A few weeks ago, I was asked by Egg Farmers of Ontario if I wanted to participate in a ‘French Toast Challenge’ in celebration of October’s ‘World Egg Month’. Of course, I accepted (hello, French toast!) and I received a BEAUTIFUL basket filled with all of the ingredients needed to create a few variations on the classic French toast recipe. I received eggs, milk, sugar, spices, maple syrup, whipping cream, apples, pears and a gorgeous baguette!
After playing with a few variations, I settled on the recipe posted below. It’s a spin on the original French toast recipe that was in the Egg Farmers of Ontario basket, served with vanilla toffee pears! I love pears and I love toffee, so I combined the best of both worlds into one topping recipe. I don’t know about you but just reading the words “vanilla toffee pears” has my mouth watering….
You can enjoy this French toast recipe any day of the week but my favourite time to make it is on a lazy Sunday morning, when you can sit down and enjoy it at your own leisure, with a great cup of coffee. Yum!
Dianne’s Spiced French Toast with Sandy’s Vanilla Toffee Pears
( Inspired by Dianne’s Spiced French Toast recipe at http://bit.ly/tWmMQZ ).
Makes: 2-3 servings
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
Day old baguette, sliced into 2 cm thick slices at an angle (you will need about 8 slices)
Icing sugar, to dust (if desired)
Directions:
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and all of the spices. Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat; brush to spread evenly. Dip bread, 2 slices at a time in the egg mixture. Note: Allow the egg mixture to soak into the bread for a few seconds. Then, place soaked bread slices in hot skillet. Cook about 2 minutes then flip and cook until golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove French toast from skillet to a large plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat cooking process until all egg mixture has been used. To serve, place a few slices of French toast on a plate and spoon a few vanilla toffee pears (recipe follows) and toffee sauce over the French toast. Dust with icing sugar (if desired).
Sandy’s Vanilla Toffee Pears
Ingredients:
2 semi-ripe D’Anjou pears, cored and thickly sliced
1/4 cup of butter
4 tbsp brown sugar (have some extra brown sugar on hand in case)
2 tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Heat a small frying pan over medium heat, and add the butter.
After the butter has melted and foamed, put in the brown sugar and water. Stir together until the sugar has dissolved and turned a medium caramel colour.
Put in the pear wedges, and cook over a medium high heat, stirring periodically, until the pears are a rich golden colour and can be pierced easily with a fork.
Add the vanilla and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
CONTEST!! Win a $50 Chez Cora Gift Certificate!!
In celebration of the glory of French toast and ‘World Egg Month’, I`m egg-cited to give away a $50 gift certificate to one of my favourite breakfast and lunch restaurants, Chez Cora!
TO ENTER:
-Get cracking and visit http://www.eggfarmersofontario.ca/ and learn about the many ways you can enjoy eggs
–Write a short poem about eggs and post it in the comments section below my post `Dianne`s Spiced French Toast with Sandy`s Vanilla Toffee Pears’
-My 3 favourite egg poems will be entered into a random draw to win the $50 Chez Cora gift certificate!
-The winner will receive their gift certificate via Canada Post
RULES:
-You MUST be a resident of Ontario, Canada to win.
-You may enter as many times as you wish!
-Contest closes on Friday November 4, 2011 at 5 pm EST.
-Winner will be announced on my blog on Saturday November 5.
Good luck!!
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November 6, 2011 – Announcement
And the winner is…..
GREAT EGGSPECTATIONS
Sunny side, scrambled, or over easy
Omelette, frittata, or quiche made cheesy
McMuffin in the morning, egg salad for lunch
This dietary powerhouse packs quite the punch
An eggscellent staple with benefits galore
You’re delicious, nutritious, and so much more!
Oh god of breakfast foods, you reign supreme
With pancakes and bacon, you’re an all-star team
Alas, I’m no eggspert, but this much is true:
I’m always eggscited to devour you!
Congrats to Jacintha Daniel for her winning entry! Jacintha will receive her $50 Cora’s gift card in the mail next week. Thanks everyone for entering, I LOVED the poems and I know the great people at Egg Farmers of Ontario enjoyed them as well!
Stay tuned for another great contest next week!
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Eggs, eggs, a wonderful food
I used to hate them, but now they’re cool
I’ll eat them scrambles or just the whites
Or with meat in an omlette, yeah, that’s tight
My wife likes to boil them, I can’t stand the smell
Keep me out the fridge, a forced diet so swell
So here’s to a poem to win me a fiddy
My friends and I eating at Cora’s, MAD giddy!
Great poem Casey! Thanks for being the first to enter! : )
Ladies over for a homecooked meal
Grabbing the next ingredient from the full fridge
Oops, two eggs fall on the floor
Nothing goes to waste in this kitchen!
Scrambled eggs – a welcome addition to this homecooked meal
Haha! Excellent poem Mary! Good luck in the contest!
Eggs, Eggs, they’re for the kids.
When I scramble, they flip their lids.
When doggy’s fur looks like twine,
I mix up some eggs to get it to shine.
Eggs are good with bacon and ham,
I do not like it with canned Spam.
Eggs are perfect for a Sunday morn meal.
Eggs are cheap, in fact they’re a steal.
Brillliant!
Such great poets above. Here’s my poem…
Yellow and white
What a delight
Each in a shell
They taste swell!
Until my first bite
My morning’s not right
Eggs!
I love it! Thanks for entering Anita! P.S Our friends at Egg Farmers of Ontario have been reading the poems 🙂
Here is my feeble attempt at poetry:
Making eggs for breakfast is my weekend treat
Cooking the perfect omelette is a triumphant feat
Add in some veggies and cheese,
I must eat it right now please!
Eggs are good for lunch too
Egg salad sandwich any day will do
If you’re lucky I might share with you
On second thought, no, there are too few
I’ve never had eggs for dinner
Doesn’t mean I won’t one day
If eating eggs will help make me thinner
I’ll make them every way.
I hope they make me thinner too : ) Great poem!
GREAT EGGSPECTATIONS
Sunny side, scrambled, or over easy
Omelette, frittata, or quiche made cheesy
McMuffin in the morning, egg salad for lunch
This dietary powerhouse packs quite the punch
An eggscellent staple with benefits galore
You’re delicious, nutritious, and so much more!
Oh god of breakfast foods, you reign supreme
With pancakes and bacon, you’re an all-star team
Alas, I’m no eggspert, but this much is true:
I’m always eggscited to devour you!
That was eggs-cellent, thanks Jacintha!
BOO! Onil brought in a ringer!!!
Bahahaha! He had nothing to do with it. Thanks for posting it on Facebook, Casey 😉
Here is a Haiku:
When I crack you egg
White and yellow, liquid gold
Treasure in my mouth!
Here is a “marketing” Haiku 🙂
Excellent for all
Great for any time, any day
Glad eggs are there!
Sorry about the second Haiku – it does not adhere to “the rule” (of 17 syllables) … Well, let me file that under “A Marketing Poetic License” 🙂
This was fun … Haven’t written a poem in a loooong time!
Great poems Sudha! Thanks!
An egg haiku
Benign white-shelled egg
When cracked, such a ghastly smell
Rotten eggs need signs
Hahaha! Thanks for entering Radhika!
ODE TO RUNNY EGGS
Runny eggs, run-ny eggs
How long are they cooking you
Runny eggs, run-ny eggs
Its not your fault
So what if you’re a lil’ undercooked
They didn’t follow the recipe in the book
Runny eggs, run-ny eggs
How long are they cooking you
Runny eggs, run-ny eggs
Its not your fault
🙂
Haha! It’s the new “Smelly Cat” 🙂
Here’s me entry – my 6-year old loves Cora’s and wanted to enter her own poem:
Eggs come from chickens
Eggs have yellow in the middle
You can boil eggs
You can fry eggs
You can bake eggs
Eggs are yummy
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Dallas!
Eggs
Super Exciting
Can be cooked in many ways
Awesomeness and Fun!
Thanks for your poem Akira!
E is for Easy to make
G is for Goodness for your body
G is for Golden yolk
S is for Serious protein
I’m glad eggs is a short word too because as you can tell I’m a bad poet! I’m eggstatic that the Egg Farmers of Ontario are so hardworking and generous. xoxo
Julia
Eggs-cellent Julia!