Ellen's Test Kitchen--French Toast

So I am in the middle of testing those two recipes I mentioned in my last post--baked brioche french toast and polenta mushroom diamonds.

Finished product.  Delish! 

The baked brioche french toast is amazing.  I am pretty impressed that the bread machine made such nice brioche.  I made only a half recipe of the french toast to try it out.  Not because I was unsure what I would do with all that french toast, but because I know exactly what I would do -- eat it.  That said, after having what the recipe said was one serving for breakfast this morning, I am wondering if I should have just had half.  It's fabulous, but filling.  A slice of french toast that is an inch thick is a lot. 

I was a little concerned this was too brown!

Last night I cut two thick slices of brioche, cut those in half, made the custard mixture and drenched the bread on one side.  Before heading off to bed, I turned the bread in the custard and put it in the refrigerator.  This morning I transferred those slices to a baking sheet, on which I had put my silicone baking sheet.  I was worried about them sticking.  When the buzzer rang and I pulled out the french toast I was a bit concerned that the silpat was a mistake--that side was really brown.  But once I flipped them over for a couple of minutes and got it ready to serve my skepticism abated.

Boy, is it good.  The outside was just a little bit crispy and the inside was custardy, soft and moist.  And no frying!  But, I think for my brunch I am going to cut those slices into quarters.  People are welcome to more than one, but for a brunch buffet people often want to have a little of this and a little of that.  This french toast is rich and lovely, so maybe people will just want one quarter--or maybe since it is so good they'll want more!

Bread Maker Brioche (1 1/2 pound loaf)
Admittedly, I got this recipe from the internet and made it just as directed, but it is good enough to share here.  This is probably the only way in Spokane to get organic brioche anyway.

The first slice of the brioche.  Warm brioche, yum.

3 large eggs
1 stick of softened butter
1/3 cup warm milk
3 tablespoons of warm water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Measure the ingredients into your bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer.  Process of the sweet bread cycle if your machine has it.  If not, process on the white or basic machine cycle.  Use the lightest crust color option available.  Remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack or wrapped in a clean dish cloth.

Baked Brioche French Toast
The recipe for the custard for the french toast is my own, but the method for baking it rather than frying it is from a ugh, I am going to admit this, a Martha Stewart recipe.

For four servings (that, might more reasonably, be eight).

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk (even skim works fine!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
4 1 inch thick slices brioche

In a large baking dish whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. 

Soaking the bread.

Arrange bread in dish in a single layer.  Let soak 15 minutes.  Turn bread over, cover, and refrigerate over night (preferable) or at least 30 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Oil a rimmed baking sheet or line with a silicone baking mat.  Carefully transfer the sliced to the sheet.  Bake french toast until it is set in the center about 25 minutes.  Flip slices and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve with butter and syrup.  For an extra treat, stir a little cinnamon and brandy or orange flavored liquor into the syrup.

Eager to get the second recipe tested I found myself mincing onions and mushrooms in the food processor before 10:00 am on a Sunday morning.  I used my oven method for making the polenta (so much easier than stirring, stirring, stirring and completely indistinguishable in taste and presentation).  The polenta is now cooling on a baking sheet and so is the mushroom filling.  I am anxious about this recipe.  It is pretty much new and I am really wanting something savory that is vegetarian for this brunch.  I hope to have a positive report on this one later in this afternoon!

Recipe Review

I am throwing myself a birthday party.  I know, it is sort of sad, but I decided long ago that since I am a single adult, if I want to do something for my birthday, I had better plan it for myself.  In years past I have invited people out for drinks or brunch, but I always feel a little awkward asking people to pay for themselves at a party I invited them to.  So, this year I have invited some folks for a "drop in" brunch.  My apartment is not big enough for a sit down anything for a lot of people, so this is the plan I came up with.  And it requires me to do some do-ahead cooking if I am going to host people over the course of several hours.  And it is only a couple of weeks away.

So, now is the time to test out some recipes.  It's brunch, so there need to be some sweet things, some savory things.  I've invited some omnivores and some vegetarians (some stricter than others) so this is going to be an interesting endeavor.  This weekend I am going to try to make one sweet thing and one savory thing--not entirely new recipes for either, but modified or adjusted for this kind of event.

The plan is for this weekend to test making brioche in the bread maker for french toast -- my favorite brunch item.  And to make broiled polenta and mushroom sandwiches.  I make french toast every once in a while, but the brioche in the bread maker is a new thing.  Polenta is something I make frequently when serving vegetarians or vegans, but I rarely serve it firm or broiled.  I have found some recipes online to test out, but I am sure I will modify them as I usually do.

