Maple French Toast with Bacon

For my longtime friend Hayley Hinckley :-)

I have something to confess. Sometimes when I have baked goods sitting around the pad, I find myself eating them for breakfast. Nothing is off limits.....chocolate cupcakes, lemon cookies, cheesecake - you name it and I've probably eaten it for breakfast at one point or another. The problem is that inevitably I feel guilty about my less than stellar breakfast choices. Recently, I was watching this food show called Food NYC, which is a local travel channel. And one of their featured foodies has really caught my attention, moreover, I found the solution to my problem: Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes!! Baked goods that double as breakfast! Ok, maybe they're not meant to be breakfast food, but with a name that include french toast and bacon, I can at least justify it to myself!

I was actually a bit uncertain whether I'd like these at first. I don't usually combine meat with dessert. These cupcakes are definitely an exception to that rule. They are fantastic!! They're very moist and quite sweet and I found that the bacon fortunately wasn't a prominent flavor - it really just added a bit of saltiness.

Just a few quick notes: the recipe says it will make 12 cupcakes but I wound up with 16. Also, as the recipe is written, my frosting ended up pretty thin - too thin to pipe for sure. I firmed it up a bit by chilling it in the fridge and just spread it on but if I made these again I'd probably add a bit more confectioners' sugar to achieve a thicker frosting.


Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes


Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 3.9-ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half, room temperature
1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon (about 4-5 strips)

Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 strips bacon, cooked and chopped for garnish (optional)

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, pudding mix, baking powder, potato starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In another bowl, cream the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until combined, 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually mix in the vanilla extract and egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until light and fluffy.

Mix in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the maple syrup and half-and-half, mixing after each addition and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined. Fold in the chopped bacon.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about three-quarters of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon; beat until combined. Spread on the cooled cupcakes and top with chopped bacon, if desired.

Makes 12-16 cupcakes.

Smoked Paprika, Tarragon-Compound Butter

One of my favorite ways to roast a chicken is to stuff the skin with a compound butter. A compound butter is simply softened butter mixed with additional flavors and reformed back to its traditional state.

I make all different kinds of flavored butters. One of my favorites is smoked paprika and tarragon butter. But I've made so many others that I equally love. Chopped mushrooms and thyme, which had been previously sauteed and cooled. Toasted pink peppercorn, ginger lemon, roasted garlic butter....the list is endless and essentially left up to your creativity.

The technique is very simple. I like to get a stick of butter at close to room temp, just soft enough to be able to mix thoroughly with your additional ingredients. When adding your ingredients, always make sure they are room temp and relatively dry. I like to lay out the butter on plastic wrap, add the ingredients, mix together with my hands, then roll the butter into a tight sausage like object in the plastic wrap. I then toss the butter into the freezer to harden and become one. Simply slice and use as you'd like. I love how the butter and ingredients baste and flavor the meat of roasted chicken, but you can use this technique for almost anything. Try it. You won't get disappointed! :D

We Make It, You Bake It.

Herein, where good people make good stuff, stands a Pizza Company committed to freshness, fellowship and friendliness significant to NYC and surrounding areas: HOMEMADE PIZZA COMPANY. This, ladies and gentlemen, is more than a simple Pizza joint. It is a rallying cry. It is a whoop. A holler. A hail. And a salaam. Homemade Pizza is an aspirational articulation, and quite frankly, the best way for the greater good of New York and surrounding areas to enjoy fresh-handmade Pizzas, fresh-tossed Salads, Cookies and ice cream that'll make you come back again and again and again. We hope you're hungry.

We opened our first-ever joint at the poshy little town of Rye, NY last Thursday.
Our philosophy is pretty simple; We make People the Happiest living creatures on earth by making gourmet pizzas made only from the freshest ingredients.

Our flavors live up to the hype, with a tomato sauce that actually tastes like tomatoes instead of sugar, sweet onions and savory sausage to mouth-watering fresh produce which we use daily to make stunning salads and Veggie Pizza Pies. With our wide selection of Pizzas, Homemade Pizza Company is definitely something that we call "Heaven in a Pie" ...


check us out through our website: www.homemadepizza.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

It ain't a DHL truck... it's WAFELS & DINGES

It felt like the 1st day of Spring today in NYC as the weather was so cool the entire afternoon. after such a long day, I decided to give myself a special 'afternoon delight' treat before I take the train back home to CT from work. As I walk into the busy sidewalks of Unionsquare, there I saw the most talked-about waffle truck (and it's YELLOW) in New York city... should I say one of the BEST NYC Foodie Trucks in Manhattan. Move over I-Hop... coz I found WAFELS and DINGES from Belgium!



I ordered two waffles, the Brussels Wafel and the Mini Wafelini served with Nutella on top. The Mini Wafelini is a miniature Liege waffle, similar to the insanely good waffles from the Waffle Cabin called Sugar Waffles. However, whereas the Sugar Waffle had a thin shell of caramelized sugar, these waffles were “soft’n chewy” as the menu described. The Mini was delicious, but I longed for a little more caramelized sugar action. Overall, I'd have to say that this is by far the Mother of all Waffles ... so if you ever see this truck in the city, I strongly recommend that you run after it get some!

