When Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice recommended the cookbook, à la di stasio by Josée di Stasio, as a nice holiday gift, one of the recipes she tried from the book was Ham and Egg Ramekins.   One look at what she’d made and I knew I had to try them, too!  I love that it was a really easy meal to prepare, I love that the ingredients were simple (bread, egg, ham) and I love its unique presentation (the bread, itself, acts as the ramekin and holds the eggs and ham!)  Love it!

Paz

Ham and Egg Ramekins

From à la di stasio by Josée di Stasio.

Serves 4.

4 slices of whole wheat bread (trim off crusts)
1 tablespoon softened butter
4 slices Black Forest ham
4 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a rolling pin, think out your slices of bread as much as possible (don’t go too thin or they’ll rip).

Divide the butter equally among the four slices and spread it on side of each slice.

On the unbuttered side of bread, lay a slice of Black Forest ham.

Carefully transfer the bread and ham to a muffin tin, making sure that the buttered side of the bread is the side that goes into the muffin cup.

Once all your bread and ham slices are in, crack open an egg and carefully drop one egg into each ham and bread cup.

Bake for 20 minutes and check the bread cups. If the egg is cooked, then remove otherwise keep it in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let rest for a few minutes before carefully popping out the bread ramekins. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and serve immediately.

This Sunday’s New York Times has an article out on dining in Austria, and our friend and fellow blogger, Angelika of The Flying Apple is a major part of the article.  She recently opened her own restaurant, which she has blogged about on her site. 

Quite some time ago, she sent me an Austrian cookbook (recipes from the Austro-Hungarian Royal Kitchen).  I hadn’t been able to try out any of the recipes, although I’d picked up the cookbook to look for something to make after recently watching The Sound of Music (which takes place in Austria).  I never had time to prepare my Austrian meal.

With news of Angelika’s article in theTimes, I had to prepare something Austrian in her honor.  For a Sunday morning, I decided to prepare the Kaiser Pancakes.  The ingredients were readily available to me, except for plum purée.  I bought blueberry preserves to use as a substitution for the plum puree.  However,  by the time I’d finished making my pancakes, I was starved and couldn’t wait to eat my food.  I forgot all about the preserves.  Next time. 

Anywho, my Kaiser Pancakes didn’t turn out badly at all.  In fact, I loved them.  It tasted really good.  As I closed my eyes and savored the taste of my pancakes, I imagined I was part of the royalty enjoying my meal.  My imagination lasted, until I had to get up and wash my own dishes.  

Congratulations, Angelika on a very nice article and all your accomplishments.

Best,

Paz

Kaiser Pancakes (Kaiserschmarren)

Imperial Austrian Cuisine by Renate Wagner-Wittula

Ingredients:

6 eggs

200 g (7oz) cake or pastry flour

50 g (1 1/2 oz) sugar

250 ml (8 fluid oz) milk

pinch of salt

40 g (1 oz) raisins

butter

confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

plum purée

Preparation:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks.  Thouroughly mix the yolks, sugar, milk and flour.  Whisk the egg whites, add a pinch of salt and continue whisking until stiff.  Now, carefully fold into the egg yolk mixture.  Melt butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture and sprinkle in raisins.  Let cook on one side for a few minutes, turn over and tear into pieces with a fork.  Now let finish cooking (ideally in a buttered pan in a preheated oven(.  Be especially careful not to overcook the pancakes, otherwise they will dry out.  Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with plum purée.

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Hi Folks:

I’m looking for healthy breakfast recipes — something filling, quick, and easy to prepare.

What foods do you like to eat to start out your day? I’d love to know. Share with us!

Thanks,

Paz

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As soon as I saw this simple and enticing recipe for French toast, posted by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks, I immediately knew that I had to try it. The recipe comes from one of her vintage cookbooks, The Spice Islands Cookbook.

What I like about this recipe is that I had all the ingredients (including the heart-shaped cookie cutter!) in my kitchen already. Also, it didn’t take a long time to assemble the ingredients or make the French toast. I’ve seen other recipes, which are more involved.

Heidi used Hawaiian sweet bread, but since I didn’t know what type of bread that is, I used challah bread.

The best part of my Gold Coast French Toast is that it tasted so good! I love it – I made my own food of love!

Paz