The Perfect Circle ~ Blue
Slash's Snakepit ~ What Do You Want To Be
Sade ~ Smooth Operator
David Bowie ~ Changes
Chris Andrews ~ Yesterday Man
Sugababes ~ In The Middle
Sheryl Crow ~ My Favourite Mistake
Joan Jett ~ Watersign
Stevie Ray Vaughan ~ Tin Pan Alley
The Commitments ~ Mustang Sally
Melissa Etheridge ~ I Want To Be In Love
Adele ~ One and Only
Colbie Cailat ~ Bubbly
LL Cool J & J-Lo ~ Control Myself
French Toast...never fancied trying it as I am more of a savoury breakfast person. The years I've spent watching others devouring it. For one the confusion between the two types of French toast. First the eggy bread version...I have never eaten eggs even as a child and would be very ill if someone tried to make me so this version has always been completely repulsive to me. Then the second kind I have come across...the seemingly sickly sweet..push you into a diabetic coma kind. Again it just didn't appeal to me..I just can't face that much sweetness first thing in the morning..or at brunch. I have happily slaved over my waffle iron for friends at brunches to watch them load them with sweet toppings and then drench them in maple syrup...whilst I sat with a black coffee and tofu omelette. Just don't get it...but it seems to make many people very happy.
Things around here are going to start changing soon..and I am spending a lot of time in my head...thinking about 'stuff'. Dangerous, eh? And I have been thinking along the lines of 'feel the fear and do it anyway'...which I know this particular mantra has been done to death...but it's one I believe in. So my thoughts have been more..."Ah hang it...try it already..." And this is how I ended up eating 'Fronch Toast' as it's now affectionately known now in R & R HQ.
Once again the recipe is straight from the wonderful Vegan Brunch so this recipe is all the hard work of Isa Chandra Moskowitz. There are two recipes for Fronch Toast in VB, one based around pumpkin and the other is a banana/cocoa based one. I chose the latter...no real reason why...it just seemed more appealing to my taste. So armed with ripe bananas and stale French baguette ML entered the kitchen to create this French toast for me.
I eyed the serving put in front of me...I wasn't sure whether I wanted to try it...so I cut into the bread and scooped up a piece of strawberry...and was stunned. Firstly it wasn't stodgy and sweet as I thought it would be. It was light..hardly sweet at all..and was pleasant. The sweetness came from the hit of banana...and the bitter cocoa powder balances it out in a very enjoyable way. I will have this again should I have any stale baguette that needs using up and I am really pleased I tried it.
NB: Below is Isa's recipe...however I have been informed that ML put the cocoa and cinnamon in the blender with the banana mix and then sprinkled cocoa over the top at the end. I also chose not to have vegan butter and maple with mine..~R~
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| Banana Rabanada with strawberries on the side.. |
(Recipe from Vegan Brunch/Moskowitz)
2 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups of almond milk
2 tbsp. cornflour/starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stale baguette, sliced in 1 " pieces
strawberries for garnish
Blend the bananas, cornstarch, milk and vanilla until smooth. Spread out baguette in a single layer on a baking pan. Pour banana mixture over the slices and flip slices to coat. Let sit for ten minutes and then flip over and let soak for 10 minutes more.
Preheat a large non stick skillet of a medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and cook about half of the bread for 5-7 minutes on one side and about 3 minutes on the other. When ready the toast should be gold to medium brown and flecked with darker spots. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil while you could the second batch. If not serving immediately cover the toast with tin foil and place in warm oven for up to an hour.
When ready to serve..mix together cocoa powder and cinnamon and use a small sifter to sprinkle generously over each serving. Serve Rananada with vegan butter and maple syrup and topped with fresh fruit.
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your holiday weekend had been enjoyable....
~Red~
