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Foodie Thread

I sometimes make a Baked French Toast casserole for brunch, and my wife and I enjoy them, although I know some are less enthusiastic. Jimmy Higgins for instance finds them too soggy. I recently tried a new recipe however, and the results are better. It’s called Orange-Maple French Toast Casserole, and the main differences are two. First it uses Brioche rather than regular bread, and second it uses all eggs (a lot)*, instead of an egg-milk mixture. It puffed up a lot, and turned out crispy around the edges and top, and the center had a spongey texture. It was definitely far less soggy than the previous recipes I’ve tried.

*I basically made a half recipe but it still took a dozen eggs.

View attachment 27547

Ooh, looks and sounds good. Full recipe, please.
 
Take 2 in the bread making department. This time I have given the yeast some warm water and sugar first, and used warm water in the plan and self raising flour mix, so here’s hoping, it will also be 8 hours before I am baking it, so it should rise well. I am going to try and creat a ‘tear away loaf’ in practice for my friend and I when we have lunch in a few weeks. She doesn’t object to bread as it’s basically wheat ground into flour, natural yeast and water.
 
Ooh, looks and sounds good. Full recipe, please.

Here you go:

Orange-Maple French Toast Casserole

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 day-old brioche loaf (about 16 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh orange zest (from about 2 medium oranges)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 cups large eggs
• 2 teaspoon half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for the baking dish
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 medium oranges, peeled and cut into segments
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Generously coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter. Add the bread cubes to the dish and set aside.
2. Combine the orange zest and sugar in a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it's well-combined and fragrant; set aside.
3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in the orange sugar, half-and-half, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Evenly pour the custard over the bread. Use a spoon to push the bread down and stir so all the cubes are soaked through. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let it sit while the oven is heating.
5. Cut 2 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces, and dot them over the top of the casserole. Bake uncovered until the casserole is set, puffed, and the top is golden-brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. Combine the maple syrup, orange juice, and orange segments in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and remove from the heat. Once the syrup is mostly cooled, spoon the orange segments from the syrup and into a small bowl.
7. Remove the baking dish from the oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes. Right before serving, top with the reserved orange segments and dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm with the orange-infused maple syrup.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: The casserole can be assembled up to 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The orange-maple syrup can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator until serving. Store the orange segments in a separate container.

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days
 

Your buns look delicious even upside down. :thumbsup: ;)

Thanks. For sum bum reason my iPad is turning my pics upside down. They were good too. A cross between a light bun, scone and dumpling that goes into stews. I am pleased with these.

Well, you should be. They are gorgeous. Weird that your iPad turns your pics upside down. Is there an Edit or Adjust Photo kind of function anywhere when you open your gallery or a photo? I take pics upside down with my phone sometimes by accident, but it has an Edit menu item on the photo view screen where I just rotate it right side up again.
 
Ooh, looks and sounds good. Full recipe, please.

Here you go:

Orange-Maple French Toast Casserole

Serves 8

Ingredients

•1 day-old brioche loaf (about 16 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces
•2 tablespoons finely grated fresh orange zest (from about 2 medium oranges)
•3 tablespoons granulated sugar
•6 cups large eggs
•2 teaspoon half-and-half
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract
•1 teaspoon fine salt
•1/4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for the baking dish
•1 cup maple syrup
•2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
•3 medium oranges, peeled and cut into segments
•2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1.Generously coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter. Add the bread cubes to the dish and set aside.
2.Combine the orange zest and sugar in a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it's well-combined and fragrant; set aside.
3.Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in the orange sugar, half-and-half, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Evenly pour the custard over the bread. Use a spoon to push the bread down and stir so all the cubes are soaked through. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4.Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let it sit while the oven is heating.
5.Cut 2 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces, and dot them over the top of the casserole. Bake uncovered until the casserole is set, puffed, and the top is golden-brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
6.Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. Combine the maple syrup, orange juice, and orange segments in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and remove from the heat. Once the syrup is mostly cooled, spoon the orange segments from the syrup and into a small bowl.
7.Remove the baking dish from the oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes. Right before serving, top with the reserved orange segments and dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm with the orange-infused maple syrup.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: The casserole can be assembled up to 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The orange-maple syrup can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator until serving. Store the orange segments in a separate container.

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days

Have you tried not letting it sit overnight, and barely sit at all?
 
I wanted the mac and cheese with fake ground beef at The Melt, but it just didn’t line up so I needed to make it myself.

1/2 cup whole milk, warm up and melt 3 tbsp butter. Then added a shredded block of extra sharp Tillimook cheddar. Needed a little thickening so I added two tsp of corn starch and heated up.

Gimme Lean beef stir fried for the ground beef and I just opened a package of pasta and cooked that.

Pasta -> cheese sauce -> ground ‘beef’ -> mustard and ketchup up top... didn’t have small ruffled chips but otherwise a viable sub.

Probably needed a minute under the broiler for perfection but I was too hungry.
 
Banana raisin bran bread.

banana_raisin_bran_bread.jpg


I wanted the mac and cheese with fake ground beef at The Melt, but it just didn’t line up so I needed to make it myself.

1/2 cup whole milk, warm up and melt 3 tbsp butter. Then added a shredded block of extra sharp Tillimook cheddar. Needed a little thickening so I added two tsp of corn starch and heated up.

Gimme Lean beef stir fried for the ground beef and I just opened a package of pasta and cooked that.

Pasta -> cheese sauce -> ground ‘beef’ -> mustard and ketchup up top... didn’t have small ruffled chips but otherwise a viable sub.

Probably needed a minute under the broiler for perfection but I was too hungry.

My god that sounds tasty.
 
Thanks. For sum bum reason my iPad is turning my pics upside down. They were good too. A cross between a light bun, scone and dumpling that goes into stews. I am pleased with these.

Well, you should be. They are gorgeous. Weird that your iPad turns your pics upside down. Is there an Edit or Adjust Photo kind of function anywhere when you open your gallery or a photo? I take pics upside down with my phone sometimes by accident, but it has an Edit menu item on the photo view screen where I just rotate it right side up again.

It looks fine on my iPad and changed any settings, and they appear ok on Facebook, so go figure.
 
Made a grits soufflé for brunch this morning. What are grits? Grits is grits, as they say down south. Here you go:  grits.

The grits seem to weigh down the soufflé so it doesn’t rise or get as fluffy as a traditional soufflé, but it ended up with a good texture. A few dashes of Tabasco sauce added a bit of flavor and bite.

A very Southern Mothers’ Day breakfast for the very Southern Ms. Tharmas (7th generation Texan).
 
b6cdc0a5e1ffb3022116a45bc9f417b6.jpg


Vegan beefy burger. Recipes usually need adjustments, this seemed awesome out of the gate. This said salt and pepper. I didn’t add either and didn’t have onion powder.

These were close to beyond meat burgers, ie awesome for a vegan burger. I Fried these. I think these would be better grilled.
 
I had my first stint with cooking duck breast yesterday. When we bought it, frozen and vacuum sealed, a few months ago from a specialty store the owner told us to sear then bake it. Unfortunately I couldn't remember her instructions and could only find a recipe with searing and no baking.

I pre-heated a cast iron pan to cook it, and couldn't have imagined how oily it'd get. For a while I was afraid I was going to end up with a severe burn the way oil was splashing around. It ended up turning out ok, but we went way off the directions and had to attend to it the whole time. I get the impression our choice of pan made a big difference with the way it retained heat.
 
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