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.

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.

Sauteed Potato Gnocchi with Egg

Oh, I am having such a lazy day today. It's gloomy and dull and I hardly slept a wink at all last night . . . it's a low energy day for me . . . a kind of blah day.



There is no rest for the wicked though . . . because I have had to get things ready for our church ladies group activity tonight (muffins, valentines rice krispie treats and bits and bites) . . . but alas . . . all that work has left me with little or no energy for cooking a big meal. It will be all I can do to just get through the rest of the day.



Spying a package of fresh potato gnocchi in the refrigerator though . . . I wondered if there would be something that I could do with them. I took a boo on Tastespotting at the scrummy food pics on there, but there was nothing that a. struck my fancy b. that I had all the ingredients to make or c. had enough energy to execute.



And then I remembered one of our favourite suppers, Posh Eggs, Chips and Beans!!! I was inspired to use the gnocchi just like potatoes. In fact this was even easier than using potatoes, and a lot quicker too . . .



And so so so tasty! Puffy little potato gnocchi, gilded until golden brown in a mixture of olive oil and butter infused with sage and garlic . . . two fresh organic free range eggs broken over top and fried until the edges of the eggs are crisp, the golden yolks still runny and just waiting for your fork to dip one of those little gilded gnocchi in . . .



I have little or no resistance when I am very tired. I could just as easily be chowing down on chocolates and potato chips . . . I figure this is the lesser of most evils! a light dusting of freshly grated Parmesan completely the picture quite nicely, thanks . . .



Todd didn't complain about it being pasta either . . . I told him they were potato dumplings, which . . . they kinda are, right? In any case he loved them!



*Sauteed Potato Gnocchi with Egg*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This makes a hearty, quick and simple supper for two. A variation on my regular posh egg and chips recipe.

500g of refrigerated potato Gnocchi (a generous 1 pound)
2 TBS good quality olive oil
1 TBS butter
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and bruised and left whole
3 springs of fresh sage
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature preferably
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Finely grated Parmesan Cheese (grate it yourself, preferably)



Put a pot of lightly salted water on to boil. Place the olive oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet along with the garlic and sage. Heat gently while you cook the gnocchi.

Cook the Gnocchi according to the package directions. Once they are done and float to the surface, scoop out with a slotted spoon and drop into the infused and heated oil/butter mixture. Turn the heat up and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to turn golden brown and the sage leaves crisp up. If the garlic looks like it is going to burn, lift it out and place on top of some of the gnocchi. Make two hollows in the bed of gnocchi and drop an egg into each.

Cover with a lid and cook over medium low heat, just until the whites are set. Season to taste with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve at once, divided in half and placed onto heated plates. Sprinkle some cheese on each serving. The gnocchi is delicious dipped into the egg yolks.



Over in The Cottage today, Fish Stick Taco Dogs.

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!!

Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

This is a recipe that I got yonks ago from my dear sister. It's one that is quick and easy and oh so delicious . . . a bit calorie laden . . . but once in a blue moon it's ok to have a bit of an indulgence. It's when you bring once in a blue moon treats and undulgences to EVERY day that you run into trouble . . .



This recipe goes together lickety split. Just cook the macaroni and while it is cooking beat together the eggs, milk and seasonings. Have the butter measured and the cheese measured and grated and ready to go. Then . . . quick as a wink, as soon as the macaroni is cooked you throw it all together and . . . just like magic, presto chango . . . you've got delicious macaroni and cheese!

Seriously, it's as easy as all that. I kid you not!



I always use a strong cheddar because we like the flavour of strong cheddar, but you can use a medium cheddar if you want the cheese flavour to be a bit milder. Do taste before adding salt though . . . cheese can be quite salty and it wouldn't do to add too much and spoil the dish.



You could stir in some chopped ham or chorizo, or crumbled cooked bacon if you wanted to make it that tiny bit tastier . . . in for a dollar in for a pound and all that! You could also toss in some well drained chopped tomatoes.



You could sprinkle the top with buttery crushed croutons for a bit of crunch if you wanted and even pop it under the grill to really crisp it up . . .

Me . . . I like it just as it is, and I relish every tasty morsel.



*Stove Top Mac and Cheese*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Not for the faint of heart, this calorie laden treat, but boy oh boy . . . what a delicious way to go! Easy, uncomplicated and oh so tasty!

8 ounces macaroni
4 TBS butter
2 large free range eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp dry mustard
10 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, grated



Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and then cook your macaroni according to package directions. Whilst the macaroni is cooking, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper and mustard in a large measuring cup. Once the macaroni is cooked drain well and then return to the pot. Stir in the butter until it melts, then stir the egg mixture into the hot pasta. Add the cheese and cook and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted and the whole thing is nice and creamy. Serve hot.

Note - You can cut the calories and fat somewhat by using "light" evaporated milk. I do NOT recommend using low fat cheese however, as the melting properties are not quite the same as full fat cheese.



Over in The Cottage today, Bacon and Mushroom Sauced Chicken Breasts.

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!

Apples In Custard

This looks plain and simple . . . and in truth it is. But don't let the simplicity of it fool you into thinking that it is not totally scrumdiddlyumptious!!



If you like baked apples and if you like custard . . . then you are going to love the two of them together!!



It's very easy to charge up the flavours as well . . . you know . . . add some cinnamon or nutmeg, or cardamom or all three!!



We love this . . . plain, or with a bit of cream poured over top.



You can cook all four servings in a square casserole dish, or do like I did and cook individual ones. Mine got a little bit close to the grill and got somewhat dark in spots, but that's ok . . . I like a little char . . . burnt toast, burnt cheese, burnt marshmallows.



Yes . . . I am wierd. But in kind of a delicious way, don't you think??



*Apples in Custard*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Proof positve that simple can be wonderfully delicious. Apples baked in a scrummy custard.

4 medium cooking apples, cored and peeled
(I like Granny Smiths)
8 TBS of sugar, plus 1 to 2 TBS for sprinkling at the end
(I use cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on at the end)

For the Custard:
96g of caster sugar (1/2 cup)
500ml of whole milk (2 cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 large free range eggs
2 1/2 TBS plain flour
pinch of salt

To serve: (optional)
Cream and Maple Syrup

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Place the peeled and cored apples in a square baking dish (or into 4 individual casseroles). Put two tablespoons of sugar into the center cavity of each apple. Whisk together the custard ingredients until smooth. Pour over the apples, dividing it equally amongst the casseroles if making 4 individual ones. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the custard is completely set.

To finish off, at the end of the baking time sprinkle the 1 to 2 TBS of sugar (cinnamon sugar) over top of the apples and custard. Place under the grill (broiler) and grill (broil) until lightly brown. You may put a small amount of cream and maple syrup over the top for additional flavour.



Over in The Cottage today, Rumbledethumps . . . a delicious mix of potato, swede, cabbage and cheese. (Not a great picture I know!!)