Brioche French Toast

It's rare for brioche to last long enough to get stale, but if it does, french toast is the perfect thing.

First whip up the batter: eggs, splash of almond milk, pinch of salt and a slash of vanilla.  Dip slices of brioche in the batter and fry in olive oil.  You can use butter to fry, but I like the heartyness olive oil adds.

Serve hot, dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with fresh fruit.

French bread made into french toast.  #winning

Brioche

So, the first thing bread artisans will say, "This isn't the way to make brioche!"  Then, they'd launch into an explanation or debate regarding how to work in the chilled butter.  But, I take every shortcut I can and I wanted to make this recipe accessible.

First, I added the yeast to a bit of water (and orange juice) to let it dissolve.  Then, I add chunked butter, eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg and vanilla to the mixer and run it until the butter is broken down to small bits.  Then add the water and yeast mixture and enough flour to make a soft dough.  Keep mixing to form the gluten.  Set in a cool place for about 8-10 hours.  This allows the dough to ferment and develop complex tangy flavours.

Then add more flour to form a stable dough, mixing it with the dough hook.  Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes and form to round loaves.  Set in a warm place to raise until it's more than doubled in size.

Bake at 350F until light golden brown.  Then remove from the oven and brush with egg wash (a whisked egg and a shot of water).  Return to the oven and bake it until it's a dark golden brown.

This is what delicious looks like!

Breakfast Wedge

Inspired by the chaps at Sorted Food [http://sortedfood.com/], a vegetarian version of an easy breakfast dish:

Check out their process here: http://youtu.be/D1mPghz6jjw

Naturally, serve it the British way - with (vegetarian) baked beans!  Also served with fresh tomatoes and basil.

Soufflé au fromage

A cheese souffle made with gruyère; seasoned with turmeric, smoky paprika and onion powder.