Friday, August 10, 2012

When French Toast Met Pancakes...And Fell In Love!

Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love

Ingredients
  • 4 whole Large Eggs
  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
  • 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
  • ½ teaspoons Cinnamon, Optional
  • 12 slices Bread (you'll Want Something Thick And Hearty To Stand Up To The Heavier Batter)

Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love

 
Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
In a large bowl, add the eggs and beat ‘em until they’re light and fluffy.



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Next, we’re just going to add all of the ingredients (minus the bread) one at a time. First, the milk …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
The baking powder …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
The vegetable oil …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Vanilla extract (having fun yet?) …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Brown sugar …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
All-purpose flour …



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
And lastly, the cinnamon.



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
I sliced up the bread and then cut the slices in half.



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Now for the fun part. Let’s dunk!



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Gently submerge the slices in the batter and lift, allowing the excess batter to run off.



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
Transfer to a buttered skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown.



Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love
For some added deliciousness, top with a pat of butter, dust on some powdered sugar and add a few pieces of fruit.
And then … take a bite. See the dreamy crust? That’s what looove looks like!
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog When French Toast Met Pancakes and Fell In Love

Onion and Bacon Marmalade

Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade

  Ingredients
  • 4 slices Thick Bacon
  • 4 pounds Yellow Onions, Halved And Sliced To 1/4"
  • 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
  • 2 cups Apple Cider
  • ¼ cups Sherry Vinegar (white Wine Vinegar Is Fine)
  • ¼ cups Brown Sugar
  • 10 sprigs Thyme, Leaves Stripped From The Stem (about 2 Tablespoons)
  • 2 teaspoons Black Pepper   

 Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Place the bacon in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cook until the bacon is just crisp. Remove from the pan, drain on a piece of paper towel and set aside. Do not discard the rendered fat in the pan.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
This recipe uses 4 pounds of onions. That may seem like a lot but they will cook down significantly. And, believe me, you are going to want as much of this marmalade as you can get your hands on.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Cut the onions in half, peel them and cut into ¼-inch slices. Keep a tissue nearby for the inevitable running-of-the-mascara and burning eyes. Ahh, but it is worth every tear.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Add the onions and salt to the fat in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook until the onions are soft, about 15 minutes.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Chop the bacon finely and add it to the pan.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Add the apple cider …



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Brown sugar …



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Fresh thyme and black pepper.
Stir well and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is almost completely reduced, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade
Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are a deep brown color, about 10 minutes. If the mixture begins to looks dry, add water, ¼ cup at a time.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Serve on crostini, in sandwiches, on pizzas or mixed in with roasted veggies.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Onion Bacon Marmalade

 

Bacon Jam

Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam


Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
The recipe calls for onions, garlic, brown sugar, maple syrup, cider vinegar, pepper, some strong coffee, and of course, bacon. Three whopping pounds of bacon will be needed. It sounds like a lot but this makes a lot of jam!

  • 3 pounds Bacon
  • 4 whole Large Yellow Onions, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
  • 8 cloves Garlic, Smashed And Peeled
  • 1 cup Cider Vinegar
  • 1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
  • 1-½ cup Very Strong Brewed Black Coffee
  • ½ cups Pure Maple Syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper   
Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
With a sharp knife, slice the bacon into one-inch pieces.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon in its own drippings until crispy and fully cooked.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
In the meantime, thinly slice up the four onions. Rebecca’s recipe calls for yellow onions, but I had a big sack of sweet onions so I used those instead. But either type of onions will work in this recipe.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Smash and peel eight cloves and garlic. Lots of garlic equals lots of flavor!



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon once it’s golden.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Drain it on a plate lined with paper towel.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Spoon most of the bacon fat into a heat-safe container with a tight-fitting lid and once the drippings have cooled, store it in the fridge. To quote Rebecca, “That’s too much flavor to trash!” Agreed!



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
After most of the bacon fat has been removed, place the Dutch oven back over medium-high heat and add in the sliced onions and smashed garlic. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook low and slow, stirring occasionally.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
You’ll want to continue to cook the onions down until they are pretty translucent and soft. While that was going on, I made the glorious cooking liquids.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
In a large bowl measure and add in the cup of brown sugar.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Pour in a cup and a half of strong coffee.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Then the cup of cider vinegar.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Measure and add in the 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup. This is the real-deal PURE maple syrup kind, so please none of that artificial stuff!



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Season with a teaspoon of black pepper. And that’s it!



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Give it a good stir to get the maple syrup and brown sugar mixed well together.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
And then just pour it over the onions and garlic and give it a good stir as well.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Then I just brought the mixture up to a hard boil for about two to four minutes before adding in the bacon.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
Then I reduced the heat down to low to simmer, with the lid off, until the sauce was thick and the onions started melting. It takes a good hour to an hour and a half for this all to happen. But my house filled with a smell I can only describe as a bacon-y barbecue smell which I hope heaven will smell like.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
When all is said and done and the liquid has reduced, this is what it should look like. Fabulous! I could’ve stopped here and ate it all by spoonful.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
But instead I added it all into my food processor, placed the lid on tight, and pulsed it until it resembled jam.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
You could keep going for a smoother consistency but I like texture. So I stopped right here.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
After it cooled, I stored it in jars in my fridge.



Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam

Tasty Kitchen Blog Bacon Jam
My favorite way to eat bacon jam (besides by the spoonful) is to heat a little up and spread it over whole grain toast with a fried egg (over medium) on top. Oh, it’s to die for! Really, my life is forever changed!