Something For The Long Weekend

French toast, or as it's known here, eggy bread is one of my favourite weekend breakfasts.  Not so much for the other half.  So when he's not around, I take full opportunity to make it.  And, depending on my sugar needs, I'll top them with brown sugar and maple syrup or jam or icing sugar, just depends on my mood.  While I was in Canada, I whipped myself up this delicious treat:

I was about to dig in when my cousin sort of screeched, "Aren't you going to take a picture of it??!"  So here is my very selfish and indulgent morning breakfast.  And I only felt a little bad that I hadn't made any for anyone else, but as they say "you snooze, you lose".  I was on British time and the rest of the house was on normal sleep in Canadian time. Oh well.

Have a Happy Easter and enjoy your weekend!

Peanut Butter Banana French Toast for 1

1 egg
a splash of milk
sprinkle of cinnamon
3 slices of bread
peanut butter
1 banana
maple syrup
butter or oil for frying

Whisk the egg, milk and cinnamon together in a bowl large enough to lay 1 slice of bread into.  Dip either side of the bread in the egg mixture making sure all of the bread has been coated.  Fry for a few minutes on either side until golden brown.  

Spread peanut butter on one side of each of the French toast slices, top with banana slices and layer each piece of bread.  Pour over desired amount of maple syrup - for me, that means a lot!

Going Bananas

Yesterday, a friend asked me: "What can I do with bananas?"  Hers were starting to go off so I suggested she stick them in the freezer and I'd write this post.  Coincidentally, I had made banana bread last week as I had about 8 bananas cluttering up my freezer.  Anytime a banana starts to look like this in the fruit bowl:

I pop it into the freezer to be dealt with a later date.  They're great frozen just as they are - taste just like ice cream.  Or in a smoothie - add some yogurt and a handful of berries (fresh or frozen) and blend.  But my favourite thing to make with them is banana bread.

When the stash of bananas starts to overtake my freezer I take it as a sign, stick em in a bowl to thaw and get cracking on the rest.

They'll just slip right out when thawed or you can peel them with a knife if you can stand the cold!

Or messing up the rest.  I tossed in a cup of flour into the wrong bowl.  There is not enough counter space in this kitchen people!

I wanted to add some chocolate but I didn't have any chocolate chips so I used a portion of this giant chocolate bar we got as part of a wedding present (it accompanied a cherished Hudson Bay blanket that my aunt brought over from Canada and lugged around to several hotels - but funnily enough, the tag says it's made in England!)  Anyway - I broke it into chunks and stored it in the freezer back in August and remembering that I had it, took a few chunks out, placed them in a plastic bag and broke them up using a hammer. (Place a towel underneath and do it on a surface your not too worried about - I had visions of my counter top splitting in half so I broke them up on the laminate floor - maybe place them on a wooden chopping board)

 

I doubled the recipe and made 24 muffins.  Both the bread and muffins can be frozen (I wrap the bread in foil and store the muffins in a tin).  The muffins are great for lunches; just take one from the freezer and pop it into a packed lunch and it will be thawed by the time lunch rolls around.

 Recipe (makes enough to fill 2 bread tins)

Ingredients 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup white sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, beaten 

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 bananas, mashed 

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional) 

1.  Grease and flour 2 loaf pans (I prefer to use wax paper bread tin liners) and preheat oven to 350°F or 175°C.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl.  Mix in slightly beaten eggs, vanilla, melted butter and mashed bananas.  Stir in nuts and chocolate chips if using.

3.  Divide between 2 tins and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Any other ideas for using old bananas?  Or any other favourite banana bread recipes out there?  Please share!  This isn't my great-grandmother's grandmother's recipe or anything, I adapted it from one I found on All Recipes, so if you have any tried and tested versions of your own, I'd love to hear about them!

Tomato and Bread Soup

I came across a recipe in the free paper last year while on my 3 hour daily commute (I'm not kidding - read about why I did it here) for a frugal tomato and bread soup.  And, just like my mother, who when I described it to her this weekend said, in a disgusted tone: "Bread in soup?? Ugh", I too thought it sounded less than appealing when I had read it (not sure why - bread is probably the most popular accompaniment to soup).  Alas, there is a reason we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, or a recipe by it's ingredients.  I made this soon after finding the recipe and it was the ultimate in comfort food as far as soups go.  Chunky tomato soup loaded with carbs - don't mind if I do!  I had used cheese topped bread as well which made it that much better.

So this weekend when I came across these cheese topped scones reduced to just 15p on the day old bread rack, I thought of this soup.

I shouldn't have.

The soup is still one of my faves.  Just don't make it with scones.  It turned out very doughy and it was a bit much but I still ate it.  Even if it made me feel a bit sick.  Stick to bread.

Recipe - serves 2 or 1 hungry gal (or guy)

Ingredients
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 diced onion
2-3 crushed garlic gloves
150 ml chicken or beef stock
1 tsp cinnamon
olive oil
4 thick slices of stale bread cut into chunks - not scones (doh!)
salt and pepper

Saute the onions in a little oil until softened.
Add the crushed garlic.
Stir in the tomatoes and add half of the stock.
Add the cinnamon and simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened.
Add the rest of the stock and toss in the bread chunks and simmer for a few more minutes.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.