Padre in Seattle-Feasting!

Recipes for Challah bread and Stuffed French Toast- Both incredibly delicious!!!! and very pretty!

Stuffed French toast rocks! I wanted to cook for my dad when he came but making him dinner would take a long time and rob us of going to some other places at night and we were always out for lunch So breakfast it was! We went to the farmer's market on Saturday, which me dad loved, and bought some of the last blackberries of the season. We also bought some breakfast sausage from a farmer there.

Also check out Padre in Seattle: BAKING, EXPLORING, HISTORY, PLAYING

It was tasty! Very tasty. And I'm so excited to have discovered challah bread- it is ridiculously tasty!

So here's the recipe!

Stuffed French Toast

1 loaf challah bread (you could use french bread too, i guess :)

box of blackberries

2 tbs. of sugar

1/4 cup water

ricotta cheese

for the egg bath:

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

1     cut the loaf into 1 1/2 inch slices and then slice a slit down the center of each (not all the way through

2     place blackberries, water, and sugar in a saucpan and cook on low and mash until they are more like a jam, about 7 minutes

3     then stuff the berry mixture into the slit of each slice of bread

4     add a spoonful of ricotta on top

5     then pinch the bread closed, if you can. (I couldn't get mine closed but it still worked

6     make the egg bath by mixing all of its ingredients

7     dip each slice of bread into the egg bath for 10-15 seconds on each side (only dip the ones you are immediately about to cook)

8     spray cooking pan

9     place in skillet and cook each side until it is browned slightly, don't put burner on too high or it will cook to fast and the inside won't get warm

serve with powdered sugar, the rest of the blackberry sauce, and syrup!

Challah bread recipe:

1/3 cup honey

1 1/4 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup olive oil

2 eggs (whisked already)

5 cups flour

bread wash:

1/4 cup milk

2 tbs olive oil

1 egg white

1 tbs sugar

1     in large mixing bowl pour honey into the warm water and stir in yeast, set aside for 15 min.

       (should get foamy)

2     then stir in the salt, 2/3 cup olive oil, and whisked eggs

3     add flour 1 cup at a time, dough should be tacky but not extremely sticky

       (I used Agatha and my bread hook to mix this throughly)

4     place the dough on a floured surface and knead for 10 min

5     lightly oil a bowl and place the dough back in and cover with a towel for 90 min

       (my dad's tip was to turn the oven on low and turn it back off and place the dough in if you're in

       a cold space, otherwise it won't really rise)

6     punch down the dough and cut into 2 halves (you can make one 6 braid challah if you want but for french toast you need it to be thinner loaves)

7     cut the halves into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into thin ropes. the ends should be thinner than the middles of each rope (about thumb size at the center)

8     then take 4 strands and mash together one end of each and leave other ends free

9     then go in an over-under-over pattern with each strand working down one side until you get to the

       ends

10   repeat with other loaf and set aside to rise 60 min, cover with a towel

11   preheat oven 350 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper

12   whisk together ingredients for glaze and brush onto the top and sides of each loaf

13   bake until they are a light golden brown, about 30 minutes

they freeze well too