Pain perdu

Pain perdu, French toast, Poor Knights, Arme riddere are crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, lightly spiced and golden with a few local variations. This is a quick and easy recipe with no sugar in the main recipe.

My first encounter with french toast was from watching the movie Kramer vs Kramer a long long time ago, yes I am that old.  Mrs. Kramer had just left her husband and son, and the two left behind was going to make breakfast together. Mr. Kramer beat egg and milk in a mug and mashed a piece of white bread into the mixture. His son told him that his mom did it differently. I on the other hand could not understand why he did that at all, and specially after trying it myself. I remember beating egg and milk in a bowl about 50/50, then soaked a piece of white bread in it and then I fried it. The result was a mushy substance I did not care for at all. When my mom came home she showed me how to do it and used stale bread with a much better result. It was still not a huge success it did not become one of my favorites, it was to mushy. Today it is different, I love it and make it quite often and specially if I have stale bread lying around.

I used brioche brought back from paris, but you can use any kind of bread. Since I am diabetic I do not use sugar in the batter. I rather use sweet condiments later. If you want you can add a bit of sugar into the mixture 1-3 teaspoons, but try without, the spices will give them a lot of flavour.

4 (1/2 inch) slices egg bread
2 egg
1 pinch salt, can be discarded
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 dl milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter for frying

 

Cut the bread the stale bread.

Whisk  all the ingredients except the bread in a bowl, place a piece of bread in a shallow pan and pour the mixture over the bread let it soak a bit(about 30 seconds) before frying it in a pan with a bit of butter on medium to high heat.

Repeat with the remaining slices. Cook until golden on one side and then flip to brown the other.

Serve immediately with the condiments you like, I used no added sugar raspberry jam with a drizzle og maple syrup and a few raspberries as garnish and to give this treat a little tartness.

Crock Madame

Crunchy gooey French grilled cheese sandwich topped with an egg.

In Norway they have a saying “A loved child has many names”, I guess it goes for this dish also, Grilled cheese sandwiches are loved by many and eaten around the world. Who is to say what is the right or the wrong way to make this sandwich. For the traditional Crock Monsieur you need bread, preferably brioche, cooked ham and cheese, some also use bechamel sauce.

My version today is quite easy, I used brioche that I brought with me from MiniMe and my trip to Paris. I used Truffle Jack cheese, egg and I dropped the ham this time. If you scroll down, abow the last picture in this post there is a list of different crock sandwiches

For each sandwich I made I used:

2 slices of brioche(use any type of bread)
2 slices of truffle Jack(use your favoroite cheese)
1 egg
A little lettuce and tomatoes for garnish and added nutrients.

Pre heat oven to 200 C

Toast the bread in a pan with a little butter, sandwiched the cheese between the bread.

Place the sandwich on a baking paper lined baking tray and put the sandwich in the middle of the oven. The sandwich is done as soon as the cheese has melted.

While the sandwich is baking fry the egg in a pan with a little butter on medium heat. As soon as it is done, place the egg on top of your sandwich and enjoy.

croque provençal (with tomato)
croque auvergnat (with bleu d’Auvergne cheese)
croque gagnet (with Gouda cheese and andouille sausage)
croque norvégien (with smoked salmon instead of ham)
croque tartiflette (with sliced potatoes and Reblochon cheese)
croque bolognese / croque Boum-Boum (with Bolognese sauce)
croque señor (with tomato salsa)
croque Hawaiian (with a slice of pineapple)

MiniMe and I lunching at Fauchon in Pais. I had risotto with truffles and she had crock monsieur made with only bread, ham and cheese.

 

Scrambled eggs with tomato and chives

Hapy New Year dear readers.

Yes I know that we are well into the first week of 2017, but better late than never:)

I haven’t blogged much lately, my excuse is that I have gone back to school and haven’t managed to organize my time so that there is enough time to blogging. Or maybe is it just the simple fact that I haven’t had time to cook dinner. No, it is just that I have not had the capasity  to think up anything that I wanted to post on my blog.

Raggmunkar, swedish potato pancakes

Feeling a little peckish I looked through the fridge and seeing what I had on hand I felt like making potato pancakes, swedish potato pancakes like the ones I had on Gotland last year. I could raggmunkar and also make something for a challenge Mia from Green Bonanza started in September. This is a challenge for Norwgian foodblogers, each month one foodbloger will be in charge by choosing the theme of the month and follow up on the other bloggers. This months theme is potatoes and the challenger is Ina behind the blog Mat på bordet. You will find pictures from the challenge on Instagram under #oppskriftsutfordringen, you can also find links to this challenge at Matbloggsentralen Facebook page.

Dutch pancakes, puffy and light breakfast treat.

Fluffy dutch pancakes or large Yorkshirepudding, the difference is size and the first mentioned has some added flavorings.

I got to know this type of pancake when I was in college way back when 😀 I was watching a TV show where someone made dutch pancakes, I remember seeing it puff up and I remember thinking that I had to make these pancakes.

For two servings

 

2 large eggs
1 dl milk
1 dl flour
1 tbsp sugae
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Blurberry jam
Powdered sugar, for serving
Lemon wedges, for serving

Heat the oven to 180C

Put 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 10-inch cast iron pan and heat the pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside to cool slightly.

Pulse eggand milk in a blender until frothy, then add flour and the rest of the ingredients and blend the batter until smooth and frothy, 20-30  seconds.

