Apple Pie French Toast

I just love it when I open a carton of eggs and there is a feather stuck on one of them. I only ever buy free range eggs, and it makes me think of happy chickens browsing around the farm yard. I would love to have our own chickens . . . but as Todd reminds me . . . it's difficult enough to get someone to watch the dog when we go away, let alone a yard full of chickens!



I had some apples that I really wanted to use up the other day, and so I decided to make this old family favourite . . . Apple Pie French Toast. Kind of like apple upside down french toast I guess . . .



Sliced apples coated in a delicious brown sugar caramel sauce, with egg soaked slices of thick french bread on top, dusted with warm spice and then baked until it's all fluffy, scrummy, delicious!!



This is an overnight french toast casserole, so do plan ahead . . . although I am sure that if you did it up in the morning it would make a fantastic supper along with some browned sausage and bacon.



Breakfast for supper. I like it!



You'll love this. Trust me on this. It's fabulously good! But then every recipe in my Big Blue Binder is actually pretty wonderful.



*Apple Pie French Toast*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

This is one of those overnight breakfast casseroles that you make up the night before. So easy to bake in the morning and incredibly delicious.

204g of soft light brown sugar (1 cup)
115g of butter
2 TBS golden syrup
(can use golden corn syrup or maple syrup if you have it)
3 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
6 large free range eggs
250ml of whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 loaf of french bread, cut into thick slices (you may not need all of it)
cinnamon, ground cardamom and ground nutmeg to dust

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. SLice the butter into a 9 by 13 iinch glass dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar over top along with the golden syrup. Place into the heated oven and bake until the butter melts. Remove from the oven. Whisk all together and return to the oven. Bake until the mixture begins to bubble, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven off. Arrange the apple slices over the caramel iin the dish.

Beat together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Dip slices of bread into this, coating liberally. Place the bread slices over top of the apples in the pan. Use just enough to fill the pan snuggly. Pour any remaining egg mixture over top. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon, ground cardamom and nutmeg. Cover with plastic cling film and then place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning take the dish out of the fridge for about half an hour to take the chill off. Reheat the oven once more to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Remove the cling film and bake the casserole for about 45 minutes, or until puffed, set and golden brown. Divide amongst 6 heated plates, with the apples on top.

Serve with additional syrup if desired.

Savory Bacon & Crab Bread Pudding Eggs Benedict – Sometimes the Best Recipes Are the Ones You Don’t Make

This incredibly delicious bacon and crab bread pudding Benedict almost never happened. The original request was for crab cake eggs Benedict, but since we’d already done crab cakes, poached eggs, and hollandaise videos, I decided to go in another direction, while still somewhat honoring the aforementioned food wish.

It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and that includes growing the mustache. Not only do I think this is far superior to crab cake eggs Benedict, it’s way easier, and you get a lot more mileage out of the same amount of crab.

I only used four-ounces of crab, which would have made just two small crab cakes. Here it was enough for two large ramekins that seemed to be loaded with crab. Instead of just sitting on top of the English muffin, the crab flavor permeated the bread cubes during the baking time, and the results were spectacular.

This would certainly make any brunch special, especially a Mother’s Day brunch, which will be here before you know it. So, whether you’re desperately trying to finally gain your mother’s approval, or just want something awesome for breakfast, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions (I used 10 oz ramekins):

3 cups small dry bread cubes or plain croutons

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 strip bacon, sliced

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup minced red bell pepper

1/3 cup chicken broth or water (more as needed)

1/3 cup cream

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
1 large egg 
4 oz fresh crab meat

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

2 or 4 poached eggs

1/4 cup hollandaise sauce

Fruity Breakfast Granola

I have always had a great love for granola. I like to make my own though . . . that way I can control what goes into it. When I make my own, I know exactly what is in it . . . natural ingredients, no preservatives, chemicals etc.



I first began making my own back in the early 1980's. I had a next door neighbor who used to always make her own and it was really tasty. Much nicer than what you found in the shops, and not all that expensive either. Especially if you live near a bulk food store.



