Paleo Brunch Crostini with Tomato Caviar

Happy New Year!!! In this New Year we have decided to be healthier, as I believe everyone says they will be! Michael being a chef makes it difficult for him to adhere to this, but I have decided to try and eat Paleo-ish for a bit. I mean why not!? For a paleo dish we have created a Paleo Brunch Crostini with Tomato Caviar, not all brunches need to leave you feeling heavy!

Ingredients: makes about 5-6

Crostini:
1 cup almond meal
1 egg
1 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped

Toppings:
5 eggs
3 small avocadoes
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
2 large tomatoes
4 slices thick prosciutto or any other meat you would like to put on top

Start by making the crositinis, since they are made with almond meal, they are gluten free and very low carb which is awesome. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and combine all the ingredients in a food processor and combine until you make a dough. Roll a small ball in your hands and pat down to make your crostini about an 1/8 of an inch thick. Bake for 16 minutes, rotating half way through.

Next prepare your toppings!

Avocado: With a fork cream together red wine, avocado, and a healthy pinch of salt.

Egg: Slow cook you eggs. Place eggs in water, then on the stove. Bring to a boil, once boiling, remove from heat and let cover for 2 minutes. Remove from water and place in cold water to stop the cooking. Remove the shell and chop.

Tomato Caviar: cut the top off of the tomato so that you can see all the pockets with the seeds. Using a sharp knife, slice in between the meat and the seeds of the tomato so that you are removing the meat from the seeds. Next carefully detach the seeds and they should come right out!

Prosciutto: Chop into pieces, you can either crisp it on the stove for about 3 minutes, or leave as is.

To put the crostini together first put down the avocado, then the egg, top with prosciutto, and tomato caviar, and sprinkle with salt. Enjoy your deliciously healthy and awesome brunch crostini!

 

Curry Scotch Egg!

  At the current moment we are up in Sequoia National Forest where my (Francesca’s) parents currently live. It is about 40-50 degrees, which for people who live in California can be quite crisp. This Thanksgiving we are spending it up here for a change of scenery, weather, and pace. To go along with this more laid back and chillier holiday we are making a real traditional English dish called a Scotch Egg, which is essentially a boiled egg wrapped in sausage! It is a perfect breakfast dish, or served here as a lunch item, but is also great to have as a snack, even a snack on the go…basically great whenever.

Ingredients: makes 4

6 eggs
5 bratwurst sausages
2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup flour
Teaspoon yellow curry
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt
Frisee lettuce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ a lemon

To start out this endeavor soft boil 4 eggs, by placing 4 eggs in cold water on the stove and heat water to a boil. Once the water boils, boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and place in cold water bath.

Now that we have our eggs, we can set everything else up. We are going to set up three plates; one with flour, the next with two beaten eggs, and the third with the panko bread crumbs and cayenne mixed together. Next Remove sausage from casings and add a pinch of salt, then using your hands, mix everything together! To make things easy for myself I separated the sausage mix into 4 equal portions. Lastly remove eggs from shells.

Now that we have all of that, we are ready to assemble. Putting flour on your hands, take a sausage portion and pat out into a large oval, large enough that it will wrap around the egg but not so large that it will overwhelm it. Roll one of the eggs in flour, and wrap sausage around it. Next roll sausage in egg, and then in panko breadcrumbs. Set to the side and repeat for all four.

After you have made all four, turn oven on to 425, and pour oil into large sauté pan and heat on medium high heat. To check to see if oil is hot enough, you can drop a few drops of panko and if it sizzles it is ready. Place all four scotch eggs in the oil and cook for 6-7 minutes, rotating so that they cook evenly, cook until it is a deep golden brown. To finish off cooking place in oven and cook another 7 minutes.

To serve, place on frieze lettuce tossed with lemon and oil, and voila! Cut in half, enjoy!

Strawberry Curry Pancakes

Food Nasty turned 2 on May 25^th! So we are celebrating with some birthday pancakes inspired by a breakfast that my dearest friend Flora’s mother (my Brazilian mother) Helena had made for me. I can only say that these are probably the best pancakes I have ever had, and that the mix of a warm spice and fruit is a fabulous way to give a classic recipe a kick in the rear.

So happy belated birthday Food Nasty!! Enjoy these strawberry curry pancakes; they are a wonderful summer brunch item that you must add to your weekend.

Ingredients:  Makes 12-15
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil + extra tablespoon for skillet
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon yellow curry powder
½ cup diced strawberries

 

 

In a medium bowl mix together wet ingredients, only using two tablespoons of oil. In a small bowl whisk together dry ingredients. Add the dry to wet, and mix together, making sure you don’t over mix.

Add in the diced strawberries, mix.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat, and lightly oil with the extra tablespoon of oil. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, or a ice cream scooper (or whatever you think will be equivalent), scoop batter, and pour. Try to get them as round as possible, and make 2-3 depending on space.

Pancakes will be ready to flip after about 2 minutes, you will see bubbles start to form. Flip, and bake for another two minutes.

If you are not serving immediately, you can heat the oven to 200 degrees, and place pancakes in there on a foil covered baking sheet to keep warm.

Drizzle with syrup and dig in!

 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother’s Day! Michael and I are lucky to have very loving and caring mothers. My mother Nancy loves crepes, and Michael’s mother Shira loves a specific kind of crepe known as crepe Suzette. This type of crepe is boozy, sweet, and perfect for that woman you love to call Mom.

Crepe Suzette is a crepe that is typically flambéed with either Grand Marnier, or in our case Triple Sec. It is a sweet crepe served in a thick citrus sauce with a little bit of rind, some like to serve it with vanilla ice cream, but I like it as is.

Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients: serves 4

Crepe Batter:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Triple Sec
Extra butter for pan

Tangerine Butter Sauce:
3 large tangerines
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
10 tbsp. sugar
½ cup Triple Sec

Low Calorie Breakfast Sandwich

Mikey and I are now winding down form our 7 day detox, so we are still on a health kick at the moment. We always crave something really hearty at breakfast, which tends to mean really fatty at the same time. We came up with the idea for this potentially high calorie breakfast, by replacing some of the ingredients with other things, and using low calorie options. Opt for these ingredients and you will not only be extremely satisfied by your waistline will be thanking you after your eat this low calorie breakfast sandwich.

*The deli thins that we use are by Oroweat, and they are basically an uber thin hamburger bun, and are 100 Calories for the two slices!

Ingredients: for 1 sandwich

1 bun of 100% Whole Wheat deli thins
½ a yellow squash
¼ orange bell pepper
1 egg
2 slices turkey bacon (as low fat percentage as you can find)
2 slices of avocado
1 Tablespoons humus
1 slice low fat cheddar cheese
Hot sauce

It doesn’t really matter what order you make your ingredients in, because ultimately you just need to make the ingredients then assemble and devour.

For the vegetables julienne your orange bell pepper, then thinly slice your yellow squash into slices which would fit across your bun.

Cook your bacon in a sauté pan until it has nice deep brown spots, then lay on a paper towel to absorb any of the extra grease, once cooled slice in half in order to lay the bacon across your sandwich. To make the sunny-side up egg, spray a nonstick pan with a little bit of cooking spray and the crack the egg into it. You want to cook it at a medium high heat until you cook all of the white of the egg.

Next toast your bread, and spread the bottom piece of bread with hummus, then the other slice with avocado.

To assemble the sandwich start with the bottom piece with hummus, lay the squash, then pepper, then bacon, cheese, then egg. Put as much hot sauce as you want on the egg, then top it off with your avocado piece of bread!

Devour it! Yum!!!!

Spooky Pumpkin Pancakes

Michael has always loved a great breakfast, so we make this in honor of him. This is perfect to eat Halloween morning. You get the spices of the season, pumpkin for Halloween, and that sweetness getting you ready for all the candy you will be consuming!

*You can use whatever kind of chip you want, but we specifically used cinnamon chips by Hershey.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup Hershey Cinnamon chips

In a large bowl, mix together all of your dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of your dry mix and pour in milk a quarter cup at a time.

Next mix in the two eggs, and then your pumpkin puree. Mix until almost completely smooth, but still a bit lumpy. Now for the finale add in your caramel chips.

To make the pancakes you will want to use butter or a cooking spray to grease a frying pan. Use one large enough so you are able to make two pancakes at a time. Heat the pan on a medium high heat and pour about a ¼ cup of mix for each pancake. You will know to flip when little bubbles start to form, and then check the opposite side to make sure it reaches the same golden brown color.

Pile as many as you can on one plate and eat! You will love the warm pumpkin and melting cinnamon chips, smothered in syrup. Yum

Avocado Egg

So we were thinking what could be better than a summertime snack that is great for brunch hour. A bit of breakfast and a bit of that fresh green we all love. Hence the avocado egg. Avocado egg is a super simple and unbelievably tasty and delicate snack. Anyone you make this for will be impressed by not only how attractive this is, but the taste.

Ingredients:

1 avocado
2 egg yolks
2 Tlbs. Olive oil
2 pieces white or sourdough bread
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle of pepper
Douse of tapatio (or any other hotsauce)

Peel avocado, take out pit, and cut into two ½ inch slice through the middle. Toast the bread slices, then cut into diamonds. Now, heat your olive oil in a skillet and a medium high heat, once the oil glides easily across the skillet, place your avocado slices in it. Season with a little salt, and let sit for about 45 seconds. Flip the avocado slices over, and while that side cooks take your eggs, and separate the egg from the yolk and slip the yolk into the space the pit once was in your avocado. Season with salt and pepper, and let the avocado and egg cook a bit more, about another minute until the yolk seems to firm a little. You don’t want the yolk to cook through, because then where is the fun of having a runny yolk! Once it is done, remove from skillet, place on your toasted diamond bread, decorate with some hot sauce and EAT!!!