Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

          The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 

                                                                    
Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole: From Denny:  Whether it's the holidays, a busy summer when the kids are out of school or company came to visit, we all need something fast and simple to put together that's a crowd pleaser.  This simple easy to assemble breakfast casserole fits that bill!

All the ingredients required are a loaf of good French bread, a full 8 ounces of your favorite brand of cream cheese, milk, maple syrup, butter, sugar and eggs.  Add fresh fruit to serve and it's that easy!

Usually when a recipe calls for sugar I often substitute agave syrup or brown rice syrup or even molasses.  If you don't like or can enjoy cow's milk why not substitute almond milk?  When butter is in a recipe I choose to clarify it just because we love the extra boost of flavor at our house from browning and filtering out the milk solids - as well as the added health benefits.  You could use margarine in this recipe as a substitute too.  And, to gild the lily, why not add a few shakes of nutmeg and/or cinnamon, some chopped pecans or walnuts before baking?  Yeah, Flavor Town is the name at our house...

Dennys Food and Recipes: Breakfast: Easy Simple French Toast Casserole

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A blue abstract background with bold lettering declaring your love of the sport from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon.  Available on other products too!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new! 

Dennys Food and Recipes: Memorial Day Easy Recipe Travels Well: Beef Taco Pasta Casserole

Dennys Food and Recipes: Memorial Day Easy Recipe Travels Well: Beef Taco Pasta Casserole: From Denny:  Looking for a new family favorite that doesn't break the bank or take forever to make?

It's a simple, straight forward main dish that can travel well to family reunions, potluck dinners, picnics and Memorial Day or Labor Day and summer outings with friends and family when a dish is requested to bring to the event.

It's an easy dish for Saturday night casual or a busy week night when the family is going in twenty different directions as you can scoop up a serving and reheat it in the microwave with ease...

Sports Blue Soccer Women's All Over Print T-Shirt

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More products and t-shirt styles available in this design for men, women, kids and babies - like note cards, padfolio, blankets, jewelry and more!

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Chef Recipe From Kingfish: BBQ Shrimp Gaufre With Sweet Potato Spread

From Denny:  Ready for yet another chef inspired version of the classic BBQ Shrimp idea?  This one comes from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Kingfish (named after Kingfish Sen. Huey Long who was definitely larger than life).

In Louisiana we love an excuse to use in any dish we can our incredible sweet potatoes grown here.  This is the first time I've seen sweet potatoes used in a BBQ Shrimp recipe!  This chef uses his sweet potatoes to create his version of a "BBQ" sauce poured over the shrimp on top of the waffle...

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New Orleans: Creamy Seafood Jambalaya Pasta

From Denny:  Need a quick pasta dish finished in 30 minutes?  Zatarain's created a product using the traditional jambalaya seasonings but with pasta noodles instead of rice!  If you want to include more than shrimp, like some tilapia or other fish, then cook these first and set aside.

Cooking shrimp separately to be added by the diner is also a good idea if you have diners who don't like shrimp or are allergic.

You never want to overcook seafood, especially shrimp.  Under cook them slightly while you finish the rest of the dish.  That way the heat of the sauce and vegetables will finish the seafood cooking without ruining the delicate texture.  I usually place the cooked seafood in a warmed ceramic/ironstone pasta bowl and cover with a small plate to keep it warm and moist until ready to place in the final dish.

If you are bored with fresh parsley as a garnish then consider diagonally sliced green onion.  It looks pretty and helps cut the rich cream sauce!

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* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Gourmet Crawfish Pasta Salad

Louisiana crawfish (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Denny:  Wonderful fresh greens of arugula and parsley combined with black olives, tomatoes, artichokes, green onions and bell pepper start the base for this tasty pasta salad.  If you can't find crawfish tails then substitute shrimp or even a favorite local meaty fish.

Here in Louisiana we like a lot of freshly sliced green onions in our dishes as they pair quite well with sauced seafood.  This pasta salad gets dressed up divine with a prepared remoulade sauce that is thinned with a bit of your favorite oil (canola oil or clarified butter at our house) and an added pinch of sugar.  

