French T

I haven't posted in a while, but now that the tough part of clerkship is behind me and I'm heading into my elective I though it was time to get back into action. So here is my recipe for french toast. It is bound to please the sugar lover in you.

French Toast

For 2

6 slices of baguette (cut diagonally, about an inch thick)

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup maple syrup + more for the toast

1 egg

1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat a skillet to medium/hot and add the butter to the pan. Warm the butter until fully melted. In a shallow pan whisk together the milk, egg, cinnamon and maple syrup. Dip each slice of bread into the batter and turn to coat each side. Fry the bread on medium heat until crispy and golden and then turn. Each side should take 2-3 minutes. Serve the french toast hot with powdered sugar and extra maple syrup. Your taste buds won't even know what happened to them. 

Thanks to Natty for the inspiration...

Skinny Bitch Daiquiri

All right girls. Summer is here and its time to celebrate the weather and my new home. And that means time for some awesome girly drinks. So here's my recipe for a healthy version of a slushy daiquiri.

Skinny Bitch Daq

Ingredients

5 strawberries
3 slices of watermelon, cubed
2 cups ice
4 shots rum
3 tbsp splenda or sugar substitute
1/2 cup sparkling water
A few sprigs of mint

In a blender combine the rum, ice, strawberries, watermelon and Splenda and blend until liquid. In a glass add the mint and crush with the end of a spatula. Fill the glass 2/3 of the way full with the fruit/rum mixture and top with sparkling water. Add more rum if you wish (and by if you wish I mean clearly this is the only option). Add a few ice cubes and enjoy!

Watermelon strawberry daq. Summer is here.

Burgers for the boys

To keep this short and sweet these will be the best burgers you will ever eat (haha that rhymes).

Ingredients

1/2 kg lean ground beef
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 onion, diced
1/2 jar pickled jalapeño peppers, drained and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs (you might need a little more)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 awesome buns, not those crap ones from the grocery store that come in a 12 pack. Get something like kaiser or ciabatta.

Toppings to make these burgers even more awesome:

Brie cheese
Caramelized onions
Fried mushrooms
Pickles!!! (obviously)
Sliced tomatoes
Mayo, mustard, ketchup? Maybe even relish if you're a daredevil

Combine all the burger ingredients into a bowl and mix with your hands (yes, your hands will get dirty but trust me its worth it). Once you've mixed everything together add in a little more bread crumbs if you need to so that the mixture is not too wet. Divide the mixture into 4 parts and form into burger patties using your hands. Meanwhile, turn on the BBQ so it gets nice and hot. Cook the burgers for about 3 mins on each side or until cooked through. And a little piece of advice; if you like juicy burgers (who doesn't) don't squish them down while you are cooking them. This is just squeezing all the awesome juices out. Add the cheese right before you take them off the grill and throw the buns on for a few seconds so they get warm and toasty. Now, dress those bad boys and prepare your mouth for a tasty treat.

Woah look at all that good stuff

Burgers for the boys

Thai Bowl

I bought a box of soba noodles after my last trip to Aux Vivres thinking that I would be able to create my own version of their Thai Bowl. Here is my attempt! Its lacking in lemon grass because I didn't have any on hand, but next time I'll be sure to add it in!

Ingredients

Stir Fry
1 package of low fat soba noodles
1 carrot, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
1/4 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup edamame beans
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Coriander for garnish

Saute the zucchini and carrots in the oil in a hot non-stick pan. After 2-3 mins add the onions, ginger and garlic and continue to fry until the onions are soft, about 4 mins (if you have lemon grass add it here). Add in the shrimp and heat until the shrimp are pink throughout. Turn off the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles according to package directions. In a microwaveable bowl, microwave the edamame beans until cooked, about 3 mins. Remove the beans from the pods and add them to the stir fry mixture.

Peanut Sauce
2 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce, more to taste

In a microwaveable bowl, warm the peanut butter until liquid, about 45 seconds. Add the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and whisk. Add more soy sauce or peanut butter to your liking.

Combine the noodles, sauce and stir fry mixture and stir until all the ingredients are combined. Serve and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and coriander.

Shrimp Tacos with Pico de Gallo

Its been a while since my last post. I've been busy running to the OR every chance I get. Now that I'm doing my family med rotation things have calmed down a bit and its back to the kitchen.


