Emeril's Breakfast in Bed Contest Recipes

May 11, 2007 — -- Thousands of people entered Emeril's Breakfast in Bed contest, but only one woman won the chance to have Emeril make her a Mother's Day breakfast. This is what the bam-tastic chef whipped up.

Banana Foster Inspired Pain Perdu

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter

1 cup pecan pieces

2 cups maple syrup

¼ cup rum

3 eggs

¾ cup milk

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

¼ cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

8 slices of French Bread, about 1 inch thick

2 bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

Powdered sugar for dusting

In a sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the pecans and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the maple syrup and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Remove the pan from the stove and add the rum. Carefully place the pan back on the stove and flame the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, orange zest, orange juice, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, to dissolve the sugar. In a nonstick sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter. Dip 2 slices of the bread into the egg-milk mixture, coating evenly. Fry in the butter until golden brown, 2-3 minutes on each side. Repeat until all the butter and bread is used. Lay the pain perdu on a platter. Add the bananas to the pecan mixture and warm slightly. Spoon the warm sauce over the pain perdu. Dust the entire plate with powdered sugar.

Yield: 4 servings

Strawberry-Filled Scones

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus more for shaping the scones)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces (1 stick), unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

¼ cup of strawberry jam

2 tablespoons whole milk

2 teaspoons demarara, or coarse ground raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the butter to the dry ingredients and cut into the flour using your hands or a pastry-cutter until the butter resembles small peas surrounded by flour. Add the buttermilk and mix, using your hands or a rubber spatula, just until the liquid is incorporated, being careful not to overmix.

Divide the dough in half, and lightly sprinkle the countertop with flour. Place half of the dough on the floured countertop and form into an 8-inch disk about ½ an inch thick. Spread the jam over the top of the disk, being sure to leave an inch of space along the outer edge of the dough.

On the work surface, lightly flour and roll out the second half of dough into a disk the same size as the first. Carefully, using two floured metal spatulas, or one spatula and one dough cutter, pick up the dough and lay the second disk on top of the first. Use your fingers to pinch the edges of the dough together so that they are sealed.

Using the dough cutter, or a chef's knife dusted with flour, cut the dough into 6 triangles. Separate the triangles and lay them on the parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the scones with the milk. Sprinkle the raw sugar on the tops of the dough and place in the oven.

Bake the scones until the tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove the scones from the oven, and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 scones