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 Do you look at recipes in glossy magazines and cookbooks and despair of ever making anything like that yourself?
The nzgirl Test Kitchen is about real, easy food that anyone can make. We search out recipes, then test them, so you can see what the food really turns out like.
We all love heading to our favourite local café for a delicious weekend brunch treat – but what if you could recreate your favourite meals in your own home?
Check out the nzgirl’s Test Kitchen Challenge: Delicious Brunch Treats to find out the secrets to preparing café-style Eggs Bene and French Toast. If you want to make the process even easier, do what we did and order all your groceries from Foodtown online! It was so simple and convenient, we just jumped on to the Foodtown website, picked from their great range of products, set the order date, and hey presto! The groceries were delivered right to our office door. Visit the www.Foodtown.co.nz to see how easy it really is for yourself...  __________________________________________________________________________
Eggs Benedict
Editor’s Note: I’ve lost count of the amount of people who rate a café based on its attempt at Eggs Benedict. There’s no need to be daunted, this is actually a really easy recipe to whip up for friends. Don’t be a martyr though, buy yourself some yummy gourmet hollandaise sauce and use an egg poacher! Time to prepare: This will take you no time at all to pull together – thanks to our special shortcuts!
The $$$: Taste sometimes comes at price, but it’s so worth it for a treat. Total cost is $25.77 and it works out to be approximately $3.22 per serve. Taste rating: How could you go wrong? This dish was delish! The perfect brunch meal when you’re craving savoury. Ingredients (Click here to purchase these ingredients now!) Serves 4 Eggs Benedict 2 tablespoons oil 200g streaky bacon rashers OR 200g smoked salmon 4 muffin splits 4 eggs Drop of white vinegar 250g spinach (frozen or fresh) Hollandaise sauce Cracked black pepper Butter 
Steps1: Bring a saucepan of water and a tablespoon of white vinegar to the boil. When the water is boiled, turn the element down and swirl the water, crack open each of the eggs (carefully) and add slowly to the water. Simmer/poach for 3-5 minutes depending on how you like your egg (the white should be cooked!) and then use a slotted spoon to remove it from the saucepan when it’s done. 2: If using bacon, heat oil in a large frying pan, add in the bacon and cook for a good five or so minutes, turning as needed, until golden and crisp. 3: Heat up the spinach as per instruction on the bag. Pop as much as you’ll need into a microwave container, cover, and heat through for 2-3 minutes, stir and then return for another 1-2 minutes. 4: Begin to heat the hollandaise sauce slowly in a saucepan, or as directed on the packet. 
5: When it’s nearly all ready, toast your muffins.
6: Assemble the meal by placing your toasted muffins on the plate, butter, then top with spinach, then a poached egg each, cover with bacon or smoked salmon. Drizzle over the hollandaise sauce and add salt and pepper as desired. Et voila!
French Toast Editor’s Note: This recipe is pretty decadent, so you can even serve it up for dessert! And the best bread to use is actually day old French stick! Time to prepare: You’ll be able to whip this delectable sweet treat up in the time it takes for your lover to brush the sleep from his/her eyes, jump in the shower and appear at the table.
The $$$: It’s basically bread, cream and eggs, so no great expenses there! Taste rating: If you’re after a sweet treat, you can’t go past this recipe for French Toast. Unanimous office love for the frenchie! Ingredients (Click here to purchase these ingredients now!) Serves 4
French Toast
4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla essence 4 tablespoons cream 50 grams butter 200 grams bacon One loaf of French Stick, chopped into 2cm width angle slices Caramelised Bananas 4 bananas Juice of one lemon 2 tablespoons brown sugar To Serve Maple Syrup Crème Fraiche Icing Sugar (to dust) 
Steps
1: Start by preparing your caramelised bananas, by splitting them length ways and placing skin down on the tray (so the banana flesh is facing up). Sprinkle the juice and brown sugar across them all. Then place under a 200° grill for about five minutes, until the top is brown but not burnt! Keep an eye on them!
2: If using bacon, heat oil in a large frying pan, add in the bacon and cook for a good five or so minutes, turning as needed, until golden and crisp. 3: Beat together your eggs, vanilla and cream. Place half in a wide dish and then add the bread slices, then pour the rest of the egg/vanilla/cream mixture on top. Leave to sit for 5-10 minutes so it all soaks in. Depending on your bread’s ability to soak up the mixture, you may have to adjust the number of slices you make. 
4: Add butter to the fry pan and heat over a medium heat. When it starts to sizzle, take 2-3 slices at a time and place them in the pan. You may need to turn the heat down a bit to keep the butter or bread from burning. Cook for about 2 minutes each side, the French toast should look golden and delicious! Repeat until all bits of bread are done!
5: To assemble, stack 2-3 French toast pieces on top of each other. Arrange bacon and the banana on the top/side. Drizzle with maple syrup and dust lightly with icing sugar. Yum! Tee
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