What's for Brunch?

We had friends over for Brunch on Sunday. We served Coconut French Toast and English Muffin Strata with Canadian Bacon and Cheese. The beauty of both dishes is that you can make the day before and refrigerate overnight. I think they even taste better if you make them ahead of time and bake right before serving. It was great. Nothing better than starting the day with great friends and great food.


Baked Coconut French Toast with Tropical Fruit Compote

Compote:
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
1 cup chopped peeled mango
1 cup chopped peeled papaya
1 cup chopped peeled kiwifruit
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

French Toast:
16 (1-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette (about 10 ounces)
Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

To prepare compote, combine first 6 ingredients. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
To prepare the French toast, arrange bread in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine light coconut milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla, stirring with a whisk, and pour evenly over bread. Turn the bread over to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove bread mixture from refrigerator, and uncover. Turn bread slices over, and sprinkle evenly with flaked coconut. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Bake, uncovered, at 350º for 30 minutes or until coconut is golden. Serve warm with fruit compote.



English Muffin Strata with Ham and Cheese

6 English muffins, split
Cooking spray
3/4 cup chopped Canadian bacon (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
2 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of ground red pepper
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites

Cut each muffin half into 6 wedges. Arrange half of muffin wedges in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with bacon. Sprinkle with half of cheese. Arrange remaining muffin wedges over cheese. Top with remaining cheese.
Combine milk and the remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk until blended. Pour milk mixture over muffin mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325°.
Uncover strata and bake at 325° for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.