Magleby's Fresh French Toast

I love eating out for breakfast at Magelby's Fresh. My favorite is the french toast. Okay, I also love their breakfast burrito. Mmmmm. So I wanted to make the french toast. After testing it several times (it was a trial, but someone had to do it), I decided that the trick wasn't in the actual french toast but in the syrup and fruit & cream.

Also, since I am often alone for dinner, I LOVE making breakfast for dinner. If I didn't have kids, I'd just wait for Matt to come home and we could make something together. But no, it's breakfast for dinner. So here is what I did:

Made french toast. I usually do a mixture of 50% eggs to 50% milk. And then I cooked it.

Next I followed the below recipe for the syrup:

Buttermilk Syrup
1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Bring first five ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and add Baking Soda. To avoid boil over I use a fairly deep, heavy pan.

Then I made homemade cream and fruit. I used powdered sugar in the cream because I ran out of regular sugar. And I used frozen fruit because my kids ate all the fresh stuff.

But it tasted the same. Of course, sometimes it isn't a matter of whether or not I can do it, but whether or not I want to cook that day.

This would be great for large parties.

**Note: This met with rave reviews. My french toast haters are now asking for it every day. And Matt loved it too. This was a MEGA hit at our house.

Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches

This is from Our Best Bites. Which I'm a huge fan of. This one interested me because I love pepperoncini's. It was good. Reminded me of Corned Beef Sandwiches.

Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Allrecipes

1/2+ tsp. kosher salt
1/2+ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of olive or cooking oil
3 lb. beef roast, trimmed of excess fat
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 16-oz. jar sliced pepperoncinis, undrained
Crusty sandwich rolls (for sandwiches)
Sliced provolone cheese (for sandwiches)

Heat oil in a pot or high-sided skillet over high heat. While the oil is heating, combine the salt and pepper and rub it into the meat. Add more if necessary. When the oil is hot, sear the roast on all sides so the outsides of it is browned and a little crispy. Transfer the roast to a slow cooker and add the minced garlic and the entire jar of pepperoncinis. If possible, cook on high until the liquid comes to a boil and then turn it to low and cook until the roast shreds easily with a fork, for a total cooking time of about 6-8 hours. If not possible, cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the beef is fork tender.

For sandwiches, slice the rolls and spread lightly with mayonnaise and then top with the shredded beef. Add a slice of provolone cheese and then place under the broiler for 1-3 minutes or until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Makes 12 large sandwiches.

Mexican Mess

The first time I heard of this dish, I was over at a friend house as a kid. I remember trying it and thinking it was tasty. I've been wanting to make this again, just to see if it was as good as I remembered. And I liked it. It tasted like a taco.

I don't love how this recipe is written. It has very generic details so I'm going to tell you what I actually ended up using.

Layer in a 9x13 pan (sprayed with Pam) the following:

1 lg. can refried beans (I used: 2 regular cans)

1 1/2 lbs. hamburger, browned and drained (I used: 1 lb. ground turkey)

1 (7-oz.) can diced green chilies (I bought 2 (4-oz.) cans. I used one can.)

3 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack.)

1 bottle taco sauce (I bought a large bottle and used half of it.)

--Cook above ingredients for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Garnish with:

chopped green onions (I omitted)

chopped olives (I omitted)

tomatoes

guacamole

sour cream

I added: shredded lettuce

Eat with tortilla chips.

Garlic Rolls

I love bread. And I love pasta with garlic bread. Not the best for me, but oh is it tasty. My Achilles heal so to speak. I wanted some for dinner tonight but all I had was Rhodes bake and serve. So I improvised. Here is what I did.

Place 20 frozen rolls in a 9x 13 inch pan for 3 hours. To defrost and to let rise.

Place in oven at 350 for 10 minutes.

About halfway through the cooking time (after the 10 minutes) take
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of melted butter with
1 Tbsp. garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

And drizzle it one the rolls. Then put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

They were delicious. I used 1/2 cup of butter and the bottoms were pretty buttery. I may to less, but don't get me wrong, it tasted wonderful.

Ruth's Chris Banana Cream Pie

We recently went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. Matt took me there for Mother's Day. And on a whole I'd say it was paying a whole lot for cow. But the one thing I told Matt I'd gladly go back and overpay for is the Banana Cream Pie. Oh was that so yummy and the textures were fabulastic! But it occurred to me, I have no problem making this dessert on my own. So I looked up a recipe. And here is Groovy Mom's.

Vanilla Custard:

1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Bring sugar, corn starch, salt, egg yolks and milk to a boil in a heavy sauce pan. Whisking constantly, boil for 20 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Chill for 2 hours, covered in refrigerator.

For pie:

Use baked pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. If you want the same shape as the Ruth's Chris version, shape crust in a Corning ware bowl. Once crust has cooled, line with 3 sliced bananas, overlapping. Sprinkle with sugar and put until 475 degree broiler or use a cooking torch to caramelize the sugar and bananas.

Limonata

I went to Cafe Paeson with my mom and wanted to try this lemon soda that they had. I loved it. And since I loved it, of course I had to look up a recipe for it. Especially since it is hard to find in the United States because it is an Italian drink. So I looked up a couple recipes on the internet. I hope they taste good.

Limonata (done the freshest and most traditional way):

2 cups lemon juice (10-12 lemons or use bottled lemon juice, see above suggestions)
2 cups Basil Simple Syrup (need 1 bunch of washed, fresh basil added as you are cooking the Simple Syrup then removed/strained out prior to cooling the Syrup)
2 cups water
2 liter bottle of sparkling soda water
1-2 lemons sliced thinly for floating on the surface

1) Combine the lemon juice, Basil Simply Syrup and water and chill in the refrigerator, along with your bottle of soda water, for several hours.

2) Just prior to serving, slowly add the soda water to your mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the lemon slices and serve.

Variation: The Basil does add a particular flavor and can be omitted, if preferred. You could also make a Lemon or Lemon-Lime Simple Syrup to add more lemon flavor or an unflavored Simple Syrup all using the same Simple Syrup recipe as above.

Limonata ‘Punch’ (non-alcoholic) done the easy way for a crowd:

1 can frozen lemonade, prepared as directed
1/2 cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1 2 liter bottle of lemon-lime soda
1-2 lemons sliced thinly for floating on the surface

*I have to admit I am much more interested in the traditional recipe than that cheater recipe. But who knows. They might both be awesome...

Shrimp Dip

My sister recommended a couple of appetizers as well. This is the first one. I wasn't sure because shrimp is not my favorite. It was tasty, but I have to confess that it will never be a favorite of mine. However, some of my friends LOVED this dip.

1 lb. roll of round bread (a bigger, harder bread bowl)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated SHARP cheddar cheese
1 cup (1/2 lb.) of small cooked shrimp

--Cut of top of bread bowl and hallow out. Microwave onion and butter for three minutes. Stir into mayonnaise. Add cheese and shrimp. Fill bread with mixture. Put lid on bread, bake filled bread at 325 for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with baguettes, crackers or tortilla chips.

*Heather told me she didn't have good luck with cooking it in the bread bowl. So she cooked it in a bowl and then put it in the bread bowl later. This is what I did and it worked out fine.