I will fill in around these two dishes with other brunch items if they work out well.  If not, I will have to go back to the drawing board coming up with a menu.  I think there are going to be a lot of "breakfast for dinner" nights over the next couple of weeks.

There will surely be a lot to report on both this weekend and over the next couple of weeks about my adventure in brunch.  Stay tuned!

Back on the Wagon with Half an Egg

I'm back from my Christmas hiatus and visit to the east coast, which included Christmas, New Year's, a blizzard and 50 degree temperatures.  And a lot of eating with my family, which means I do bend to their tastes, which has become more apparent to me now than ever.  I probably eat more processed and packaged food while I am home than I do the rest of the year.  I have made few in-roads with that.  I do still only drink fair trade coffee when I am home and made a few remarks about what my parents were feeding my niece and nephew.  But, perhaps it is not my place to say.  I did cook for my parents once -- the roasted beef and barley soup I featured a few posts ago, but my brother wouldn't eat it, he claimed it was too wet (duh, it's soup!).

But, I am back now and have to get back on the wagon--cooking the way that is important to me and making choices that reflect that.  And maybe figuring out a few ways to make my ways more appealing to my family my next visit home.  Yesterday I made my Mother's tuna noodle casserole, but with only organic, sustainable or local ingredients.  It was just as good, just as easy.  (Yes, I said tuna noodle casserole was good.  I love the version my Mother makes, except I use peas instead of carrots.  I know, it is crazy, but it is comfort food to me.)

Now I am baking cookies instead of working on my syllabi for the semester that starts Tuesday.  I found a new recipe for oatmeal peanut butter cookies.  I love oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies, so combined it is a no-brainer.  Except for one thing--the recipe must have been to make enough for a bakery to sell.  So, I wanted to cut it in half, but that left me with a dilemma--the original called for three eggs.  Do I use one?  Or two?  Or, do I do what I do in almost every situation (and about which I actually teach in my ethics classes) refuse to see it as a dilemma--isn't there a third choice?  Of course -- use half an egg!

Now you are thinking, is this woman really suggesting I use half an egg?  This woman who writes about ethics and food certainly can't be suggesting I waste something like half an egg!  No, I am not suggesting you waste something like half an egg.  Actually, I am suggesting you save that half an egg and use it in something else tomorrow.  Really.  That is what I am suggesting!  Half an egg can be used in an egg wash, an omelet, scrambled eggs, french toast, frittatta, or, in a small-batch baking recipe (I have included one of my favorites below).

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (this is the regular sized recipe for the cookies I baked today, photo above)
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy, regular not all natural)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 eggs (yes, really!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
9 ounces chocolate chips (I used 9 ounces since that is the size package my fair trade chocolate chips come in)
white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl cream together butter and peanut butter, add brown sugar, egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Combine oats, four and baking soda.  Add and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto baking sheet.  Flatten with fork or juice glass dusted with white sugar.  Bake 12-13 minutes.  Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Small Batch Oatmeal Cookies (for that darned half an egg!)
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons oatmeal
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons softened butter
half an egg :)
3 tablespoons raisins or dried cranberries or chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking liner (or, in a pinch, lightly grease the baking sheet).  Combine dry ingredients except for raisins.  Stir.  Add egg, butter and vanilla.  Stir to combine.  The dough will be stiff.  Add raisins.  Divide dough in half, separate by 4 inches on the baking sheet (they will spread during baking) and bake for 15 minutes.

Now I had better look over those syllabi!

Of Coffee Shops and Christmas Parties

I both love and hate this time of year as I suspect many who grade exams do.  Spring semester with summer looming, nice weather, and less of the rush of the holidays always seems less stressful.  But, the end of fall semester is punctuated by parties--Christmas parties.  Teaching at a Catholic university as I do means we don't have "holiday" or "winter break" parties.  We have full-blow Christmas parties with trees, sleighs and Santas.  We are Christmas party people here.

Between the grading, which I have been doing more often than not this semester in a local coffee shop or two and those Christmas parties where I don't get to pick the food, ethical eating can get tricky.  Admittedly, sometimes the love of a party or the necessity of uninterrupted grading get the better of me.

The coffee shop a few blocks from my apartment is cozy, is within walking distance (obviously), has free wi-fi and tables roomy enough to spread out on without feeling as though I have taken a table obviously intended for four people.  I feel like I have almost moved in there.  The coffee there isn't the worst possible, but it isn't my normal fair trade (or relationship) organic shade grown.  They sell some fair trade coffee beans, but rarely is that the blend that is brewed in the shop.  I usually limit myself to a single cup or a latte when I am there because of that.  And sometimes I do have a cookie.  The cookie I choose is from a local bakery that sells to coffee shops and the like.  It's a nice neighborhood shop and it serves an important purpose when there are hundreds of papers to grade (which means thousands of pages). 

The Christmas parties are another thing altogether.  The beautiful spread that is a focus of so many of these parties rarely has a lot of ethical choices.  And sometimes, weirdly, what counts as "seasonal" at these parties is really not seasonal at all.  It's hard not to indulge when people are trying to make sure you are having a good time and equate that with everyone having his or her fill.  Tonight, at the biggest of the university's Christmas parties, I had the specialty cocktail, some veggies, cheese, and some mini desserts.  I didn't eat any of the meat or shrimp (not that I would eat shrimp anyway, but that's because I just don't like it!) figuring that given not knowing a lot about where the food came from this was the best bet.  I try to remember that my values about food are on the cutting edge and not everyone shares them, but the food we are eating was prepared with care by the catering staff at the university and that their work is to be respected.

The big Christmas party tonight was just one of many I attended this year.  There was the department party, the college party (as distinct from the University party, which was the one tonight) and there were even a few I didn't attend.  (I have gotten more discriminating having been here now for six holiday seasons.)  The majority of the Christmas parties I go to are on campus and catered by our university dining services, which does source some things locally, but not many--yet.

I did, however, have several conversations with people about ethics and food tonight.  One such conversation I very much expected--I had yesterday been asked to say something for a newspaper article about ethics and food that this person was writing.  The other was because, very third hand, I had heard that this other person was working on some ethics and food issues at her church.  I think I may have found another event to contribute to given that conversation.

(Additionally, this week was a retirement party for two faculty members at the university who had a combined 70 years of service to the university.  And I had a conversation about the ethics of food there, too.  Another faculty member asked me what I thought about the food being served--what was being served there was more ethical.  There were a few choices that were pretty good at that one!)

So, while the Christmas parties and coffee shops might not make for the most ethical eating, the social atmosphere of the parties made for new opportunities to continue this work.  And well, the coffee shop enables me to do the work that actually pays the bills.

Advice for this time of year?  Try to eat well.  Have some of your favorites, but think about how you might make them more ethical.  When planning holiday parties and meals, consider what changes might be in order to better reflect your food values.  It might mean swapping out an ingredient or two, considering if some dish is really needed if it can't be made more ethical, shopping smart for things like candy, buying local food or wine for gifts, and thinking about new traditions with new more ethical foods.  Talk with those you eat with about how your values are changing your food choices so they aren't surprised and hopefully will be willing to try something new with you.  So with that, and hopefully visions of sugar plums, I wish you all a very merry Christmas (or whatever winter holiday you prefer) and a happy new year.

Cocoa Loco

It's cold.  It's damp.  I have hundreds of papers to grade.  A chocolate pick-me-up is in order--a cup of hot cocoa.  And as I have been reading student papers about human trafficking and "slave chocolate" it only makes sense that I made my cocoa with fair trade cocoa powder.

I have no idea why people use hot cocoa mix.  Cocoa from scratch is just as easy.  Tastes much better and you can control the ingredients.  I know you can get hot cocoa mix that has fair trade cocoa powder, but this is easier and the ingredients are so much more versatile!

So, for those of you who might not know just how simple it is to make hot cocoa from scratch, here it is:  A splash of milk in a mug, add to that a splash of vanilla, a few grains of salt, a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder and two tablespoons of sugar.  Stir while a cup of milk is heating.  When the milk is hot, stir it into the paste and enjoy!

I added some whipped cream and had a nice treat.  Now I have to get back to those papers!

The Lowly Lentil

If you have been reading this blog for very long you've already determined that I like soup.  I have not always been a big soup maker, but in the last several years I have made a lot of soup.  It is economical, tasty, versatile, its recipes are very forgiving, and it is a great way to eat veggies.  It allows me to usually have a good lunch at school, too.  I admit--I do reheat it in the microwave, but alas, it is the most energy efficient way available.

Last night I had planned to make lentil soup, but was really tired when I got home and opted for something less labor intensive.  And that's saying something since lentil soup is pretty much a chop and stir proposition.  It isn't even a lot of measuring.  As long as the proportion of liquid and lentils is pretty close, you're good.  So tonight, since the lentils were already in the measuring cup, since I knew there was celery, onion and carrot in the fridge, since the turkey stock made from the Thanksgiving turkey was defrosting as I took it out of the freezer Monday, it was time to make soup.

