berries, slightly thawed so that they aren't hard but still nice and cool on that hot, toasty goodness. Lord Almighty, I am getting overwhelmed ... where's my skillet?!

À bientôt, mes amies - enjoy your "forgotten bread"!

More salads - hooray!

It's that time again - salad time!

Now, since the most recent post was on quinoa, I'm sure you can imagine what's coming now - quinoa salad. First up, make some quinoa!

Mmmmm, keen-wha.

Next, you know how I love chopping things up ... veggies, at least. Starting with some fresh romaine, cucumber and tomato!

 Like a monochromatic rainbow, or something.

I like to make my own dressing - honey, vinegar and oil, some spices, occasionally some citrus - keep it fresh and light. I know I am just the luckiest duck to live in California right down the street from a farmers market ... I won't rub it in too much, but really, just the best stuff. When the ingredients are good, stick to the fresh flavors and it makes healthy eating easier.

 That's the ticket.

Once you've added everything you want, give it a toss and consume! Fresh iced coffee and a good book highly recommended. 

Bon appétit!

The Best Quinoa

So ... I'm just going to go ahead and confess something.

I hated quinoa.

For like ... 3 years.

Why, why why, would anyone cook it in water? It's bitter, it stays bitter, I don't get it. Why would you cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water, per the instructions on pretty much every bag I've ever tried? It's mushy, like overcooked rice. Gross. Are you trying to make quinoa pudding? (Note to self ... try quinoa pudding.)

No no no. I'll tell you the story of how I learned to stop worrying and love the mother grain.

First off, rinse it if you don't mind losing a few kernels. A couple times. Next, I toast it in the pot. If you don't mind the fat, use 1 tbsp of butter cause to be honest, it tastes the best. If you do, any healthy fat oil will do - I like olive or grapeseed oil, because my mom gave them to me for Christmas and I'm a poor college student.

Next, the chicken stock. Not. Water. Not water! Now, to be honest, I tried to dig the vegetable stock. I'm vegetarian as much as possible, but Oh. My. God. It was so bitter and awful. Just ... just no. Trader Joe's has an Organic Free Range chicken stock, and that works fine for my conscience. Besides, it makes the quinoa deelish. Next, and most importantly for me, I use 1 1/2 cups whenever it recommends 2. This keeps the structure of the quinoa, instead of turning it into a goopy mushy mess.

Recipe time!

Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pot. Once it's hot, add 1 cup of quinoa, tossing to coat in the hot oil. Toast quinoa until it pops and starts to turn golden brown. Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and heat on high until it boils. Turn down to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit until no longer tongue-burning! I like to add some garlic salt, but you know me and garlic ... add whatever your little heart desires.

Awesome, complete protein, great in salads or as a side dish, or with eggs for breakfast or what have you! This batch usually lasts me through a few meals, store it in the fridge in the meantime.

Breakfast pudding

Ok, ok, not really pudding for breakfast. But a close enough facsimile to fool my tastebuds!

First off, let's talk chia seeds. Ch-ch-ch-chia! (Lame and overused joke, I know it.)

Yeah yeah, I know, trendy new superfood, just jumping on the band wagon - and to be honest, there's a good deal of that. I just kinda wanted to try them, and they were all over Trader Joe's! I can't resist TJs.

First off, I have a weird thing with textures. I hate cooked peppers, mushrooms fresh or cooked, ripe bananas and red delicious apples because of their texture. The list goes on, but you get the picture. Textures, weird ones, just throw me off. Ch-ch-ch-chia seeds, now there is a SUPER weird texture. But I dig it! Kinda like tapioca, or mini boba ... the longer you soak, the more jelly-like the seeds are. In drinks, I usually like them steeped for about 10 minutes (is steeped the right word?), so that they are still a little firm.

But breakfast pudding, that's an overnighter.

I love Trader Joe's, who doesn't, so this is going to sound like one long plug. I got TJs nonfat greek yogurt, honey and vanilla flavors. Recipe time!

For this one, I used the honey individual sized nonfat greek yogurt. I mixed in 2 tablespoons of milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, then re-covered it and let it sit overnight.

In the morning, it was like honeyed tapioca pudding, but so good for you! Chock full of protein, nonfat, only 270 calories, and super filling. That and a cup of coffee, and I was full till 2 pm - and I am not a small girl. Ok, you caught me, I had two cups of coffee. Still!

I'll update later with pictures, but this morning I was too hungry and it was too good!

Barbecue Pizza! (And way too much effort, holy cripes)

Hello again fair reader!

As you may (or may not) remember from my previous post, my boyfriend likes simple things when it comes to food - I, as the cook, like complex ones. I usually win, being cook and all, but try to compromise ... he likes pizza, pasta, couscous, all those basic staples, so I usually get weird with one of those as a base. Pizza is often my go-to because, honestly, it's super simple.

So, feeling ultra confident in my abilities, I decided to make a barbecue pizza. Easy-peasy, right? Too easy, said my brain, let's throw some homemade caramelized onions on that sucker!

Groan.

 So, I diced two onions super thin, put then in a pot with a pat of butter, and got to work. But I didn't have two things necessary for caramelized onions - a cast iron (or general not non-stick) pan, or like 5 hours. Caramelized onions take a heap of time, folks. So I found this killer recipe -15-minute caramelized onions - from the brilliant J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Now, if you have a regular pot/pan, yours may take only 15.5 minutes. I only had non-stick (it's so pervasive!) and so it took me, I dunno, like 30 minutes. Still not typical caramelized onion time, but also still a pain.

Brown, damn you!

So, about 30 minutes (and one exasperated and starving boyfriend) later, I had this:

Much better!

 

Then came time to dress the pizza! Now, I'm only a mild masochist - I had already spent way too much time on onions, I wasn't about to try to do BBQ sauce from scratch, and Trader Joe's had a new delicious Kansas-style mustard based sauce that I just had to try. Plus, I was already there for their awesome pre-packaged pizza dough (again, not a complete masochist), so why not? I tossed the dough, and spread on some of that delish sauce.

Then I added the caramelized onions, grilled chicken, mozzarella and some brussels sprouts (for crunch and cause they're awesome - just don't steam them) and baked away. I was gonna take process pics, but le beau and I were ravenous by this point, so you get this instead:

Heh. Sorry.

 

We got a little carried away with the eating, but dang was it good! Fully recommended, though maybe buy some caramelized onions instead. On the bright side, we had a surplus so I've been throwing them in everything - sandwiches, on eggs, in salads, you name it! Total diet upgrade.

We also threw back some wine with it, Dearly Beloved's I Thee Red.

I want Dia De Los Muertos skulls on everything!

 

Pretty stellar for the price, not to dry or woody or whatever you usually get with reds, but still nice and complex. Why no, I don't know anything about wine, thanks for asking.

 

Anywho, thus concludes another awesome dinner in the Herban household - happy experimenting, everyone!

Fun with chopped salads!

I've always loved chopped salads ... ever since I was little and my mom used to order them as a special treat from CPK, they just remind me of home. Yes, even though they weren't homemade. My mom likes cooking, but she's never seemed to have the knife-love I do. Wait. That sounds bad. I just love chopping, I swear! It's like catharsis to me, something I can stand in the kitchen, listening to music, and just methodically do. So, naturellement, I love chopped salads and I love making them myself. Being strictly happy-meat-and-only-occasionally-mostly-vegetarian-ish means that I can't really order chopped salads anyway, they're always laden with delicious salamis and such. But man, homemade chopped salads are nothing to sneeze at! Seriously, go wash your hands. Gross.

I started out with some oh-so-tasty baby zucchini. I like mine raw - it has a really nice crunch that's different from most veggies - but if you wanted to cook it, your taste is all that matters.

I used about 2 per salad.

After slicing into rounds, I diced them finely; I like my chopped salads to have a little bit of everything in every bite.

Then ... things went a little monochrome. Green zucchini, green cucumber, green olives, green artichoke hearts ... I needed some color variation. Cue the cheese and tomato!

Ah, yes, much better.

Now, this setup is fine if you are making one chopped salad for the day. But I decided to pack mine up in jars, so that I could just pull them out at a moments notice, dress, and munch.

Here in the pictures above, you will see me committing a silly error for the sake of prettier pictures.

When you pack up your jars (or tupperware, or what-have-you), you need to put the juiciest items on the bottom, so they don't juice all over your lovely crunchy ingredients. So now, I had the fun task of separating them into three portions while separating them from the other chopped ingredients. This was NOT efficient, and was a gigantic pain in the buns.

Tomatoes-> artichoke hearts-> olives-> cucumbers-> zucchini-> cheese. Whew.

Now, I am a garlic fiend. I love it. I love it roasted spread on baguettes, I love it sauteed in pasta, I love it diced and raw in salads. It's delicious. It's spicy. It's smelly, and my boyfriend hates it, and he wasn't at home so I don't care I love it.

You know how to peel garlic, right? You take out the clove, lay a wide knife on top, and WHACK! Hit it hard with the side of your fist till the wrapper comes off. Et voila!

Flat. As in parallel to the board. As in don't slice your hand. Knife safety!

 

Then I dice it super-fine, sprinkle over the top, and mmmmmm.

 

Now, this salad is looking a little ... vegetable-y. Needs some protein, and a punch or flavor! TO THE GARBANZOMOBILE!

 Again, garbanzos (chick peas, that stuff you make hummus with) are a divisive factor between the beau and I. I love, he hates, we compromise and I eat them at lunch. I blame his conservative English-Italian East Coast family, but the Italians love them some spices so ultimately I blame the Brits. I, West Coaster that I am, had no choice but to love the flavahs ... my mom's rule with food was 'you have to try it once - if you still hate it you never have to eat it again.' Fair rule mom, well played. So, I get my freaky food fix on at lunch time, so the beau doesn't have to deal.

You know the drill - dice up the garbanzos, toss 'em in.

Next, Tofu Time. Don't roll your eyes at me, kid, wait and hear me out. Baked tofu. You are not allowed to say you don't like tofu till you have seen what it can do. Now, this post is already too damn long, so I'm going to bore you later with tofu facts and a baked tofu recipe. Just make it, dice it up, throw it in that salad and thank me later.

Check out that bountiful bounty!

Learn from my mistakes. Don't put the freaking lettuce in the freaking jar. I had every intention to eat those salads over the next few days. Honest. Forgetting, of course, that it was a holiday weekend. And that my boyfriend had Friday off. Whoopsie. So there the lettuce sat, slowly wilting, sad and lonely - yes, even the mighty arugula (lettuce of choice 85% of the time). Awful. Don't do it. Just leave your jars half empty until you are about to eat them, then you throw in that leafy goodness. And let me tell you, this is one killer salad. Flavor like crazy, low cal, almost non-existent fat, nutrients like crazy, and it keeps you nice and full so you don't go snacking. What do you mean, am I trying to get in shape? Such accusations, I swear!

Sweet manna from heaven.

Anywho, that's it for real-post numero uno. Feel free to switch out any ingredients that set your little heart a-fire, and happy munchin'.

A lesson hard learned ...

If you're starting a blog about making stuff (particularly foodstuffs), you have to take pictures. Ingredients, process, finished product, etc. NOT just scarf it all down cause it's SO DELICIOUS.

A note to self.