baked coconut french toast

12.22.2014

A few weeks ago I spent the weekend at my parents house. While the original purpose was to make sure that my brother ate all of his meals and walk Ruby May ... it ended up also being filled with tons of time in front of the tree. The tree is in very close proximity to a great fireplace... so I really won the weekend lottery.

We spent most of the weekend feeding wood into the fire, watching Bob's Burgers on Netflix, and planning the next meal. For Saturday dinner, my brother requested his favorite pizza... but he had no specific asks for breakfast outside of a trip to Dunkin Donuts at some point in the day. So on Sunday morning, I pulled together a quick baked french toast. The twist? I used coconut milk instead of regular milk. It completely changes the flavor profile but not in a bad way at all.

How it goes down.
(Step 1) Place bread cubes in a greased 9 x 9 baking dish.
(Step 2) In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread.
(Step 3) Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle/Pour over the top.
(Step 4) Cover and bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Shopping List
1 loaf (1 pound) bread / bagels / carbs, cut or torn into 1-inch cubes
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 can coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

TOPPING:
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 pinch Nutmeg
1/2 stick melted butter

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Kale Pesto

12.21.2014

I've been wanting to make raviolis for quite a long time. 

I first attempted them back in 2010 from scratch... without pretty much any kitchen equipment. It didn't go terribly but it also wasn't a raging success.  Ever since then, the closest I've gotten to fresh pasta was making gnocchi. Given that I haven't acquired any pasta making tools yet, I cheated and used wonton wrappers... which was pure genius.

I had seen this approach in several places before but never really got around to finding the wonton wrappers at Whole Foods until a few weeks ago. I had picked up the butternut squash literally about a month before (or more?) when I made soup. It just kept sitting in my fridge while I pondered what I would do. Butternut squash makes me feel like I have a million options and then none all at once. What do you do with it besides make soup, make a side dish, and stuff raviolis? I'm not really sure still. So I made raviolis.

Pancetta wrapped cod... stuffed with artichoke pesto

 
I'm really behind on recipes.... and life... so I'm going to get straight to the chase.

This recipe is pretty great. In my opinion it looks a little tacky and impressive all at once. Wrapping things in pork is super tasty but also makes me feel a bit like I'm ordering an appetizer at a chain restaurant... or trying to trick a toddler into trying a new food.

Lastly, in general I think I make a pretty great cod. One person actually told me that I made the best cod they've ever had outside a restaurant... but to be fair we were dating at the time. I feel like the nature of this recipe actually dries the cod out a bit more than others. It is still great.... but loses some of the flakiness from the preparation and stuffing.
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