If cake married bread and had a buttery child it would be brioche. Brioche is such a fantastic base for many meals.  I went to visit my husband for a couple weeks in Napa when he was stagier at the French Laundry. I would drop him off in Yountville and stroll down to Bouchon Bakery. It was a tiny place, usually with a line out the door, but on the beautiful summer days I didnt mind standing outside. Once you entered  the scents of vanilla, chocolate, coffee and just baked dough,  swirled around you until you were completey enveloped. I would order a brioche roll and a cup of coffee. As if I were carrying the most precious jewel in my hand I would carefully scamper outside to find a patch of grass to have my picnic.

This weekend, I decided to make brioche. I scanned many sites and decided to make Michael Ruhlman’s recipe. It was a denser brioche then my picnic days but still delicious. Yesterday, my hubby and I each made a dish showcasing the freshly made bread. My love made a truffle and tarragon bread pudding topped with d’affonis cheese. It was extremely decadent and you felt like you were indulging in something so wrong yet so right. I made a savory tarragon french toast topped with a bacon tomato jam. I posted both pictures on facebook and my dear Grammy requested the recipe for bacon jam.

Savory Tarragon French Toast with Bacon Tomato Jam:

Slice of brioche

1 egg

1/2-3/4c of milk

1/4 c of sour cream

2 T tarragon chopped

salt and pepper

Whisk the egg, milk and sour cream together. Add the tarragon  and salt and pepper to flavor. Place the slice of brioche in the egg mixture and let soak on both sides. In the mean time heat up a skillet with a little bit of butter. Place the soaked brioche in a hot skillet and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side as well.

Bacon Tomato Jam:

5-6 high quality roma tomatoes

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c salt

pinch of white pepper

1/3 c balsamic vinegar

1 2/3 c olive oil

zest of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 150. Cut the tomatoes in half. Combine sugar, salt and white pepper. Sprinkle the tomatoes generously with with salt/sugar mixture, you do not need to use all of it. Place in a roasting pan and roast in the oven for about 13-15 hours. Overnight is best. Remove the tomatoes and let rest, they should be salty to the taste at this point and look more dehydrated than ideal. Once the tomatoes have cooled, create your vinegar and oil bath:  1 part balsamic vinegar and 5 olive oil, zest of 1/2 lemon. You want the tomatoes to be covered with the liquid but not saturated. Adjust the vinegar and oil to cover, remember 1 part vinegar to 5 parts olive oil. You can add chopped herbs as well. We used tarragon but basil would be delicious in this recipe. Let sit for an hour or overnight. When you are about to serve the french toast, chop up a slice or two of bacon (depending on how much bacon flavor you would like) saute  in frying pan until almost crispy, drain most of the bacon grease, chop the tomatoes and add them to the bacon and heat through. For a country jam style finish by mixing thoroughly and removing from heat. To make a more traditional jam, if you can call it that, remove the skins from the tomatoes and cook with lemon juice, sugar, and water until it reaches the consistency you desire; keep in mind warm jams are always looser than when they chill. Top the french toast with the bacon tomato jam and enjoy!!

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