French Toast with Cinnamon Apple Compote

For mornings when all you want for breakfast is a plate of dessert, extra flavor, hold the guilt.

 
Ingredients
2-4 slices fresh bakery bread, cut 1/2 to 3/4" thick (enough for two; whole grain works well)
3 pastured eggs*
1-2 oz pastured whole milk
Cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg
Pastured butter
1 apple, peeled and flat-diced (or zanziputted, if you will, which I would and did)
Brown sugar
Maple syrup

Beat the eggs in a casserole dish, then stir in the milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. Dunk the bread into the egg mixture, then flip and let soak for 3-5 minutes (note that whole grain bread takes longer to soak up the egg, so give it the full five minutes).

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter—just enough to very lightly brush over the bottom of the pan. Add the bread and cook several minutes until golden brown on the bottom, then flip. (Note that if your slices are on the thicker side, you may want to turn the heat down a bit at this point to give the bread enough time to cook all the way through.) Continue cooking until both sides are golden brown, then set aside on a heated plate to keep warm if there's another batch to cook (or use a piece of aluminum foil loosely folded in half, which tends to keep the heat in well).

Meanwhile, heat a small pan over medium heat. Add a pat of butter (about 1/2 tbsp) and let melt, then add 1-2 tsp brown sugar and stir. Simmer for about 20 seconds, then add the apples and stir to coat. Saute for a minute, sprinkle with cinnamon, then turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Let cook gently for another couple of minutes until the apples start to release their juices (I like leaving them a little crunchy, but you could cook them for longer if you prefer). Turn off the heat.

Serve the french toast topped with apple compote, with maple syrup on the side.

Serves 2.



*In addition to being lower in cholesterol and better tasting, eggs from pastured chickens also make a lovely, brilliantly yellow french toast because the yolks are so bright.

(And yes, they're more expensive than industrial or faux-healthy eggs. But that's kind of like pointing out that fresh fruit is more expensive than a fruit roll-up...it may be true, but if someone suggested filling up your cart with processed fruit-flavored snacks rather than strawberries to save a couple dollars on groceries, you would presumably sit them down and give them a lecture on comparing apples to plastic oranges.)