Granola Encrusted French Toast with Fresh Raspberry Maple Syrup
When I think about breakfast, I picture mountains of eggs laced with cheese, over flowing bacon, and hashbrowns to sop up the remaining yolk and pork fat. My girlfriend, Siobhan on the other hand has a sweet tooth and loves her pancakes, waffles, and French toast covered in sticky syrup. On Sunday morning, Siobhan got her way and I ventured into a realm of cooking that I have never really dabbled in.
Of course I didn’t want to start my IHOP debut with plain old French toast so I had to spice things up a bit. One healthy breakfast food that I am quite fond of is granola mixed into plain Greek yogurt so I tried to incorporate that flavor into the dish.
Since this was my first time making French toast, the pink grapefruit juice and Prosecco mimosa helped me get through it. I grabbed a huge loaf of fresh sourdough bread from the bakery and cut it into thick “Texas toast” sized slices.
After soaking the bread in some egg and milk mixture I encrusted the slices in nut & honey granola before they went into the frying pan with melted butter (now we’re talking). There’s something about maple syrup that grosses me out. Maybe because it’s super sweet, maybe because its really sticky, or maybe because the kid who sat across from my in fourth grade had pancakes every morning and his breath reeked of it and his fingers were always gross and sappy.
I can’t figure it out, but I have never liked maple syrup. Siobhan decided to compromise with me on this one and let me make fresh raspberry infused maple syrup. I simply cooked down fresh raspberries with some sugar and water, before drizzling in some Grade A, New Hampshire maple syrup.
I took out the trusty boat motor and gave the mixture a few pulses to make sure the sauce was nice and smooth. After the toast was cooked and the granola adhered to the bread I plated the two oversized pieces with some fresh cantaloupe. A healthy drizzle of the raspberry infused syrup and a huge dollop of tangy Greek yogurt topped everything off.
The granola not only added a sweet, honey and nutty flavor to the toast, it also changed the texture of the French toast (there’s one thing I hate more than French toast and that’s soggy French toast). I made the mimosas with Mionetto “il Prosecco” which is a great inexpensive Prosecco (kind of an oxymoron), that comes sealed with a bottle cap. Prosecco is Italys’ version of sparkling wine or champagne.
They range from bone dry to slightly fruity but no where close to as sweet as Piedmont’s Asti Spumante. The slightly bitter grapefruit juice was a nice compliment to the fruity bubbles and what better drink to pair with a Sunday morning brunch. I think I am actually coming around on this whole syrup phobia thing too because I licked my plate clean.
