I like to take it easy and keep it simple on Sundays. Our brunch today consisted of snacking on a small mixture of easy to make delights and treats. Keep reading to find the recipes.
On the menu today:
- Toasted (crunchy) slices of veggie bagel
- Stuffed olives
- Roasted bell pepper
- Garlic sun dried tomatoes (amazing taste when eaten with sardines)
- Variations of cheeses (muenster, gouda)
- Variations of meats (salami, turkey, ham, prosciutto)
Once the menu was decided, all the ingredients were sliced up into bite size pieces, and scattered on a couple of plates, and ready to be served.
Later in the afternoon I made some “Pain Perdu”, also known as French toast.
Here is my recipe (serves 2 to 4):
- 3/4 to 1 full baguette of french bread (preferably a day old)
- 1 cup of milk (any milk you use will do)
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 tea spoon of nutmeg (adjust to taste)
- 1 coffee spoon of vanilla extract (add more if you like it)
- 2 or 3 table spoons of brown sugar
- 1 table spoon of unsalted butter
- Some butter (to butter each toast)
Start by cutting the bread into at least 1 inch vertical chunks. Add a small amount of butter on both faces of each bread slice and lay the chunks flat in a deep enough dish (at least 2 to 4 inches) with a flat bottom.
Mix together the milk, eggs, nutmeg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Taste the batter and make sure it’s lightly sweetened (You don’t want it too sweet, that’s why I use brown sugar).
Drown all the chunks of bread by pouring the batter into the dish where the bread was put earlier, and refrigerate for at least hour (The longer it soaks the better).
If you didn’t make enough batter or had too much bread, flip each chunk of bread over after 30 minutes and let it rest again until all the batter has been soaked up. (at least 1h)
Pre-heat the oven at 425 degrees (F), butter an aluminum cookie sheet using the table spoon of unsalted butter, and lay all the chunks of bread flat around it.
Bake at 425 for 20 to 30 minutes. When ready, the toasts will have a nice gold and brown color, and will be crispy.
Mountain stack the hot toasts in a large serving dish, pour generous amount simple regular sugar (for the crunchiness), a bit of powdered sugar for decoration, and your favorite syrup if you have one (I used Canadian maple syrup), and serve while hot!
And there you have it, Pain Perdu.
