Goat's milk & Mexican vanilla pretzelbread pudding

I had forgotten to put some frozen pain au chocolat out to proof overnight, and it's still that kind of winter/spring cold and dreary where trotting down the street to pastry hunt isn't worth it, so breakfast options were slim this morning. My cell phone is programmed to give me a panic attack every time I received an e-mail, ( in case Next Paris tickets go on sale while I'm sleeping), so my brain was still thought-scrambly from interrupted REM when I stumbled into the kitchen. There was a bag of pretzel rolls, a large quantity of broccoli, 6-8 zested lemons, and half a carton of goat's milk left over from last weekend's batch of cajeta frosting.

This is what I came up with:

Goat's milk & Mexican vanilla pretzelbread pudding:

4 large pretzel rolls
4 eggs
1 cup goat's milk
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
2 tsp mexican vanilla
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Cut pretzel rolls into 1" cubes. Beat all remaining ingredients Spray baking dish with nonstick spray. Briefly soak cubes in egg mixture then pour into the baking dish. Bake 25-30 min.

Mmm, yay. The goat's milk and eggs formed a nice custard, the pretzel crust added a nice contrast with the bite of lye and big chunks of salt.

Oeufs Cocotte

Easy easy French breakfast. I mean, really easy. It takes about 1 minute to make these eggs. Delicious creamy eggs and toast points, and "microgreen" herbs. The herbs I just started growing in a little pot on my kitchen window- they are baby chives and baby basil sprouts and were surprisingly flavorful. Sorry for stunting your growth, baby sprouts.

Oeufs Cocotte (serves 1, multiply accordingly):
1 egg
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Spray ramekin with cooking spray. Add 1 tablespoon crème fraîche. Add egg. Add additional crème fraîche and sprinkle with salt and peper. Bake in oven, about 10 minutes or until slightly set and serve with toast.

Breakfast in Paris

Oh man. This was the best pain au chocolat that I had in Paris. Flakey, deep rich chocolate and teeny strong coffee (I may have put a ton of sugar in it). We had it Sunday morning at a little bakery around the corner from our Hotel.


Boulangerie Viennoise- 2 Rue Emilio Castelar, 75012 Paris, Île-de-France, France. The woman didn't speak any English but was very patient with me making hand gestures and speaking terrible fragments of French.


Here's a chocolate brioche roll, sprinkled with French pearl sugar. I couldn't find any of this in France, but you can get it from L'Epicerie. L'Epicerie also carries my favorite lemon-infused olive oil and all your glucose and tapioca maltodextrin needs if you're trying to make Dry Caramel Sea Salt shots, ala Grant Achatz.

Breakfast for Dinner Pt. V

I'm losing count on this one. Turns out Italy has their own poached egg dish, challenging the French's lead in breakfast for dinner ideas. It is traditionally called, "Uova in Purgatorio" which means "Eggs in Purgatory" and generally consists of 'poaching' eggs in marinara sauce, which can then be served over polenta, mashed potatoes, pasta, or by themselves.

For the recipe, we'll go with Mario Batali's, since I luft him:

Yield: 5 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Gaeta olives, pitted but left whole
1 (28-ounce) can peeled tomatoes, juices drained and set aside for another use, tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch strips
Salt
10 eggs
1 bunch basil, leaves cut chiffonade
1/4 cup freshly grated caciotta

In a 12 to 14-inch nonstick saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until just smoking. Add the onion and cook 7 to 9 minutes, until softened and light brown. Add the olives and tomatoes, season lightly with salt, and cook slowly for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down.

Carefully crack the eggs into the pan, keeping them whole and separated. Cover with a lid or foil and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites have set but the yolk is still runny. Sprinkle basil and grated cheese over and serve from the pan on the table.


Points: France-3, Italy-1, Me-1. Mmmmmm, purgatory.

Breakfast for Breakfast

Tonight I am going to attempt to make the healthiest, moisty-ist zucchini bread ever. I have not made it yet, but here is my recipe I made up:1 TBS cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs (egg beaters)
2 cups grated zucchini
4 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt
1 pkg. fat-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup walnuts

Bake at 325 for 1 hour in two bread pans.

Breakfast for Dinner Pt. 3

There are so many vegetables that you can put eggs on! For instance, maybe a springtime artichoke? First, prepare the artichoke as you normally would (Cut off the bottom stem, cut off the top inch, cut off all the prickly points, pull off the bottom few layers of leaves.) Then boil them in salt water for 30 minutes. Take them out and drain them upside down. Pull them open and pull out the middle purple leaves, and use a melon baller to remove the choke. Now you can put whatever you want in them, and then bake them in the oven till they are tender. Above is a fried egg in the middle, but if it were me, I'd just crack an egg in the middle and then bake it.

Breakfast for Dinner Pt. 2

Spring means putting poached eggs on your food, and not just your salad! Here's a good recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Poached Eggs:

• 1 medium thick asparagus bunch, tough ends removed


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• Coarse salt


• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar


• 1 teaspoon light-brown sugar


• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar


• 4 large eggs


• 2 ounces shaved parmesan

Steam asparagus. Toss with olive oil. Mix sugar and balsamic vinegar, bring to a boil and reduce. Poach eggs, putting vinegar in poaching water. Place eggs over asparagus, sprinkle with coarse salt and shaved parmesan.

Come over to my house, I will cook this for you.

Breakfast Salad

Last night I had breakfast salad. Apparently, it is traditionally called "Salad Lyonnaise" (Lyonnaise is French for "Breakfast"). I am now devoting my life to perfecting this salad. Things you need to make it: poached egg, bacon, frisse, cold potatoes, dijon vinaigrette.

PS- I lied. Lyonnaise is French for "place in France that likes breakfast."