French Toast with Caramelised Pears

FRENCH TOAST!
Another food that I love, and that I make regularly.

Usually I make it with berries of some sort, or have it plain.  You can either have it savoury, with salt or you can make a type of sweet brunch.

If having it savoury, it is also nice with some bacon, and I have even made it with bacon, AND some maple syrup.  Bacon and maple syrup go very well together and is similar to the nowadays "salted caramel" type of taste.

I love my brunches which I have when I eat a bit later, and always a cooked breakfast.

One of my favourite foods is eggs, and I could eat them all day if it weren't for high cholesterol.  I was once given a dozen hard boiled eggs when I went to visit my parents in another state - one of their friends knew how much I loved eggs, and boiled me 12 eggs!  I had six in one hit, and then decided I had better not eat the lot at once! 

This was in my younger days when health issues rarely came up and we ate exactly what we wanted, when we wanted!  Unlike today with an almost "fetish" for foods, and which foods are good, and which are bad.

Needless to say this changes all the time, as I think now they say (and I do not know who "they" are!) that eggs are OK to eat, yet they say up to 3 a week I think it is.

Anyway, my lovelies, I eat more than 3 a week if you count the ones I use in cooking, which, indeed you have to I guess!

Back to the French toast - it is hard to achieve that just done with French toast - often it is soggy which is not nice, and then often, it can burn easily if you leave it on too long.

I have discovered that the secret is to cook it quite fast on a medium to high heat, and not on a low heat as it seems to always end up soggy if done on low heat.

In this instance when I made this, I was on my own for breakfast or brunch, and one egg is really a bit much for just one piece of toast, so I did not use the whole egg (I also buy the largest eggs I can), and I microwaved the leftover egg, and shared this with my dogs!

ATTENTION:  NEW COOKS - This is a very simple recipe to make - there is not really anything you can do wrong, and the end result looks quite professional, so if you are having visitors, and do not know what to make, why not try this easy French toast with caramelised pears, and top it with some pure maple syrup.  You are sure to impress your visitors - just double or treble my quantities.

Remember, I specialise in making food that is for one or two people as in my household there are only two, and often only myself, and I got tired of making quantities where we had to eat it three times as I made too much.

This recipe is ideal if you just have a few visitors, and if anyone is diabetic, they can have the French toast separate, and served as a savoury brunch.

Use your imagination, and use whatever toppings you fancy.  You could even do double French toasts, with fruit in between two slices, and on top of the two slices.

This could also be served as above as a dessert or sweet after a lovely home cooked meal whenever you have your main meal!

Try this one today - you will not be disappointed!

Preparation Time:  5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients
¾ pear, sliced thinly
1 tsp butter
¼ tbsp coconut sugar
1 small egg
25 ml cream
Vanilla essence
Cinnamon plus a bit of sugar, mixed
2 tbsp butter
1 slice thick bread
Bit of lemon juice
Maple syrup, to taste

Instructions
After slicing the pears finely, heat a non stick frying pan over a medium heat, and add the tsp of butter.

When the butter has melted, add the pear slices and the coconut or brown sugar, and cook. 

Turn them gently after about 5 minutes or when they are just starting to go a golden brown colour.

Add the lemon juice at the end, and remove the pears from the frying pan.  Keep them aside and allow them to cool.

Put the egg, cream and vanilla into a flat type of dish, and mix this up well. 

In a separate very small bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar - I did not use much sugar as did not want it very sweet - next time I think I would not use any sugar, and just use the cinnamon.

Put the frying pan on a medium heat again, and add the butter.

Put the slice of thick bread into the egg mixture and leave it to soak up the egg for a few minutes.

Do not leave it too long or the bread will be so soggy that it will break when you handle it.

Sprinkle both sides with the cinnamon sugar.

Put the bread in the now heated pan and fry it till it is brown on one side.

Turn around carefully, and cook on the other side.

If making more than one piece of French bread, pop them in a low oven to stay warm while you make the others.

To serve, just put a piece of French toast on the plate, and top with the caramelised pears.

Drizzle some pure maple syrup over this if required.  I used about 2 teaspoons of maple with mine, and I would not have wanted more or it would have been too sweet.

You could also add some cream or even yogurt to the top of this before serving.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

POTATO SALAD WITH PEANUT BUTTER

Pizza Toppings Using Leftovers

Chicken with Walnuts and Hoisin Sauce