It is not typical French Toast, in fact, my sisters and I tried to come up with a title that fit better. “Crunchy Gooey Breakfast Bread” is an accurate description, but it lacks pizazz, so I’ve left it alone. If you Google “Creme Brulee French Toast” the top five sites I looked at mirror this recipe, but my instructions are easier and crunchier.

The recipe is fool proof, and you can make it a day ahead, both bonuses. I like nice breakfasts, but I am not a morning person, and all this requires is turning on the oven.

• 2 tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 loaves French Loaf
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups half & half
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. Grand Marnier (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. salt

In a small saucepan combine the syrup, butter and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and let it bubble merrily for about five minutes, until syrupy. Pour this mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking pan that has been lightly greased with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Cut the crust off of the top of the French loaves. As gently as you can tear the soft insides out of the loaf leaving the crust. Tear the bread into fist sized chunks and place on top of the syrup in the baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, vanilla, Grand Marnier and salt. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, leave the casserole at room temperature while the oven preheats. Bake at 350 degrees (or 330 Convection) uncovered, for 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve immediately with maple syrup, butter, and fresh fruit.

Serves 8-10 adults. Can be reheated.

Download a copy of the recipe

Notes

I know you have Aunt Jemima’s in the fridge, but buy some nice maple syrup, something that originated from a tree, it’s worth the extra dollars.

I also have a personal preference for the dark molassesy brown sugar, but whatever is in your cupboard is fine.

I never let the thing come to room temperature before baking. I just turn the oven down a few degrees and cook it a few minutes more.

This recipe differs from these mainly in the instructions for handling the bread. When I first made this the instructions called for cutting the crust off, and then slicing the insides, which sounds easy, until you try and do it. It’s like trying to thinly slice a marshmallow. Anyway, tearing it out with your hands is easier, and the peaks and valleys of the bread mountain range that results makes nice crunchy bits.

Ingredients

• Butter
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Lemon Zest
• Prawns
• Feta
• Parmesan
• Olives
• Fresh Pasta of your choice

Peel the prawns or shrimp. Devein them if necessary. Mince the garlic. Grate the Parmesan. Crumble up some Feta. Deseed the olives and roughly chop.

Cook the pasta in salted water. Drain. Drizzle with olive oil.

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Throw in the butter, a little olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, and the prawns. Saute 2-3 minutes. Don’t overcook the prawns! If they are pink all over, they are done.

Add olives, and feta. Toss with the prawns just a few seconds to heat through.

Add pasta and Parmesan. Toss to coat and heat through.

Season with salt and pepper.

Tips

There is nothing fancy going on here. The ingredients speak for themselves. Use good quality ingredients and fresh pasta. Dried pasta will not be nearly as good.

If you salt your pasta water properly, along with the feta and olives no extra salt will likely be needed.

Professional chefs cook on equipment capable of producing significantly more heat than your home stove, and they use every BTU available. Good cooks know a simple fact: mediocre heat and overcooking produces bland tastes and unappealing textures. Heat is your friend. Get comfortable with it. You can turn the dial up to ten for more than boiling water.

Most vegetables retain a lot more flavor, color, and a better texture if you don’t cook the hell out of them. Your vegetables should retain some crispness.

Meat dries out the more that you cook it. There are methods that are exceptions to this of course, but generally you want to cook meat quickly and retain its natural juices and tenderness. Turn your burner, oven, or BBQ up high, sear the outside and monitor for doneness.

This goes double for seafood. People really tend to brutally overcook seafood of all types. Fish should just flake apart. Clams, mussels, and other shellfish are done almost as soon as they open up (a couple of minutes). Prawns and shrimp should just turn pink and opaque (a couple of minutes). Turning tasty looking prawns into rubber by cooking them for 15 minutes over medium heat is a crime and you should be ashamed.

For you to try

Turn your burners up to Max and your oven past 350¬∞F. Don’t be such a wussy.

Try a stir fry. Have everything prepared. Cook in small batches and separate vegetables and meat. Turn your burner up to high. Get the pan hot. Cook meat just until done, remove. Get the pan hot again. Cook vegetables until crisp tender, remove. If you are making a sauce now is your time. If you are using some kind of packaged sauce then we will talk about correcting that abominable behavior another time. Combine everything back in the pan just long enough to coat with sauce and heat throughout. A stir fry should take less than 10 minutes to cook.

Try medium rare fish fillets. A fresh piece of salmon is lovely just barely done at the center. A nice piece of tuna is rare and wonderful with just some salt and cracked pepper on the outside and seared on high heat a minute each side.

For roasts and foul try and turn your oven up higher (450°F) initially. This helps to produce good color on the outside and seals in the juices, you can then turn the heat down to finish off the cooking. Do not be afraid of modifiying a recipe. Use a meat thermometer to judge when the meat or chicken is done.

Dough

• 1-1/2 c. flour
• 2 eggs
• pinch salt
• splash of water

Filling

• 400 g yellow potatoes
• 100 g sharp white cheddar
• 20 g butter
• 1 tsp. white truffle oil

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• splash water

Instructions

Mix all the flour, eggs and salt together. If the dough won’t come together add a splash of water.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and kneed with your hands until it becomes elastic (about a minute or two). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Peel the potatoes and cut into even sized pieces so the cook evenly. Boil until tender. Drain very well.

