Brunch @ Chowy's

Visit Chowy @ http://chowanmushi.wordpress.com

Boozy French Toast and Baked Eggs Recipes from http://smittenkitchen.com

A decade long friendship =)

Was invited for bunch over at Chowy's last Saturday and of course, with C as the cook - this was one invitation that I will never dream of turning down.


Now that i come to think about it, every visit to Chowy's has always been food-related. Tea parties, (failed) baking sessions, even impromptu visits to her house would end up in some food-tasting frenzy (pineapple tarts, Moon Cakes, miso tofu, popiah..and the list goes on). I just might have establish part of the reason why I gained 4 kg (#$@*%@#$!) since coming back from the States! hmm.

Baked Eggs + Spinach & Mushroom

I would say that she is more of an "ang-moh"派 cook who gravitates towards creating Westernized dishes. I guess the Oxford and London years had a compounded effect on her.


Anyways, we had quite a spread that day which she 'claims' to have single-handedly 'slogged all morning' for. (ok to be fair, traces of flour on her black dress serves as evidence for her hard work). The stars of the show besides all the ready-made food were the baked eggs and the "boozy french toast". And trust me, it tasted as wonky as it sounds.

The wonderful brunch spread

I loved the baked eggs with spinach and sauteed mushrooms! The greedy me secretly wished there were more (oops) but servings were limited to one egg/guest which was great since there were so many other yummylicious food on the table. The 'boozy' french toast was...interesting. Like a hybrid between a bread pudding and a french toast. (And yes, just in case you were wondering, the bread slices were indeed soaked in alcohol before baking). Besides these 2 main dishes, there was a throng of other side dishes like smoked salmon, granola+fresh fruits & German sausages. Also, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself when freshly baked madeleines were brought out by C's mum towards the end. They looked (+ tasted) tonnes better than our previous combined attempt which failed miserably due to Chowy's questionable French translation skills. Read about it here:

http://valeebelly.blogspot.com/2009/09/madeleines-lancienne.html

Freshly baked madeleines. They go surprisingly well with smoked salmon!

All in all, it was a nice brunch where the group of us caught up on life over some lovingly prepared food which ended with a nice cup of exquisite Darjeeling and English Breakfast tea.

Brunch companions

Looking forward to the next invite. erhem. -big wave to Chowy if you are reading this-=)


ps. She swears by the recipes on this website: http://smittenkitchen.com and these are the links which she drew inspiration from for the brunch.


Baked eggs+ Spinach & Mushrooms
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-bacon-is-always-crisp/


Boozy French Toast
http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/12/new-years-day-2001/

Boozy french toast in the foreground