Breakfast with a twist

‘Breakfast'

By Bradley Castle (The Hungry Chef)

Inspiration behind this recipe: The story behind 'Breakfast' (AKA 'Caramalized pain perdu, set vanilla rice pudding, butter bavarois and tomato leek jam')...Do you remember being told off for playing with your food? I’ll never say that to my kids. And this is why.Thinking outside the menu box comes easily to me, because I’m inspired by left-of-centre gourmet greats: Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal and Pierre Gagnaire. Why stick with what you know, when you can flip ordinary into extraordinary using a dash of creativity and a dollop of chutzpah?So, since this week's ingredients are savoury, I decided to do dessert. But why stop there? Push the boundaries and go over the top with a va-va-voom version of pudding… as breakfast. You’ll see what I mean. 

And please – don’t ever stop playing with your food.

Ingredients

For the tomato, leek and thyme jam:

4 leeks, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
1 can PnP chopped tomato
2 sprigs of thyme
1 cup brown sugar

For the caramelised French toast:

2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp vanilla milk
8 slices of baguette (left in the fridge overnight to go stale)
½ cup brown sugar

For the butternut egg yolks:

100g butternut, cubed
2 cups water
1 sprig of thyme
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup vanilla milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp gelatin powder

For the rice pudding egg white:

½ cup Spekko Parboiled Long Grain Rice4 cups vanilla milk
2 Tbsp water
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp. gelatin powder
Pinch of salt

For the tomato, leek and thyme jam:

Saute leeks in butter until golden brown. Add in the rest of the ingredients and let simmer until it reaches 107 degrees on a sugar thermometer. Let it cool slightly. Place in a food processor until it is smooth. Press it through a very fine sieve. (The idea here is that it looks like tomato sauce.)

For the caramelised French toast:

Beat together eggs, white sugar and milk.

Soak baguettes in this mixture.

Cook baguettes over a low heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Place on paper towels to drain off all the excess oil.

Melt brown sugar in a non-stick saucepan. Toss the French toast around in it until it is evenly coated. Place on grease-proof paper to cool down.

For the butternut egg yolks:

Boil butternut with the 2 cups of water, thyme and salt until tender. Drain and place in a food processor.

Melt the sugar in a saucepan until it starts to change colour to dark golden brown. Add in butter and take off the heat. Whisk in the butter and add to the butternut in the food processor with the remaining ingredients (except gelatin and 2 tablespoons water). Blitz for about 5 minutes.

Soak gelatin (as above method). Add this to the mixture. Blitz for a further 30 seconds.

Place mixture into any heat-resistant moulds you have that are the shape of egg yolks (I have metal measuring spoons that I use). Set in the fridge for about 2 hours. When set, gently place the bottom of the mound in some hot water to release the 'yolk'. Invert these on to the 'egg whites'.

For the rice pudding egg white:

Overcook rice in vanilla milk on a medium heat with the pinch of salt. When cooked, add in sugar to dissolve.

Soak the gelatin in the water for 5 minutes. Place in the microwave for 5 seconds. Add it to the rice mixture.

Place everything into a food processor. Blitz until it becomes a smooth paste. Strain through a muslin cloth

Take an egg ring and place it on a piece of grease-proof paper. Spoon in the 'egg white' mixture and place in the fridge to set; about 2 hours.