SRC: Gruyere and Bacon Stuffed French Toast

Breakfast continues to be the theme here on my blog today.  On Friday I shared a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts.  Today, I'm sharing something with everyone's favorite breakfast meat treat...bacon!!!

But this isn't your run-of-the-mill side of bacon.  This bacon is coupled with smooth, melty Gruyere cheese.  And then they're both stuffed inside of thick french toast and topped with sweet sweet maple syrup.  Mmm.  Anyone else a sucker for the sweet and savory combination?  I'd never think to make a savory French toast but it worked and was AMAZING.  Seriously one of the best things I've eaten in a long time and was so simple!  I was in a rush that morning so I used pre-cooked bacon to speed things along.  Would have loved to have the bacon crispier as I bet the contrast of texture would only add more to this already delightful experience.

This wonderful creation comes from Lisa's blog, Authentic Suburban Gourmet.  She is so talented and I'm jealous that she lives in my favorite US city, San Francisco.  I envy her food photography and I went a little bookmark crazy when trying to decide what to make for this month's Secret Recipe Club because everything looked SO GOOD.  

To name a few other contenders:

• Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Bacon, Dates, and Pecans - Perfect for Fall!
• Brandied Yam with Crumbled Pecan Topping - Boozed up food, again!  I think this will likely make an appearance for Thanksgiving in my home.
• Apple and Fig Tart - I noticed she has a thing for figs...I love the flavor of them but have never cooked with them yet and am still a little intimidated...not sure why!

As usual a special thank you to April of the blog Angel's Homestead, SRC ring leader and Debbi of the blog Debbi Does Dinner, our Group C Hostess!

One Year Ago: Apple Pie Cookies

Gruyere and Bacon Stuffed French Toast

Yields: 4 slices stuffed French toast

Ingredients

• 4 slices good sourdough bread (cut about 1 1/4 inch thick)
• 8 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and then crumbled
• 1 cup Gruyere Cheese, grated
• Cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup half & half (or whole or 2% milk)
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• Maple syrup

Directions

1. Use a sharp knife to cut into the bottom of each slice of sourdough.  Slice to almost the end of the top and sides to create a pocket to stuff each slice.
2. Once the bacon has cooled, combine it with the Gruyere cheese in a bowl.  Divide evenly among the four slices of bread and gently stuff each one.  Gently press each stuffed bread piece together to prevent the inside ingredients from escaping.
3. Add the eggs, half & half, and vanilla together and whisk until gently combined.
4. Use a large griddle to cook all of the French toast at the same time.  Heat griddle on medium and spread butter evenly across the surface.  
5. Meanwhile, dip each stuffed bread into the egg mixture and place on the heated griddle.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Let cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side.  If necessary, reduce heat to prevent burning.
6. Serve hot with your favorite maple syrup.  Take a bite, close your eyes and be amazed by all the contrasting flavors and textures!

Source: Authentic Suburban Gourmet

French Onion Soup

I was encouraged by my husband and my friend Emily to post a midway status update on my 23 Things in 2011 List.  This is when we realized that the year is actually 3/4 of the way through.  Oh snap.  Still, worth a revisit and you can see what I've made (and blogged about) to date by checking out the link above. 

All in all, I've only made 11 of the 23 things and even worse, only blogged about 4 (after this one) to date.  Where have you guys been to hold me accountable the rest of year?!  Now it looks like I have some serious work to make up on the back end of the year if I want to even come close to achieving all 23 items!

This French onion soup was exactly as I remember it being when I went to France last year.  My brother, the French onion aficionado gave it his stamp of approval, too.

This week, I'm going to post only things from the list to help me get caught up!  See the list for a sneak peek of what this week's posts may be ;).

Two Years Ago: Sausage, Onion, and Green Pepper Fra Diavolo

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 large red onions, thinly sliced
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 leeks, including tender green portions, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ¾ cup low-sodium beef broth
• ¼ cup dry red wine
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Baguette slices, ¾-inch thick
• Sliced Gruyere cheese

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add in the sliced red onions, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have wilted. Mix in the sugar and leeks and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are completely caramelized and dark in color (about 15 more minutes). Add the garlic to the pot and sauté just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and beef broths and red wine, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer about 30 minutes. Discard the herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Preheat the broiler with an oven rack in the upper-middle position. Portion the soup into oven-safe bowls or crocks placed on a baking sheet. Top each serving with two baguette slices, and layer with thin slices of Gruyere cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese is browned and bubbly, 2-5 minutes. Cool a few minutes before serving.

Source: Originally from Williams Sonoma and The New Best Recipe as adapted by and as seen on Annie's Eats

Recipe Swap: Croque Monsieur

This week's recipe swap comes all the way from France.  Am I weird to say that I *didn't* like the food in France as much as I thought it would?  Being what is the arguably the culinary capital of the world, I had expected better.  I'm happy to say that this simple sandwich helped redeem the French in my eyes.

