I am so incredibly fortunate to live in a city with such ready access to amazing food sources. Just a half block up the street is our neighborhood farmer’s market and it is a treasure trove of wonderful fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, breads, ciders, and so much more. Every week is a new adventure as we wonder in to see what has been harvested in the last week form the local farms.
This morning I ventured in to see what I could find and as usual I hit the bread stand for our standard pecan pastry we often get. Unfortunately today they were out, but what I found inspired this morning’s breakfast and I just had to share.
Sitting in the bread case while standing in line was a beautiful artisan loaf of cranberry walnut bread. My thought? This was meant to become french bread so I grabbed the bread, a pint of pure New York maple syrup and headed home to whip up breakfast. A simple and standard french toast recipe made extra special with a few touches.
Ingredients:
6 slices of Artisan Bread
5 Large Eggs
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cloves
1 tbsp Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
Directions:
In a pie plate or low baking dish whisk together eggs, milk, crumble spice and sugar. Set your first two slices in the batter to soak it up nicely, this is artisan bread so its dense and can stand to sit for a few minutes. Heat your skillet to just below medium heat, once hot add a touch of butter and then place your battered slices in the pan, two at a time. Cook each side for 2-4 minutes or until a nice browning has occurred. Remove from the pan, serve and repeat. Drizzle with your favorite syrup and enjoy!
I can’t tell you how amazing this was for a Saturday morning treat. And get creative! When you visit your local market, try out the different breads they may have and spice up your next breakfast. Here are some pictures from along the way.
Hope you enjoy, and as always – let me know how it went or drop in your ideas in the comments below.
