Breakfast ... Fast

I love breakfast. Eggs. Bacon. Sandwiches. Omelettes. Corned beef hash. Wait...must stop salivating. Weekends we go all out. My challenge is the week days and my work schedule. Some mornings I need to leave my house by 5 a.m....yep I said A.M. But my love of breakfast doesn't waver and I am a person who must have breakfast lest risk crankiness. The problem is I would fail to give myself time to get a morning meal together...and to a drive-thru I would go or I would just scrounge up something at my desk. NOT a great way to start a morning.

So I had been seeing different recipes online for making egg "muffins", simple eggs made in a muffin tin. I had made a South Beach diet version using Egg Beaters but never used real eggs. Then over the Thanksgiving holiday I needed a quick way to make breakfast for 6 adults, 3 teenagers and a 5 year-old. The recipe is on Pinterest and online in a million places but ultimately I go back to one of my favorite no-carb/low-carb sites, Kalyn's Kitchen as a favorite although the version I made (and cannot remember the source) was at 350 degrees and you just break one egg into each muffin tin and then break the yolk as opposed to beating eggs and pouring into cups. Then you sprinkle the top with the meat and cheese (if that's what you are using)

They were a hit with the extended family and I made them again this week to have breakfast on hand for me and the rest of my house. I used just deli ham and shredded colby jack. There are a million combinations, it's quick, low mess and delicious. Now to figure out how to get breakfast to ALWAYS be that easy!

Crock-Pot French Toast: The Next Day

So, the Crock-Pot French Toast? This was what I woke up to the next morning. The house smelled like someone else was in my kitchen making French Toast (as if THAT would ever happen) and it looked delicious. The recipe (and others I found on a quick search just to be sure) said to take the lid off the last 15 minutes of cooking in order to brown the bread. THAT was a huge step although I don't doubt had I just scooped this into a bowl it would have been met with delight as well. However, the crisping did make it just like French toast out of the skillet.

The verdict from the family? Anything that my step-daughter says to make again is a keeper and hubby AND small son both gobbled it up. I couldn't resist serving it with bacon of course!

The original recipe linked to Pinterest is found HERE. 

You can follow my food and recipe board on Pinterest as well....I am always finding things that are interesting, inspirational and like this French toast, recipes I have to try. And as if there was a question, yes I have a bacon love page too!

French Toast! In a Crock-Pot?

I just put this together. Pinterest strikes again! Trying out this French toast recipe made overnight in the slow cooker. I bought a beautiful loaf of raisin challah and I am crossing my fingers! If it works I will share recipe and link tomorrow !

Wordless Wednesday: First Morning in Vegas = Breakfast Buffet

Viva la French Toast

I love ALL holidays…even the so-called Hallmark made up ones, and most of that love comes from how much I enjoy making food for special occasions. Well, for this past Father’s Day I decided not only would I make my husband the dinner of his choice (the Neapolitan style meatball lasagna you’ll see soon in another post) but start off the morning with a special breakfast. Since one of his favorite foods is French Toast, I set out to make the most delicious one I could.

I think most everyone has made French Toast once or at least knows the basic components: egg, milk, bread and optional flavors like cinnamon and/or nutmeg or other flavors. What I have found with French Toast is that while leftover, stale bread is the basic requirement, a QUALITY stale bread makes the best. This time around I had sliced sourdough in the house from the bakery in our local grocery store. We keep out bread in the refrigerator (I know, I think that is minus 1 million culinary cool points) so the first step was to make the bread French Toast ready.

I put out the slices on a baking rack and put them into a 375 degree oven. This dries out the bread and gives it the consistency of a stale bread. Naturally you can use this same method with whatever bread you choose to use. It only takes about 10 minutes and while the bread cools you can prepare your dipping mixture.

I will reveal my secret to delicious French toast: half and half. I have yet to make a French toast mixture that turns out better than one with half and half. For every ¼ cup of liquid I use, I also use 1 egg, and the rule of thumb is usually 1 egg per person and per 4 slices of bread. I add about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1 tablespoon of vanilla and whisk it all together.

At this point, there are varying opinions of how long you soak the bread. My method is to dredge the bread through the liquid on both sides and then submerge the bread in the liquid, allowing to soak for about a 1 minute. Frankly, I think the time soaked is a personal preference….the longer you soak, the more liquid seeps into the bread and makes it soft in the middle. It also depends on the bread you are using too. I have seen recipes that use challah bread or French bread so make a determination based on the texture of the bread and your desire for the consistency of the finished product.

Another tip, use unsalted butter to cook the battered bread in. I have tried non-stick cooking spray and the flavor and color is not the same. On my griddle pan I used about ½ a stick and it was enough to do my entire batch. 

Also, keep your oven on 250 degrees and keep the finished French toast warm until you are done cooking all of the bread. Remember you are looking for a good brown color on both sides, so be patient in letting the bread cook and try only to flip once.

For the finish, I dust with powdered sugar and serve with warmed syrup on the side.

According to my step-daughter, I should make these EVERY morning. Nice try kid, how about once a month?