Quick & Easy Brunch

I love brunch. The idea of waking up late on the weekend and indulging in the perfect combination of breakfast and lunch is one of the most appealing concepts to me. There is something a bit classy and refined about brunch (maybe it is the mimosas), yet it still gives off the relaxed, laid-back vibe of the weekend.  I love it so much that I often find myself planning and dreaming of the delectable feast I will prepare when I awake the next Saturday or Sunday morning.  However, for reasons which I won't go into in the post (but usually as a result of my over indulgences the night before), I often find myself walking up on that lazy weekend morning feeling anything but motivated to prepare the elaborate brunch feast I thought up the night before. So I found this easy go to brunch dish that I can throw together quickly and easily, but still presents that "classy" image that you think of when you think of brunch.

Smoked Salmon Pizza
Precooked pizza crust (such a Boboli)
Chive cream cheese (buy it or chop up some chives and mix into cream cheese)
 Smoked salmon
Sliced tomato
 Sliced red onion
 Capers

Spread a layer of chive cream cheese on the pizza crust
Top with a layer of smoked salmon, sliced tomato, and sliced red onion
Sprinkle capers on top
Slice, serve and enjoy with your favorite brunch cocktail (mimosa, bloody mary, etc)

French Toast

When life gives you leftover challah bread, make French toast. This is exactly what I did. In my opinion, french toast is the perfect meal for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It's easy and affordable. You really only need three major ingredients. Bread, milk and eggs (I can only assume people in Atlanta must survive on french toast when we have ice/snow storms). You can throw in some extra ingredients if you want to make it fancy, but they are optional. Here is my recipe for French toast.

Ingredients
6-8 slices of bread (preferably challah, but any will do)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons butter

Bonus Ingredient: 1 tablespoon Gran Marnier(optional and you can sub orange juice)









Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon & Gran Marnier together until combined.

2. Slice 6-8 pieces of challah bread (about 1/2 in or 1 in thick, depending on how you like it)


3. Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture. Coat completely and then place on a rack and let excess drip off. Repeat this process one more time.

4. Heat a large, nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the bread 2 to 3 pieces at a time.  After about a minute or so, check to see if the other side is browning. When lightly brown, turn bread over and brown the other side. Once browned on both sides, remove from pan and repeat with the remaining slices of bread.

5. Serve with real maple syrup, fresh fruit, and/or powdered sugar.

Homemade Bagels! YUM!

I love bagels. A bagel with lox and cream cheese is probably my all time favorite breakfast/brunch item. I am fortunate to live close to not one, but two very good bagel places. However, I've always wanted to try to make them myself. I figured,
"How hard could it be? Make some dough, shape it, boil it, bake it." 
I wasn't that far off, but there are a few more steps and a lot of waiting for dough to rise and rest. Luckily, I had my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer to help me along the way.
I used a recipe I found on a baking blog here  http://bakingbites.com/2007/06/homemade-bagels/ .  It takes you step by step through the process with great photos. I sprinkled sesame seeds over the top of mine before baking them, but you could make them plain or top with your favorite bagel toppings. You can click on the link above or you can follow my directions. The only ingredients I had to buy were bread flour and yeast, which was a total of $4.00. Though more labor intensive,  that makes this a lot cheaper then going to buy a dozen bagels.