Coconut Bread

I have to admit a tiny, devious secret; I have an ulterior motive to this recipe.  It is a mere stepping stone towards a dish I really have a craving for.  Let me explain. I enjoy scuba diving and on my most recent trip diving in the Bahamas, we stopped at a local restaurant for breakfast before boarding our boat.  I really enjoy breakfast foods so choosing just one item off the menu is often difficult.  I usually try to convince my husband to get something different so that we can share.

This time around, I selected the coconut french toast.  It seems rather simple, I'm sure, but it's something that I would never take the time to make for myself.  Week days are too busy to indulge in fancy breakfast foods, only leaving the weekend to partake in the more decadent dishes. Getting back to my story, it was absolutely delicious. You could taste the butter that it was cooked in and the sprinkle of confectioners sugar on the top made the maple syrup almost unnecessary.

Since that day, I have tried only once to recreate the dish.  My version was good, but it seemed like a lot of effort for only a second-place finish.  I'm hoping that this recipe for coconut bread will help me get one step closer to the flavor that I can only seem to find in the Caribbean.  The bread itself turned out great both moist and flavorful.  Slice it and serve it warm with a small pad of butter or sprinkle some powdered sugar on it.  It makes a great breakfast treat or a light post-dinner dessert.  I'll be sure to let you know if the coconut french toast turns out, however, this recipe was good enough to hold up on its own.

 

Coconut Bread
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Makes 8-10 thick slices


2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup milk (not skim)
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp butter, melted

To Serve:
butter
confectioners (powdered) sugar



Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined.  Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, being careful not to over mix.

Pour into a greased and floured 8.5 x 4 inch (loaf) pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer or toothpick.

Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to cool further on a wire rack. Serve with a pad of butter and/or dusted with powdered sugar.

Not Your Mother's Scrambled Eggs

Rise and shine!  We've all had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Even someone who has never cooked before could probably whip up a dish of scrambled eggs without screwing them up.  What if I told you that while you can't really screw them up, you can totally make them better?


Case in point:  I have always been a follower of the cooking show Good Eats hosted by Alton Brown.  He was the first to point out that I was cooking my eggs incorrectly.  A scrambled egg should be removed from the pan when it still looks runny as it will continue to cook when laid upon the plate.  By the time the first bite hits your mouth, it will be finished cooking and done so to perfection. 


Alton's second point made is confirmed by this recipe taken from Bill Granger's book Bill's Sydney Food. The magic ingredient to fantastic scrambled eggs is heavy cream.  Yes, I know, I can hear the moaning and groaning from here, but it's true.  As much as our diet-fad culture wants us to cringe at the very thought of heavy cream, it really does make the world taste better.  Every now and then,  treat yourself and buy a small container of it and make several dishes in a row that require it. Using it up with no waste justifies the cost (which I admit seems ridiculous) and you get to treat your palate to a few meals indulging in rich, decadent flavors. As it was said to Mikey so many years ago, "Try it. You'll like it." Trust me.

Scrambled Eggs
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Serves 1

2 eggs, large
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Place eggs, cream and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
Melt the butter in a non-stick rying pa over high heat, but becareful not to burn the butter.
Pour in the egg mixture and cook for 20 seconds or until gently set around the edges.
Stir the eggs with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently bringing the egg mixture on the outside of the pan towards the center.  The idea is to fold the eggs rather than to scramble them, but really, I just push them towards the center of the pan.  Leave alone to cook for another 20 seconds longer and then repeat the folding process.  When the eggs are just barely set (yes, they will look runny), turn out onto a plate and serve. Sprinkle salt and peper to taste.

Ricotta Hotcakes

One-fourth of the month of August is already gone. That is an even more depressing fact when I realize this is my first post of the month.  It's been a super busy summer for us and I'm sure your household is no exception.  I realized, by accident, that we recently ate a week's worth of vegetarian meals.  This isn't really a big deal for us accept my husband is a meat and potatoes man.  Even more ironically, my husband admitted that the vegetarian meals we had were so good that he didn't even miss eating meat. So I decided to run with it and add another vegetarian meal to the list.

This picture may look like ordinary pancakes, but I guarantee you, they do not taste like ordinary pancakes.  As the recipe title suggests, these are made with ricotta cheese.  This recipe comes from Bill Granger's cookbook, Bill's Sydney Food.Bill lives in Sydney, Australia and runs a tiny little restaurant in the Darlinghurst region of the city.  It's unfortunate that I didn't cross paths with Bill's restaurant when I was living in Sydney because surely I would have become a regular there. His cuisine offerings focus more on breakfast and light lunch fare but that wouldn't stop me from preparing any of his dishes for dinner. I think I really enjoy his recipes because he is not a classically trained chef.  He has simply dabbled in food all of his life, cooks for his wife and children daily, and he worked hard to get his restaurant up and running. His focus, like many of my favorite chefs, is fresh, quality ingredients as the base for simple yet flavor-bursting dishes. 

These pancakes are true to that mentality. I love pancakes but absolutely refuse to make (or eat) them at home.  I can never get them to taste as they do in the restaurant. These hotcakes are my one and only exception and they are the only ones that I will make for my family.  Admittedly, these are a bit more work than your average "just add water" pancake mixes, but I don't care.  I will gladly dirty an extra bowl or two just to bite into one of these babies.  You don't even taste the ricotta.  It simply brings creaminess and body to the plate.  The key is in the egg whites.  You must beat the egg whites to a stiff peak before folding them into the batter. However, it is really easy to hand your 5-year-old the hand mixer and have them beat the egg whites while you prepare everything else.  This is a great recipe for involving little helping hands and you can essentially eat them any time of day.

Ricotta Hotcakes
Adapted from Bill's Sydney Food
Serves 4-6 (depending on the size of the hotcakes)

1 and 1/2 cup ricotta
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
butter

For Serving:
confectioners sugar
maple syrup


Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into another bowl.  Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.

Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites through the batter (the book says in two batches, however, I have sometimes done it all at once and didn't notice a difference) with a large metal spoon.

Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of butter (butter tastes better, but you can substitute a cooking spray) and drop approximately 2 tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan.  Don't cook more than 4 at a time as you need a little extra "flipping room."

Cook over low to medium heat for 2 minutes or until the undersides are golden.  Flip hotcakes (carefully! they are delicate) and cook on the the other side until golden and cooked through. 

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or maple syrup and serve immediately.

NOTE:  The book indicates that the hotcake batter can be stored for up to 24 hours, covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.  I have not yet tried this but I image they do it at the restaurant all the time.