The Classico Beouf Bourguignon

All I could think of was the way Julie (think the movie ‘Julie & Julia’) kept mocking Julia Child. She kept saying “boof borgonyon” and well, so did I, so did my buddy Nate and Joe, although they pretty much butchered the name! In our best French accent which wasn’t so good. Hey now, I'm half Asian – not French. Anyway, I had fun mocking last night even if it was to amuse myself.

Let’s get to the food!

So, I made Beouf, or Beef Bourguignon last night for a small get together dinner with friends. Even I myself was so psyched I get to eat this one-of-a-kind dish. I never make Beef Bourguignon on a daily basis because of two reasons: Hard-Labor (takes 3-4 hours to cook this schmuck) and it's also pricey, especially if you're using to best ingredients.



In just a matter of minutes, the dish was gone! man that was prolly one of the best dinners we ever had! It was indeed the a Dinner of Champions! :D







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Beouf Bourguignon:

Ingredients

• One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
• 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• A crumbled bay leaf
• 18 to 24 white onions, small
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
• Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
• 1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Cooking Directions:

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.

Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.

If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

I LOVE my ROOTS

Reminiscing is probably the right theme for this. And tonight was just amazing. A few of my friends and I had a 'Private Dinner' somewhere in Westchester county...where the Dinner theme was all about Filipino! I made my all-time childhood favorite, Pork and Chicken Adobo!

Pork and Chicken Adobo is one of the best known Filipino dishes. It is made in almost all Filipino households and it is often one of the first dishes one learns how to cook due to it’s simplicity and short ingredient list. It is a very simple dish made with chicken or pork, slow cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, and pepper. There are many variations and each family has their own particular tricks and techniques to making this dish.

The ratio of soy sauce to vinegar I used is 2:1. Some recipes call for a 1: 1 ratio but I was afraid that would be too strong for me. I prefer using rice vinegar because it is a mild vinegar but you can use white vinegar (keep in mind this is stronger) or white wine vinegar. Marinating the chicken before is optional but it allows the flavors to soak into the chicken. I try to limit salt intake so overall, I was a bit conservative with the soy sauce. The original quantities were 1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1 cup water (one cup of soy sauce is much too excessive, it would have been way too salty).

Pork and Chicken Adobo

about 2 - 2 1/2 lb chicken, 8 thighs
about 2 - 2 1/2 lb Pork, Country Style Cut
1 small onion or half a medium onion, cut into thick slices
2/3 C soy sauce
1/3 C rice vinegar
3/4 C water (I decreased the water so the sauce is easier to reduce later)
1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp black pepper

Optional: Combine everything (except the onions) and marinade for 1 to 3 hours.

Bring everything up to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender. You can simmer ahead of time and broil before serving. The more time the chicken sits the sauce the more flavorful it becomes. I didn’t marinade it beforehand but I let it sit in the sauce for about an hour before broiling.

Remove the chicken to a baking tray. Broil the chicken, skin side up, until the skin is crisp and bronze. Meanwhile, skim off excess fat and reduce the sauce until it’s thick and syrupy.

Serve the chicken over rice and spoon the sauce on top.

Serves 4 - 6

B-L-T is like Do-Re-Mi

BLT Pasta:
***This pasta is fabulous for several different reasons:

1. It's light.
2. It's Easy.
3. It's SO delicious!

Almost everyone loves a good B-L-T sandwich, stacked high with savory bacon, crisp lettuce and fresh tomatoes. This pasta dish is a different adaptation of an old favorite, that you are sure to adore!

The first bite that I took of this dish had the most amazing flavor...the bacon permeates every bite, making it perfectly savory. The tomatoes and spinach add just the right amount of freshness. I can't think of many better ways to use up all of those vine-ripened tomatoes especially at this time of year! So for those of you out there, especially the 'GUYS' who wants to impress some girls on a date and score a few cute points, this is one recipe I'm pretty sure you can follow!

Buon Appetito!!!

Ingredients:

Pasta:
2 strips thick-sliced bacon, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup leeks, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 oz dry bucatini or spaghetti
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
1/4 tsp minced fresh thyme (or a pinch of dry thyme)

Garlic Bread Crumbs:
1 clove garlic
1 cup French bread, cubed (about one 1/2 inch thick slice)
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste


Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.


Mince the garlic for the bread crumbs in a food processor, add the cubed bread, and process until coarse.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium: add crumbs and toast until golden, 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Season with salt and set aside.


Saute the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until crisp, then drain on paper-towel. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp drippings.


Caramelize the tomatoes and sugar in the drippings over medium heat. Cook until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the leeks, saute until wilted, 3-4 minutes.


Deglaze with wine; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated. Add the broth, vinegar, and pepper flakes and simmer until reduced by 1/3, about 5 minutes.

Cook the pasta in boiling water according to package directions.

Add the spinach, thyme, and bacon pieces to the sauce.


Transfer the cooked pasta from the pot to the pan using tongs. Toss to coat. Season with salt, then transfer to large serving platter or individual plates.


Sprinkle with garlic bread crumbs before serving.