Do be aware that many prepared remoulade sauces have large portions of horseradish in the ingredient ratio.  I love horseradish and don't mind the intense mind and sinus-numbing sear but my husband hates it since it burns his mouth.  So, be aware some people can't take a lot of horseradish.  Make sure to taste any prepared remoulade sauce to make sure your family can handle it.

What can you do to replace a heavily horseradish laced remoulade sauce?  Try the idea of making an oil, vinegar and garlic vinaigrette dressing.  You can also make a dressing of half vinaigrette and and half light mayonnaise.

We like balsamic vinegar at our house for vinaigrette dressing but for this recipe be sure to use a light vinegar like a rice vinegar.  A dark vinegar can cause the vegetables to turn purplish in a cold salad.  Do make sure that the vinegar dressing is well emulsified.  If it is not it can make the vegetables turn a bit grayish.  And, hey, if you happen to have some leftover roasted garlic, wow, does that make a stellar vinaigrette too.

Cold pasta salad often requires a bit of a seasoning adjustment to your personal taste.  Once everything is well mixed together see if it could use a touch more salt, cayenne pepper, perhaps some fresh cracked black pepper, maybe even a bit more vinegar or a generous splash of fresh lemon juice.

Just be careful not to be tempted to up the seasoning by pouring on too much dressing that the salad becomes too wet and soupy.  The idea is to keep the salad plump and lightly dressed.  It just isn't fair to drown a salad of such quality ingredients in too much dressing! :)

Beef: Braised Sirloin Tips

Mushrooms Image by Getty Images via @daylife

From Denny:  Want a low maintenance meal to throw in the oven during the holiday season while you tend to other things?  A hearty casserole is always welcome when the weather turns chilly.  You might want relief from dining on turkey.  Why not try this easy braised sirloin tips recipe?

Besides, it has brain food:  mushrooms.  During the holiday season it's easy to get frazzled and it sure is fun to know that mushrooms are available to get our overloaded brains back on target. :)

This recipe was featured in our local newspaper last year where local great cooks often share recipes.  Try this easy recipe and maybe it will become a holiday favorite:

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Image via Wikipedia

From Denny:  Red Bean and Rice is a traditional recipe in Louisiana that was the original Wash Day food every Monday, in every household in New Orleans, rich or poor.  These beans could simmer on the stove for hours, leaving time for household chores.

Living in Louisiana, sometimes I forget some people don't know how to make this simple delicious dish.  It's seems when I am researching up pops something else that I just know you will want to see.

I've been thinking lately of how to get more beans into our diet by adding to traditional recipes and found some awesome recipes from the various bean grower sites that I will be featuring soon on all my food blogs.  If you are not yet sold on beans as a healthy and inexpensive food, this dish would be a great introduction.

New Orleans Chef Sclafani Silver Medal Winner: Seared Scallops, Truffled Corn Pudding

Another scallop recipe by ulterior epicure via Flickr

From Denny: President Obama is a huge fan of scallops, often ordering them when he dines out.  Yeah, me too, as long as they are those huge honking ocean scallops!  The beauty of scallops is they cook up quickly and are a light food for the summer heat.

This is one of the winning recipes from last week's New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE), one of the top food and wine shows in America. The five-day event entertained a hungry and discriminating crowd in the Crescent City.

Baton Rouge Ruffino's Italian Restaurant's new chef and co-owner, Peter Sclafani from New Orleans, won two Fleur de lis Culinary Awards Medals at the prestigious event: one gold and one silver for his tasty creations. He competed against dozens of great New Orleans chefs. He won the gold medal for his recipe of "48 Hour Pork Belly with Candied Bacon Jam and Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding."

While there still exists the friendly rivalry between New Orleans and Baton Rouge chefs, the two cities are beginning to blend more into one mega-city mindset. New Orleans has discovered there is cooking talent in Baton Rouge since so many moved here after Hurricane Katrina five years ago.