I had to make some modifications for Chris to eat it.  He claims the smell of mustard makes him vomit and he won't touch white cream stuff (sour cream, mayo, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) unless it's baked into something sweet and no longer resembles its original form.  So, his sandwich was naked.  Just bread, meat, cheese, and tomato.  I made mine as written except that I had to swap sour cream for the crème fraiche and I just used wheat sandwich bread.  I know, how un-French of me.  But, I wasn't about to go out and buy/make something special for a single spoonful knowing I already had leftover sour cream from Cinco de Mayo in the fridge!  It was still just as sinfully delicious...even if I did slightly burn mine.  Oops.  That's what you get when you're impatient and turn up the heat to get dinner done more quickly!

Thank you Jill of JBean Cuisine for sharing this deliciously simple sandwich.  It must have been fate that gave me her swap since I submitted French Dip Sandwiches this week.  And, thanks as always to Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for hosting.  She's begun to do swap round-ups in her blog so check it out if you want more burger/sandwich ideas!

One Year Ago: We already established that I was a slacker for the entire month of May last year...
Two Years Ago: Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

 
Croque Monsieur
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Yields: 1 Serving

Ingredients

• 2 thick slices white bread (used wheat sandwich bread)
• 1 spoonful crème fraiche (used reduced fat sour cream)
• 1 spoonful Dijon mustard
• grated gruyere cheese or comté
• 2 or 3 thin slices of tomato (JBean addition)
• Ground black Pepper
• Paprika
• 1 Slice very thin deli ham
• Clarified butter for frying

Directions

1. If using thick cut bread, cut the bread so that the two slices are still attached at the bottom, like a man’s wallet.  Otherwise, skip this step.
2. Mix the crème fraîche and mustard together with cheese and paprika.  Then spread it generously on both insides of the "wallet" or on both slices of bread. Season with pepper.  Add ham and tomato between the prepared sandwich halves.
3. Press the sandwich together with your hand. Fry in clarified butter in a frying pan, a few minutes per side until it’s golden on the outside, and melting in the middle. Serve hot.

Source: Laura Calder from French Food at Home as passed along by JBean Cuisine

Quiche Lorraine

The food blog world is filled with Superbowl Gameday Man Food and so I thought why not break the mold and post something ultra girly.  Besides, real men eat quiche...especially when it's delicious as this one!

As part of my 23 Things I want to Make in 2011 list I put Quiche on it because it's something I enjoy ordering at Mimi's Cafe.  The tricky part about this recipe though is that Chris doesn't eat anything that tastes like or resembles eggs in any way (desserts containing eggs, however, are fine...apparently because they're not egg-like or egg-tasting).  So, I decided why not invite our family's over and have New Years Brunch and as part of the menu, I served quiche (along with homemade waffles, savory muffins, creme brulee french toast casserole, french toast cups, and fruit salad so that Chris wouldn't starve; Some of those recipes to come in good time, by the way).  What's nice about the quiche is that it can be served at room temperature so you can make it ahead of time and then tend to other dishes as it cools.

Having gotten over my fear of leeks after making the Cheddar Cauliflower Soup I decided this would be a piece of cake...err...quiche.  But what made it really special was the fact that the leeks were carmelized.  Okay.  Now we're talking business!  Carmelizing anything gives food an extra special flavor.

Seriously, this quiche was FANTASTIC and gave me the chance to use my tart pan that my friend Jackie gave me from Dinner Club Secret Santa.  My brother had thirds and probably ate at least a good quarter of the quiche by himself.  The filling was silky smooth (I'm guessing from the addition of sour cream in this recipe) and just glides right down your throat.  Within each bite hides the rich goodies of caramelized leeks, bits of savory ham, and melty Swiss cheese.  The only thing I regret is not making the pie crust from scratch.  That truly would have been perfection to have a nice flaky crust holding all of the rest of the goodness.  If you recall, that was also on my 23 Things in 2011 List.  But, I wasn't ready to tackle that yet and frankly, I want my homemade pie crust to feature something fruity versus savory.  I'm including the homemade pie crust recipe in case you want to give it a whirl but if you're lazy like me just use a pre-made pie crust.

I will be making this again...perhaps making it and New Years Brunch at our house a new tradition :).

Quiche Lorraine
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Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Salt, to taste
• 6 tablespoons butter, diced

For the filling:

• 1 3/4 cups diced leeks, white and light green only (from about 2 large leeks
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 eggs, divided
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of pepper
• 1 1/2 cups diced ham (1/4 -inch dice; I used about 1/2 pound)
• 3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese

Directions

1. Heat a large sauté pan over low heat. Sauté the leeks and onions in the olive oil 30 to 40 minutes until caramelized, occasionally stirring. Remove from heat and cool.
2. If you're using a pre-made pie crust, skip Steps 2 and 3.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and one-fourth teaspoon salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two knives until it is in very tiny bits. Add one egg (a fork works great for this) and mix it until a dough forms. (Dough can also be made in a food processor, or in theory, and as the original recipe suggests, in a stand mixer.)
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate (I used 10-inch tart pan) and press to remove any air bubbles. Crimp the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. While the quiche shell chills, mix the heavy cream and sour cream in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining three eggs. Add a pinch each nutmeg, salt and pepper and combine to form a batter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Remove the quiche shell from the refrigerator and spread the leek and onion mixture evenly over the base. Sprinkle the ham and then the cheese over the leeks and onions. Pour in the batter and place the quiche in the oven.
6. Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Adapted from Le Pain Quotidien as seen on Smitten Kitchen