Here is a recipe for the well known breakfast item – French toast. French toast is very popular all across the United States and Europe. It is also known as ‘Eggy Bread’ in parts of the United Kingdom. The process to making French toast is very simple; slices of bread are dipped in an egg mixture and then fried on a griddle or in a pan. Most of the flavor comes from ingredients such as cinnamon and vanilla extract. This recipe calls for Texas toast, which is a thicker type of sliced white bread. If you can’t find it any type of white bread will work as well. Serve with butter, syrup and/or fruit. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
8 slices thick Texas toast bread
4 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (or more if desired)
3 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a shallow bowl mix together eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.
Step 2: Heat a large skillet or griddle. When the pan is hot add butter.
Step 3: Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture for 30 seconds on both sides. Let the excess batter drip off and place into the skillet.

Step 4: Cook each slice on for 1 ½-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides. Repeat adding more butter to the pan if necessary until all slices have been cooked. Dust with powdered sugar.

Spaghetti is probably the most popular Italian dish. I used to use store bought spaghetti sauce quite a bit but now that has changed. I started experimenting with different sauce recipes until I found one that was perfect for me. Spaghetti sauce is not very hard to make and it’s all about the simmer. The longer you simmer the sauce for, the better it will taste. The sauce should be simmered for a minimum of 1 hour, but I would recommend about 1 ½-2 hours. The recipes calls for 2 cups of water in the sauce, if you are only simmering for 1 hour, I would only use 1 cup. Serve with parmesan cheese and garlic bread. What could be better? Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs Italian sausage
1 small onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water (if simmering for only 1 hour, 1 cup)
3 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more)
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup red wine

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large pot (I used a very big skillet) brown Italian sausage, breaking it up into bits as you stir. Add onions and continue to cook until they have become soft. Add garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Mix well.
Step 2: Add basil, parsley, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Mix well and bring to a slow boil. Stir in red wine.
Step 3: Simmer on low stirring frequently for at least 1 hour.  Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles.
(Makes 10 Servings)

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate Bundt cake… Yes, that is indeed a lot of chocolate. This is the perfect cake for chocolate lovers; it’s nearly an overdose of itJ. This recipe uses 3 different ingredients to incorporate chocolate into this cake – chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, and chocolate chips. To top it off, I even added a chocolate glaze on top of the cake. I confess, I did give into using a box mix for this recipe. I am normally not into using box mixes because I consider it somewhat ‘cheating’ but I thought I would give it a try for once and it did save a lot of time. The end result was a very moist, rich and delicious Bundt cake that will keep you coming back for more. This cake is very rich, I would recommend taking small slices or you might not be able to finish it. If you are looking for a quick and easy Bundt cake recipe, give this a try. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package devils food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instantly chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
½ cup warm water
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together devils food cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs and water. Mix until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
Step 2: Pour batter into a greased 12 cup Bundt cake pan.
Step 3: Bake for 50-55 minutes until the top is springy to touch and until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

If you eat at Chinese restaurants or buffets, chances are you have probably tried hot and sour soup. The ‘hot’ comes from chili and garlic paste and pepper. The ‘sour’ comes from vinegar. Many hot and sour soup recipes call for ingredients such as wood ear fungus and lily buds… these ingredients can be hard or nearly impossible to find in many areas. This recipe calls for neither. Even if you cannot find some of the ingredients on the list, they can easily be replaced with something else. If you do not eat meat, the pork can easily be omitted. If you are using the tofu, I would suggest letting the soup marinate for at least a day to allow the flavors to develop before serving.  Don’t let the slightly lengthy list of ingredients turn you away, this recipe is very easy! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
¼ lb pork (julienned)
2 tablespoons garlic and chili paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 eggs (beaten)
5 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup shitake mushrooms (sliced)
1 can peeled straw mushrooms
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can baby sweet corn cobs
½ lb soft tofu (sliced into small cubes)
¼ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
green onions (sliced)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large pot bring chicken stock to a simmer. Add soy sauce, pork, mushrooms and garlic and chili paste. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Add pepper, vinegar, bamboo shoots, baby corn cobs, water chestnuts and tofu. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Bring to a slow boil. Mix 5 tablespoons of cornstarch with 5 tablespoons of water and add to the soup while stirring.
Step 3: Bring the soup back to a simmer and pour beaten eggs in a thin stream into the soup. Let stand 10 seconds and gently stir in sesame oil. Garnish with green onions.
(Makes 10 servings)

Chicken Marsala can be found at almost any restaurant in the United States. If you are not familiar with this dish – chicken marsala is an Italian dish that consists of lightly floured chicken with a delicious wine sauce and sliced mushrooms. The key ingredient to this recipe is Marsala wine; it has a very delicious flavor and should not be substituted. Marsala wine shouldn’t be hard to find and typically isn’t very expensive. I only added mushrooms to the recipe but if you want you could add some chopped shallots or even cooked bacon as well. The sauce needs to be reduced until it becomes some what thick, if you have a problem thickening the sauce you could stir in a little flour until you have achieved the desired thickness. This recipe is very easy and you will be eating it within an hour or less. Serve with linguini or your favorite type of pasta. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon oregano
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
10 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
4  garlic cloves (minced)
2 cups marsala wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 package linguini (cooked)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: 1 at a time, place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of wax paper (or plastic wrap). With a mallet pound chicken breasts until they are about ¼” thick.
Step 2: On a plate combine flour, salt and pepper, and oregano. Dredge chicken breasts in flour until coated thoroughly.
Step 3: Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Fry chicken breasts until they are almost fully cooked (about 3 minutes on each side). Remove from pan and keep warm in the oven at 175 degrees.
Step 4: Deglaze the pan with marsala wine. Make sure to scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan and mix them with the wine.
Step 5: Add chicken broth mushrooms and garlic. Cook on medium-high for 10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by half. Add chicken breasts back to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes. The sauce should now have become somewhat thick. Serve on a bed of linguini.
(Makes 4 Servings)