Cinnamon French Toast

I tried this recipe from my Marie Claire “spicy” collection. I love cinnamon so I thought this might make a nice breakfast.

What you need:

• 5 thick slices of white bread, crusts removed
• 1 egg
• 1T sugar
• 1t ground cinnamon
• 125ml milk
• butter for frying

Options to serve:

• plain yoghurt
• fresh seasonal fruit
• maple syrup
• 2T finely chopped pecans

Cut each slice of bread in half to make rectangles. Beat the egg, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and then add the milk. Melt the butter in the frying pan over medium heat. Dip the bread into the sweet milk mixture, covering both sides. Sprinkle one side of each piece of bread and gently fry, sugar side down, for 3 minutes or until golden.
Sprinkle tops with a little sugar and flip over. Cook until golden.

Serve with yoghurt, fruit, maple syrup and a sprinkle of pecans.

I used golden syrup instead of maple; as I find maple way too sweet. The strawberries cut the sweetness and the grape gave it a nice flavour. This is something I will definitely make again.

TV Snack

I was looking for a focaccia recipe a while back but didnt want to try something from the Internet – well I much prefer a recipe that one of our food bloggers have already tried. Since I didnt have one I decided to lightly toast some bread and slice it up and make a tv snack using the Nomu tomato and chill pesto I received. I choose savouries over sweet any day!

snacks

After slicing the toast up, I added the pesto and put some grated cheese and thyme and microwaved it for about 30 seconds.

It wasnt too bad – something I’d definitely make again.

Roti

My (moms) recipe works per cup of flour. For each cup, 1 tablespoon of oil goes in. I usually get 4 rotis per cup.

Roti

2 cups of flour
2T oil
salt
boiling water
butter

In a bowl, add your flour portion and oil. Using your fingers, mix the oil into the flour lightly. Sprinkle some salt. Add boiling water slowly and mix. Do not pour extra water or it will get spoilt. Stop when you get a nice dough form. Knead the dough. It should be pliable.

At this stage, heat butter in a bowl with a little oil in the microwave until liquid.

Sprinkle your work area with flour and using your rolling pin, roll the dough into a large circle. Using a tablespoon, coat the surface of the roti facing up with the heated butter + oil, lightly. Sprinkle flour over it – sparsely. Roll the dough into a swiss roll form. It should be neat and tight – and not too wide.

Cut the roll to give you 8 pieces. I usually cut it equally in half and then work my way from there into exact portions. Roll each piece to give a round form. Dont forget to use flour on your surface area before doing so. Use flour as you are rolling roti into a bigger form, if needed.

Heat a large frying pan on heat level 7. This is the settting I use. I usually get to this step by the time I am done three quarter way rolling my rotis.

Put roti into frying pan and when it starts rising (sort of) or several small bubbles start forming, turn it around. (This should happen after a minute of putting it into the frying pan). At this stage you will need your bowl of melted butter + oil. Using a tablespoon, coat the roti lightly with it and turn over. Do the same. Each side should be coated once. Rotis should look like pic above.

You dont have to start frying the rotis when you are three quarter way done rolling them. It can be done once all have been rolled.

Hope whoever is reading this understands. Maybe I will do a step by step with pics the next time I make for a better idea.