Through the years I have changed and adapted the recipe until I have what I now think is the perfect recipe. Perfect for me at any rate.



I like a nutty, toasty granola. Not too sweet or too high in fat. Chock full of nuts and fruit. You can vary the variety of nuts and fruits of course, only using what it is that brings you the most joy. I like lots of fruit and nuts in mine. That's what brings me the most pleasure. Handy for breakfast or for snacks.



My favourite way to eat this is for breakfast, in a little glass fruit dessert dish . . .with a nice dollop of thick greek yoghurt on top, (No fat one for me) and a drizzle of Greek honey. I love Greek honey with it's beautiful hint of anise flavour . . . it's my favourite kind.



This is the perfect way to start the day! Seriously!



*Fruity Breakfast Granola*
makes about 14 cups
Printable Recipe

You can make this as fruity as you prefer. I have found through the years that some fruits are not that good in it as they make it soggy. I don't recommend using any MOIST type of dried fruit, I prefer to use dried apricots, cranberries, raisins, mango, etc.

6 fluid ounces vegetable oil (3/4 cup)
4 fluid ounces of liquid honey (1/2 cup)
200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed firmly)
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
650g of old fashioned flaked oats (8 cups)
2 handfuls of sunflower seeds (about 1/2 cup)
40g of sweetened flaked coconut (1/2 cup)
85g of raw almonds (1/2 cup . I like marcona)
60g of raw pecans (1/2 cup)
30g of raw cashew nuts (1/4 cup)
30g raw macadamia nuts (1/4 cup)

To finish:
a couple handfuls of chopped dried apricots
a couple handfuls of dried cranberries
a couple handfuls of raisins
a handful of chopped dried mango
a handful of chopped dried pineapple
a handful of chopped dried papaya
a handful of chopped dried dates

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Have ready a couple of large rimmed baking sheets, which you have sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sunflower seeds, coconut and nuts. Set aside.

Put the oil, honey, brown sugar, salt and vanilla into a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the warm mixture over top of the oat mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon to coat.

Divide the mixture in between both of the baking sheets. Bake in the heated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every ten minutes or so, until the granola is a deep golden brown. Allow to cool completely before adding any fruit. Store in an airtight container for up to three weeks.

Note: The recipe is quite easy to cut in half. I normally only bake a half recipe at a time because they are now just the two of us. Makes a nice snack as well.

Classic Diner Hash Browns - The Real King of the Breakfast Potato

When people make breakfast at home that includes some kind of potato side dish, they almost always go with homefries over hash browns. I’m not sure of exactly why, but I think people assume that hash browns are somehow more difficult, which is simply not the case.

Grating a couple potatoes is not that much harder than cubing them up, and the cooking process is almost identical. If anything, hash browns cook faster than homefries, and in this chef’s opinion are the superior breakfast potatoes. They are crisper, more interesting, and absorb runny egg yolk like homefries can only dream about.

One thing to note when you look at the ingredients below: this is a scalable recipe, with one medium-sized russet potato portioned per person. If you're going to make this for a larger group, you’ll want to use several pans, as you need enough room to get the proper crustification.

Speaking of russets, the potato variety is much more important here than with homefries. Just about any potato will work for those, but for hash browns you need the starchy texture of the russet, as opposed to the waxier texture of red potatoes. By the way, Yukon gold also works okay, but russet is the best.

Anyway, the next time your cooking a proper breakfast at home, I hope you give these “other” breakfast potatoes a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients per person:

1 medium russet potato, grated

1 1/2 tbsp clarified butter (melted butter separated from the milky liquid)

salt, pepper, cayenne, and paprika to taste

Cherry Bakewell Breakfast Oats.

I think one of my favourite British flavours has to be the Cherry Bakewell Tart . . . and Bakewell Pudding. Bakewell Tart is an English confection consisting of a shortcrust pastry with a layer of jam and a sponge filling with almonds. The Bakewell Pudding on the other hand is a flaky pastry, with a layer of jam and an egg and almond filling. Some versions of the tart are covered with a layer of fondant. I do confess I love them all . . . the tarts, the pudding and the fondant!



