Mother's Day Breakfast

This morning I fully intended on getting up and making a great breakfast; my first attempt at a stuffed French Toast.  Not that either of us have our mothers in town for this day, but that's no reason not to make a breakfast.  And then I was going to share the recipe so that anyone would be able to make this delicious dish whenever they wanted.  I started out on the right note, pulling out some great and delicious looking ingredients (brioche loaf, cinnamon, strawberries).

I can't take credit for the whole thing.  The inspiration for this came from a post on the blog Savory Sweet Life, one of the top (if not the top) Seattle food blogs.  But, rather than just following her simple, proven recipe, I had to come up with something similar but with a couple of twists.

Everything started out just fine, but somewhere a long the way, things didn't quite come together the way that I had planned.  It's not that it turned out bad, just not quite what I was looking for.  The flavors were good, but a little weak.  The good thing about it is I think I know where I made my mistakes, mostly with the filling.  I didn't have enough of it to balance out the thickness of the bread.  It was good, just not enough.  And I need to make sure that I include more of the fresh strawberries for both the filling and the topping.

This French Toast definitely has a lot of potential, and I will try it again next weekend, this time as a Birthday Breakfast, and once I get it, I will be sure to provide the recipe.  It's one of the joys of cooking, sometimes you get it, and sometimes you don't.  Fortunately, it seems like I've been getting it more often than not lately (knock on wood).

Deck on Bogart's - Hawaii Restaurant Review

When in Hawaii, breakfast is pretty much my favorite meal of the day.  There are just so many delicious foods that I don't usually make, and often can't find back home.  Not to mention the Kona coffee which is my absolutely favorite (I actually order it online so I can have it in Seattle).  So, when we decided to meet some friends for breakfast, I was excited.

Continuing our run of Kaimuki restaurants, we decided to go to Bogart's Cafe and Espresso Bar.  It's a small little place on Monsarrat, not far from the zoo, beach, and Rainbow Drive In.  It's in a little shopping complex that has about a half dozen stores.  Inside there is seating for about 20, with additional seating outside.  We walked in and grabbed a table, then turned to place our order.  The menu is quite extensive with breakfast and lunch items.  After scanning the menu I decided on banana pancakes with a side of Portuguese sausage and a cup of coffee.  All told, about $11, which I paid in cash as Bogart's does not accept credit cards.

After getting my cup of coffee, I returned to the table and took my first sip.  For anyone that's had Kona coffee, you know just how smooth and delicious it is.  Even when the weather is 80 and sunny, it definitely hit the spot.  After about 15 minutes, breakfast arrived.  The Portuguese sausage was the first thing I went for.  This is sausage is possibly my favorite sausage, but one that I can only find in one place in Seattle, Uwajimaya in the International District.  It is a spicy, full flavored sausage that is the perfect accompaniment to eggs and rice, or in this case, pancakes.  And this particular sausage was cooked perfectly, very juicy and tender.  Absolutely delicious.

Once finishing the first couple pieces of sausage, it was on to the pancakes.  The stack of pancakes consisted of three pancakes that were the size of the plate that they were served on, and it wasn't a saucer.  When I went to put syrup on them, I was actually concerned that if it went off the side of the pancakes, it would wind up spilling all over the table.  So, I was careful to only put it on my first couple bites.  Cutting into the pancakes, it was obvious that they were going to be good.  They had just the right amount of give to let you know that they would be light and fluffy.  And the flavor was just excellent.  The banana was not overwhelming at all.  I ended up working my way through about two-thirds of the stack before I had to call it quits, knowing that there was so much more food to eat throughout the day.  But, without a doubt, this was exactly the way to kick start the morning.



Final Verdict - 4 Stars