I have been swimming 3 to 4 times a week and been starving since I started. I don't know what it is, but I'm burning so many more calories now and my body is craving good food that has some carbs. I've also been craving french toast but a healthier version, one that's not sitting in fat and butter for minutes on end. I turned to MyRecipes and found this recipe that was completely satisfying. It's a great brunch recipe and would taste fantastic with bacon (not so healthy) and mimosas (be sure to drink water too!) When I own a B&B someday, this will definitely be on the menu!
Matt is not a pancake fan, and yet it is a breakfast staple of mine. Growing up, Sunday mornings were my favorite because Mom made either homemade pancakes or waffles, sometimes served with homemade raspberry or strawberry jam (there's only a few left now in the freezer). Sometimes she'd even surprise us with bacon or sausage as a side, and as always, orange juice to drink (they didn't have organic juice in those days). It's one of my favorite memories and many emotions are tied to them, happy ones of course. The house was always so warm and snuggly on those mornings, and Mom, Dad and I (and Katie too when she finally arrived) would talk about the week that we had and the week that was coming up.
1. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, egg yolks, and lemon peel to blend. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until evenly moistened. Gently stir in ricotta cheese.
2. In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.
3. Place a nonstick griddle or a 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat (350°); when hot, coat lightly with oil and adjust heat to maintain temperature. Drop batter in 1/2-cup portions onto the griddle and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes; turn cakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
4. Serve pancakes as cooked, or keep warm in a single layer on baking sheets in a 200° oven for up to 15 minutes.
My sister's good friend Roxy came to visit and I was concerned that since she's young and energetic, she'd want to go out and eat and fancy/hip restaurants. This was certainly not in our budget! Luckily she was fine with whatever we wanted to cook at home, so I came up with a few tasty dishes that all of us were pleased with.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our social network is expanding. We have another friend from the Seattle area who moved to town a couple of weeks ago and is living in Glendale now - Don's friend Dom - yes, with an "m". We wanted to invite him over but tonight is Don's company Christmas party so instead of dinner, we decided to invite him over for brunch.Squeeze handfuls of spinach to remove as much liquid as possible, then finely chop.
Cook onion in butter in a large heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in spinach, then remove from heat.
In a large bowl, toss together the bread cubes, spinach mixture, 1 3/4 cups of the Gruyere, and 3/4 cup of the Parmigiano. Transfer 1/2 of the bread mixture to another bowl and toss with sausage.
Line a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with several pieces of foil, to form 2 enclosed sides, building a "dam" of foil down the center crosswise. Butter the foil. Put the "vegetarian" mixture in 1 side, and the "meat-eaters" mixture in the other.
Whisk together milk, eggs, mustard, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and pour evenly over each side. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Gruyere, and 1/4 cup Parmigiano. Let the strata sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Bake strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Because I love to blog, I'm trying all the new recipes I can so that I can write about them. This has included looking up new and interesting side dishes. Last night I picked out this recipe as an accompaniment to the Brunswick Stew. This was a neat twist on your ordinary cornbread recipe and though it dirtied a lot of dishes for the amount of food it produced, I had so much fun making it. I don't normally prepare anything that falls into the baking category, so the fact that I was making pancakes out of fresh vegetables was really exciting to me. If you make these, watch the pan carefully because they go from perfectly done to burnt in a matter of seconds. I almost considered halving the recipe since it said it produced 16 cakes, but don't be fooled. I only got 8 cakes out of them and they were pretty small so figure two to a person.
2. In another large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Add to corn mixture and mix thoroughly but gently.
3. In a large clean bowl, whisk or beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into corn mixture.
4. In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp. oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, drop large spoonfuls of the corn mixture into pan (do not spread or flatten). Cook until edges begin to set and undersides are browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until cakes are browned and cooked through. Cook remaining batter the same way, adding oil as necessary. Serve hot.
Note: Nutritional analysis is per cake.
Makes 16 cakes
CALORIES 63(60% from fat); FAT 4.2g (sat 0.6g); PROTEIN 1.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; SODIUM 0.0mg; FIBER 0.0g; CARBOHYDRATE 0.0g
