Baked French Toast

Recent posts have revealed my strong affinity for breakfast foods, so I was very excited about the opportunity to host Easter brunch for some friends this past weekend. While brunch is a really fun and different way to entertain, it takes some careful planning in terms of preparation time- on this occasion in particular because we went to the Easter service at Boone Hall Plantation and then had people back to the house shortly thereafter.

Paula Deen's Baked French Toast recipe is an old favorite of ours and you can make it the night before. You simply pop it into the oven the next morning. My sister found this recipe a few years ago and its actually much like a breakfast bread pudding - served with warm maple syrup for drizzling. As you can imagine, anything Paula Deen falls to the rich and artery clogging end of the spectrum but heavens, it is d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.

I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of a few attempts to lightened it up a bit:

1. Used 3 cups of whole milk instead of using any half and half

2. Went heavier on cinnamon and lighter on nutmeg (just a preference thing)

3. Used only 1 stick of butter for the praline topping- cutting the sugar to 3/4 cup as well

4. Omitted the nutmeg from the praline topping (preference)

Alongside the french toast we had brown sugared bacon. If you've never made it before its really easy and absolutely yummy. Toss the raw bacon with brown sugar (maybe 1/3 cup per pound of bacon) in a ziplock bag to evenly coat and then roast the bacon in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes. I put a rack over a cookie sheet (spray first with Pam for easier clean up) and then arrange the bacon slices over the rack so that the drippings drain off of the bacon while it cooks. The bacon gets perfectly crispy with an almost candy like crunchy coating. (I left the bacon in the bag with the brown sugar in the fridge over night and then put it in the oven with the french toast as soon as we came in from church. They were finished almost exactly at the same time.)

Scrambled eggs are a Cobetto family favorite as well and we are VERY particular about how they are cooked. The secret is to cook them slowly over low heat to keep them fluffy and to avoid overcooking them. For eight people I used 12 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, a generous 1/4 cup of chopped fresh chives, a few dashes of Texas Pete and 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. I whisk it all together until its very well incorporated and then cook in a buttered nonstick skillet over low or medium low heat, stirring constantly but very gently. I take them off the heat just before they look completely cooked through because they'll continue to cook a bit more. I also warm the serving dish in the oven while I prepare them so that they stay hot all the way to the table. (I scrambled the eggs at the VERY last minute but it only took 5 minutes or so.)

I'm convinced that John must have been Jewish in a past life because he has such a crazy love for lox and bagels. My Dad's family is half Jewish so I decided to weave a little Passover into our Easter with a platter of smoked salmon and the traditional accompaniments. I served lightly toasted mini bagels, whipped cream cheese, thinly sliced red onion (soaked in ice water over night to cut some of the bite), capers and fresh dill on the side- letting everyone build their own bagels. (I had this arranged the night before so that I just had to pull it out of the fridge as guests were arriving.)

I also served a big bowl of fresh berries dressed lightly with a teaspoon of sugar and a squeeze of fresh orange juice- and of course essential to any successful brunch event-a mix-your-own mimosa and Bloody Mary bar. We rolled ourselves from brunch out to the beach at Sullivan's Island for some sunshine- and for some of us a little snooze. All in all I'd say it was the perfect Easter Sunday.