Honey Custard French Toast with Chocolate Honey Sauce and Pecans

I normally don't use so many eggs in my French toast, but I wondered if I could get a better result if I was more extravagant. Indeed- this is the richest, custardiest, pillowiest french toast I've ever had. It's soft but not soggy, not too eggy, and does my nice brioche loaf justice. The cinnamon compliments the mild sweetness of the honey, and it practically doesn't need any toppings.

Of course, it's better if you do. I made a simple sauce of chocolate and honey, puddinglike and bittersweet, creamy and perfectly balanced with the gentle flavour of the toasts. A topping of crunchy nutty pecans seals the deal- definitely a worthy weekend breakfast. 

Honey Custard French Toast
From Mr. Breakfast

10-12 Slices of brioche or challah
1 3/4 C. Whole milk
1/2 C. Honey
1 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 TBSP Rum
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
6 Eggs, beaten
About 2 TBSP Butter
Oil, to fry

Whisk together the salt, cornstarch and cinnamon. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, milk, honey, vanilla and rum. Whisk in the cinnamon mixture. Pour the mix into a shallow pan to a depth of about 2 cm.

Soak the bread slices for about 30 seconds per side. Heat a skillet pan with oil on medium and fry until golden brown, about a minute on each side. 

Pat the excess oil off the finished pieces with a paper towel. Overlap the slices with a small sliver of the butter on top of each. Keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.


Chocolate Honey Sauce

1 C. Whole milk
2 Tsp. Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Vanilla sugar
1/4 C. Honey
40 g. Semisweet chocolate

About 1/2 C. Toasted pecan pieces, to serve

Heat 3/4 of the milk until steaming. Mix the cornstarch, honey, remaining milk and sugar in a small bowl. Pour into the hot milk and whisk thoroughly, cooking on medium-low until thickened. Stir in pieces of the chocolate until all are dissolved. Serve warm with the french toast. Serve pecans on the side.

Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars

I made these over-the-top dessert bars with a bit of everything that I had left over in the pantry that was at risk of going stale- some graham crackers, nuts, coconut and chocolate chips. In fact, I think I might have gone overboard... the nuts had a hard time sticking to the bars because of how many toppings there were! I would definitely recommend sticking to the amounts in the recipe and not going nuts (literally and figuratively) like I did- chopping the nuts would have probably made them stick better, but I liked how the whole pecans looked.

They're loaded and tricky to cut, unless frozen for a bit, but definitely delicious. How can you go wrong with graham crackers, coconut, and loads of chocolate and nuts? You can add any kind of toppings you want, as long as you've got the seven that the name entitles. Graham crackers, coconut, sweetened condensed milk... the other four are up to you. I used white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts (and a bit of flaked coconut as a garnish...). So, they're kind of eight layer bars in my case. Why not?

These bars keep well in the freezer, and don't need to be all thawed out for consumption- I like 'em chilled. These are best eaten with tea or coffee while catching up on old TV shows that everyone else has already seen, while complaining about shoddily introduced plot points. 

Just give them about half an hour at room temperature if you aren't so inclined to them cold. Whatever temperature they are, you'll be glad to have a few in the freezer for a quick bit of something sweet and rich.

Magic Seven Layer Cookie Bars
Adapted from Viet World Kitchen

120 g. (1 1/3 C.) Desiccated unsweetened coconut
180 g.  (8-10 sheets) Graham crackers
113 g. (1/2 C.) Butter, melted
1/2 Tsp. Salt
2 TBSP Sugar
1 C. Mixed chocolate chunks (dark, milk, white- should be at least half dark so it isn't too sweet)
1 C. Chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, roasted almonds)
1/2 C. Flaked unsweetened coconut, optional
14-15 Oz. Sweetened condensed milk (One large can)

Preheat the oven to 180℃. Grease a 9"x13" pan and line with baking parchment.

Soak the coconut in boiling-hot water for 2 minutes and strain well in a sieve, squeezing out excess water. Mix with half of the salt and the sugar. Set aside.

Grind the graham crackers into crumbs with the remaining salt. Add the melted butter and mix well. Press onto the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust.

