Le French Toast

The thing about french toast is, I love it but I hate it. I like it at most restaurants, but most attempts at home-made I can't stand. The problem lies in the eggs. I'll let y'all in on a little secret - I was an extremely picky eater as a child. I mean, bad. If it wasn't Mac 'n Cheese, PB&J and maybe the occasional apple, I wasn't interested. My food couldn't touch my other food, and sauces - fawgitabowtit! So, to say my tastes have matured is an understatement. I'd like to think I'm not "picky" now, so much as - there are distinct things I don't like, for distinct, vocalizable reasons. For instance, I still like to dip into sauces/dressings, etc. rather than pour them on. And I still hate seafood, no matter how many ways I've tried it. And, well, eggs. I can't stand them. Omlettes, scrambled, over easy, under hard, whatever else the choices may be - I just can't stand them. It makes me feel icky just thinking about the way all of those things would taste. Which brings me to my problems with french toast. Cooked the wrong way, it runs the risk of tasting like cooked egg on bread. When done right, it's a melty deliciousness that I can't get enough of.

I don't know what came over me tonight, but, without so much as a recipe I made myself french toast for dinner. And, for the first time ever, it came out great. I used some honey whole grain bread, complete with nuts in the bread (Mom, are you reading this - NUTS. In the bread! And let me say, this was the bread from my cupboard, as in, I've been making my sandwiches with this bread!) I took two eggs, a cup of milk, a tsp of cinnamon and a tsp of vanilla and whisked it up good. Then I poured the mixture onto a large plate (my plates have quite a lip, so there was no spillage). I took each slice of bread and I dipped it quickly into the mixture, flipping it once, to coat both sides. Then I set it out on a wire rack to drip out a bit*. I pre-heated my griddle pan, and melted about a tablespoon of butter on it. I kept the burner heat at medium*, and put on the first four slices of bread. I allowed the first side to sizzle a little, and flipped them quickly. Then I let them cook a little longer and slower on each side. Once they were done, I kicked up the heat a touch to brown them, and then put them on a cookie sheet that was already in my just-warm oven. I repeated with the next set of slices.

Viola, there was no egg-y taste at all. I topped them with some warmed up strawberry preserves, powdered sugar, and pure maple syrup (a gift brought to me from Canada!) It was a perfect Easter dinner!

*I think these are the key steps that made the difference.

I want more breakfast!

So I was watching the Food Network yesterday (what else is new) and in an attempt to find a healthy, grab-n-go breakfast option for Scott, I turned to Ellie Krieger. She had a whole breakfast show on yesterday, so it was both entertaining and educational. I watched her make these Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars and thought, That looks pretty darn good! I knew though in my own breakfast bars that I had envisioned making that they had to include peanut butter. Mmm, peanut butter. . . I also prefer pecans over walnuts for most recipes, and can't STAND cherry anything. So, here's Ellie's recipe below, with my own changes in italics:

Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or regular whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ -- 1/4 cup toasted oat bran, because that's what I had!
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey -- 1/4 cup honey and a little less than 1/4 cup agave nectar, because I ran out of honey. . .
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (mine is 365 brand with just peanuts and salt)
  
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten to mix
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup chopped dried tart cherries -- 3/4 cup raisins
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts -- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup "fruit only" apricot preserves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ/oat bran, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the honey, peanut butter, applesauce, oil, egg and egg white until well combined. Stir in the oatmeal mixture until well combined. Add the dried cherries/raisins and walnuts/pecans.

Coat an 8-inch square baking pan (I used a 9" because I increased the amount of batter with the peanut butter) with cooking spray. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Put the preserves in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as the bars come out of the oven, brush with the preserves. Cool completely and cut into 12 bars, about 4 by1 1/2 inches each.

Per Serving

Calories 230; Total Fat 9 g; (Sat Fat 1 g, Mono Fat 3 g, Poly Fat 4 g) ; Protein 4 g; Carb 34 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 20 mg; Sodium 60 mg

Excellent source of: Manganese

Good source of: Thiamin

Of course I'm not sure the above nutritional information is correct anymore, but let me tell you, these bars are freakin' DELICIOUS! I'm totally addicted to them. So whether it's for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert, I highly recommend making them. The only question is what to call them since they're clearly not Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars anymore. . . Peacan Peanut Butter Goodness? Oh My God I Can't Stop Eating Them Bars? Anyway, just make them. How can you not?!