Shred cheese. Combine with cooked potatoes, butter, and truffle oil . Follow the link for more info on truffle oil. Set the filling aside and allow to cool. Room temperature seems easiest to manage.

Split the dough in half and roll approximately 1mm thick. Roll and fill half of the dough at a time.

Cut the dough into about 4" diameter rounds.

Mix the egg and water together in small bowl to make an egg wash.

Spoon a rounded tablespoon of the potato filling on the center of a piece of dough. Brush one half of the rim of the circle with the egg wash. Fold the dough in half to form a half moon shape. Press the edges together to seal.

Toss the finished perogie lightly in flour to prevent it from sticking. Cook within a day or freeze for up to 2 months.

To cook the perogies whether fresh or frozen simply drop into rapidly boiling salted water. Use more water per perogie for frozen ones as the heat drop will be greater. They are usually done when the flout to the top of the pot, but be sure to check. Once the pasta has reached al dente they are good to go.

Garnish

Caramelized onions and sour cream are good accompaniments. I’m also working on a nice lemon butter I think will go well, but I don’t have a recipe for it yet.

Tips

You can mix the dough with a machine, or in the traditional manner, but I find this small amount is just as easy and less mess to do in a mixing bowl. Start off blending together with a fork it prevents huge clumps sticking to your hands. Once it starts to come together get in there and kneed with your hands.

If you have never made this recipe before it’s best to add the oil a 1/4 tsp. at a time. Its powerful stuff and can vary from bottle to bottle. Add a bit at a time, mix thoroughly and taste after each addition. The taste will tame a bit by the time you are finished but you don’t want it overpowering.

A pasta machine makes your life easier but it is not strictly necessary, a rolling pin works fine. You want to roll the pasta out to a thickness of about one millimeter. Thinner dough is less intrusive and tastes better, but is also more delicate so if you are having trouble try thicker dough. You will need to have some flour handy. When the dough sticks to the surface or the rolling pin sprinkle with four.

You need a round cutter of some kind. You can buy one, or often a large empty can will work just as well. When I make them I use a cutter about 4 inches in diameter. Again, not critical. You can make smaller, or slightly larger ones if you desire. Cut as many rounds as you can from the dough.

You can place the perogies on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer to quick freeze them. They can then be bagged and kept frozen for up to a couple of months.

Ingredients

• 330 g (3-4 c.) Wild Mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic
• 60 g (1/2 c.) shallots
• 1 c. white wine
• 3/4 c cream
• 2 tbsp. fresh tarragon
• 1-1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Chop garlic and shallots. Roughly chop mushrooms. Saute garlic and shallots in oil ~ 2-3 minutes

Add mushrooms. Saute about another 3 minutes

Deglaze the pan with the white wine

Add cream, tarragon, and lemon zest. Simmer over low heat until thickened.

Season with salt.

Tips

Get nice fresh mushrooms. They are the soul of this dish. It’s one of the great things about Victoria; it’s easy to get fresh mushrooms. Experiment with local varieties. I use oyster, shitaki, enoki. Delicate mushrooms like enoki can be added closer to the end. Mix and match.

The wine is also a key ingredient here. Spare your cheap cooking wine and use something you like to drink.

Dough

• 2 c. flour
• 3 eggs
• pinch salt
• 1/8 c. water

Filling

• 1 butternut squash
• olive oil

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• splash water

Instructions

Mix all the flour, eggs and salt together. Add the water just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and kneed with your hands until it becomes elastic (about a minute or two). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Split the squash in half, oil lightly. Place cut sides down on a cookie sheet and bake in oven at 375F until tender (45-60 minutes). Allow to cool. Mash and season with salt and pepper.

Roll out dough (~1mm thick).

Place filling in bottom half of dough. Brush with egg wash. Place top half of dough on and form ravioli.

I use this ravioli with my Wild Mushroom Tarragon Cream Sauce

Tips

There are several ways to form ravioli. The method I use, which is pretty idiot proof, is to use a ravioli mold. You can get them at most kitchen places. It’s a little tray with square indentations. You place the bottom layer of pasta on the cutter, put filling into the square divots, place the top layer of pasta on, then roll over the top with a rolling pin. Sharp ridges surrounding the square indentations in the mold press the two halves together, sealing them and cutting out the ravioli. Simple. Make sure to dust the mold with flour to prevent sticking.

I have a bit of a knife fetish. I am actually making that sound sexier and more dangerous than it is. It would be more accurate to say I have a fetish for cooking paraphernalia.

Food processors, gas ranges, warming drawers, cast iron skillets, and on the top of the list: knives, which somehow saves the whole thing from being entirely emasculating. Right? Right.

Anyway it has led me to purchase a Hattori knife which recently arrived. It sharpens to an edge you can shave with, which admittedly is not strictly necessary when cutting up potatoes, but I still think it’s cool.

Anyway, I have learned a valuable lesson. Flour is not an optional ingredient in banana bread. If you forget this line in the recipe you end up with a loaf pan full of chocolate banana soup. Actually that is being kind. Truthfully you get a chunky, mildly bubbly, semi-gelatinous dark brown rectangle.

Like all ingredients you get what you pay for. Although you can certainly shop around and find larger volumes of oil for less money, you are likely going to just end up using more for the same taste in a given recipe. Spend the money and get a good quality product.

The Oil comes in White and Black. I’ve always used White.