Luxury Breakfast - French Toast

As promised, today's post is going to cover just one of several uses I've found for my kumquat marmalade. About a year ago I started messing around with french toast to figure out my favorite version. After many different variations I think that I've perfected this recipe. However, it should definitely be relegated to "occasional treat" status because it is very rich (but not too sweet).

I found that I prefer a crusty bread with some flavor of its own. That means I usually use a light sourdough or a really good baguette. I vary the amount of sugar based on the bread I'm using - I wrote the recipe below for baguette - when I'm using sourdough I increase the sugar to about 2 tbs. Honestly, I usually don't eat anything on my french toast, not even butter, but I decided to try some kumquat sauce.

I did like the kumquat sauce, but I think I'll continue eating my french toast plain. I also had some left over pineapple from the night before. All in all it was a great way to start the day.


Kumquat Sauce
2 tbs kumquat marmalade
1 tbs water

Stir together and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir again and drizzle over the french toast.



French Toast
4 slices of sourdough boule or 7 slices of baguette, slightly stale
1 large egg
3 tbs cream
2 tbs milk
1 rounded tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 drops almond extract
pinch salt

Break the egg into a bowl. Add the milk, cream, sugar, extracts, and salt. Whisk everything together. Pour into a wide dish. Place any many pieces of bread as you can lay down flat. Let soak for about a minute and then flip over. Let soak for about 5 minutes. Flip over again and then prepare the pan.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium. When the skillet is hot add 1 tbs of butter (real please) and melt until it starts to bubble. Turn the bread over right before adding each piece to the skillet. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for about 3 minutes before checking the bottoms to see if they're browned and a little crispy. Flip over and cover again. Cook for about 2 minutes.

Plate the french toast and top with whatever floats your boat.