This term the Petits Chefs are cooking our way through a series of cookbooks and this week, we used Brunch Life.
I can’t think of a better duo to write a cookbook featuring brunch recipes than Matt Basile and Kyla Zanardi. At the helm of Toronto’s Fidel Gastro (food truck/ Lisa Marie restaurant) for many years now, Matt is known for his over the top brunch food par excellence – and now you can bring this to your house!
I love this book as much for its tasty recipes as I do for the travel stories. Kyla was my photographer for In the French kitchen with kids and she was working on both books pretty much at the same time so I saw the huge amount of work travelling around all the cities to get the scoop on brunch actually was. It’s cool to see how the stories I heard have come alive in print! Matt is an endearing storyteller and writes just like he speaks – it feels like he’s there in your kitchen with you, telling you about the inspiration for the dish or helping you through the recipe!
Speakng of recipes, there’s something for everyone – Classics, Brunch in Buns, Bennies for Brunch (hello!), Chicken and Waffles (my Petits Chefs got a sneak peek of one of these dishes!), Family-Style Brunch, Pancakes, Waffles and French Toast, “Brunch Lite”, Side Dishes and Drinks. Honestly, you never need to leave your house again for brunch! This is the perfect book for Sundays! Gorgeously photographed, you’ll bookmark every recipe!
There are SO many recipes I wanted to make with the boys but many of the best ones require equipment we don’t have (waffle irons, deep fryers) – we will reserve those for when we go to the restaurant to cook with Matt! I have, however, been intrigued by one of the recipes – Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cereal – since I got the book and have been wanting to try it out. I figured it was very do-able with the boys in an hour if we used jarred apple sauce… I checked in with Kyla about the quantity of pre-made sauce to use (roughly 1/4 – 1/3 cup) and felt confident that not only would this be totally do-able but that the boys would LOVE this (check and check!).
It starts with a ball of dough, not unlike cookie dough…
That you roll out and cut into shapes, not unlike cookie dough…
This kept the boys busy for a good 40 minutes (so, if you’re looking for something to keep them busy on weekends or in vacation time, this is an ideal activity with a tasty outcome!).
I mean, it REALLY kept them busy…
And the result?
Pre-bake:
And post-bake:
(we used whole wheat flour which you can see in this image. Worked well!)
Then we got to drizzle the squares with a maple-butter-cinnamon mixture…
And between dividing this up between the boys and trying to make sure they didn’t just eat it on the spot, I saved a few for myself…
They REALLY don’t go soggy in the milk!!!
GREAT recipe and so much fun to make – it’s got me thinking of different variations….
Purchase Brunch Life on Amazon (this link should take you to the Amazon store closest to you). Or for free worldwide shipping, buy on The Book Depository
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Disclosure: I was sent a review copy of Brunch Life by the publisher. I was not asked to write about this book and am not being compensated for writing this post. All opinions are my own.