Lots of lentils are actually grown here in Eastern Washington.  Pullman, Washington, home of Washington State University, hosts a lentil festival every summer.  I will admit though, I have no idea where the lentils I used tonight grew.  I bought them in bulk months ago and I can't remember.  There's some chance that they are local, but it is more likely they are just organic.


Lots of people don't really like lentils.  I think they are misunderstood, myself.  They are a good source of protein and when prepared well are tasty.  I remember last year having a choice between lentil soup and minestrone at an Italian restaurant in Providence, RI.  I chose lentil and so did my Great Aunt and a few others in the party for my Grandmother's 90th birthday.  But my immediate family was surprised.  We didn't eat a lot of lentils growing up.  But I do love them now.  Simple, humble, lowly--but a food of great sustenance that is inexpensive.  Surely peasant food in all cultures that eat them, but good food nevertheless.

And with one and a quarter cups of lentils (I mixed green french lentils, red lentils often used in Indian cooking, and brown lentils), an organic onion, organic carrots, and some organic celery, five cups of turkey stock, a fourteen ounce can of organic diced tomatoes, some Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, a little olive oil, and hot sauce, I have probably 8 servings of healthy soup.  I pureed about two-thirds of the soup in the blender and stirred that back into the pot before serving.  I garnished with some dried tomatoes I made over the summer.  It took less than an hour from start to finish--that's from chopping to doing the dishes.  I am satisfied on a cold night and have soup for lunches and dinners, some even frozen.


This time of year, I have to eat healthy an ethically when I am cooking for myself to off-set the indulgences of the myriad of Christmas parties and other events at school.  This lentil soup fills the bowl and the tummy, just as it soothes the soul.

The Prepared Pantry

The weather has been bad the last couple of weeks in Spokane.  Lots of snow and poorly plowed roads.  Makes a city slicker like me not want to go out as much as I can avoid it.  Now, this snow storm and the ensuing "trapped in my apartment" feeling came right after Thanksgiving, so I was eating leftovers.  But we all know that as much as many of us really love Thanksgiving leftovers, they can get tedious.  I had given a lot of the leftovers away to my guests, which was a good plan, but there was still a lot to eat.

The leftover situation made my reliance on my pantry less than typical for a snowed in period.  I am not, however, one of those people who does a pre-blizzard shopping trip made up of bread, milk and peanut butter.  (I remember fondly an article about pre-hurricane shopping that appeared in the local paper when I lived in Florida about how many people did this and why this wasn't the best choice.)  Instead of rushing out, buying a weird collection of things that likely can't be turned into any particular meal, I have a well-stocked pantry of things I know enough about.  And in my kitchen, with its serious lack of cabinet and counter space, it's a feat in itself.

In any event, winter is the time for pantry cooking.  For one thing, if you are committed to local food, in most place in America, there isn't a lot growing in winter.  And so far this winter, Spokane has already had more snow than last winter and we now have the honor of the snowiest November on record, beating out a record from 1955.  I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with a coffee shop, a pub, a nice Italian restaurant, a bar, a pizza place (although I am not crazy about their pizza) and a grocery store in walking distance.  I can even walk to downtown from my neighborhood if need be.  It takes some of the pressure off for doing the mad-dash pre-storm shopping trip, but I am usually pretty well-prepared.

I am pretty permissive for what I consider to be in my pantry.  I include whatever vegetables and fruit that I am wintering over (like apples, onions, potatoes and winter squash), whatever I have stored in my freezer (chopped carrots and celery for soups, crushed tomatoes, homemade stock, sliced strawberries and rhubarb, other berries, usually some frozen green beans, peas and spinach, and usually some grass fed beef--hamburger, or steak), what is in the fridge, always butter, milk and cheese, hopefully a lemon, lime and orange, and what is in the actually pantry--dried pasta, corn meal for polenta and baking, rice (arborio, white, and brown) and other grains (including wheatberries, faro, and quinoa), local flour (bread, all purpose, and whole wheat), canned tuna, cartons of organic stock, lentils,  fair trade chocolate, nuts.  There is always oatmeal and other breakfast cereal (one of the few processed foods I really eat), crackers, peanut butter, sundried tomatoes, dried fruit (some bought, some dried by me), local honey and a variety of vinegars.  My pantry, however, is always a mess.  I have some basic idea where things are, but it is cramped and crowded.  (This is why I have opted for no photo of it--it is a bit embarrassing!)

It is amazing what you can do with that collection of things.  Tonight for dinner -- beef and barley soup, a pantry meal (and lunch for next week) for a cold, icy, Spokane winter night.