I love the flavours so much that I adapted them to create my very own Cherry Bakewell Whoopie Pies a few years back, and I have to confess they were just about the scrummiest whoopie pies I have ever eaten! I've also created Bakewell Scones, and Raspberry Bakewell Cake, quite successfully and I adore them both!



Today for breakfast I decided to take the Bakewell flavours that little bit further and I created Cherry Bakewell Breakfast Oats! Just imagine it now . . .



Wholesome and hearty oats, rich and creamy . . . flavoured with the scrummy tastes of sour cherries, toasted almonds and dark cherry preserves . . .



The oats so filling and nutritious . . . cooked in milk . . . with just a touch of almond extract . . . stogged full of dried sour cherries . . .



Topped with a swirl of beautiful dark cherry preserves and a scattering of toasted flaked almonds, nutty and sweet . . .



Oh how moreish . . . oh how wonderful . . . this is the type of food that Enid Blyton made me dream about when I was a child!



As I sat there this morning devouring every delicious mouthful, I could almost imagine tucking into a scrummy bowl of this with my mates . . . storing up much needed energy for the adventures that the day ahead might hold . . .
Except there is no parrot named Kiki to amuse us . . . just a mad Cocker named Mitzie, who is in all truth probably quite a bit easier to handle and put up with.



Cherry Bakewell Breakfast Oats. Try some today. You won't be sorry you did and I dare to hazard a guess that it will become a firm favourite in your home as well. We loved this . . . we truly did.

Oh I am a very clever clogs to be sure . . .




*Cherry Bakewell Breakfast Oats*
Serves 2 generously
Printable Recipe

All the flavours of your favourite tart in a beautiful breakfast indulgence.

500ml of milk (2 cups)
80g of rolled oats (Old fashioned)
40g dried cherries (1/4 cup)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 TBS black cherry jam
2 TBS toasted flaked almonds

Combine the milk, oats, dried cherries and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, until the oats are softened and the mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in the almond extract. Spoon into heated bowls. Swirl a TBS of cherry jam into each and then sprinkle with some toasted almonds. Serve immediately. Delicious!

Big Breakfast Sarnie

I just love a meal that you can fit easily between two slices of bread. That's the lazy person in me I suppose. I guess I just love sandwiches full stop . . . any kind, any place . . . You put it between bread and I am there.



When the Toddster and I used to work at the Service Station together (when I first moved over here) we used to sell tons of Bacon, Sausage, as well as Bacon and Sausage Baguettes every morning . . . just dripping with grease and fat . . . The bacon and sausage were baked in ovens, and then kept warm in a heat cabinet. I would have to clean the heat cabinet at the end of the day and the amount of fat that I had to scrape off and discard was nobody's business. Lots of it ended up in the baguettes too . . . crazy, crazy. Heart attack waiting to happen.



Breakfast sandwiches are always very popular . . .they are big business with fast food companies . . . all loaded with fat and calories. It's not impossible though to have a breakfast sandwich which is relatively low in fat, and yet still satisfyingly scrummy tasty! It's not really all that hard to do actually . . . and when you make it yourself in your own kitchen, you know exactly what's gone into it. No mystery there!



I always use whole wheat toast . . . it's better for you and you get lots of nice extra flavour . . . if it's whole grain as well . . . well that's just the ultimate in taste. (I love the Vogel Sunflower and Barley Bread, or the Vogel's Honey and Oat Bran Brown Bread!!) Now that's mighty good bread.



There is no butter used . . . not in the cooking of the egg, nor is there any butter going on that toast. You spread it with grainy mustard and a drizzle of honey . . . oh so good. I use weight watchers or another brand of low fat thin sliced baked ham . . . Low fat baked ham is not all that difficult to find anyways . . . Low fat cheese is also easy to find these days and I really like the low fat Leerdammer Light, which has great oozing melting qualities. It's a swiss type of cheese and also has a nutty sweetness.



