Gouda and Apple Stuffed French Toast

I was feeling very gourmet the other morning and decided to make something  fancy. This easy stuffed french toast recipe was quite tasty. :) You can easily substitute pears or peaches for the apple and any cheese will complement well...mix it up and enjoy.

Gouda and Apple Stuffed French Toast

1 green apple
5 slices of gouda cheese
10 slices of bread
1 ripe banana
1 cup milk (we used Almond Milk)
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

1. Slice the apple into 1/4 inch slices. Mash the banana in a medium, shallow bowl. Add the milk, egg, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until combined.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Make the sandwiches by stacking the cheese and about 6 slices of apple on one piece of bread and topping it with the second slice of bread.

3. Holding the sandwich together, gently dip both sides in the banana mixture. Then place the dipped sandwich on the hot skillet. Cook until golden brown and flip to cook the other side until cheese begins to melt. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Tomato Orange Marmalade

Here is another fun way to use tomatoes. This jam takes a long time to boil down, but it is delicious and goes great with scones. http://sarahsfreshlife.blogspot.com/search?q=scones

Tomato Orange Marmalade

3 lbs tomatoes, chopped (this is about 15 medium tomatoes)

3 cups sugar
2 oranges
1 lemon
1/8 tsp salt

1. Chill 2 small plates in the refrigerator for testing your Marmalade, and sterilize your canning equipment and jars.

2. Chop your tomatoes. Grate the peels of the fruit. (I used the zester for the lemon and a large holed cheese grater for the oranges.) Then gently cut the tops and bottoms off the lemon and oranges. Standing them up on a flat end cut the white pith off in strips from the top down. Reserve the strips and the tops. Holding the naked orange or lemon in your hand over your bowl, cut out the fruit segments by running your knife along the pith of each segment. Place the fruit segments in the bowl, and try to catch as much juice as you can into the bowl as you work. When you are done, squeeze as much juice as you can out of the left over pith and tops you previously cut.

3. Add all ingredients to a large pot over medium heat. Stir frequently until sugar is dissolved. (about 6 min)

4. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally as marmalade thickens (50 to 90 min)

5. Begin testing the marmalade after 50 min. Drop a spoonful of Marmalade on a chilled plate, then tilt; if the marmalade is done it should remain in a mound and should not run.

6. Process by filling sterilized jars and boiling 10 min. Let Marmalade stand in jars for 1 day for flavors to develop.

Tomato Jam

Thanks to Nancy at Fair Foods there are a lot of tomatoes in my life. Our relationship usually consists of salads, sandwiches and a lot of saucing. But that was getting a little routine so I decided to spice things up. I found this recipe for Tomato Jam and it is AMAZING!!! I made some tweaks because I have to, but if you would like something new to do with your tomatoes try it! The Jam tastes like the insides of a mincemeat pie, sweet and spicy and very surprising. It takes a good bit of time, but totally worth the wait.

We have not formally eaten any yet, just licked all the remnants out of the pan and on the spoon. But we think it would be great on croissanti with  goat cheese. We will try it.

This recipe makes about 1 pint of jam. Multiplying the recipe works fine, but it takes a little longer to boil down. When I doubled mine it took 2 hours instead of 1 hr. 15 min.
 You can make the jam and put it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or you can can it. This recipe requires the water bath canning method, but that is only because the lemon rind and juice lend enough citric acid to keep the botulism at bay. **IMPORTANT** You must have enough lemon or you can make people very sick. Tomatoes do not have enough acidity of their own, and without the lemon you will need to use the pressure canning method. To ensure safe acidity in canned tomatoes, add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart. The quantities of this recipe are sufficient, just be careful folks. 

Tomato Jam

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes chopped
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 lemon, juiced and zested
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1. In a 3-4 quart saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2. Reduce heat to a simmer, stir occasionally, until mixture is reduced to 2 cups and has the consistency of thick jam. (this takes about 1 hr and 15 min)

3. Spoon into prepared sterilized jars and process 10 min in water-bath or place in the refrigerator.