French Toast

My boyfriend's favorite dish is french toast. He requests it on his birthday. If it wasn't so hard to find good bread around my house I would make it much more often. He is a traditionalist and likes his french toast pretty straight forward which is the recipe below. But don't be afraid to experiment with toppings of berries, whipped cream, or caramel/chocolate toppings. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. Powdered or granular sugar
8 thick slices of 2-day-old bread (better if slightly stale - I like Challah or Brioche Bread)
Butter (can sub vegetable oil)
Maple syrup or powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Whisk the mixture until well blended and pour into a shallow bowl, wide enough to place a slice of the bread you will be using.

2. Place each slice of bread into the milk egg mixture, allowing the bread to soak in some of it. Shake off the excess, and place the bread slices onto a metal rack. Allow bread to soak in egg mix for a minute or two and up to 5 minutes.

3. Melt some butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add slices of bread into pan.

4. Fry the French toast until browned on one side, then flip and brown the other side.

5. Store finished toast on a sheet pan  covered with a kitchen cloth towel. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Serve warm with maple syrup and/or powdered sugar.

Pot stickers with Soy Dipping Sauce

My Boyfriend loves Asian food. I wanted to make him dinner so I chose these pot stickers because they take a little time but you can store the uncooked pot stickers in the freezer and heat them up for a quick dinner. Definitely make a few more pot stickers than you plan to eat so you can have leftovers!

Make Ahead: Freeze the uncooked pot stickers on a floured baking sheet, then transfer to a plastic bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Cook from frozen.

Ingredients:
Dipping Sauce-

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Pot Stickers-

1/4 small head Napa cabbage, finely chopped (about 2 cups; 7 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/8 teaspoon for seasoning
1/3 pound ground pork (not too lean)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced (from 1/2-inch knob)
1 small carrot, coarsely shredded (about 2 tablespoons)
2 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian (toasted) sesame oil
1/2 egg, lightly beaten
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
30 gyoza (pot sticker) wrappers, from 1 (14-ounce) package*
1/4 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. In large bowl, toss together cabbage and 3/4 teaspoon salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Transfer to clean dish towel or cheesecloth, gather ends together, and twist to squeeze out as much water as possible. Wipe bowl clean, then return cabbage to it. Add pork, ginger, carrots, scallions, and garlic and stir to combine. 

2. In small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and egg, then stir into cabbage-pork mixture. Stir in pepper and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt.

3. On dry surface, lay out 1 gyoza wrapper, keeping remaining wrappers covered with dampened cloth or paper towel. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into center, then moisten halfway around edge with wet finger. Fold moisture-free half of wrapper over moistened half to form open half-moon shape. To seal, using thumb and forefinger of one hand, form 6 tiny pleats along unmoistened edge of wrapper, pressing pleats against moistened border to enclose filling. Moistened border will stay smooth and will automatically curve in semicircle. Stand dumpling, seam-side up, on baking sheet and gently press to flatten bottom. Cover loosely with dampened cloth or paper towel. Form remaining dumplings in same manner. 

4. Dipping sauce: combine all ingredients of dipping sauce and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes to have all of the flavors combine. 

5. When ready to cook dumplings: In 10-inch, lidded, non-stick skillet over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking, then remove from heat and arrange pot stickers in tight circular pattern standing up in oil (they should touch one another). Cook, uncovered, until bottoms are pale golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, tilting skillet to distribute, then cover tightly with lid and cook until liquid has evaporated and bottoms of dumplings are crisp and golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons more water if skillet looks dry before bottoms are browned. Remove lid and cook, shaking skillet to loosen pot stickers, until steam dissipates, 1 to 2 minutes. Place pot stickers on a platter and serve with dipping sauce.

BBQ Steak Slider

This dish was made entirely of leftovers. I used the make ahead rolls and some steak from my flank steak salad.

Ingredients:
Sliced cooked steak
your favorite BBQ sauce
2 dinner rolls per person
quesco fresco

Directions:

1. Warm rolls in a 350 degree oven for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.

2. Heat up the sliced steak in the BBQ sauce with a few tbs. of water to thin it out.

3. To serve cut rolls in half. Fill with the steak and top with queso fresco. Serve while still warm.

Flank Steak Salad

I loved the marinade from my cabbage slaw and wanted to use it as a marinade for flank steak. I knew the citrus in the dressing would help tenderize the steak. You can add whatever veggies you like to this dish. Try to grill some and leave others raw for a mix of textures and temperatures!

Ingredients:
Marinade/Dressing:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 small red onion, charred on grill and then coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, roasted or charred and coarsely chopped
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 cup canola oil

For Salad:
Radish, thinly sliced
Cucumber, sliced
Queso Fresco
Bell Pepper
Tomatoes
argula/baby spring mix

Directions:
1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Dressing can be made ahead during the day.

2. Cut the flank steak into 3 or 4 pieces to make it more manageable. About 4-5 inch blocks.  Add steak and 3/4 of marinade mixture to a plastic bag. Marinate in fridge for an hour or up to 8 hours. Reserve some marinade for the salad dressing.


3. Thirty minutes before grilling pull out the meat from the fridge and allow to come up to room temp. Heat up grill until it is about 400-500 degrees.

4. Grill steak, bell pepper, and tomatoes (place tomatoes on a skewer to try to minimize tomatoes falling through the grill grates). Cook the steak for about 6 minutes on each side or until the meat hits 128 degrees internally. Cook bell pepper turning ever few minutes until the outside is slightly charred. Cook tomatoes for about 2 minutes until they burst slightly.

5. Allow meat to rest covered in foil while you plate dish. Put a large handful or arugla onto a plate. Top with radish, cucumber, bell pepper slices, tomatoes and queso fresco. Slice the steak thinly across the grain and place on top of the salad. Drizzle with a little of the reserved marinade and serve.

Grilled Chicken with Grilled Greek Panzanella Salad

I was looking for something healthier to eat and found this Panzanella salad. I figured it's loaded with veggies and a little bread so it had to be good for me. Though of course, the toasted bread that had soaked up the dressing was the best part hahah. I decided to pair the salad with some marinated chicken and stuck with the Greek theme. I simply marinated the chicken in basically a lemon garlic vinaigrette. Everything was really filling and didn't make me miss my usual carbs (potatoes, rice, etc).

You could/probably should use feta cheese for this to make it traditional greek but I love queso fresco and it has a really similar texture to the feta. The best part about cooking - you get to customize your cheese choice to whatever your heart desires.

Ingredients:

Panzanella:
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 English cucumbers
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, strained and rinsed
1/2 french baguette, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 pint grape tomatoes (about 20)
1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
4 ounces queso fresco, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped

Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch fresh oregano, leaves picked(or 1 tsp. dried oregano)
2 cloves garlic, charred and finely minced
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
Salt and pepper


Direction:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a blender. Add to a plastic bag with chicken breast and marinate for 2 hours.

2. Prepare a grill or large grill pan for high heat. Whisk the lemon zest and juice, vinegar, honey, oregano and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the oil in a slow, steady stream until emulsified. (Dressing can be made ahead)

3. Peel the cucumbers , leaving alternating strips of green peel. Trim the ends, halve the cucumbers lengthwise and slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Add them to the bowl with the dressing. Add the chickpeas.

4. Brush the baguette slices on both sides with 2 tablespoons of the oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Thread 6 or 7 tomatoes on each skewer. (If using wooden skewers, leave just 1/2 inch sticking out on each end so you do not have to soak them.) Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons oil on the tomatoes and the onions, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

5. Place the chicken, bread, skewered tomatoes and onions on the grill. Grill the bread, flipping and rotating frequently, until charred in spots on both sides and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Grill the onions, turning as needed, until charred and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Grill the tomatoes, turning occasionally, until lightly charred in spots and starting to burst, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the bread and vegetables to a large cutting board when done cooking.

6. When cool enough to handle, cut the bread into thirds and roughly chop the onions into bite-size pieces. Add them to the bowl with the cucumbers, chickpeas and dressing. Add the tomatoes, queso fresco, and dill. Gently toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper if needed.Let the salad sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving, drizzled with olive oil.