Spread the coconut mixture evenly onto the crust. Add the chocolate chunks and nuts. Top with the sweetened condensed milk, and sprinkle on the flaked coconut (if using).

Bake for 30 minutes, covering with aluminium foil if it browns too quickly. Freeze for 15 minutes before cutting (refrigerating won't make it cold enough)

Wheat Berry and Puy Lentil Summertime Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pepper Confetti

I've got that summertime, summertime salad...

I just wanted to try out my recent purchase of hard red wheat berries- I also wanted to make something that looked really pretty, because although many of the best dishes are incredibly homely, sometimes you just want a dish that's prettier than you. And has an insanely long name.

So, I made a salad. One of those very nutritious, colourful ones that sells for exorbitant amounts in tiny clamshell packages at your local chain health food store. But this is far from a difficult or expensive dish to make, consisting of mostly wheat berries and puy lentils with a bit of help from red onion, dried fruit and nuts, cilantro and arugula. Oh, and the roasted sweet potatoes and bell pepper confetti. But this is a summertime salad, so most of the ingredients are at the cheapest they'll be all year.

I made a simple vinaigrette with a little lemon-infused olive oil and apple cider vinegar to give some more fruity notes, along with dried oregano, powdered coriander (one of my favourite spices) and grainy mustard. The sweet potatoes and peppers are given a kick with the addition of spicy peanut sauce, which I had an almost finished bottle of in the fridge, but you can also skip the sauce entirely and add a bit of sesame oil and salt to finish them off. I think that next time I make this recipe, I'll try a chipotle-lime seasoning... or maybe something barbequey. The options are endless.

I really thought I'd be the only one to eat this thing, but it was surprisingly popular with my whole family. Even the non-salad people, and my lentil-hating kin, loved it. My sister even told me she wished I'd made more so we could eat it for days to come- not bad for something so nutritious. It really wouldn't hurt to make a big batch- you've got a lot of vitamins, protein, healthy fats and fibre going on along with the looks and taste.

So, summertime salad. I just wanted you to know, Baby, you're the best.

Enough Lana del Rey, then. Onto the recipe!

Wheat Berry and Puy Lentil Summertime Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pepper Confetti

For the Sweet Potatoes and Peppers:
2 Small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-2 cm cubes
1/4 Of a red bell pepper, diced finely
1/4 Of a yellow bell pepper, diced finely
1/4 C. Peanut satay sauce, or spicy Szechuan peanut sauce
1/2 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. Oil
1 Tsp. Sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 200℃. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, or use a baking dish. cover the bottom with the oil and add the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until almost cooked through.

Add the pepper bits and pour on the satay sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake another 5-10 minutes, until completely tender and the peppers are a tiny bit charred.

Let cool before adding to the salad.

For the Vinaigrette:
1 TBSP. Apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP Lemon-infused olive oil (or, 1 TBSP regular olive oil plus 1 Tsp. lemon zest)
1 Tsp. German-style grainy mustard, or dijon mustard
1 Tsp. Dried oregano
1/2 Tsp. Powdered coriander
1/4 Tsp. Ground black pepper

Mix all in a small bowl.

To Finish:
1/2 C. Wheat berries
1/3 C. Puy lentils 
1/3 C. Dried cranberries
1/4 C. Golden raisins
1/4 C. Pecan pieces
2 TBSP. Roasted sunflower seeds
1/4 Of a large red onion, finely diced
2 Small sprigs of cilantro, roughly chopped (optional- parsley works too)
2 C. Arugula, preferably baby arugula (otherwise, cut it up into smaller pieces)

Cook the wheat berries in lightly salted water until tender, but still with a bit of bite. Drain and rinse with cold water. Do the same for the puy lentils- it should take them 15-20 minutes each to cook.

Let the wheat berries and lentils dry as much as possible, then pour into a bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except for the cilantro and arugula. Add the vinaigrette, sweet potatoes and peppers. Add the cilantro and arugula just before serving to prevent sogginess (oil destroys the internal structure of raw leaves if you let them sit in it).