Cooking: Banana Bread French Toast

As high maintenance as some of you may find me, when it actually gets down to the nitty-gritty, I am about as basic and unpretentious as you can imagine.  Case in point: One of my favorite restaurants is IHOP.  Yes, IHOP.  "How on Earth can this be," you ask.  Well, it all rests on the fact that my two favorite things to eat are carbohydrates and sugar.  I know, I know.  That's really the same thing.  What I am talking about is the really sweet, tasty, yet filling kind of food.  IHOP offers a seemingly endless combination of sweet pancake choices from blueberry to strawberry banana to chocolate chip.  However, some of my favorite sweet treat combinations are seasonal.  Right now, it's all about the pumpkin and carrot cake pancakes, which are both absolutely divine.  Another seasonal item that can be found on their menu is Banana Bread French Toast.  I had this item the last time that it was offered and fell in love.

While thinking of dinner ideas for a ho-hum Monday, I said to myself, "Why not recreate this dish at home?"  By doing so, I would be able to avoid the awful service and equally awful clientele that can accompany the fine dining establishment of IHOP (if you haven't been served by a toothless waitress while sitting next to some hillbillies that fell off of the turnip truck, then you must have been at the most high-class IHOP in existence). 

I must say, my father-in-law can be great for a few things.  It's always handy to drive 3 streets over to borrow a power tool that we do not own or throw something into his burn pile since our neighborhood would not allow such a travesty.  But one of the best things he has to offer is the farm fresh eggs.  Yes, he thinks he is still living in the country in south Poinsett County.  The man has 20 or so chickens which coexist with his neighbors inside the Jonesboro city limits (not that his neighbors mind as these yard fowl eat the bugs, and provide the whole subdivision with eggs, at a minimal charge of course).  His hens lay a variety of egg colors and sizes.  Even though the picture at left doesn't do it justice, the center egg is indeed blue.  So as with any french toast recipe, I started with 3 eggs; although the ones I used were organic, cage-free, and locally produced eggs. 

The rest of the ingredients are as follows:

6 Eggs (mentioned above)

1 cup of Heavy Cream

2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp of Ground Cinnamon

1 pkg of Banana Nut Bread (I used pre-sliced, as seen to the left).

Simply add the first 4 ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until the mixture is well blended.  Not only does it smell good, it actually looks appetizing and quite Fall-ish.  Next bathe the slices of banana nut bread in the mixture for about 30 seconds on each side (during this step, I found that the bread wanted to break apart.  So I used a rounded spatula which seemed to keep them from breaking).  Then, melt some butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.  Place the banana bread coated with the mixture in the pan and cook them for about 2 minutes on each side, until they are crisp and golden.  After cooking, top the banana bread french toast with some fresh cut bananas and some whipped topping (please no cool-whip oil mess, the actually whipped cream in the can is so much better).  Drizzle on syrup and enjoy.  This recipe serves 4 (well it served the two of us for two different meals). 

Honestly, I meant to take a picture of the finished result, but it looked and tasted so good that it was all gone before I remembered to do so.  I hope that you enjoy this recipe.  It is really easy and quick to prepare.  Serve with some fresh eggs and bacon and you will have a delicious meal for your family.  Pay no attention to the sugar, sodium, or fat content as this is the Southern blog.  Until next time, have a Great Southern Day!