Bacon, Lettuce & Granny Smith Apple Sandwiches with Goat Cheese

Besides having a break from cooking, I love going out to eat because I usually end up getting so many new ideas.

Recently I was inspired by an appetizer we had, to make the recipe for Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips.

And now this idea came from another local pub we like, called the Brickwall Tavern.  A while ago, I tried their bacon, avocado, and granny smith apple sandwich, with a lemon aioli.

And fell in love.

Honestly, I would never have thought of adding granny smith apples to a bacon sandwich, but it was soooo good.

However, as much as I love avocados, in this instance I felt like that was a little much.  (Though you might disagree).  The aioli was good too, but I thought the only thing better would be some lemon & garlic-spiked goat cheese!

People, let me tell you.  The result was heaven between two slices of bread.

(I am pretty much obsessed with goat cheese.  If you don't like the addition of lemon and/or garlic, just use plain- it will still be amazing.)

Mr. Vittles prefers a plain ol' "BL" so he did not partake in this concoction.  But I savored every single bite.

And that night I tried a new nitrate-free bacon, which did not have as many slices in the package.  So we only got three sandwiches out of it - two for Mr. V, and one for me.

I was quite sad that there was no bacon left.

:(

I would've liked to have leftovers for another sandwich the next day.

:( :(

Oh well.  Guess I'll just be forced to eat the remainder of my goat cheese on salads and crackers!

By the way - since this is so simple, this is not really a recipe but more of an idea.  The amounts are up to you & your tastes!

Bacon, Lettuce & Granny Smith Apple Sandwiches with Goat Cheese

• whole wheat bread (or whatever kind you prefer)
• bacon slices, cooked
• baby lettuce (or spring mix)
• granny smith apple, sliced into thin rounds
• softened log of goat cheese
• lemon juice and/or zest, if desired
• garlic powder, if desired

Toast bread slices.  (If making flavored goat cheese, mix it with lemon juice/zest and garlic powder in the meantime.)  Spread goat cheese on the toast, and top with bacon, granny smith apple slices, lettuce, and another slice of toast.  Enjoy the fiesta on your taste buds!

Iced French Toast Latte

I was in a grocery store this week that has a fabulous coffee bar, and saw that one of their specials this month was a french toast latte.

Hold. The. Phone.

French toast latte? That sounded amazing.

However, this was in the early evening, and I try not to drink coffee that late in the day (otherwise I don't sleep well).

But I could not get this latte off my mind.

So, this weekend I decided to try and replicate it at home.  Without tasting it, I have no idea what the ingredients of said latte actually are - but I took a guess.

I'm no stranger to making my own simple syrups for coffee at home, and I figured a Cinnamon Maple simple syrup would be appropriate in this case.  Depending on your preference, you can use as little or as much of the syrup as you want, and the same goes for the milk.

Also, I happen to like my lattes iced, but you can also use the ingredients hot - just warm the milk in a saucepan first.

Iced French Toast Latte

• 3 oz. brewed espresso or strong coffee, cooled
• 1 - 2 T. cinnamon maple simple syrup (see below), cooled*
• 1 C. milk*
• ice

Place ice in glass, then pour in simple syrup and espresso.  Add milk to taste and serve immediately.

Cinnamon Maple Simple Syrup

• 1/2 C. water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1 T. real maple syrup

Place water and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil.  Add brown sugar and maple syrup, and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Makes about 1/2 cup.  Refrigerate any unused portion in airtight container up to 1 week.

*The amounts listed for syrup and milk are just guidelines - use as much as you like per your tastes.

Original Recipe

Crème Brûlée French Toast

So by a few of the comments I received on my post about Russian Tea Cakes, I can see that not all my readers are familiar with the game of beer pong.

I'm sorry that you were forced to 'Google' it :(

I'd say, if you are a college student or the parent of one, you should probably know what beer pong is - even if you've never played it personally.  Anyone else, I'll be happy to give you a pass on that one and explain the game.

To play beer pong, you set up plastic Solo cups in a triangle on each side of a long table (ideally, something the size of a ping pong table).  The object of the game is for two teams of two people to toss a ping pong ball into the cups of the other team.  If it goes in the cup, someone on that team must drink it and the cup gets taken away.  The game continues until all the cups on one side are gone.

My husband's family started playing beer pong on Christmas night the year before I met him.  Some people might think this is a strange thing for a family to do, but I thought it sounded like so much fun!

However, I did not attend Christmas Eve with Mr. Vittles our first year together, so I missed out.  But the next year, they decided to continue their new tradition and I was invited to get in on the fun.

Ok, so you know how there are people who just naturally amazing at everything they try to do?

I am not one of those people.

I am, however, excellent at getting bunny ears in family photos...

...but that's neither here nor there.

Otherwise, I'm typically awful at anything that requires coordination, skill, or athletic ability - especially if I have never tried it before, or it's been years since the last time I've done it.

And I hadn't played any beer pong since I was in college.  So needless to say, I was not helping Team Gopher (Mr. V's tribute to the gopher from Caddyshack) much at all.

Thankfully Mr. Vittles is one of those people, and he is still pretty good at the game.  I was able to hit a few cups, but he basically 'carried' our team to victory that year.

Mr. Vittles & I : Team Gopher, 2008 Champs

The next year, I played a little better, but so did everyone else! So were unable to duplicate our success and we lost to "Team Blackout," which consisted of my brother & sister-in-law:

C. Ochovittles and Mel V : Team Blackout, 2009 Champs

Now as you can see, some teams made homemade shirts in the past, but this year, my in-laws bought us all fun t-shirts for the big game.  They picked ones that fit our personality, which was hilarious.  Like, Mr. V's said "On your mark, get set, go AWAY."

(He's a real people person.)

And in honor of Vittles and Bits, mine said "Food Fight" with cartoons of food items duking it out.

They also bought us stick-on mustaches... not for any particular reason, but because they're just cool.

2010 Competitors

Now in past years, I would just haphazardly chuck the ball and hope it landed somewhere near the cups.  I also couldn't get enough of an arc on my throws for the ball to drop nicely into the cup.

So with these problems in mind, this year I decided it was time to concentrate a little harder. And it actually paid off.  I not only hit a number of cups during our games, I also managed to hit the very last (i.e. hardest) cup in 3 out of 4 of our games.

Competition was pretty stiff, so our last game went into overtime (thanks to me, if you can believe it!)  But in the end, Mr. V locked it up and we went home with our second trophies AND championship shirts.

2010 Champs

So, now that you know what beer pong is and how fun it can be, maybe you and your family will decide to play a New Year's Eve tournament? So let's talk about a nice hearty breakfast for you in the morning.

I am not usually a fan of french toast casserole (from my post on Puffed French Toast, you already know I like it to have some crunch!), but I think this Crème Brûlée French Toast is absolutely delicious.

Actually, this is my own new Christmas tradition.  A few years ago, I started having my mom and my stepdad over Christmas morning for breakfast, and that's when I made this for the first time.  It was a hit, so I've made it every year since.

This year, my stepdad came over with my stepbrother Garrett Vittles and we had a delicious french toast breakfast with bacon and melon.

It's nice because it's prepared ahead of time and can feed a number of people (although that number depends on how much each of your guests can eat!).  And between the powdered sugar on top and the caramel on the bottom, it's sweet enough that you don't have to use syrup if you don't want to.

Crème Brûlée French Toast

Note: this is a casserole best made the night before & then baked the next morning

• 1 loaf challah or brioche, sliced in 1 1/2" thick slices (discard ends of loaf or reserve for other use)
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
• 1 C. packed brown sugar
• 2 T. corn syrup
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 C. heavy cream
• 3/4 C. milk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 t. salt
• optional:  
• 2 t. Grand Marnier or Cointreau
• powdered sugar & cinnamon, for dusting 

Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  In small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with corn syrup & brown sugar.  Stir together until sugar is melted & mixture begins to bubble.  Pour into prepared baking dish.

Arrange bread slices in single layer on top of caramel mixture, squeezing edges slightly to fit.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, salt & liquor, if using.  Pour mixture over bread.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap & refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours, up to 1 day.

When ready to bake, let dish stand at room temperature 20 minutes and preheat oven 350 degrees.  Bake 30-40 minutes until golden & puffed.  Serve with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon on top, if desired.

Recipe Adapted Slightly from Gourmet, at Epicurious.com

Puffed French Toast

Oh. My. Goodness. 

I am in love.

Oh don't worry, Mr. Vittles, it's not what you think...  I wouldn't do that to you on our half-year anniversary (yes, that's today!)

But I am in love with a slice of bread that's been fried until its crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

{sigh}


Now this is a very special friend, because if I ate this on a regular basis I might not fit out my front door.

But on a special occasion, like today, this french toast is AMAZING.

I saw this recipe a while ago on one of my favorite food blogs, Our Best Bites, but I was having trouble finding Texas Toast at the store.  (For those of you who are not familiar, its basically just thick white bread)

Then this week, not only did I find it, but it was actually on sale.  Which was clearly a sign that I needed to make this.  Immediately.

And Mr. Vittles only has one day (Saturday) off work now that the weather is getting warmer (he manages a golf course) so luckily our half-year anniversary coincided with his off-day :)

I even dragged myself out of bed at 8:15 AM, which is almost unheard of for me on a weekend!  Mr. V is an inhumanly early riser by nature, he gets up at 3:45AM for work, and 5:45AM on a day off.  (Crazy, right?)  But I have always hated waking up, and usually sleep til 9 or so when I have nothing to do.

I have enough friends with kids to know that I have to appreciate sleep while I can.

But... I got myself up, and boy am I glad that I did.

Now I will confess, I don't really love french toast.  Mr. V does, but he likes it soft... which is precisely why I don't like it.  I like the taste but not the texture.  It's usually all ... bleh.

You probably won't find "bleh" in the dictionary but you know what I mean.  Rubbery and limp.  Ew.

So this recipe is a good compromise for us - it has a nice crispy crust for me, but still a soft middle for Mr. Vittles.

And we both love cinnamon sugar :)


Puffed French Toast

• 1 egg
• 4 t. sugar
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/2 C. milk
• 1/2 C. half & half
• 1/2 C. flour
• 1 1/4 t. baking powder
• 6 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally (you could also cut them into strips for french toast sticks!)

Preheat oven to absolute lowest setting (you will only be using oven to keep cooked toast warm until you eat it).  Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of paper towels.

In a large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, half & half, flour, and baking powder. 

Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it's just right.  (This is important - too hot oil will burn toast before it has a chance to cook, and too cool oil won't cook fast enough & too much of the oil will soak into bread)

Working quickly, take each 1/2 slice of bread and soak it both sides in the liquid mixture. You want the bread to be saturated, but not soggy. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice, crispy crust has formed on each side  - probably 3-5 minutes per side. (Monitor them closely!)

When cooked, remove from oil and place on baking sheet lined with paper towel in oven.  

Then when all slices are done, remove baking sheet from oven and roll each slice in cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.

Note:  Mr. V and I ate them plain and they were awesome - but you can use a little syrup too if you like!

Recipe Adapted from Our Best Bites.com