Tortillas
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon margarine
3/4 cup water

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the margarine and mix in with your fingers until it is well distributed. Add the water and mix with your hands until a ball of dough has formed. You may need to add a little more water to form a solid ball of dough. Kneed the dough for a few mins and then separate into 12 balls. Roll each ball out until a flat tortilla is formed. Fry the tortillas in a dry pan for about 30-45 seconds on each side. Don't worry if the tortilla seems stiff once it is done cooking. As you stack them and keep them warm they soften up.

Shrimp Taco Filling
Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cups peeled shrimp
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp olive oil

In a pan, sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft, about two mins. Add the garlic, shrimp, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until the shrimp have all turned pink.

Pico de Gallo
Ingredients:

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the pulp (otherwise the pico de gallo will be too wet), then chop. Add all of the ingredients to mixing bowl and stir. Serve on top of the tacos. 

**If you aren't ambitious enough to make your own tortillas I'm sure store bought ones will work just fine. Add the shrimp mixture and a few tablespoons of pico de gallo and enjoy!

A summer drink for summer weather

Ohhhhh my god this weather couldn't be more amazing!! The only way to celebrate is by cracking a cold beer or sipping on a delicious cocktail. Since I'm sure you're all capable of popping the cap of a cold one I'll share my latest creation for a tasty berry drink!

Blackberry and Lychee Slush

Ingredients
8 ice cubes
A handful of blackberries
1/3 cup lychee juice
1/3 cup sparkling water (or more if you prefer)
1 shot lychee liqueur
1 shot vodka

In a blender (Magic Bullet works perfectly) add the ice, berries and lychee juice and puree until the ice has become a slush. Poor the slush mixture into your favorite serving glass and add the vodka and lychee liqueur, then stir. Top the glass of with sparkling water and garnish with mint or lemon and lime wedges. Enjoy this one out on the balcony before spring returns!

Cookie pizza

Why god whyyyyy did I think of making this cookie pizza? This is sometimes the result of me trying not to keep any dessert in the house. Instead, my brain thinks of the most ridiculous thing to make, makes it, eats it (usually Tobey or Katie go down with me), and then feels sick. This instance was no different. Anyway, here it is...my recipe for cookie pizza, a very, very guilty treat.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 cup semi-sweet Baker's chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butterscotch chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and egg and mix well. In a second bowl stir together the flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients 1/3 at a time. Stir well after each addition. Add in the chocolate chips. Once the cookie dough is mixed set aside the amount you would like to eat (that's how this whole thing started) and form the rest into a ball. If you have a stoneware cooking sheet that will work best otherwise use a metal cookie tray. Place the ball of cookie dough in the middle and press it down until you form a cookie about the size of a dinner plate. Bake for 10-12 mins or until the cookie looks golden. Remove from the oven and allow it to continue cooking on the hot cookie sheet. I left mine on the stone sheet for about an hour. The cookie won't be cooked all the way through and will be gooey and amazing, just like pizza! I sliced my cookie pizza into 8 pieces (this sounds like very few cookies from a whole recipe but this is after Katie and I ate about 1/4 of the original dough mixture). By the next morning the cookie pizza was cooled and the pieces no longer fell apart. Just in time for Saturday breakfast (again whyyyy did I do this?!).

Cupcakes for the Birthday Girl

Cookie Dough. Cupcakes. Frosting. Why not put all these things together? One of my closest friends celebrated her birthday today and in an attempt to satisfy her sweet tooth I decided to combine my love of cupcakes and cookie dough (thanks to a pic I saw somewhere on either Pinterest, Foodgawker...who knows) and guess what! The cupcakes were a success (surprise, surprise).


Vanilla Cake

Ingredients
1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water

Make the cake batter according to the package directions

Cookie Dough (Joy of Baking Cookbook's recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

In a bowl stir together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In a larger bowl mix together the sugar and butter until creamy. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir well. Add the rest of the flour mixture and stir again. Finally, add the chocolate chips and stir until combined.

After preparing the cake mix and cookie dough you should be ready to get to work! Line a muffin try with paper cupcake wrappers and preheat the oven to 350F. Spoon in the cake mix until the cups are about half full. Roll some cooking dough into a ball and place it into the cupcake cup. Press the cookie down down with your finger and then add a spoonful of cake mix on top, making sure that the cookie dough is covered. Repeat until you run out of cake batter or dough. When I made them the recipe made 16 cupcakes, with a little cookie dough to spare. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 mins and allow them to cool before frosting them.

Buttercream Frosting (Mama Evans' recipe)

Ingredients

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Stir the ingredients together until the frosting is thick and smooth. If the frosting seems a little too liquid add a few more tbsp of confectioner's sugar. It should have quite a thick consistency. Using an frosting bag (or just a plain old knife if that's all you have) frost the cupcakes with a generous amount of frosting. I like to use my pampered chef decorator set. 


Sprinkle the cupcakes with sprinkles, or whatever else your heart desires (M&Ms, Reese's BP cups, the options are limitless!)

Finished product (finishing touch thanks to Instagram)

Happy Birthday TT!

Cupcake sandwich

Cookie dough makes everything better

Thai Seafood Curry

I convinced Tobey that we should do our grocery shopping at PA's on Fort yesterday afternoon, and I got so excited in the seafood section that I pretty much bought everything. When we got home and realized that our groceries were barely going to fit in the fridge so, I decided to come up with a recipe that would use a lot of the ingredients we bought. Now, what to do with shrimp, mussels and squid? I used some inspiration from some of the Thai and Vietnamese dishes I tasted on my travels over the summer and came up with a Thai curry stew. So here it is (lightened up of course)!

Thai Seafood Curry

Ingredients
20 live mussels, cleaned (make sure you throw out any damaged mussels)
20 shrimp, peeled
8 oz squid, sliced into rings
2 cups bok choy, washed and sliced
1 medium sliced onion cut into large chunks
1 large orange bell pepper, cut into large chunks
1 cup broccoli florets and stems, chopped
1 cup small mushrooms, halved
1 can light coconut milk
2 cups low-fat soy milk
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (look for Thai Kitchen brand at most grocery stores)
1-2 tbsp fish sauce to taste
1 tbsp brown sugar


Directions
In a wok, heat the coconut milk, soy milk and red curry paste until bubbling then redice the heat. Add the peppers, onions and squid and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables have become almost cooked. After 10 minutes add the brocoli and mushrooms and simmer for 2-3 more minutes. Stir occasionally. Finally, add in the shrimp, mussels and bok choy and stir. Replace the lid for 1-2 minutes or until the mussels have opened and the shrimp have turned pink. Be sure to remove and mussels that have not opened because this means they were dead prior to cooking.

Serve hot with rice or alone as as a soup.

** If you don't like seafood you can make this recipe with chicken or tofu (fry them first) or any other vegetables you like. If you are substituting or adding vegetables make sure to put ones that take a long time to cook, like carrots, in first and faster cooking vegetables in at the end.

Squid, shrimp and mussels

Chopped orange pepper

Cubed portobello mushrooms

Squid, cleaned and sliced into rings

Chopped bok choy, ends removed

That Seafood Curry
Serve with rice or noodles, or eat as a soup!

Stuffed French Toast

What perfect way to spend New Year's morning by indulging in a cheesy sweet treat? This recipe is another one adapted from my new WeightWatchers Complete Cookbook. This book is golden! So here is my version of their recipe for stuffed French toast.

Ingredients

Serves 2 people

4 pieces of whole wheat, no sugar added bread

1/4 cup egg white substitute
1/4 cup skim of 1% milk

1 tbsp Splenda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 oz brie cheese

2 tbsp jam (I used raspberry but you can use your favorite)

Directions

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and spray with cooking spray. In a shallow bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, cinnamon and Splenda. Using a fork dip a piece of bread in the mixture and turn it over to coat. Cook in the pan for about 1 minute on each side. To make the processes easier cook two pieces of bread at once. Once you have flipped the bread place the brie cheese on one piece of bread and spread 1 tbsp of jam on the other. Flip the piece of bread with the jam on it onto the bread with the cheese. Once the cheese has melted place the stuffed French toast on a serving plate. Repeat the same process with the other two pieces of bread. Serve the stuffed French toast with maple syrup and enjoy!

Golden French toast

Raspberry jam and brie

Finishing touch: maple syrup