Breakfast on Dec. 25th: Lemon Curd French Toast with Raspberry Maple syrup

Holy shit this was delicious.  Rich and big enough that one slice is plenty for the average person.  It's really pretty simple to make, too.   You mix together some french toast batter and place slices of bread in a container, cover with batter and place in fridge overnight.  In the morning you just put the bread in the oven for 10-15, cover with syrup and toppings and you're good to go.  We ended up making our own raspberry maple syrup by heating up some raspberry jam w/ some maple syrup and water.  We also fried up a few patties of Gimme Lean "sausage" to go on the side.  [yummy deliciousness satisfaction noise]

Ingredient
1/2 loaf Challah or Brioche bread sliced into 4 thick slices
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup and 1 tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp of lemon curd
1 pack of fresh raspberries
4 tbsp raspberry jam
1/4 cup water
about 6 tbsp vanilla yogurt

Directions
Mix together eggs, vanilla, 1 tbsp maple syrup and milk in a bowl.  Slice bread into 4  1 inch slices.  Spread approximately 1 tbsp lemon curd on 1 side of each slice of bread.  Place bread in a large baking dish large enough to hold each piece of bread in one layer, lemon curd side UP.  Pour a little bit of the batter on the bottom of the baking dish--enough to cover the bottom pan with a thin layer.  Place the bread in the pan and pour the rest of the batter on top, covering each slice.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 F and cook the french toast for 12-15 minutes.  Start making the syrup, heat raspberry jam, water and the rest of the maple syrup in a saucepan and heat on medium to medium-high heat for ~15 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Take this opportunity to fry up some sausage (real, fake, whatever your fancy) in a pan.  When the French Toast is complete, plate the toast, pour syrup on top, sprinkle some fresh raspberries on top and then add a dollop of vanilla yogurt.  Eat it up.  Your tummy will thank you.

Hot Chocolate & Bailey's Irish Cream

And marshmallows!  It's cold.  Which means it's time to grab a mug and cozy up.  I noticed my cupboards were barren of hot chocolate, so I went by the new EarthFare (store #420!!) and picked up some Equal Exchange drinking chocolate and 'mallows.  I mixed the cocoa with H20 leaving plenty of 'room for cream' so that I could add an ample amount of delicious Bailey's to make the hot chocolate creamy and keep me toasted!

Ingredients

1 serving powdered Hot Chocolate

1 cup boiled water

1-2 shots Bailey's Irish Cream

Marshmallows!

Directions

Place 1 serving powdered hot cooca in your mug.  Boil water and pour in mug, leaving 1-2 inches for the Irish Cream.   Top off with Irish Cream and Marshmallows!

CREATIVE LEFTOVERS!! Maple Pecan Sweet Potato Pancakes and Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Every year for Thanksgiving I make Sweet Potato casserole sweetened with  maple syrup and a pecan brown sugar topping.  Given the chance, I also make homemade cranberry sauce with orange juice and zest.  This year was no different and after most of the leftovers had been eaten for lunch the next day, there were still a few scoops left.  While I was laying in bed this morning, I was thinking about how I wanted pancakes for breakfast and the idea for this recipe popped into my head.

Leftover Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes

makes 3 large pancakes 

Ingredients

1 cup Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

           (or any ol' smashed sweet taters)

1 cup flour

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsp maple syrup

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix together.  Poor 1/4-1/2 cup batter into pan.  When bubbles start appearing in the center of the pancake and the edges look cook, it's ready to flip....be patient or you'll make a mess!

Heat up (or not) leftover cranberry sauce and plop on top of your stack of flapjacks.  Top with extra syrup if you like.

  

Homemade cranberry sauce is easy and quick to make...

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

This year, I added a shot of rum and a few chopped-up cubes of crystallized ginger I had lying around the kitchen.

Bring OJ and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the cranberries (and ginger and rum) to the pan. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes-20 minutes. Cranberries will pop!  It's super-cool.  Stir in the orange zest and take off of the heat.  I enjoy it warm, but many like it cold.