A Duck's Oven

A food and travel blog with comforting, simple recipes.

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on the table

Let’s face it: getting dinner on the table after a long, busy day is no simple task. A Duck’s Oven is here to help you make meal time the easiest and most exciting part of your day.

Bread

Hot Cross Bun French Toast with Apple Compote

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If you can believe it, I’d never had the Easter favorite, hot cross buns, before this.

What a way to introduce myself.

This french toast was truly amazing. Melty raisins and currants, plenty of cinnamon, perfect texture. Whenever Fiance’s first words when taking a bite of something I’ve made are “oh my gosh” followed by fervent shoving of his mouth, I know I’ve done well, and this did not fail.

This dish is perfect for Easter breakfast, or any other breakfast for that matter.

First, you’ll need some shiny Granny Smiths to make the compote. I ended up only using three. I love these apples. If I can’t get my hands on some Honeycrisp apples, Granny Smiths are what I reach for.

Peel ’em up. Or don’t. For texture’s sake, I wanted mine peeled. Then give ’em a good dice.

Like any good sauce or compote, this one starts with plenty of melted butter.

Followed by brown sugar, apple juice, and cinnamon. Take a deep breath and enjoy it in all it’s cinnamony butteriness. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

Then add the apples. Let it simmer for a good long while until the apples are soft and the liquid is a little thicker.

Next, I made bacon for the following reasons:

1. Pork and apples are one of the best combinations of ever.
2. French toast is best cooked in bacon fat. Thank you for teaching me this at a young age, Mom.
3. Bacon is essential to every breakfast. And everything.

Alright, alright. I did not make my hot cross buns. Typically, if I’m going to turn something into something else, I’m not going to take the time to make that first something myself. That takes far too much effort. Not to mention, the grocery store I shop at has a great bakery and an abundance of these rolls right now.

Then I sliced the buns in half.

They got dipped into whisked eggs and milk. I wouldn’t soak the hot cross buns in the mixture for long, they don’t hold up so well.

Then fried for a couple of minutes on each side in that glorious bacon fat.

Once all the buns are have been french-toastified, top them with plenty of apple compote, and, if you’re feeling especially indulgent, a little more butter.

Oh, and don’t forget that bacon. The bacon is very important.

Make this quickly, while the grocery stores are still full of hot cross buns! Or be super impressive and make your own hot cross buns.

Hot Cross Bun French Toast with Apple Compote
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 3-4 Servings
Ingredients
  • 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup apple juice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 8 hot cross buns
  • 5 eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Bacon fat or canola oil for frying
Instructions
  1. To make the compote, melt the butter in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, apple juice, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the apples and continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the apples are softer and the liquid is a little thicker.
  2. For the french toast, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slice the hot cross buns in half. Heat a pan over medium heat and add bacon fat or canola oil for frying. Once hot, dip the hot cross buns in the whisked egg mixture then fry for a couple of minutes on each side, until golden brown.
  3. To serve, top french toast with apple compote and butter, if desired.
 

Fresh Hop Fest Recap and Jalapeno Cheese Beer Bread

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The Willamette Valley Fresh Hop Festival took place in Eugene last weekend! Beer made with fresh hops instead of the traditional dry hops was featured from all over Oregon. Below are a few of the breweries that come to showcase their creations! Click the pictures to go to their websites.

I sampled several of the beers, and they were all fantastic! I wasn’t quite on my A-game with the picture taking because I was so distracted by my hoppy surroundings, but I did snap a few shots!
Here are the first of several samples Boyfriend and I enjoyed. I had Ram Brewing’s Harvest Ale and he had Ninkasi’s Crystalation (their Fresh Hop Total Domination IPA) to start. Both delicious! We also got these awesome pint glasses with our admission.
To accompany our tasty brews, we got Irish potato nachos with corned beef cooked in a stout and a creamy horseradish sauce. Hands down the most unique nachos I’ve ever had. They went perfectly with the intense hoppiness of each beer!
The building was decorated with dried hops. They looked and smelled so amazing! On each table they had bunches of them.
And over the entry they created essentially a hop wreath. I couldn’t help but think of all the ways my mom could use hops to decorate 🙂
All in all, it was really fun! One of the many wonderful things about living in Eugene is all of the local beer. I’m so glad I got to turn 21 here!
In the spirit of all the wonderful beer events happening across the country, I baked a jalapeno cheese beer bread. Have you ever made a beer bread? I think that they are incredible. If you really wanted to, you could make a bread with simply a bottle of beer and flour. How amazing is that?! Mine’s got a little more zing, but it is still very simple. 
This came out so moist and delicious and had the perfect undertones of hops. For this, I used Deschutes Inversion IPA, but you could use just about any beer. If you’re not a fan of intense hoppy flavor, I’d recommend a wheat beer such as a Hefeweizen. I plan to experiment with some dessert beer breads, too! This may be even simpler to whip up than my focaccia bread. The recipe is below!

Jalapeno Cheese Beer Bread

Ingredients
1 12 oz. bottle of beer
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into small cubes
1-1 1/2 jalapenos, diced small and seeds removed
1 egg white
1 tsp water
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Directions
1. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, sugar, and garlic powder. 
2. Using the dough hook on your mixer, combine the beer and olive oil. 
3. Add the dry ingredients to the beer mixture. Depending on the beer you used, among other things, you may need to add more flour until dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. 
4. Knead in the cheddar cheese and jalapeno by hand. 
5. Oil a large bowl, add the dough, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size. 
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a loaf pan or baking sheet. 
7. Punch down the dough and shape into the loaf pan or on the baking sheet. Combine the egg white and water and brush over the loaf. Top with additional shredded cheese if desired. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and bread springs back.