Baked Challah French Toast

I wanted to find something easy to make at Hom Nom's first anniversary so I could socialize with my friends instead of worrying about whether something was burning on the stove. And per usual, I turned to Smitten Kitchen for inspiration.  And she did not fail me! I found delicious and relatively easy ideas.  Among them was a boozy baked french toast. I'm not a fan of liquor in my breakfast food (unless it's a mimosa. that's a different story), so I left out the booze in this recipe.

Baked French Toast, borrowed from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 6 as a main course, but I served 10 people with this since I had other dishes

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of challah bread, cut into pieces
• 3 cups of whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.

Arrange the bread into tightly packed layers in the pan. 

Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar and salt.  Pour over the bread, and then top with cinnamon and more sugar.  

Tightly wrap the pan with plastic wrap and let it soak in the fridge overnight.  This will allow the bread to absorb all the flavors. 

In the morning, preheat your oven to 425 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup and whipped cream.  

As Ina would say, "how is easy that?" All I had to do was preheat the oven while sipping on my said mimosa! 

Almond Cashew Granola Parfait

I was inspired by Alton Brown's segment on oats.  I remember thinking, "that sounds like a really yummy recipe for granola".  So when it came time to pick my brunch menu, I added this on.  You can't really go wrong with a granola recipe.  Some oats, some accompaniments such as nuts or coconut shreds, and some time toasting in the oven.  And you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.  Not only that - you can make this in advance and it keeps pretty well for at least a week (more if you freeze it).

Warm Scones with Lemon Curd

The first course of Hom Nom's first anniversary brunch was yummy, fresh baked scones.  When I was younger, there was a nearby fair that sold scones, served with jam, and I remembered how much I loved them. I also remember buying the "fair scone" mix at the grocery store and making them with my friends during sleepovers.  Um, oh, and these were also ridiculously easy to make.

I know Sanjay would only approve of these scones if they were made with Icelandic butter...

This is what the scones will look like after you shape them into the 8x8 pan.

Um, doesn't this look similar to what Little Red Riding Hood would have in her basket?

Surgeon's General Warning: lemon curd probably contains 100x your daily required intake of cholesterol. Well, Hom Nom only turns one once...

I borrowed the scones recipe from Smitten Kitchen with only minor adjustments.

Warm Scones 


Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (the original recipe calls for a low protein flour, but I just used whole foods brand flour and it worked fine)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream

Smitten Kitchen's original recipe called for currants - I left them out because I prefer plain scones. 

Adjusted the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk (or pulse in a food processor) together six times.

If making this by hand, use your fingertips and quickly cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal (a few lumps of butter are okay).  Transfer the dough to a large bowl.

Stir in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form.  

Transfer all the dough to a lightly floured countertop until it forms a round sticky ball.  Take an 8x8 square baking pan and place the dough into it.  Flip it over onto the counter top and cut the dough into triangles.  

Place the scones on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them for about 12-15 minutes.

Note: I prepared these scones in advance of my brunch so I could just pop them into the oven.  If you want to do this, prepare the scones as directed, but leave out the baking step.  Once you cut them into triangles, flash freeze them for about 30 minutes.  Then, individually wrap them.  When you are ready to bake them, remove the wrap and bake at 425, but only for a few minutes more.  I set the time for 15 minutes and checked on them - and baked for another 3-4 minutes after that. 

Lemon Curd, recipe adapted from Saveur

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon zest (about 4-5 whole lemons)
• 8 egg yolks
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces (well chilled)

Whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, egg yolks and eggs over medium heat.  Whisk in the lemon juice and cook, stirring over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken (also - I think the mixture will make an interesting popping-like noise).  Make sure you thicken it enough or else you will end up with too watery of lemon curd (yes this happened in my first batch.  I am now saving that batch for lemon curd ice cream).  

Remove from heat and mix in the butter, one at a time, until incorporated.  

Strain through a sieve into a large bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill.  

Both recipes were a hit.  I also served the scones with some blackberry jam I found at Wednesday's farmers market.  Later on, Mai's houseguest and friend Mary couldn't get enough of the scones and luckily was able to store some away for a mid-week indulgence.

{Let's Get This Party Started!}

Berries Mousse Pseudo Amuse Bouche

Well.  This post marks a momentous occasion.  Hom Nom turned 1! And that means I had to throw a big party! Fanfare and hoorah! And lots of pink!  Anyways.  While preparing for Hom Nom's first anniversary brunch, Mai and I realized we needed something to whet our party guests appetites.  Well, actually, I just wanted something to tide over guests until we were all seated.  I am calling this Pseudo Amuse Bouche because it's not exactly one bite.  Unless you dip your fingers into the trifle dish and eat it berry by berry.  I'm just saying...

We needed a dish that would be simple to prepare, easy to eat, but not too filling.  We thought about making strawberry mille feuille, but that did not fall into the "easy to prepare" category.  We recalled back to the spice filled pumpkin trifle that Mai made during dessert fest. Ah-ha! We found our winner! We decided to use a similar concept but vamp up the recipe for spring.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

Ever since we made lemon souffle pudding in cupcake tins, Mai has become enamored with ramekins.  She sent me a few links comparing different ramekins and wanted input.  Le Creuset vs. Emilie Henry?  Pros and Cons? I tried to find heart shaped ramekins but I realized that not everyone is obsessed with hearts.  Even if they are meant to serve creme brulee.

Well, we were able to end this debate very quickly when Mai found some cute ones.  And what better way to break them in than to make dessert? Mai emailed and said "Come on over.  Let's make lemon souffle again!"  Who am I to turn down this kind of invite? I also suggested making chocolate molten lava cake.  Done deal.  So that evening, our meal consisted of udon, lemon souffle and molten lava chocolate cake.

A Tropical Adventure on a Freezing Day

I sent out my usual "Are we doing dinner Sunday / what are we making" email to Becca and Alyx, to which Alyx promptly responded, "crab legs and coconut shrimp".  I thought she was joking.  I mean, it's freezing out - and coconut shrimp reminds me of warm weather destinations and drinking frozen beverages on the beach.  But, I should have known better - when it comes to food -  Alyx does not joke around.  

{Precooked Crab Legs from Chinatown}

Stockholm for the Evening

Becca's friends Brent and Rebecca were visiting us from SWEDEN!  And Brent, a cook at a restaurant in Stockholm, was so gracious enough to cook us an authentic Swedish meal for our weekly family dinner.  The extent of Swedish food I've had is what is served at the cafeteria in Ikea.  I love anything related to Ikea and Sweden (I'm obsessed with the idea of visiting Stockholm) so I knew this was going to be a grand feast.  Further - I was excited to have someone cook for me!