Buttermilk French toast

When I make something with buttermilk, I'm often left with an amount I can't find a use for, so it almost *always* goes to waste.  Tired of the waste, I decided to try a traditional dish with a twist; buttermilk French toast.

I really wasn't sure if it would be a hit or a miss, but my desire to use up the buttermilk outweighed my concern about any result I might achieve.  The gamble paid off.  It was delicious!  If you ever find yourself with that leftover buttermilk, and don't have a use for it, I encourage you to give this dish a try.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 - 1" slices of bread (try something like challah, sourdough or brioche, though anything would work)

Butter

Maple syrup

Directions:

In a shallow pie pan, combine buttermilk, cream, sugar and eggs, and whisk well.  Add bread slices (as many as will fit at one time), and soak on both sides until egg mixture penetrates the bread (about 1 minute/side).

To a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter (refresh butter, as needed, as you cook each batch of bread slices), and heat over medium until butter is no longer frothy, and starts to brown just slightly (but isn't burning or smoking).

Add soaked bread slices to the heated skillet, and cook until a deep char forms on each side.  Remove from pan, and serve with butter and maple syrup.

This recipe is enough for two adult servings.

It's a 'best day'...

...when the heart candies come out of the box like this, especially because we are breeding our beloved Kindle this week.  Ty has been very present here this morning, as well.

Happy 'best day' friends.  Here's hoping there's 'puppy love' on your horizon!

Just because...

Last weekend, sunrise, out by the airport...it was so pretty.

Hilppa's scones with a flavor twist

This morning I made Hilppa's scones again, this time with dried cherries and orange zest vs. raisins.  I did not have buttermilk, so I used just whole milk, and I think the milk hurt the creaminess of the dough - it just wasn't quite up to par with the buttermilk version.  The flavor combination of the cherries and orange zest was superb, however.

The only way to eat these, is fresh from the oven, in my opinion.  Super warm, fragrant and immensely flavorful.  There is just no limit to the flavor combinations that can be made.  Sweet, savory...anything.  Next up, a rosemary and white cheddar version.

Give these scones a try.  You will not be disappointed...but make sure you use buttermilk for an ultimate scone experience.  And do not over bake them.  They can become dry, I have learned, if baked too long.

Happy scone-ing, friends, and happy Monday!

Hilppa's scones

What a delightful surprise for a Thursday!

I was on FaceBook earlier, posting about my bread baking trials, and a friend from Finland posted a scone recipe for me to try.

I've had a few scones in my day, and while I do enjoy them, they have never been a favorite of mine.  Either too heavy, or too dry.

I decided to try my friend's recipe, and I'm so glad I did.  With her permission, I have posted the recipe here, and I can't recommend this one, enough.  Thank you, Hilppa!!  A new favorite around here.  I suspect it will make a regular appearance at the breakfast table.  These are truly special.

Ingredients:

250 grams flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
75 grams butter, cubed
2 tablespoons raisins
Buttermilk

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, and stir to distribute.  Add the butter cubes, and cut in with a pastry blender until small crumbs form.

Add the raisins, and stir to distribute.

Add buttermilk, a little at a time, and stir.  Keep up with your additions until a firm, but soft dough forms.  The dough should hold it's shape in the bowl.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Roll into a long, narrow rectangle, about 1" thick.  Working across the length, cut into triangles, transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake until very lightly golden on the outside - do not over bake.  Remove from baking sheet and serve warm with butter, jam and a dollop of whipped cream.

These are delightfully light, without being dry.  A real winner!

Related posts:  Hilppa's scones with a flavor twist! and Scones...again!

If you don't have a metric scale, you can find conversion information here.

Leftovers made new again

I'm all about cooking new things, but I'm also all about using up leftovers in a creative way.  Reheated leftovers, as they are, are boring, and when it comes to food, boring just doesn't work around here.

A panini is a great way to bring leftovers together in a new wrapper, especially when the beautiful lemon and herb olive loaf I made is the wrapper.

This one was a three ingredient delight.  Sliced smoked sausage, pan seared for a light caramel crust, thick sliced avocado, and a good dose of my fromage fort.

I think, without question, fromage fort is about the most versatile thing I have made in recent memory.  I have used it to make pasta sauce, eggs benedict, on pizza, in French onion soup, in scrambled eggs, and in/on about 15 other dishes.  I love the stuff.  I would say I have a fromage fort addiction!

This panini was quick, delicious, and made respectable use of my leftovers.

Happy hump day, friends!

Starter trials...how did the first loaf turn out?

Bread made from flour, water and salt.  The only yeast was developed from a starter of flour and water, carefully cultivated, and well documented in my starter trials.  No commercial yeast, and the taste and texture would be quite impressive, even with a few mistakes I made during the baking stage, and those leading up to it.

Yesterday was quite an adventure.  It had been a few weeks of developing starter to even get to the baking stage, so my anticipation was understandably high.

The bulk rise went well, with everything coming to pass as I expected, given Chad's photos and tutorial in Tartine Bread. Shaping went well.  Loading the shaped loaf into the floured basket went well.  The final rise went well...just as I understood it to be.

It was at the point of loading the loaf into the combo cooker where things took a slight turn.  The loaf collapsed just a bit as I transferred it to the cooker.  This was my first disappointment.  Onward I pressed, however, committed to finishing what I had started.

My second disappointment was in removing the lid of the cooker after 25 minutes.  The dramatic oven spring I'd come to expect from my artisanal loaves wasn't as dramatic as I know it should be, and can be, and certainly not what Chad's beautiful photos showed.

My third disappointment was in the weight of the loaf after I removed it from the oven, thinking it was done.  It wasn't done.  It was close, but the moisture hadn't baked out of it enough to allow for the light feel and hollow sound I was expecting.  Unfortunately, by the time I realized this, it was too late to put it back into the oven.

None the less, even with my mistakes, I can't complain all that much.  Yes, it was flatter than I wanted, due to the collapse, and it wasn't as light as I'd wanted, due to the retained moisture, but it still had an unexpected  display of holes when I cut into it, and the flavor of the olives, lemon and herbs was wonderful.

Equipped with more information now, and an idea for a better transfer technique from basket to cooker, I'm looking for the home run loaf I know I can make.  Oh, so close...but not quite there!