Saturday, October 24, 2009

I'm Dreaming of a Dose of French Toast!

French toast topped with strawberries and New Mexican
Pinon nuts
Great on an October fall morning weekend when the sun is just rising over the back patio fence and the squirrels are peering into the patio sliding door to see what’s cooking!


Ingredients
3 slices organic multi-grain bread
1 large organic egg
¼ C organic heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
1T ground cinnamon
1 pinch of kosher salt
¼ t organic olive oil for cooking
Organic butter for cooking
6 organic strawberries
¼ Pinon nuts (alternative, pine nuts) If allergic to nuts, do not use.
Organic maple syrup
Shaved organic dark chocolate (optional)


Pre-heat medium sized pan on medium-low heat.

In a small mixing bowl, mix and scramble egg, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bread slices aside until soaking.

Pour mixture into a 8" x 8" glass or tin Pyrex for bread soaking. Soak each slice of bread separately on each side for about 30 seconds. Let the bread soak the mixture. Don’t over soak another slice of bread while cooking the first slice bread.

In the pre-heated pan, put ½ t olive oil and a little butter. Place soaked bread into pan and cook for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes until the side is golden brown and then flip with a spatula to the uncooked side for about the same amount of time.

Pre-heat the oven to “warm” and turn off. Each time a toast is cooked, put it on a oven safe plate and put into oven that is warm. It keeps the cooked French toast warm while the other slices are being cooked.

Top with sliced strawberries, Pinon nuts and dark chocolate shavings (if you’re craving sweet). Drizzle maple syrup on top too.

Happy eating!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Amazing Amuse Bouche!


The best amuse bouche I've ever had was at Joel Robuchon's The Mansion. He's the chef that has the most Michelin stars (18). The executive chef is Claude LeTohic at the restaurant in the MGM Grand Las Vegas.
When the wait staff brought over the dishes, my wife and and I looked at each other in utter disbelief. We were giddy like kids and couldn't wait to dig in. I mean, enjoy each spoonful. I knew our anniversary dinner was going to be a great one.
The amuse bouche is dungenous crab topped with Oscietre caviar served in the caviar tin. The sweet crab and mild salty roe complimented each other. C'est magnifique!