My friend Lori raved about a french toast panini she had at a restaurant in the Hamptons,  called the Elvis. She described it as “2 slices of french toast peanut butter and bananas inside, smooshed together in a panini press.” I was sold on the idea and offered to try and recreate it, with a few twists of course.

This is a pretty heavy dish, obviously- sweet and filling. It’s definitely more of a Sunday brunch than a 7 AM weekday kind of thing. Mostly because you’ll go into a food coma after eating it and might need to lie down.

While I thought it sounded good as is, I has a vision that using cinnamon bread for the french toast would kick it into the next level. It’s best to use thin slices of the cinnamon bread for the best ratio of bread to filling. The sweetness begged for a salinated cured pork product so I served it with salty, thick-cut bacon. Elvis may have left the building, but he left behind some damn fine French toast.

French Toast a la Elvis

serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (can use some or all buttermilk if desired)
• pinch salt
• 1 loaf cinnamon swirl bread, sliced into 12 pieces
• crunchy peanut butter to taste, about 10 tablespoons total
• 3 bananas, sliced in rounds about 1/8 inch thick
• butter and non-stick spray for cooking

Method:

• Whisk eggs and milk together.
• Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 tsp butter.
• Dip bread in egg mixture and cook on both sides until lightly browned. Repeat until all bread has been cooked. You will have to add more butter for each batch.
• Lay french toast on a tray. Spread about 1 Tblsp peanut butter on each piece of bread. Lay 1/2 banana’s worth of rounds on top of 1/2 the french toast and sandwich with a peanut buttered one.
• Heat a panini press and spray with nonstick spray. Cook sandwiches until browned and peanut butter is a little melty.*
• Serve immediately with salty bacon.

* If you don’t have a panini press, you can make these sandwiches and then put them, assembled, in a non stick pan. Weigh them down with something heavy so they get smooshed and browned.

When I was but a youthful lass of 22, I worked at the fabulous Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego for about a year. If you’re ever in San Diego, I highly recommend stopping there for one of their scones (the best I’ve ever tasted, to be sure) or to dazzle your friends with one of their heart-stoppingly gorgeous cakes. I learned a lot there, but probably the most important thing I learned was that the way to a good bread pudding is simple: make creme brulee mixture and don’t use regular bread. This opens up a realm of delicious and easily adaptable flavor possibilities and combinations that are blissfully simple to make, as well as very forgiving.

For this occasion, I bought a soft loaf of Semifreddi’s cinnamon twist bread and made an orange zest-infused vanilla brulee mix, then dotted it all with dark chocolate chunks. It took about 5 minutes to put together and tasted like a million bucks. With a scoop of Bi-Rite Creamery’s salted caramel ice cream, it was almost transcendent.

Orange-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chunks

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• zest from 1/2 orange
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 loaf cinnamon bread (1-2 days stale is better than fresh but it will work either way)
• large handful semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks (can use chocolate chips)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 250.
• Heat cream in saucepan until hot but not bubbling. Turn off heat and add zest. Set aside.
• If bread is a few days old and a bit stale and hard, just use it as is. If it’s fresh soft bread, toast in a 350 degree oven or toaster to dry out a bit before using. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes.
• Whisk yolks, sugar, and vanilla into cream until fully incorporated.
• In a loaf pan or half-size casserole pan, arrange half the bread in the bottom and pour half the cream mixture over. Sprinkle with half the chocolate. Repeat with remaining bread, cream, and chocolate. Press mixture down with the back of a large spoon or your hands, so it’s tightly packed in and all bread is moistened.
• Bake at 250 for about 20-30 minutes, until custard is set but wobbly. Serve warm with ice cream.

It’s a yucky, wet, rainy Tuesday right now and I am reminiscing about a lovely sunny Saturday a few weeks back when I made these pancakes to share with friends. I wanted to use a combination of white flour and whole grain flour, because while I love the health benefits of whole grains I feared that going 100% whole grain would yield spiced blueberry rocks as opposed to pancakes. I opted for oat flour, which really shines in this recipe- it doesn’t have all the heft of whole wheat flour, but it’s got a nice texture and flavor while offering that whole grain goodness.

I love the combination of berries and oranges, so I incorporated both orange zest and juice into the batter, along with some vanilla yogurt for tang and sweetness. Using the yogurt, which I always have on hand, also prevented me from buying a quart of buttermilk and only using 1 cup, then letting the rest rot in my fridge… which is what has happened every single time I have ever bought buttermilk in my entire life, without fail. Seriously, it’s a real problem.

You should feel free to play with the spices or flavors in this recipe to mix it up. Other combinations that would be delicious would be…

• replace the orange with lemon, and replace blueberries with raspberries
• replace the orange with lime, and replace blueberries with blackberries, omit the cinnamon, and add toasted coconut
• keep the orange and replace blueberries with chocolate chunks, with or without the cinnamon and ginger (I’d keep ‘em in)
• keep all as is but add chopped toasted nuts and/or a handful of granola in the batter

Spiced Orange Blueberry Pancakes
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• zest of 2 oranges
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried
• butter for pan, and to serve

Method:

• Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
• Add orange zest, yogurt, juice, egg, and butter and stir to combine. (Batter may be lumpy.)
• Heat skillet over medium heat and add a small dollop of butter (about a teaspoon.) When butter bubbles, pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake. Sprinkle about 8-10 blueberries over each pancake.
• When pancake is golden on the bottom, flip and cook the other side until done.
• Repeat with remaining batter. To keep warm while cooking, you can put the cooked pancakes in a 175 degree oven while you’re finishing up.
• Serve warm with maple syrup and butter.