Regarding the Grandeur of French Toast

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. On the rare occasions that my family went out to eat, it was well known that if breakfast was available, that's what I was getting. To heck with chicken tenders--I want a waffle! During high school, one of my first jobs was even as a the "Sunday Morning Waffle Girl" at a local restaurant. My younger brother loves breakfast just as much. From the time he was two until seven, it's not an exaggeration to say that about a quarter of his calories came from pancakes and frozen french toast sticks.

"Yolk-Eggs" (what we called eggs over-easy before we knew their name), was a quick, tasty, and easy meal that I'd make about once a week. Scrambles were even easier. Once I learned how to make omelets, they too became central to my diet. Though, the omelets of my youth were very different from those I eat today, as my family didn't exactly partake in "vegetables", which I now love.

One of the "bad" foods that has been the hardest for me to give up as an adult is the joyous, glorious, artery-clogging Pillsbury Toaster Strudel. The strawberry one with the nuclear blue frosting was a dietary staple for about two years... until the trans fat craze swept the nation and I realized that not all foods are created equal. Since then I haven't been able to justify buying a box.

Despite my almost genetic love for breakfast foods, it wasn't until recently that I made the acquaintance of French Toast. I attribute this delayed fondness to the fact that my mother only ever bought Wonder bread. How many ways can you jazz up Wonder bread? Fake syrup today, maple tomorrow! Cinnamon today, plain the next! The options are rather limited.

As I grew older (and found my inner foodie) I discovered that Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat, SunMaid Cinnamon Swirl, and WonderBread are not the only choices available in the bread world. Suddenly, French Toast had the credentials to become a part of my life. Ciabatta, challah, brioche, baguette, croissant! Apple-Cardamom Swirl, Honey-Almond, Spiced Pumpkin, Blueberry Strudel, Ginger-Molasses! Oh, the possibilities! And beyond the bread you can even jazz up the egg batter: a dash of vanilla, a splash of buttermilk, a bit of nutmeg, a shot of espresso, the zest of an orange... Factor in toppings (simmered raspberries and fresh ginger... shaved chocolate and caramel sauce... fresh apples and maple-sweetened yogurt...) and you've got an endless world of options.

Sadly, a pancake will always be a pancake, whether you add a sweet, a nut, or a fruit to the batter. But French toast is like people. Every recipe, every variety is an individual. Unique.

With that in mind, I'd like to share with you a recipe that Dan and I concocted in San Francisco. The town we stayed in had a beautiful market just brimming with locally made and grown goodies and our cottage had a full kitchen. We saw it as a calling to make breakfast.




Espresso-Cinnamon French Toast (a.k.a. Mill Valley French Toast)
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 cup cream, half and half, or whole milk
1 shot of espresso (or scant 1/4 cup very strong black coffee, or 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 6 tbs water)
2 tbs butter
4 slices soft cinnamon swirl bread, cut about 3/4" thick*

Crack eggs into shallow dish, and whisk until uniform in color. Add coffee first to the milk (to cool it) and then add the milk and espresso (if you can resist drinking it) to the eggs . Whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat a frying pan or griddle on medium heat and add the butter. When butter starts to froth slightly, the pan is hot enough.

Dip bread in batter, pressing gently with fingertips to help it absorb the goodness and be optimally delicious. Place egg soaked bread on hot pan and cook until surface is a bit darker than "golden"


NOTES:
-It is better to cook a thick-cut french toast at a lower heat for longer period than it is to flash fry it. This is because the mixture of egg and cream in the bread needs time to "set" very much like a custard. If the temperature is too high the egg cooks too quickly and will impart a very strong "egg" taste instead of the delicate "custardy" flavor we're looking for.
-It's better to slightly overcook french toast than to slightly undercook it, as undercooking can result in a mouthful of soggy, raw, eggy mush. Bleh.
-Lastly, The bread Dan and I bought at Mill Valley Market had a slight glaze on it, so we served it with nothing more than a bit of whipped cream. If yours need a bit of sweetness, I recommend maple syrup.

Enjoy!
~Brande N.


*Brownie points (and better flavor) if you use a locally baked variety!

(photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asstrogirl/3013387404/)

Summer Sunset Fruit Salad

Today I gift you with a recipe for my all-time favorite fruit salad. I call it "Summer Sunset Fruit Salad" because the colors just scream fiery summer sunset: luscious kiss-red strawberries, bright orange clementine segments, and blushing pieces of ripe peach. Oh, and cream. Heavy cream. I'll say that's the clouds. In the sunset. You can't have a sunset without clouds...or cream.


Summer Sunset Fruit Salad:
(Sufficient for two as a side dish or snack, but easily edible by one)


Ingredients:
-1 large ripe peach
-5-8 ripe strawberries (depending on size)
-1 clementine, tangerine, or orange
-1 tbs agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, or sugar. (I recommend a liquid sweetener both for ease of mixing and for health reasons.)

We interrupt this recipe for an important announcement:

If you've never had agave nectar you have to try it! It's a minimally refined, all natural sweetener that has a low glycemic index, so it's safe for diabetics and dieters. I use it in everything from coffee to pumpkin pie. I'd almost say it's a miracle food; it's that good. Sorry, tangent over!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled recipe:

Lastly,
-2 tbs heavy cream (Or half and half if you have some self control [I don't])

Directions:
1) De-stem the strawberries and irregularly chop them into bite-sized pieces. Place them in a bowl.

2) De-pit the peach and chop into bite-size, irregular pieces. Add them to the bowl too.

3)Here's the fun part. Cut the clementine/tangerine/orange like this:



...and add the pretty little skinless slices to the bowl.

(Why did I make you skin the citrus you might ask? Because citrus fruits have a lot of tough skin on them, silly! If we had left that on your salad would require significantly more chewing. Plus this makes the juice more accessible, YUM! But you can leave them on if you want, I won't be mad.)

4)Reserve the membrane with all the orange bits on it.

5) Now mix your favorite sweetener with the half and half or cream.

6) Squish the juice out of the membrane and into the sweetened cream. (see Fig. 5, above)

7) Pour the orange-infused sweet cream over the salad.

8) Grab a spoon and toss it all together.

9) Devour!!*


Now go forth and make fruit salad!


*If you can resist devouring this for about 5 minutes, let it sit and the flavors infuse and the juices start to come out and it becomes amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Which makes me sad because there are no peaches in the house...

My Favorite French Toast

THIS is my favorite new French Toast recipe. I wish I had a name for it. Right now it's just "Coconut and Walnut Crusted French Toast" and that's just not very exciting. And "Coconut Walnut" really doesn't even sound good, but this recipe is more than just good. Served with cream cheese, i might even go as far as to call it divine. Yet a name eludes me. Divine French Toast? Heavenly? Coco-Nut? Ugh! This is the French toast that needs not, and has not, a name.
But it does need a recipe, so here it is for you, my lovely readers. Enjoy!

Nameless French Toast
1/2 C raw walnuts, processed into a fine meal (use a food processor, blender, or just a good old fashioned sharp knife)
1/2 C shredded coconut
4 slices bread
2 eggs
Pinch of cinnamon
Splash of cream or half and half

Mix coconut and walnut on a plate, set aside. Whisk eggs, cinnamon, and cream until well combined. Dip bread in egg mixture, then coat each side in coconut and walnut mixture, pressing to adhere. Fry in skillet until golden on each side.

Serve with any number of toppings, but I found cream cheese and maple syrup to be my favorite.

And now, a few more pictures for your enjoyment:




With Love,
~Brande N.

PS: Have you seen our Valentine's Day package? It's now available on our Specials page, and I'm really excited about it. As a sonnet-reading, red rose loving, chocolate eating, die-hard romantic, I had so much fun putting this together. I hope you (and your sweetheart) like it!