MAN FOOD!! Made for a Man, But Delicious Enough for a Woman!!

Always looking for ways to expand this blog to ward off your boredom for as long as possible, I decided to begin a series completely different – even unexpected!  MAN FOOD!! Made for a Man, but Delicious Enough for a Woman!! Actually, this series is rooted in my desire to experiment with food photography.  Logically, in order to photograph food – umm…well, you need to prepare the food!!  Does that make sense??

So if you will allow me to introduce you to a man who loves to grill, but has very little – alright, absolutely no – experience with actual “chefery!”  (HA!!  I just made up that word :))  It’s me – Steve…cooking!  WOW!!  Where will it end??  (Possibly with this post!  :))

Since this is the first post in this series, I thought it would be very appropriate to begin with breakfast and work my way through the day.  So, here we go!  If I may ask for complete silence while I measure, sift, chop, season, and cook!  LOL!  Are you hungry?  If not, I’m hoping my delectable photography will stir the hunger pangs within you that these dishes were created to satisfy!  🙂

Our first dish:

The Ingredients

ALMOND-CRUSTED FRENCH TOAST

1.  In a shallow bowl or pie plate, lightly whisk the eggs; add milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and orange zest and whisk to combine.  (I actually found it much easier to do this whisking in a large bowl, then transfer to a shallow bowl.  Apparently the “shallow-bowl” whisking technique is beyond my culinary ability, based upon the egg mixture found on the counter top outside the shallow bowl!  I don’t think that mixture is supposed to actually escape the bowl!  🙂  Oh yeah, I’m having fun!)

2.  Place a skillet over medium-low heat.  Melt the butter in the skillet until evenly coated.  (This was quite possibly the easiest step for me!  Even I was able to slice a square of real butter from the stick and place it into the skillet without incident!  :))  Alright, bring on the bread!

3.  Dip one slice of your bread into the egg mixture, allowing the excess to drip into the bowl.  After dredging each slice, dip into the sliced almonds – turning until both sides are coated.

4.  Place into the skillet and cook about 1 minute per side, or until the bread is golden brown and the egg coating has set.  Transfer to a warm plate and cover until ready to serve.  Repeat with the remaining slices, buttering the skillet as necessary. (You may want to reduce the ingredients by half unless you happen to be feeding a small army!  🙂  I was able to coat and cook the entire 16 slices of Hawaiian sweet bread with nearly half the egg mixture still remaining.)

5.  Serve topped with fresh berries and powered sugar.  Or, you may serve topped with butter and genuine maple syrup (warmed in the microwave a few seconds) and then dusted with powered sugar.

The Finished Product

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups whole or low-fat milk
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract/pure bourbon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 large orange (don’t even think about omitting this item)
• Sliced almonds
• Challah bread, Texas toast, or what I used today – Hawaiian sweet bread
• Warm butter, maple syrup, powered sugar
• Blueberries, strawberries

The early reviews:

“I was immediately overwhelmed with the mouth-watering flavor of the roasted almonds, followed by the contrasting zest of the orange, with both flavors then complimented by the cinnamon and vanilla! YUMMO!!” (Well of course, that was my review!)  🙂

There you have it!  I have to say, this was really a lot of fun!!  Look for another edition of MAN FOOD!!  in a few weeks!!

P.S. Did anyone notice the number of 🙂 in this post?  I must have been having a blast!!

P.S.S.  From the previous post, the results of the poll saw 65% of the voters preferring the original image.  I am still working with the editing process and believe I will eventually have a print free from the raindrop streaks and the fringing effect.  I’ll let you know!

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~ by photographyfree4all on February 14, 2011.