Monthly Archives: May 2014

Brunch it Yourself – Coconut French Toast

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Most of us can make a solid basic brunch at home: fry an egg, cook some bacon, burn some toast and voila!  Many have also mastered the art of pancakes without Bisquick, crepes, waffles, and french toast.  Are you one of the wonderful people who bakes your own muffins, folds omelettes perfectly, or makes cinnamon buns from scratch?  Brunch is a pretty accessible meal, and I am here to make it even moreso.  I adore going out for a fabulous brunch so much I made a damn blog about it, but I am a baker at heart and also enjoy bringing it home.

Do you want fancy, delicious french toast in your own kitchen?  Awesome!  It’s totally within your grasp.

Ingredients:

  • bread, preferably something “plain” like white, wheat, or multigrain
  • eggs
  • milk, cream, or your dairy substitute of choice
  • dried coconut flakes
USE ALL THE COCONUT.

USE ALL THE COCONUT.

Tools:

  • shallow bowl
  • plate
  • whisk or fork
  • spatula
  • griddle or frying pan

 

I use four eggs to make six pieces of coconut french toast

I use four eggs to make six pieces of coconut french toast

  1. Set pan or griddle on stove and turn the burner on to medium to medium low heat.  If your pan/griddle is non-stick, don’t worry about greasing it.  If it isn’t, wait until a little water sprinkled on it sizzles and then grease with butter or veggie oil depending on your dairy tolerance.
  2. While your griddle/pan is heating, crack eggs into your bowl and whisk together with milk/cream/dairy substitute.  Place a slice of bread in bowl for soaking.
  3. Pour a thick layer of coconut flakes on to plate.
  4. Flip bread and soak other side.
  5. When bread is fully soaked with egg mixture, place it on the plate and “bread” it with coconut flakes.  Do the same to the other side.
  6. When the bread is fully coconut flaked, put it on the hot griddle/pan.
  7. Flip bread when the egg is fully cooked and then coconut is singed.  This will take longer than standard french toast.  Repeat for the other side.
  8. Repeat steps 2 through 8 for each slice.  Enjoy delicious coconut french toast!
  9. For added deliciousness, eat with pineapple.  The best is fresh pineapple seared on a grill, but you can also throw fresh or canned on to your griddle/pan when you’re done with your toast for tastiness as well.
On the griddle like regular french toast, just "breaded" with coconut first.

On the griddle like regular french toast, just “breaded” with coconut first.

 

photo 1 photo 2

Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

Veggie Galaxy – Cambridge, MA

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Veggie Galaxy

 

Talls and I stepped off our plane from Brazil in Boston, went straight to the Silver Line (not checking bags is the greatest of things), to the Red Line, to Central Square, to have brunch here.  It was amazing and delicious and entirely worth staving off jet lagged napping for.  How I have avoided posting about this place I have no fucking clue, but I shall fix this oversight posthaste.

Now, Veggie Galaxy is a vegetarian restaurant.  It is also a dinner.  It also serves brunch all day every day.  Stop botching about their lack of meat and go stuff your face with their amazing food.

Great coffee plus amazing frappe = welcome home!

Great coffee plus amazing frappe = welcome home!

Veggie Galaxy makes frappes.  Really fucking good frappes.  Frappes with coconut milk.  We went with one of our standbys, chocolate banana.  It was appropriately delicious.

Stuffed French Toast. Go read the description on their menu. It's an orgasm on a plate.

Stuffed French Toast. Go read the description on their menu. It’s an orgasm on a plate.

I had the best goddamn french toast they offer, like I am wont to.  Allllll of that and they give you real maple syrup without question.  This place makes me forget I like bacon with breakfast.  Which is good because their fake bacon (tempeh) is not so good.  The seitan chorizo is a very tasty meat substitute if you’re looking for that, though.

Talls' Mass Ave omelete. Also stuffed with fucking deliciousness.

Talls’ Mass Ave omelete. Also stuffed with fucking deliciousness.

It was a food stuffed with food sort of morning for us.  And yes, we were ravenous when we got there, but this is not the first time we’ve dined and been delighted.  Get you ass to this diner!

How good is it? It's so good I forgot to eat my syrup.

How good is it? It’s so good I forgot to eat my syrup.

Sauipe Park – Sauipe, Brazil

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Costa do Sauipe

Why did you have to wake up to a Madrona Tree placeholder post last week?  Because I was too tired from traveling home from fucking BRAZIL to write about the tasty brunch I had there.  Sorry bitches, but my life is more awesome than yours.

All the food was cafeteria buffet style, which means there was tons and when you fell in love with something you could pretty much get as much as you wanted.  On the first morning there was bacon and churros, but like a fool I did not have my phone to take pictures!  The bacon never appeared again. 😦 There was also never any maple syrup, as one would expect in a land far from the frozen wildernesses of Vermont and Canada, but I got through it some how.

The amazing coffee soothed my maple-less nerves.

The amazing coffee soothed my maple-less nerves.

The coffee was some of the best I’ve ever had.  It was served in a huge, constantly heated carafe next to another heated carafe that was full of fucking hot milk.  If I ever moved to Brazil I would die within a month of heart failure from the amount of caffeine I would consume by living off of this shit.

 

There was also churros, churro-ed french toast, good eggs, and a huge selection of fresh-as-fuck fruit.

There was also churros, churro-ed french toast, good eggs, and a huge selection of fresh-as-fuck fruit.

The banana looking lumps to the left of the eggs are stewed plantains, which for me basically means dessert for breakfast.  If you have never had cooked sweet plantains then your life is meaningless and you had better get some of those in you before you die.  My personal favorite is fried.

Inexplicable buns! And so much candied fruit choices to toss in your yogurt.

Inexplicable buns! And so much candied fruit choices to toss in your yogurt.

Talls was always eating vaguely healthy and shit.  It was fucked up.  I was instead pining because the buffet section that was filled with coconut cakes (seriously, just piles of sweet coconut shavings flavored with fruit or caramelized sugar) and flan for lunch AND dinner was only a vast array of fruit juice in the morning.  I’m pretty sure I could live off Brazilian coffee, coconut cake, and the occasional caipirinha at a moment’s notice.

One of my food adventures turned out to be tapioca pearls in coconut milk with optional cinnamon. I thought it was optional coco powder.

One of my food adventures turned out to be tapioca pearls in coconut milk with optional cinnamon. I thought it was optional coco powder. This was delicious.

It was a great trip and the very poor translations on the signs made eating a little surprising at times.  It generally worked out, however, and if I wasn’t feeling exploratory I could always fall back on fresh fruit and buns.

And the coffee. It was amazing enough to take two pictures on two different days.

And the coffee. It was amazing enough to take two pictures on two different days.

Even more Madrona Tree

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Fuck I love the brunch at this place.  I have officially come to terms with having to get there before 11am even on a Sunday.  That is how much I love this brunch.  So here, have some more gratuitous food pictures.

How am I supposed to eat anything but the Falcon Eggs Benedict? HOW????

How am I supposed to eat anything but the Falcon Eggs Benedict? HOW????

Okay, so everything else is awesome too.

Okay, so everything else is awesome too.

 

Actual posts will resume post haste.