 

Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and pour the batter into the center. Bake for 20 minutes, do not open the oven while baking. The panake will puff up in the center and the edges will be dark and crispy.

Serve warm with blueberry jam a sprinkling of powdered sugar and lemon wedges for squeezing.

Share it or enjoy the pancakes by yourself.

Champorado, filipino rice porridge with chocolate.

Champorado is a sweet chocolate rice porridge made with sweet glutinous rice known as Malagkit among Filipinos and pure cocoa known as Tableya. This porridge can be served hot or cold and is mostly eaten for breakfast, some also enjoy this as mid-afternoon snacks and pared with Tuyo a salted dried fish, this is something I have never tried.

This porridge is a tradition that comes from Mexico, the Philippines got tableya and the mexicans got Tuba a type of palm wine. The Mexican Champorado is made with chocolate and corn, the Filipino is chocolate and sticky rice.

I remember my parents always had a little stock with Tableya when I was growing up, sent to us from my grand parent so I would be able to enjoy filipino treats. I remember it as awful tasting stuff. Tableya is roasted cocoa beans milled and pressed into tablets. Imagine a very young Analiza getting hold of something she was told was chocolate, sneaking away to enjoy the treats in secret, I can tell you that that secret and forbidden moment was not very enjoyable:D

I do not have any Filipino Tableya at hand, but I have other dark chocolate and cocoa powder.

 

Serves 3-4

300 g  dark chocolate
2,5 dl glutinous rice (Malagkit)
5 dl water
1 can coconut milk
condensed milk and dark chocolate for garish

Rinse the rice until the water is clear.

Combine the rice with the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. turn down the heat and let it simmer.

break the chocolate into pieces, add to the milk and rice mixture and stir continuously

Once the glutinous rice is cooked and thick, serve hot in bowls  with condensed milk and shavings of dark chocolate on top.

Breakfast or dinner? Low carb tosilog

Baybayin: To si lo

Low carb dish inspired by the Filipino breakfast Tosilog. garlic fried cauliflower rice, tomatoes drizzled with hot and spicy cane vinegar, tocino marinated pork chop, fried egg, marinade with extra soy sauce and hot and spicy vinegar reduced to a sauce, sautéed bok choi topped with fried shredded sweet potato an onion rings.

I wanted some tocino, but I only had pork chops in the fridge, so I made a tocino marinade.  This time I used salty liquorice syrup from Johan Bulow Lakrids instead of anise liquor. My brother had told me that he had used Sambuca or Hot and sweet to make tocino, so why not this liquorice syrup. Since I am using the salty kind I did not need to add any salt to the marinade.

HERE is a previous Tosilog Recipe and post.

4-6 pork chops
1 cauliflower
3-4 minced cloves of garlic
4-6 bok choi
4-6 eggs
1 sweet potato
1 onion
2 tomatoes
3 tbsp Hot and spicy vinegar(If you do not have this use white wine vinegar and add a                                                                  little chopped chilli, garlic and crushed pepper)
Salt and pepper to taste
4-5 tbsp soy sauce

Marinade
0,5 dl sugar
0.5 dl salty liquorice syrup, you can use any anise or liquorice liquor
2,5 dl pineapple juice
1 whole crushed garlic no matter how many cloves
1 small chopped onion
1 tbsp anatto seeds

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a blender to make the marinade. Blend to a smooth mixture.

Pour the marinade over the meat and marinade for at leat 3 hours in room temperature or over night in the fridge.

Cauliflower rice with garlic.

Finely chop the cauliflower and mince the garlic

Fry the garlic  and cauliflower in a little oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté the bok choi with a little soy sauce.

Shred sweet potato and cut onion rings, Fry the shredded sweet potato and onion rings crispy

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Brown chops in hot oil, about 5 minutes per side; remove pork to a plate.

Pour the marinade into the pan and add 2 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 tablespoon spiced cane vinegar reduce the liquid until it starts to thicken.

Fry  the eggs

Plate on individual plates or put every thing on the table and let everybody serve themselves.

Arroz caldo, filipino comfort food

This must be one of the Filipinos top comfort foods and to me a cherished childhood dish. Arroz caldo I belive to be the Filipino equivalent to chicken noodle soup, when ever I was feeling a bit under the weather my dad would make this for me.

Arroz caldo is a spanish interpretation of the chinese congee, a rice porridge made with broth. Directly translated arroz caldo means rice broth.

My father used to make this with homemade chicken stock and a lot of ginger.

For 4 servings you need

1/2 onion, finely chopped
5 cm long fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil.
1.5 L chicken stock
2.5 dl paella rice
Cooked meat of one chicken.
1 spring onion
crispy crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
A little chili if you want an extra kick.

Saute the onion until it becomes shiny with a little olive oil in a pan, add garlic and grated ginger and fry a bit more, then add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
I used an immersion blender to crush everything to smooth soup, but you do not have to if you don’t want to.

Next step is to add the rice and bring boil, when boiling lover the heat to medium to low and let the porridge simmer untill the rice is cooked. At the end add the cooked chicken and let it simmer some more until the chicken meat is warmed through.

Serve the in bowls and garnish with chopped spring onions, crispy garlic bits and chili.

My dad used to put in a few strands of saffron, but since I did not have any this time I just skipped it.