Besides the background provided by Blogger, and unless otherwise stated, all of the images on this blog are property of the blog owner and author, and I do not authorize copying, editing, or any means of distributing or usage of my images without my written consent.

Friday, January 25

Bacon and Egger on a Popover


Being Canadian I love Tim Horton's Breakfast Sandwiches, and wanted to try my own. It was so  simple I think  simple I think it took less than 10 minutes!

I already had popovers made (check out my post on Sweet Cinnamon Popovers, there's a recipe for plain popovers on the bottom!) so I just cut two in half, warmed them in the microwave and buttered them. Two strips of bacon went in the frying pan, and in another I cracked one egg with a bit of salt and scrambled it like that, no milk, cheese or anything else.

Then I placed the eggs on one half of the popovers, one strip of bacon cut in half on each, and then the other half of the popover. If you want you can add cheese, veggies, or other kinds of meat to make it even better!

Monday, January 21

Grilled Cheddar, Apple and Bacon Sandwich


I've been seeing fruit, especially apples, on sandwiches for a while. I had no idea what this would taste like but it intrigued me so here it is. It actually tasted quite good, and reminded me of when I made a bacon and cheese sandwich with avocado. Different fruits are best paired with different cheeses and I heard apples and cheddar work really well together, so that's what I used.

2 Slices of Bread
4 Slices of Cheddar Cheese (just enough to cover one slice of bread)
2 and a half Slices of Bacon
1/2 Apple sliced thinly
Butter

After frying the bacon and setting it on paper towel to drain the excess grease, I set about making this like any other grilled cheese sandwich. Melt the butter in a frying pan, and on the first piece of bread place the cheese, then the bacon, and then the apple on top. Top with the other piece of bread and place in the pan. When it's golden brown, flip it over very carefully so it doesn't fall apart, otherwise you'll be trying to rearrange a sandwich with all its contents in a hot frying pan. As soon as it's dark enough on both sides and the cheese is melted, remove from the pan and enjoy!
 

Sweet Cinnamon Popovers


When I was a kid my mom would make the best popovers, and the batch didn't last more than 20 minutes after she put them on the table. After finding her recipe I searched for creative ideas that involved popovers and decided to use sugar and cinnamon, one of my favourite combinations, to put new life into an classic.

(If you want to try something really cool check out this recipe I found while Googling)

1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup of Milk
1 Egg
Butter
1 teaspoon White Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
Pinch Allspice
1/4 teaspoon Brown Sugar

I doubled this recipe because my muffin tin had 12 cups. If you're doing this with 6 large cups you'll need to double it as well.

These were done in a muffin tin with 12 cups, but if you have an actual popover tin that should work just as well. In each muffin cup put a bit of butter, about 1/4 teaspoon in each, and place this in the over after preheating at 375 degrees. In a bowl beat 1 egg, then beat in the milk, flour, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Once the butter is simmering in the muffin cups remove the tray from the oven with an oven mitt and spoon in the batter evenly between all of the cups. Don't be afraid to fill it all the way to the top, that's how they pop over!

Turn the temperature from 375 to 450 now, then place the muffin tray back into the oven. They take 20 minutes to bake, and are best served hot, so take them straight out of the tray (using a fork to make sure it isn't stuck inside the cup or it will rip apart) and put them onto a plate. With a bit more butter on top to melt, and a sprinkle of sugar, these are perfect served as breakfast, dessert, tea, or just a snack!

Enjoy!

Tip: to make plain popovers, just don't add the white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice; instead, just a pinch of salt, served with butter on top.

Sunday, January 20

Basic Hard Boiled Egg Sandwich

7 Days, 7 Sandwiches: Day One


Here's a really easy one that is so simple to make for a quick lunch, really basic and not complicated in any way. Also there is so much room left for experimenting by adding whichever veggies you prefer!

2 Eggs (If large possibly just one; however much you can fit onto a sandwich)
2 Slices of Bread
Romaine Lettuce
Mayo (I used Miracle Whip)
Mustard
Salt and Pepper

First I boiled the eggs, then set about building up the sandwich until they were done. On one slice of bread goes two leaves of Romaine Lettuce, and on the other, a thin spreading of both mayo and mustard. Once the eggs are boiled, halve them twice so they're in quarters, then place them evenly over the mayo and mustard layers. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top (I also added a bit of garlic salt) and place the slice with lettuce overtop of that. And that's it!


Friday, January 18

Easy Family Sized Braided Apple and Cinnamon Strudel


I am a huge fan of Pinterest, and while browsing for new recipes to try out, this caught my eye. I instantly wanted to give it a shot and a few days later, I did. This one was hugely simple (though I did make it more complicated by #1 not having a rolling pin and #2 not realising until five minutes into baking that wax paper and parchment paper can not be used in place of one another!) Here's how it goes:

2 Packages of Cresent Rolls (substitute whatever dough you want)
4 Medium Apples
1 Egg
A Splash of Milk
Sugar and Cinnamon

I Googled a few recipes for Apple Pie filling to make sure I did the filling for the Strudel right, and this is what I ended up doing after taking pointers from a few different sites. After peeling and chopping the apples I boiled them in just enough water to cover them, on high and covered. It made the kitchen smell like hot apple cider and though I was worried that boiling the apples would take out some of the flavour but it really just enhanced it. Once boiled I drained them, and in a bowl added sugar and cinnamon, as much as you want, honestly, the more you add the better it tastes.

For the dough I followed the recipe above, rolling it out and cutting slits into it on the sides, about a half inch to an inch wide each, leaving enough room in the middle for the filling. After adding the filling braid as the recipe says, making sure to keep it tight without tearing the dough. It's important to not cut the slits too far into the rolled out dough or the filling will spill out the sides. Once it was all braided, I beat one egg together with a splash of milk, and brushed this over the Strudel. Then I sprinkled more sugar and cinnamon on top (once again you can never have enough!) and put it in the oven at the temperature given on the cresent rolls package. It took about 45 minutes to bake fully, and because I couldn't roll the dough out as thinly as I wanted, I had to keep checking by lifting up one of the braided strands to make sure it wasn't still raw.

It will be golden brown when cooked, and none of the dough should appear raw underneath. When it was finished I sliced it up instantly and served it to my family (with a bit more sugar sprinkled on top); it was a huge hit! Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or just the way it is. I'll definitely be doing this one again, trying with different fruits, and maybe a more savoury take on it as well, which I will be posting here. Please try this one out, the braided techniquie can be used with any filling you want, and it was so much fun and extremely easy!