A Perfect Feast

French Toast is such a classic American breakfast recipe. But, I have to admit, I find regular white bread dipped in egg French toast more than a little boring. This Crunchy Cereal French Toast with Fresh Berries, however, is a crispy, crunchy, eggy sweet delight.

Excellent French toast, starts with great bread, and challah is my bread of choice for most French toast. I like to make my own challah in my bread machine, but good bakery challah is a fine substitute for homemade. I try to slice my bread about an inch thick, and then I dip it in eggs and heavy cream, but you can certainly use milk instead. Next, I crush slightly sweet honeyed cornflakes, and dip the egged bread in that. You could of course use plain cornflakes. After that, I fry the challah in lots of butter and then top everything with fresh berries.

Crunchy Cereal French Toast with Fresh Berries

Cinnamon French Toast encrusted with crispy corn flakes and topped with sweet berries.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 eggs
• 4 tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 cups honeyed corn flakes, crushed
• 8 slices of Bread Machine challah (see previous recipe)
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 2 cups raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries

Instructions

 

• Beat the eggs with the cream and cinnamon, in one bowl. In the second bowl place the crushed cornflakes.
• In a non-stick skillet melt 2 tablespoons of the butter on medium heat. Dip two slices of bread in eggs, briefly. You shouldn't soak the bread in the egg. Then dip the bread in the cornflakes, making sure both sides are well crusted. Fry the bread on each side, until golden.

  Repeat with rest of bread, using more butter as needed.
• Top with berries and serve.

Keyword French Toast

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Now that the weather is finally starting to warm up here in the Hudson Valley, I’m really craving light, summery sandwiches. This Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich, filled with carrots and cucumbers in a spicy lime dressing, and topped with a creamy sriracha mayonnaise, is perfect for lunch or dinner on a sunny late spring day. It’s substantial enough to be a meal, but still light enough not to weigh you down on a hot day.

I really like Vietnamese food, but sadly we have no Vietnamese restaurants nearby, so I’ve really been enjoying making things at home, like this sandwich.

This is also a great make ahead recipe, because you can poach the chicken, pickle the vegetables, and make the mayonnaise mixture early in the day or even the night before.

Vietnamese Chicken and Pickled Vegetable Sandwich with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Tender chicken drizzled with a rich sriracha mayonnaise and crispy pickled vegetables.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vietnamese

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

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• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 radish, thinly sliced
• 1 cup peeled and thinly sliced cucumber
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp. chopped mint
• ½ cup lime juice
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. sriracha
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 4 club rolls
• 2 tbsp. butter

Instructions

 

• Place the chicken breasts in a 3 quart saucepan and cover with 2 cups of chicken broth. Bring the pot to a boil and then cover pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the chicken until fully cooked, about 25 minutes. Thinly slice the chicken and set aside.
• Prepare the sriracha mayonnaise by stirring together the mayonnaise, sriracha, and sugar.
• Prepare the pickled vegetables, by mixing together the lime juice, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar. Add the carrots, radish, cucumber, red onion, and mint.
• Melt the butter in the skillet, and brown the insides of the rolls.
• To assemble the rolls: spread them with the sriracha mayonnaise, and cover with layers of chicken and pickled vegetables. Sprinkle some cilantro on each sandwich and serve.

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Crispy Caramel Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots is one of our favorite shrimp dinners. I start this dish by making a sweet and spicy sauce. Then, I deep fry plum Gulf shrimp. We like this dish for several reasons. First of all, whenever we go to a Chinese restaurant, my family loves to order crispy shrimp with a sweet sauce. After a few times ordering it for take- out, only to find the shrimp soggy and unappealing, I decided to try and recreate the dish myself. And we were all happy to learn that this stir-fry was very easy to make at home, and surprisingly, just as good as the dish prepared in the restaurant. Secondly, I like that this dish can be reheated in the microwave. And, lastly, we all love the crispy shrimp and sweet sauce.

I know many people are put off by the thought of deep frying, but if you use a good thermometer, it’s really a cinch. Just make sure your oil is exactly 350 degrees, every time you drop in shrimp. You will need to wait a few minutes between batches, for your oil to reheat to 350 degrees. But, the shrimp only fry for a few minutes each of the two times you fry them. The double frying is what makes the shrimp ultra crispy.

Another thing I love about making this dish at home, is all the vegetables I serve with it. The sugar snap peas, the carrots, the pepper, and the cabbage are all so fresh and bright. Last night, I almost fell of my chair when my pickiest eater decided to try the red cabbage. It looked so pretty, that I guess she couldn’t resist trying a taste. If you like shrimp, you need to try this Crispy Caramel Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots.

Crispy Caramel Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots

Super crispy deep-fried shrimp enveloped in a sweet sauce with sugar snap peas and carrots.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Equipment

• deep frying thermometer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Crispy Caramel Shrimp:

• 1 lb. large shrimp
• 3 cups vegetable oil
• 3 dried chilis
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup cornstarch , plus 2 tsp.
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. sugar

For the vegetables:

• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup sugar snap peas
• 1 cup chopped red peppers
• 1 cup chopped red cabbage
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. sesame oil

Instructions

 

For the Crispy Caramel Shrimp:

• In a three quart saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and add the chilis. Cook until they darken, and then add the sugar, ginger, broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Bring to a boil and then add 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp. of water and simmer until the sauce gets thick and syrupy about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat the three cups of vegetable oil in a deep pot, to 350°.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg and 1 tsp. of sugar, and then stir in the shrimp.
• In a second bowl, place the cornstarch. Dip the shrimp in the cornstarch, and then use a strainer to shake off the excess cornstarch.
• When the oil is at 350°, fry the shrimp in three batches until the coating is fully cooked and crisp. Drain each batch on a wire rack. Then, refry all the shrimp a second time, in 3 batches, until they are super crispy.
• Meanwhile, reheat the sauce. When the shrimp are all done, toss them with the sauce in a large bowl and serve.

For the Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large pan and stir fry all the vegetables until crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and sesame oil.

Keyword shrimp

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