Kuting's Kitchen: French Toast with Caramelized Banana

Given my current condition, my cooking (mis)adventures will be put on hold.  Good thing our Yaya Emily is a very good cook so the execution of the featured recipes will be done by her.  The first of her many cooking challenges:

French Toast with Caramelized Banana
[source: easy everyday meals from the best of Good Housekeeping] 

In a saucepan, caramelize ½ cup sugar until light brown. Lower the heat and add 4tbsp of Magnolia Gold Butter.  Cook until bubbly. Add in 4 slices of banana.  Stir in ½ cup fruit juice (pineapple, orange or apple) and simmer until thick.  Set aside.  In a bowl, beat 2 eggs, 1/3 cup milk, dash of salt and ¼ tsp cinnamon.  Heat 2 tbsp Magnolia Gold Butter in a pan.  Dip 4 slices of bread in egg mixture.  Pan-fry until golden brown.  Serve topped with caramelized banana.  

Note:  Yaya Emily used muscovado sugar.  Instead of fruit juice, she used blended mango sauce (leftover from the mango crepe).  As for the bread, she used sliced "parasyon", one of the best-selling bread from my Nanay's bakery, "Masang Caviteno".

Verdict: Yum, yum.

Kuting's Kitchen - Baby Potatoes with Garlic & Basil with Grilled Salmon

In our effort to eat healthier, we started mixing brown rice grains with white.  I could only eat so much.  I still prefer white rice but I do hope I get used to eating brown rice – it is actually more filling and I do not get hungry easily.  Nevertheless, to help me transition to brown rice, I should alternate rice with something else – potatoes perhaps?

This potato dish was inspired by a dear former officemate of mine.  Even if I have rice for lunch, I always get a piece from her potato meal.   My favorite dish to go with the potatoes is the grilled salmon.  Below are the recipes:

Baby Potatoes with Garlic & Basil with Grilled Salmon

Baby Potatoes

Ingredients:  

Baby potatoes, cut in half, boiled

Garlic, chopped

Dried basil

Salt and pepper     

Olive oil

Steps: 

1.     Saute garlic.

2.     Add cooked baby potatoes.

3.     Add basil and salt and pepper. 

Kuting’s Tip:  I ensure that every potato gets its share of the basil. That is how much basil I use.

Grilled Salmon

Ingredients:

Salmon

Salt and pepper

Steps:

1.     Season salmon with salt and pepper.

2.     Grill until your desired doneness. 

Kuting’s Tip #1:  I like mine really grilled although this may overcook the salmon.  It is a matter of preference J

Kuting’s Tip #2:  In the actual cooking done, I used salmon belly.  Bibi bought these since it was cheaper than the usual salmon cut (pusta ang alam ko, di ko alam in English hehe :) .  I prefer the salmon “cut” though since the belly tends to be very rich for my taste.  I just ate grapes afterwards to counter the strong salmon belly taste.   

Kuting's Kitchen - Boiled Kamote

No big kitchen production here.  Just sharing a simple and healthy snack.  I got the idea from my dear former officemates who bring this to the office as a snack or as a substitute for rice J  Miss you guys!

Boiled Kamote

Ingredients:

Kamote

Water

Steps:

1.     Boil kamote until soft.

2.     Eat it while it’s hot!

Kuting’s Tip:  It took me 25 minutes to make it soft for my liking.