Oh good morning to you my little organic cane sugar muffins!
I have a real treat for you this morning. But before we get to that, let’s talk about how lame it is that there doesn’t seem to be much going on in town right now with respect to access to good, whole, local food. I know there’s the Winter Farmer’s Market put on by the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society twice a month, but that just doesn’t seem to be enough. And yes, I realize it’s the middle of January (and less than a week ago there was actually snow on the ground. Snow!).
But in a place so wound up about local food issues, you’d think we’d have more available. It’s both infuriating and sad that in order to eat fresh vegetables through out the months of December, January, (and part of) February I have to go to a chain grocery store. Sure, there’s lots of food there. But most of it has been shipped hundreds – if not thousands – of miles to even get to the store. By then it’s lost most of its flavor, most of its nutrients, and has put so many bloody chemicals into the Earth and atmosphere via both growing operations and transportation, all I can taste is oil.
Maybe I should have gone ahead with my plans to grow my own Winter veggies rather than letting my front yard beds lay fallow. There’s plenty to be grown on the West coast at this time of year: chard, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and who knows what else in the greenhouse. Maybe we need more resources allocated to growing local food year round. Maybe we need to pay a little extra to have our CSA boxes out-source some of the space in them to other farmers in the region to encourage their production (ie eggs, meats, honey, etc…). Or maybe I need to just suck it up? Kinda like the cloud below looks like it’s going to do to me! Must get inside…
I’m just sayin – I love me some good, fresh picked local vegetables. And seeing that people on the East coast still have access to a CSA program in January makes me a little sad. Well, happy for them, sad for me. What can we do differently to make local, organic, small-scale food available the full 12 months of the year?
Speaking of local food, treat time! So you wake up to the crisp morning air and the sun is winking at you from behind an ash colored cloud. The neighborhood is humming with silence and the smell of coffee is wafting gently through the house, arousing your senses. You smile. There on the counter is a loaf of bread so fine and delicate it yearns to be eaten. It’s panettone. You think to yourself, “breakfast”. Honestly – there’s french toast… And then there’s panettone french toast.
Panettone is a sweet bread loaf from Italy that’s cylindrical in shape and is usually eaten during the holidays. Ours came from Fol Epi Organic Bakery in James Bay. How did I not know about this place?? It was lusciously moist, tender, and the aromas of vanilla and orange were absolutely intoxicating. I’ll definitely be making a stop by there in the near future. In the meantime, I’ll relive the experience right here…
The Most Delicious & Simple Panettone French Toast
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 Loaf of Panettone Bread (or if unavailable, any "fruity" bread would do - i.e. raisin bread).
- 1 C Milk.
- 3 to 4 Free-Range Organic Eggs.
- 2 Tsp Cinnamon.
- Dash of Nutmeg.
- 2 Pears (or fruit of your choice) (optional).
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and grease lightly; pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees F.
- While that heats, whisk together the milk, eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
- If your bread isn't sliced, slice it about 1" thick.
- Your pan should be hot by now. One piece at a time, dip it into the milk/egg mixture on both sides (no need to soak it - just dip), and place as a single layer in the skillet. Only dip the pieces as they are about to go into the skillet. If you dip them all and they sit waiting for their turn to cook, they'll just sog up and fall apart on the cutting board. Allow to brown thoroughly on one side, flip, and allow to brown on the other.
- Once cooked, place in a baking dish and keep warm in pre-heated oven. When all your toast is cooked, serve with syrup, whipped cream, butter, fruit, jams, nut-spreads or anything else you like on your french toast.
- Eat.
Aarthi
January 25, 2012 at 5:31 PMTotally YUMMY
Aarthi
http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/
Heather Anne
January 25, 2012 at 6:34 PMmmmmmmmmmm drooooooool……
Cheap Ethnic Eatz
January 25, 2012 at 6:41 PMOK that pic of snow with such greenery under is weird for me to look at when I am used to snow and brown grass lol. I have made panattone french toast in the past, so awesome.
Kristy Lynn
January 26, 2012 at 3:10 AM@ Aarthi: heck yeah it was!
@ Heather Anne: I love making you drool 😉
@ Cheap Ethnic Eatz: that’s the best part of living on the West coast! But brown grass does show up come Summer since everyone wants to reserve water. Fair enough 🙂
Neo-Homesteading
January 26, 2012 at 3:41 AMAll I can say is DROOL! I used to make french toast by the loaf back in the day. I’ve never had pannetone but one of these days I will have to try some.
The Southern Product Queen
January 26, 2012 at 4:58 PMWow..this almost looks to beautiful to eat!!! Great presentation! I’m having a linky party as well, and would love for you to join it! Here is the link http://www.thesouthernproductqueen.com/one-stop-s… Thanks for sharing!
Kristy Lynn
January 27, 2012 at 5:12 PM@ Neo-Homesteading: you really should – it adds such a complexity to french toast. I love french toast – but I REALLY love panettone french toast.
@ Southern Product Queen: Aw shucks! Thanks! I’ll check it out!
Miz Helen
January 28, 2012 at 2:47 PMHi Kristy Lynn,
Your photo’s are outstanding, I just had to linger a while in the stillness of the beautiful snow. Your presentation of Panettone French Toast is beautiful. This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week end and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Kristy Lynn
January 28, 2012 at 7:00 PM@ Miz Helen: thank you so much! i’m learning, slowly 🙂 Thanks for coming by – take care!
Teresa, foodonfifth.com
January 30, 2012 at 12:47 PMFrench toast is one of my favorite Sunday morning treats that I do not often indulge in, but made with a Panettone it is absolutely enticing and I must make this for next weeks Sunday morning NYTimes reading!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife
January 30, 2012 at 1:32 PMI can still get an organic vegetable and fruit box weekly in the winter, but some of the food is shipped (never by air) long distances. At least it is organic though.
Your timing is perfect with this lovely Panettone French toast recipe. I always end up with a Panettone we have not eaten that I need to use up. People very kindly give them as gifts a lot here in the UK at Christmas and sometimes you end up with quite a few 🙂 Anyway, I never thought about making French toast with it, and your recipe looks wonderful! Thank you for sharing this post with the Hearth and Soul hop.
Kristy Lynn
January 30, 2012 at 6:58 PM@ Teresa: ooooh! During NYtimes reading?! I’m flattered – that’s a special time 🙂
@ April: I always forget you’re in the UK! My partner is from there – I’m jealous you get a few of those little gems! I had never even heard of them before! We get fruitcake… not quite the same.
Aged Balsamic Vinegar
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Balsamic Vinegar