Brazillian Breakfast & Pousadas

Visit the MCCN home for info and Brazilian Breakfast & the Bed & Breafast( Pousada) Experience

IHOP Free Pancake Day, February 23rd.

 

Get ready to chow down at this year’s annual National Pancake Day sponsored by IHOP with free short stack pancakes given away to guests in the hope that they will in turn help others.

With a goal of raising $1 million in its annual free pancake giveaway, last year IHOP helped top more than $1,300,000 in record-breaking donations for the Children’s Miracle Network and other charities.

IHOP first celebrated “National Pancake Day” in 2006. Since that time, the restaurant chain has raised more than $3.25 million and served more than 6.1 million pancakes. This year, IHOP hopes to reach a total fundraising effort of $5 million — making for five million in five years.

Last year’s National Pancake Day was IHOP’s largest one-day event in the company’s 51-year history — proving free food for a good cause is always a reason to “flip” out.

Check out Restaurant Birthday Freebies Every Day:

 http://www.multiculturalcookingnetwork.com/restaurant-reviews/item/61-birthday-freebies-at-restaurants.html

Denny’s Free Grand Slam Breakfast

For the second year in a row, Denny’s announced plans to serve Free Grand Slam breakfasts as part of its Super Bowl campaign. The giveaway will take place on Tuesday, February 9th,  from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the company expects to serve 2 million free meals including some signature dishes such as waffles, pancakes, sausage and eggs. Dennys has over 1,500 locations nationwide.

In addition to the free breakfast on Tuesday, Denny’s is also offering a chance to win a free breakfast once a week as part of their rewards program. The first 500,000 people to sign up can win a free burger and fries, which they can eat in March.

Sweet potato Biscuit Recipe

 

As a teenager, I use to dream of opening a restaurant which would feature the sweet potato prominently on the menu.  My family made sweet potato jacks which is an empanada filled with sweet potato, sweet potato pie and sweet potato biscuits.  This  Sweet potato Biscuit Recipe is from my paternal family side - MCCN Editor, Crystal Johnson

Ingredients

• 3 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 3 to 5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium size sweet potato boil until soft.  Then let cool
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients with butter into mixer.  Use a dough hook.  As it mixes it will begin to build into a ball.   Add sweet potato and egg little by little.   Flour the surface you are going to use then use rolling pin over your dough mixture.   Use biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter or mouth of a glass to cut biscuits.  Place in pan and cook at 400 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Chilaquiles: Classic Mexican Breakfast

 Join Todd Coleman, Saveur magazine’s food editor, as he makes this south-of-the-border breakfast classic.

Recipe for Beignets: A New Orleans Specialty

Beignets (picture from Photobucket.com)

 If you have a sweet tooth, this recipe was made for you. This fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar is a confectionary dream for those of us who are not ashamed to admit we’ve eaten sugar sandwiches. This treat is so beloved in Louisiana that it became the state doughnut in 1986.

Here’s the recipe for beignets! Do yourself a favor and get a pot of coffee brewing to go with this special indulgence.

Recipe for Beignets (Whatscookingamerica.net)

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, room temperature & beaten

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup evaporated milk

4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Vegetable oil*

Powdered sugar for dusting

* Use just enough vegetable oil to completely cover beignets while frying.

Instructions

Using a mixer with a dough hook, place water, sugar, salt, egg, butter, evaporated milk, flour, and yeast in the bowl. Beat until smooth. If using a bread machine, select dough setting and press Start. When dough cycle has finished, remove dough from pan and turn out onto a lightly oiled surface. form dough into an oval, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled (3 to 4 hours) or overnight.

To prepare dough, remove from refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured board to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into approximately 3-inch squares or circles.

In a deep fryer or large pot, heat vegetable oil to 360 degrees F. Fry the beignets (2 or 3 at a time) 2 to 3 minutes or until they are puffed and golden brown on both sides, turning them in the oil with tongs once or twice to get them evenly brown; beignets will rise to the surface of the oil as soon as they begin to puff. NOTE: If the beignets don’t rise to the top immediately when dropped into the oil, the oil is not hot enough. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels, then sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar. Serve hot.

NOTE: The dough can be kept for up to a week in the refrigerator – it actually improves with age; just punch down when it rises. Dough can also be frozen; cut and roll, or shape doughnuts before freezing.)

Makes 18 beignets.

Learn about the History of King Cake:

 http://www.multiculturalcookingnetwork.com/component/k2/item/372-north-america-king-cake.html

Pictures from rachelleb.com

Liege Waffle Recipe offers a Belgian waffle not to be missed.

(Article and Recipe from Waffle-Recipe dot Com)

Another waffle from Belgium. These guys really know their waffles. This Liege Waffle Recipe comes from tadaaaa – the city of Liege in Belgium. Again the Liege waffle recipe is almost the same as the ordinary Belgian waffle recipe, just sweeter. Liege waffles are also smaller, so you can hold them in your hands while Brussels waffles are eaten from a plate with a fork and knife. To make Liege waffles you have to add some extra vanilla sugar (What is vanilla sugar? – it is vanilla scented sugar. You can even make your own if you put a whole vanilla bean in a jar of white sugar for a week or so.) Liege waffles are a bit denser and also sweeter. A little piece of history before we start cooking, yeah it is always fun to learn new things – Liege waffles were invented in eighteenth century by one of the cooks of Prince-Bishop of Liege. I bet you did not know that, we sure didn’t.

Liege Waffle Recipe

For a Liege Waffle recipe we will need:
2 cups flour
1 cup pearl sugar
1 cup melted butter
3 eggs
1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (add some vanilla sugar)
1/8 teaspoon salt

How to make Liege Waffles in nine easy steps:
1. Take the lukewarm water and mix in yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt. Let the yeast develop for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile you can melt the butter, but be careful – do not burn it.

2. Now take a large bowl and put in the flour, make a hole in the middle, pour in the yeast that you made in step one. Also add eggs and melted butter and knead until you get nice and even dough. Then let it rest so the yeast does it’s magic and the dough doubles.

3. Now take pearl sugar and gently mix it in.

4. Again, let it rest for 15 minutes, in the meanwhile you can turn on thewaffle maker so its nice and hot.

5. All there is left is to pour the waffle dough into the waffle maker and bake for 3-5 minutes. Because we mixed in the sugar late in the process it will melt and caramelize and give that special Liege waffle taste. Just be careful when you take them out of the waffle maker, caramelized sugar can make them sticky.

Creme Brulee French Toast with Drunken Strawberries

Ingredients:

• * * * * Creme Brulee French Toast * * * *
• 1 loaf Challah or Brioche Bread, sliced into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1/2 cup Butter, unsalted (1 stick)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons Corn Syrup
• 5 large Eggs
• 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau
• Powdered Sugar (optional)
• * * * * Drunken Strawberries * * * *
• 1 quart Strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/4-inch thick (lengthwise)
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Cointreau

Preparation:

Make the French Toast

Butter a 9 by 13 baking dish.

In a small pot, melt the butter with the brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir together until the sugar is completely melted. Pour mixture into the baking dish.

Place the bread slices on top of the butter and sugar mixture in one even layer. Squeeze the edges slightly to make the bread fit.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, salt, and 2 teaspoons of Grand Marnier. Pour this mixture over the bread. Tightly cover baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Let dish stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before placing in preheated oven at 350 degrees.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until french toast is golden and puffed.

Serve hot with drunken strawberries and powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

Drunken Strawberries

Combine sliced strawberries, sugar, and Grand Marnier in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate