breakfast blogger

Well looky here, Az in fact has NOT passed away in her sleep. I know it’s been a while but I could never leave BB. The boys need a woman’s touch around here.

I had been forced to take an unexpected hiatus in order to move at the last minute. Life happened, and it happened fast, but the important thing is that I’m back!! And with me I bring….*drum roll*

Cream of Wheat sticks!

All my life I’ve always enjoyed my cream of wheat a little on the thick side. I enjoy being able to cut into it with my spoon, carefully carving away at it from the outside in, making a little CoW fortress to hold my precious supply of jam and butter till I break down the walls and let ot oooze all over.

I was an only child. I have too much imagination sometimes.

Anywho, I got thinking one day, and wondered if it was possible to make CoW so thick, that it can be cut into shapes. So off to the stove I went, with a trusty box of CoW in hand.

I made it like I usually do, but just added more till my spoon started to bend and shake under the pressure. I almost got an arm cramp from stirring it was so thick, but the pain meant it would work!

After it was cooked, I grabbed a platter, my offset spatula and a little butter and poured the CoW in the middle of the platter. Using the spatual grease with butter I spread it out till it was about 1/2- 1/4 inch thick.

After a brief chill in the fridge to set up a bit, I decided to have a little fun. Sticks may be fun, but nothing beats using a cookie cutter sometimes. And so I did. It all cut easy once it had chilled a bit. And they held their shape great!

As I was looking at my lucky CoW charms, I sat in quiet reflection for a moment. These are good, but there is always something that makes food better… FRYING IT! SO out came the frying pan and some butter.

Now you have to admit, CoW has never looked sexier than is does now. The crisp, hot, fried outside holding in the soft, creamy wheaty goodness inside just makes me start droolin’ a little. Served up with some maple syrup or warmed up jam for dipping, they bring a new twist to the standard CoW breakfast!

I, of course, had to add some other breakfasty things to make sure I had a nice balanced breakfast, but they are just as delicious on thier own as they are with eggs and the like.

*burp*

Gen and I have been looking for spots to escape from the heat these days. People in the Ottawa/Gatineau area might know about Bait Island right in the middle of the Ottawa river between Ontario and Quebec from crossing the Champlain Bridge. What they might not know is that there is a new little casse-croute style shack that has opened up for business there three weeks ago:

I was thrilled to see this sign on this particular “get away from the heat” escapade. We returned the next afternoon to try one.. yes, I said afternoon. I know this is a breakfast blog, but they offer bacon, and that happens to be a staple in the breakfast lexicon. They’re also open at 9 AM on the weekends so this counts as a BB entry :P

The people running this joint were super friendly! The nice lady there said she likes her Bacon Bunner with a tiny bit of mustard so I dressed mine the same way ;) They’re served on their own with a bit of BBQ sauce inside..

Yummy!! I might suggest that they offer the choice to toast the bun.. if you happen to check ‘em out, ask them if you can!

Yep! Peabody had his first bed and breakfast adventure last weekend.. and what a great experience it was! It was my buddy Chris’ birthday so my girlfriend and I took a trip to the eastern townships of Montreal for the weekend to party. We headed out Saturday morning from Gatineau in a leisurely way.. we weren’t in a hurry and took a few breaks en route. In the car, I was wearing flip-flops but found them to be uncomfortable on the accelerator pedal so I took them off.. and I’m happy I did! There’s something about driving barefoot that is just so liberating!

Chris and his super lovely wife Birdie have a cozy house and are rearing two awesome tots way out in the bush. And it’s frikken gorgeous out there. At this time of year it’s just so green green green.. it’s hard for me to put to words how to describe just how beautiful the scenery is.

After we arrived we hung out for a bit and then checked in to the bed and breakfast nearby:

The Domaine Fonberg is like a dream. The lady who greeted us was sooo nice! She showed us our room and then gave us a look around the house. I was certainly looking forward to the whole bed and breakfast experience real bad.

We had a sweet evening over at Chris and Birdie’s place.. had some great BBQ and potluck goodies, and hung out with folks I hadn’t seen in a loooong time. It was raining the whole time, but that didn’t dampen the party one bit. The majority of us are musicians so a nice jam went on into the wee hours. I managed to get a picture of Spanky, our fellow Montreal breakfast blogger playing a tiny kid’s drumkit:

And here’s one with most of the gang:

Later on Gen and I wandered back to the B&B and passed out. ZZZzzzzzzz..

After waking up, we showered, dressed and watched a bit of Coronation Street on the telly in the gorgeous living room till breakfast was served. It started off with a plate of yummy fresh fruit and a glass of orange juice with a slice of orange in it which I thought was a nice touch:

It was followed by a muffin and croissant (muffin not pictured :P)

The final dish was superb.. a crepe with ham, cheese, onions and slivers of grapes hidden inside with a side of veggies and toast:

Super Yummy.

It was awesome! I’m going to have to do some more B&B adventures for sure. From this experience alone I am convinced that kind people who open up their homes to strangers for a place to sleep and breakfast MUST be as passionate as I am about the first meal of the day. Stay tuned!

I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time.” So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

- Steven Wright

I sometimes wish that I spent a little less time eating (not really) and a little more time thinking of a great name for today’s entry. This sandwich deserves a really great name, and that really great name would look particularly fantastic up there in that marquee space….

…but, alas, I spent my time cooking and eating.

So, for now, I have settled on:

“The Challah-French Toast-Peanut Butter-Banana Sandwich, with Maple Syrup”.

Not bad, but a little long. For a short time I considered omitting the segment “with Maple Syrup” that seems haphazardly tagged onto the end of the name, but once I looked at the truncated version I was struck with nervous visions of some poor shmo making this incredible breakfast and then topping it with something like jelly, or even worse - breakfast syrup. It seemed like listening to a well-composed and executed piece of classical music, but then switching off the stereo just before the coda is heard.

That being said, and after letting you glimpse at that marvelously delicious photo, here is the recipe for “The Challah-French Toast-Peanut Butter-Banana Sandwich, with Maple Syrup”. I figure if I say it a few times it will begin to roll off the tongue. Here it is once again: “The Challah-French Toast-Peanut Butter-Banana Sandwich, with Maple Syrup”.

For each sandwich, you will need:
-Challah. I usually use thick slices from a loaf, but as I am demonstrating, rolls are perfectly acceptable. The rolls I am using for this recipe are what I consider to be the best challah rolls in Montreal, baked at Fresser’s on Decarie. Note: the best results will be achieved if you buy your Challah unsliced from a bakery and then slice the bread yourself, allowing for very thick slices.

- 1-2 eggs
- 1 banana
- peanut butter
- maple syrup

Let us begin:

Beat the eggs in a bowl, adding about a tablespoon or so of milk, if you’ve got some laying about). Slice your challah, or in this case, cut your rolls in half. NOTE: This sandwich can be made open-face or closed - depending on your preference. Adjust recipe if closed face.
Melt some butter in a pan, or on your flat-top, and soak the challah in the egg mixture. When hot, lay the challah on the cooking surface and cook until brown, then flip and repeat.

While your challah is Frenching - if I may be so bold as to liberally transform ‘French Toast’ into a verb - slice your banana lengthwise.

Once your French toast is ready, remove from heat and spread on a thick layer of peanut butter, then add slices of banana (If you are making this a closed-faced affair, here is where you would add your 2nd slice of bread, or challah-roll top.)

Most importantly, add maple syrup..

Here is the finished product:

And here is what may also be considered the ‘finished’ product.

My dad used to make these when I was a kid, and now I make them all the time.

Some Ontarians, and other non-Montrealers, call them “egg-in-the-hole”, but that usually refers to a slice of white sandwich bread with a hole torn out. That is wrong.

A bagel is lovingly hand-rolled, boiled in water and honey, and then slowly smoked over real hardwood.
This particluar sesame-seed bagel is from the St-Viateur Bagel Shop, about a block-and-a-half from my home. I like to keep things local, and consider myself very lucky to live in a vortex of such concentrated gastronomic resources. More about that another time. . .

So, to make your Bagelette, you will need your bagel, which you see I already have. You will also need 2 eggs per bagel, and some butter. NOTE: It is preferable to have an ample, and flat, cooking surface that can accommodate your bagel, or bagels. I am using the same cast-iron flat-top that my father used before me. It seems like it was hand-crafted specifically for making 2 bagelettes. Be careful, as a small frying pan will not easily fit 2 bagel halves, sitting flatly, which is essential to the egg cooking properly in the cavity of the bagel.

Today I will skip ahead to intermediate cooking levels and get a little fancy by adding some parmeggiano reggiano, grated onto the bagelette.If you are still in cooking 101, or don’t spend any time with food snobs, or more specifically, cheese snobs, Parmeggiano Reggiano is Italian for “very, very good parmesan cheese”.

Here is a shot of the almost fully-cooked bagelettes.The recipe is fairly simple:

-Cut your bagel
-heat up your pan, or skillet, or flat-top, and melt some butter
-put your bagel halves on the hot surface and drop an egg into the center of each
-when you feel it is time, flip
-enjoy

Throughout the history of the bagelette, there has been some heated arguments as to which side of the bagel to start your cooking. Some more conservative cooks prefer the flat (cut side) side face-down to start, thus not allowing any egg to escape the confines of the bagel. Some more liberal-minded folk swear by beginning their bagelettes with the natural, bumpy side face down, to allow for a greater cooking surface for the egg. There is also the rare cross-section of society that has no political affiliations whatsoever - these people tend to cook their bagelettes with each half facing a different direction. I believe the term ‘I swing both ways’ was originated from this group of bagelette eaters.

Personally, I find both techiques to be equally satisfying.

Behold:The goal, if there were a goal other than eating, is to cook the bagelette so the yolk is still runny, thus allowing the eater to mop up some yolk with each bite of bagel.An added treat is the little bits of fried cheese that may have ‘accidentally’ not landed directly on the bagel during the cooking process. Here is an example of such a casualty: As sad as I was for this poor scrap of cheese, I forced myself to eat it.

And, of course, the money shot. .

The folks at Eggspectation liken a visit to their establishment as “le cirque des oeufs” and I have to agree. With locations in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vaughan Hills, Maine, Maryland and New Delhi (!), they have quite the selection of breakfast goodies on their menu. I have to admit that I’ve only tried ONE item on their menu since discovering them 10 or so years ago while attending Concordia University in Montreal.. but it’s a masterpiece: The Yolk Around the Clock. In Montreal we call this a Bagelette and there are several variations of it. The Eggspectation version is (from their menu) “A bagel cut in half, toasted then put on the grill, two sunny eggs in the hole of the bagel, covered with bacon and melted cheese, served with grilled potatoes and chef’s fruit garnish.”

I had mine with Swiss cheese:

(yes, there are bagel halves with eggs and bacon under all of that..) SUPER YUMMY! I could go for another one right now. $9.99 coffee extra.

A side note: I’ve mentioned in my profile that I wouldn’t post entries about places that I didn’t like, but I’m going to have to make an exception here as a warning to the readers of BB. I tried the weekend brunch buffet at Hooley’s on Elgin yesterday and was quite disappointed. Expensive with just the basics to offer in their buffet and I had other issues that I don’t want to mention here. And coffee is extra. Don’t bother. For the same price you can have a MUCH better brunch buffet experience at Le Bop (Café Aubry) in Hull. Cheers!

Maybe you weren’t expecting to see something like this on a breakfast blog, but I’ve gotta tell ya, I’m in love with Green Tabasco on eggs. There’s just nothing quite like it. It’s the milder, jalapeño version of the world famous Tabasco sauce and I can’t get enough of it. I tend to use it when I make my Peabody Specials (a super breakfast sandwich that I will feature here soon) and it’s also great on Eggs Benedict.

Here’s my Tabasco bottle collection. I’m trying to see how much Tabasco one person can consume in a lifetime:

I started that collection a few years ago. In other breakfast blogger news, I want to say welcome to all the visitors from stumbleupon.com! Keep on stumblin’!!!

***EDIT*** Thanks for the linkage from stumbleupon!!! ;)

The forecasters predicted a hotter than usual summer this year but if you ask me, it’s been just perfect around here. It was damn gorgeous in the market this morning, ideal for a breakfast blogger adventure! My girlfriend and I wandered around a bit and settled on a nice looking place called Medithéo. Coffee came in a Bodum which was a nice touch:

I had the super yummy Eggs Medithéo:

My girlfriend had the smoked salmon omelet and loved it:

I’m a bit embarrassed to ask, but does someone know what that fruit is at the bottom left of the picture? Our waitress didn’t know what it was either. It’s similar to pomegranate, but smaller. Help!

It was a bit pricey, 40 bucks with tip, but well worth it.

In other BB news, my girlfriend and I have set a date for our wedding. I’m gunna try to lose a few pounds for it, so don’t be surprised if you see some light breakfasts.. I only have two months!

Instead of going out to breakfast last weekend, I decided to stay in and try something a little different. I picked up a danish without frosting:

Cracked a couple of eggs into a dish, added some milk, vanilla and cinnamon and mixed it up:

Gave my danish a bath:

Then fried it up and voila!

Now for a little maple syrup.. I happen to keep mine in an old vodka bottle:

And NOW it was ready to eat. mmmmmmmmmmm yummy: