THE DISH
Champagne-dipped Challah French toast stuffed with mascarpone, chocolate and banana (Recipe and photos here)

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There’s nothing I love more than waking up after a big night out and cooking up a huge brunch with the people I was out with. It was the morning after the final LCD Soundsystem show at Madison Square Garden, and my friends and I decided to spend the morning/afternoon cooking and eating entirely too much food. Tony and Paul made a huge batch of biscuits and sausage gravy, we ate a bunch of cheese Tony bought at Murray’s Cheese Shop, and I took on the most amazing, decadent breakfast dish I have ever made. I never order this stuff when I’m at a restaurant — I always stick to the egg dishes — but my roomie Petra sparked the mascarpone idea and I went with it. I should also give props to James, who had the brilliant idea to add champagne to the egg mixture, which makes it a bit lighter and fluffier than normal French toast. This stuff was so amazing that Missy told me it ruined French toast for her — because now any time she eats it, she will only be thinking of this. (Photos: Thank you Joe and James, although I’m not sure who took what!)

A LAZY SUNDAY PLAYLIST
http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf

THE RECIPE
Makes 7-8 pieces

Ingredients:

1 loaf Challah bread (14-16 pieces)
8oz mascarpone cheese
A couple ounces melted chocolate (I used 1/4 c leftover chocolate frosting, but melted chocolate chips would work just fine)
2 bananas
5 eggs
Little less than 1/4c milk
1/4 c champagne (I used Prosecco; of course we used the rest of the bottle for mimosas)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Powdered sugar

Directions:

• Slice Challah into 14-16 pieces

• Mix mascarpone with melted chocolate

• Spread mascarpone mixture on each piece of Challah, top half the pieces with banana slices and form into sandwiches

• Whisk together eggs, milk, champagne and cinnamon and pour into a wide, shallow bowl if you have one

• Melt butter in a pan, and one at a time, dip each sandwich into the egg mixture. On medium heat, fry on each side until the egg is cooked. There’s really no set time, just keep an eye on it. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top and/or garnish with some berries or more banana slices (optional) — syrup really isn’t necessary!

Petra, recent French toast convert.