The egg gets it's scrumminess from chopped peppers, onions and a pinch of salt and black pepper.



Put them all together and that's one heck of a sandwich . . . if I don't say so myself!! Oooooh baby, come to mama! The perfect weekend breakfast treat for sure!



*Big Breakfast Sarnie*
Serves 1

Beautifully tasty breakfast sandwich. Surprisingly low in fat too, so not all that bad for you actually!

1 large free range egg
1 TBS chopped spring onion, green and white bits
1 TBS chopped mixed peppers (whatever you happen to have on hand, red, green, orange, yellow)
pinch of salt and black pepper
4 thin slices of shaved ham (bundle them up so they look like more!
1 slice of Leerdammer light cheese
2 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted
1 TBS grainy mustard
drizzle of runny honey

Beat your egg together in a beaker along with the spring onion and peppers. Heat a small nonstick frying pan over medium heat. I spray mine with low fat cooking spray. Pour in the egg mixture. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Allow to cook until lightly browned and set on the bottom. Carefully flip over and then turn off the burner. The other side will cook in the residual heat. Immediately lay the slice of leerdammer cheese on top. The heat from the egg will melt it.

Take your two slices of toast. Divide the grainy mustard betwixt the two, spreading it to cover. Drizzle with a bit of honey. Lay the ham slices, bundling them up a bit, onto one slice of bread, honey and mustard side up. Top with the cooked egg, cheese slice up, then cover with the other slice of toast, honey and mustard side down. Cut in quarters and serve immediately.



Over in The Cottage today, a delicious Upside Down Pizza.

Heuvos Rancheros

This is a recipe I have had ear marked to try for some time now, maybe even years. The thought of freshly toasted corn tortillas, topped with beans, salsa, fried eggs and cheese has always sounded deliciously appealing. Tasty, quick and very easy . . . ok, so it's not exactly English in origin . . . but hmmm . . . let's think about that again . . .



Eggs, chips and beans are a very popular combination over here in the UK. Something which seemed particularly uggy to me when I first moved over here . . . definitely not something that I found in the least appealing . . . but that way of thinking was a little bit like judging a book by it's cover.

You really have to try some of these things out before you say "nay" outright . . . they're actually quite good together . . .



Exchanging the baked beans for refried beans . . . and a toasted corn tortilla for the chips, is not really all that big of a stretch outside the boundaries actually . . . and salsa is kinda like ketchup . . . albeit a bit spicier and chunkier, but let's not be that picky, ok?



With some tasty cheddar melted over the top, a scattering of chopped fresh coriander and a side of sour cream and guacamole and we are kinda stretching the similarities to eggs, chips and beans a tad bit . . . but meh . . . whose going to argue about something that looks and tastes as delicious as this???

I don't know why I waited so long to try this out. I am sold, utterly and completely.



*Heuvos Rancheros*
Serves 2 (easily doubled or tripled)
Printable Recipe

When I first moved over here to England, the idea of eating eggs and beans together in one sitting seemed totally outrageous to me. I have since learned to love this combination and this is one outrageously delicious way of having them with a tasty Tex Mex Twist!

1 TBS vegetable oil
2 corn tortillas (8 inches in diameter)
4 medium free range organic eggs
4 heaped TBS of refried beans
(I used Discovery brand)
4 TBS spicy tomato salsa
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
30g of grated strong cheddar cheese (about 1/4 cup)
quacamole and dairy sour cream to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Heat half of the oil in a nonstick skillet until hot. Fry the tortillas on both sides until just starting to brown, then place on a baking tray. Set aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan. Crack in the eggs and fry them until they are just set, making sure the yolks are still soft.

Spread 2 TBS of the refried beans over each tortilla. Top each with 2 TBS of the salsa. Place the eggs carefully on top. Season to taste with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Sprinkle each with half the cheese and the coriander.

Bake in the oven just until the cheese has melted. (This should only take a few minutes.) Remove from the oven and place on two heated plates. Top each serving with some guacamole and sour cream if desired.



Cooking in The Cottage today, Stuffed Pasta Shells. Delicious!!

Blueberry and Almond Breakfast Bake

I grew up surrounded by an abundance of wild blueberries, so much so that they were very much taken for granted . . . not those big grape sized ones that we get in the grocery stores over here, but those delicious tasty little pea sized morsels that you can only get from spending back breaking hours in the hot sun to acquire.



Along about the first week of August the ice cream buckets would appear on the kitchen counter, and we kids knew it was blueberry picking time . . . a time we both dreaded and revered all at once. We would spend hours in the blueberry bush, choosing and picking the dainty delicious berries and filling those ice cream buckets, the time only made longer according to how many actually made it into the buckets and how many made it into our tummies!



The warm summer sun and humming insects helping us to feel all cosy and, well . . . part of a family, all co-erced into partaking of this glorious labour! Co-erced by rose coloured memories and the anticipation of pieces of warm, fresh blueberrie pie, the lucious blue juice dripping onto the plate, mingling with runny rivelets of melting fresh vanilla ice cream . . . beautiful puffy lemon coloured muffins studded with those gorgeous purple berries and sprinkled with crusty sugar crumbles on top . . .



. . . light as a cloud buttermilk pancakes bursting full of the sweet lucious beauties, stacked three high, a golden pat of butter melting and gilding the edges, doused in beautifully sweet real maple syrup, the perfect foil . . . we knew as children that the more berries we picked the more of these delights we'd be able to savor over the long winter ahead.



Tired and hot at the end of the day, our fingers stained blue, with blue lips and teeth, sitting around the kitchen table with big bowls of tasty berries sprinkled with sugar and covered in cream. Berrys still warm from the sun, cream cold from the fridge, smiles on all the berry stained faces, knowing we had once again secured this little taste of summer for the winter ahead . . .



Oh how I missed them when I first moved over here to the UK. They were not readily available at all . . . what I wouldn't given at that time for a fresh blueberry pie. When you could find them at all, a premium price was paid for them . . . one that we could only afford as a very rare treat. Thankfully that is no longer the case, and whilst we can't get the lovely wild ones I grew up with, the larger cultivated ones are quite common in the shops now, although they can still be a bit pricey from time to time.



This past autumn we planted some blueberry bushes so that next year, with any luck, we will have our very own tasty source of the little beauties in our garden. Lots of little jewels to make delicious things such as this Blueberry and Almond Breakfast Bake . . . kind of like a baked French Toast . . .



Enticing, heartwarming and a beauty to behold. This pleases me on lots of levels. Eggy and lightly sweetened with a crisp and sweet sugared almond topping. Delicious!



*Blueberry and Almond Breakfast Bake*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

You need to plan ahead with this as it needs to be refrigerated overnight. The hardest thing about it will be waiting for it to come out of the oven as it smells fabulous while it is baking!

1 9 inch whole wheat baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes
(about 4 ounces)
250ml of 2% milk (1 cup)
6 large free range eggs
125ml of pure maple syrup (1/2 cup)
pinch salt (optional)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 heaped mug of fresh blueberries (about 1 cup)
a handful of flaked almonds
2 TBS demerara sugar (turbinado)
Maple syrup for pouring (optional)

Spray a 7 by 10 inch baking dish with some nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the bread cubes in the dish. Dust with the cinnamon. Whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, maple syrup and pinch of salt (if using.) Pour this mixture evenly over top of the bread cubes, making sure the liquid saturates the bread evenly. Scatter the blueberries over top. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and turbinado sugar. cover with plastic cling film and then refrigerate overnight.

In the morning take it out of the fridge about half an hour before you want to bake it.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Uncover the dish and then bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the eggs are set and the casserole is lightly browned on top. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes before cutting into quarters to serve. Serve hot with or without more syrup for pouring.



In The Cottage today a delicious Tomato and Bean Soup!