The complete easy all vegetarian holiday brunch

Fruit slaw

• 1 cup matchstick-style sliced firm mango
• 1 cup matchstick-style sliced and peeled crisp Asian pear
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 or 2 tbl. Domaine de Canton, to taste...and maybe half a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
• 1/3 cup chiffonade of fresh spearmint

1. Toss the sliced mango and pear matchsticks gently together so they are evenly mixed. If you like add a tiny pinch of coarse salt. Pour over the lime juice to coat the skin of the fruit matchsticks. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes. As a variation you could sneak in some fresh grated ginger, about half a teaspoon.
2. Add the Domaine ginger liqueur. Keep chilled until serving.Gently toss in the fresh mint leaves you have rolled and snipped just before serving.

Perfect strata

• 3 cups of stale cubed challah bread
• 1 cup of thinly sliced yellow onion, to caramelize nicely in butter
• pinch of your favorite salt
• a few tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 4 farm fresh eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of great quality half and half (or your own cream and milk mix)
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbl. Dijon mustard
• 4 oz. of goat cheese, chevre
• pinch of fresh grated nutmeg and fresh cracked pepper
• a few tablespoons of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Air your stale challah cubes for a few hours to dry out the pieces further. If your challah is not stale, then you can lightly heat the cubes in the oven for about 5 minutes. Dry them out without browning and cool completely, if you must heat them.
2. Add the salt to the onion slices. Heat a few tablespoons of butter in your pan and then slowly caramelize the thin onion slices. Cook until perfectly caramelized to a lovely brown color and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk the eggs with the half and half, buttermilk, and mustard until smooth. For a variation, you can add 1- 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs (such as Italian parsley and dill) into the whisked liquid.
4. In a lightly buttered baking dish (@13") add the bread cubes. Fold in the caramelized onions. Break up the chevre into half teaspoon-sized pieces and dot the strata with it. Pour the egg-milk mixture over the bread-onion-chevre.
5. Top with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg, coarse salt to taste, and pepper. If you are caraway fans, you could add a sprinkle on top for a variation. Bake until all rises to a rich, souffle-like golden brown, about 40 minutes.