Egg-Filled Bread Bowl

If only every brunch dish was this delicious... it would be my only meal. I discovered something called a baked egg boat on pinterest a few weeks ago and it looked beautiful. Of course, as a breakfast food, it was made with bacon, and bread that's hard to find heckshered, so off I went to develop my own incarnation.  I served it at a post simchat torah brunch - but whether you're serving it as a hangover cure or beside bottomless mimosas, this is top rate.

Yes, that's on a "Got Milk?" plate. Oreo Cookie!

Ingredients:

6 Par-baked french rolls (Trader joe's has these, and I love them. If they're hard to find, french or italian demi baguettes is what was suggested .)
8 Eggs
6 Scallions (or garlic chives)
2/3 cup half and half
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
Colby Jack Cheese - 2-4 ozs
Mozzarella cheese 3 ozs
Spinach
Optional: Mushrooms (I used baby bellas/creminis), Smoked salmon (we were also having bagels and lox so I'll add this next time)

Also, an FYI: For the half & half, I used the fat free kind from Trader Joe's, I'm no expert when it comes to this version of dairy though, so I suggest that you use what you like or whatever you have on hand. Some recipes recommend creme, that's just too rich for me. Also, I didn't calorie/ingredient compare to see what they do to make the fat free tasty, but it is, so I really enjoyed. Only questioning that choice now, clearly.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Hollow out bread. To do this on the rolls, I cut a V into the tops of each for access with the most remaining bread. (Save breadcrumbs - I baked mine into a fritata, also pictured, but use for whatever you use breadcrumbs for... or if you've been super adept at the cutting process, add it back as a top to the bowl.)
Place the bread on a cookie sheet (or in a roaster pan. I used the latter) and take out a large bowl to break eggs in to (I always break eggs individually into a cup or small bowl first so that you can spot blood or shell) - Every 3 or 4 eggs I whisked together the eggs and the half and half, cayenne pepper, and then chopped scallions and added them in. Whisk a bit more, just so eggs are fluffy like you'd do for an omelet.
Take that small bowl and used it as a ladle to transfer egg mixture into rolls. Allow to sit for a bit (and absorb) as you slice cheeses, then add a bit more egg in, if there's room. Top with chopped defrosted frozen spinach and sliced cremini mushrooms. The pictured one I made w/out mushrooms because, you know, so many picky eaters, so little time.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (until the eggs aren't jiggly) and serve!

Enjoy!!  Tell me if you made a variation and how it came out! The one pictured is from the next day, and it withstood the journey. Also, I would have added salt and pepper but my kitchen wasn't back in one piece yet from the floor being redone, so I just went with what was on hand. It didn't feel like any flavor was missing though.

Sheridan's Honey Whole Wheat Challah Recipe

Honey Whole Wheat Challah ...mmmm

I have to admit I usually make a mini-loaf for myself because when it comes out of the oven I can't resist this. Also, somehow, my dough always miraculously over-rises and I wind up with more challah than I know what to do with. If that's the case, pull it a few minutes early and freeze a loaf or two for next week. Anyway, I'll stop talking so you can start baking and enjoy!

3 tablespoons (3 packages) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup honey

3.5 cups lukewarm water

1 cup vegetable oil ( i use a little less)

6 large eggs (save 1 egg and add some water for egg wash)

2 tablespoons salt

16 cups flour total (I do a 2/3 whole wheat to 1/3 white all-purpose flour ratio ... leaning towards a little more white flour.)

Optional: sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling

1. Dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in 3 to 3.5 cups of lukewarm water in a large bowl. Let yeast proof/activate for 10 minutes. (You can start to measure other ingredients)

2. Whisk the oil into the yeast mixture, then beat in 5 of the eggs, one at a time, along with the remaining sugar, honey and the salt. (To prevent honey from sticking ,use same measuring cup as for oil. Also, you can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading.) Gradually add the 16 cups of flour alternating 2 Whole Wheat with 1 White and stir. When the dough holds together, it is ready for kneading.

3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out the bowl and grease it, then return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour. (You may also put the dough in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees, then turned off.) When the dough has almost doubled in volume, punch it down, cover, and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour or so.

4. To make a 6-braided challah, take 1/4 of the dough and form into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand tapered at the ends about 12 inches long and 1½ inches wide. Pinch the strands together at one end, then gently spread them apart. Next, move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then, take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Regroup to 3 on each side. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2 to the middle, then move the second strand from the right over to the far left. Regroup and start over with the outside right strand. Continue until all the strands are braided, tucking the ends underneath the loaf. Tip: always to have 3 strands on each side, so you can keep your braid balanced. Either make the remainder of the loaves the same way and place the braided loaves in greased 10- by 4-inch loaf pans or on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches between them OR, alternately, you can take a round pan and make a pull apart challah very easily; just take some dough, about the size of a tennis ball, roll it out to about 12 inches, and swirl into a roll. Snuggly fit rolls beside one another in the round pan. (Leave a small amount of dough for the "challah is taken" blessing - l’haph’reesh challah min ha’eesah.- for more on that see: http://www.jewishtreats.org/2009/06/challah-is-taken.html)

5. Beat the remaining egg and brush it on the loaves. Let rise another half hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and brush the loaves with egg again, then sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a rack.

Yield: 4-5 challot