Friday, December 25, 2009

Panetone French Toast




I adapted an Alton Brown recipe, instead of french bread I used a medium sized panetone.

1cup heavy cream (I used light cream because that's what we had)
3 eggs
2 tbsp honey (warmed in the microwave for 20 secs)
A pinch of salt
4 tbsp of butter

Preheat oven to 375F
Mix cream, honey, eggs, and salt together. Pour into a pie dish. Soak slices of panetone on each side for 20-30secs.

Melt butter in the frying pan. Fry each side for about 2 minutes or until brown. Then place on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 5-10 min depending on the thickness of bread.

The panetone is incredibly filling so this is great for feeding a lot of people. Neither myself nor Shannon could make it through more than one piece.


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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Wait, TV producers actually edited you to look bad?

I've made no secret that during Top Chef I was completely smitten with Bryan. His nervous laugh was by far the cutest thing I've ever seen from a grown man. (Plus the episode where he talked to his son on the phone and his son called him Bryan omFg so cute). But the more interviews I read with Michael after his win, the more I realize maybe he deserves an equal share of my affection (and it pains me to do this to Bryan).

Here are a few excerpts from an interview on ivillage.com that made me fall a little bit in love with Michael.


What’s the one holiday dish you would love to eat all year round? Christmas cookies 



What’s the one food that always cheers you up? Ice cream (How about a spring wedding?)



If you were going to open a restaurant with another chef from this season, who would it be and why? Bryan, he is an amazing chef with a similar style and discipline. Oh, by the way, we are also brothers. (Yes, darling, we noticed)



Ok, maybe I just love him cause he also has the appetite of a four year old. But he was also super cute on Conan and he seems like a genuinely nice guy when the Bravo editors don't have their say.

Picture taken from volltaggiobrothers.com my new favorite place on the interweb

Monday, December 21, 2009

Nigella lawson's plum pecan crumble

Not sure I can mark this down as a success. I had plums I wanted to use up. It ended up being way more crumble than fruit. The crumble bit was yummy. But I expect a bit more liquid.



Friday, December 11, 2009

Maxwell's 148

Three days ago was the lovely Shannon's birthday. And since that holidays are here and people just HAVE to have their latte steamed to 120 degrees, I've been a bit knackered. So instead of cooking her something so-so, we go all tarted up and went out.

Shannon decided on Maxwell's 148. It's in this completely non-desrcript building. And the description of the cuisine, chinese and italian, seemed intriguing if not a little weird. But oh my lord was it good. They start off wit giving you foccacia and hummus and wonton strips with this peanuty sauce stuff. I wasn't a huge fan of the hummus. It had this weird smoking flavor that reminded me of cheap cigars. But the peanut sauce was delicious, just the right amount of kick. For an appetizer we had lobster rangoons. I remember commenting that I'd never had a rangoon that tasted so much like what was supposed to be in it. There was a good amount of lobster and some cheese in there too. Very yummy. For dinner I had the Kobe pub burger. I am a sucker for some red meat. It had bacon, cheese, onion straws, and some house dressing. It was so juicy and rich. And the fries that came with it belonged wrapped in paper at a state fair, that is to say they were amazing! Shannon had the penne carbonara. I only had one bite, but again it was rich and creamy. She loved it. For dessert I had the chocolate terrine. I have a pretty high tolerance for chocolate, but even I struggled to finish this. It was delicious but after the richness of the rest of the food I probably should have opted for something lighter. Shannon had the meyer lemon cheesecake. It was the light and airy kind of cheesecake, not that super dense stuff. The little kick of lemon really lightened it up. It came with a bing cherry sauce that I didn't try but Shannon really liked. Plus the put a candle in a strawberry for her birthday.

A lot of people on yelp had complained that the place was too expensive. It certainly wasn't cheap. But for the quality of the food it was well worth it. I still have sticker shock every time I see how much cocktails cost in the state of Massachusetts. But since neither of us are big drinkers it didn't end too badly. Including tip it was less than a hundred for a meal that left us feeling very roman.

Plus it was a bit slow since it was a tuesday night. So after dinner the chef/owner Mitchell Maxwell came around to everyone's table to wish them happy holidays. I may have fangirled a little bit. He has really great hair.