Friday Night's Dinner is Breakfast. . .

French Toast and Maple Glazed Baked Bacon

The almost 12 year old that lives here likes to go to this thing called Skate Jamz. His friend is here too so I had to come up with something respectable for dinner. I should be honest and tell you all that we will have carry out or something out later (once they are skating) and I wasn't really thinking about meal prep. Breakfast is always liked and well received.

I really like to bake the bacon rather than fry it in a pan. Lining the the baking sheet (make sure it has some kind of rim) makes it easy clean up too. Right before the bacon was appropriately crispy, I added a quick brush of pure maple syrup. I don't know where I heard it but I try to buy Grade B rather than the more expensive Grade A. It may be the only time I don't pursue the highest mark but it's more flavorful and good in recipes.

Star Ingredients - Don't skimp on the heavy whipping cream

French Toast - this is not the time to cut calories even if you are contemplating doing so. Listen to me, skim milk and some cooking spray in the pan is just not going to cut it.

Don't you want this to taste good? Have a salad tomorrow instead! Although I will say leftover French Toast is quite good the next day. Wrap it in foil and put in the fridge. But I digress. . .

 

French Toast

Recipe:

8 slices of white bread
Yes, nice bakery French bread would have been great but alas we had a loaf of cheap grocery store bread. To make it a little more palatable, I put it on the counter to dry out for about a half hour.

6 large eggs
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 cup Half and Half
2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Dash of Nutmeg
Fresh Ground Pepper and Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients with the exception of the bread in a bowl with a whisk. The whipping cream will make this a thick consistency, combine well. Mixture will start to separate if you set aside so you may have to stir up again.

Place the slides of bread in a baking dish and pour the egg mixture on top, insuring that all areas are covered. I had to use two Pyrex dishes to coat the bread without overlapping. Turn/flip the slices after about 7 minutes or so and then soak again.

Heat up frying pan with a mixture of oil (I used Canola) and butter. Again, don't skimp thinking it will be okay. . . it won't. The mixture gets it heated fast and it browns better. It also puffs the bread up a little bit. You put a lot of work in this and we want it to be delicious.


Fry until a little more than golden brown and then flip and cook some more. I find that the first batch in the pan takes the longest (maybe I am impatient and don't heat the pan thoroughly) and is never the prettiest in terms of browning. When each batch is done, place on a plate between layers of paper towel and top with a sheet of foil to keep it warm. In terms of plating, I took a photo for the blog on a plate. That will be for my husband. Kids get it cut up in bowls and drizzled with syrup. I have learned that kids are messy French Toast eaters.

Maple Glazed Bacon

12 oz of thick slab bacon (I used uncured applewood smoked bacon today)
Pure Maple Syrup


Place strips of bacon on lined cookie sheet and place in a cold oven. Heat to 400 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes. Brush with maple syrup and bake for five more minutes. Place cooked bacon between sheets of paper towel to drain extra grease and place in oven to keep warm on a plate while getting dinner ready.

French Toast and Maple Baked Bacon