French Toast with a Berry Compote

Much to my shame, I ate all my French toast before I even thought of photographing it. And it was so pretty too! Ah well.

I haven't actually made French toast too much before now. But I felt kind of sick in my stomach and wanted a berry filled crepe, and I'm just not up to the task of crepery; technique wise or equipment wise, so French toast it was.

For the compote, I took half a bag of frozen berries, put them in a pot, and covered them with water. A few spoonfuls of sugar went in (it was very fly by the seat of my pants) and I let it cook and reduce a bit. When a potato masher did not produce the desired consistency, I took my immersion blender to it. A word of warning. Sticky hot syrup with chunks is dangerous to skin and walls. Then I did the "spoon test" and found I had a fairly thin syrup. A taste test added a little more sugar and then it was scooped into one of my prettier cups.

For the toast proper, I had some left over bread from the farmers' market (a seven grain affair) that was a little past its prime, and thus ideal for soaking then frying. I know that for authenticity's sake, I should have used a French bread, but really, this is a "waste not want not" kind of recipe, so I guess I would have been justified either way. I guess.

So, three eggs and about a cup of milk went into the bowl and were whisked together. I knew I was going to be putting the compote (I love that word) on top, so I left out any honey or sugar at this stage. I should have put a little vanilla in the mixture, but to be honest I was pretty sleepy and forgot. The bread gets put into the bath (don't forget to coat both sides!).

I heated up a pan on medium heat while the bread soaked, and melted a good pat of butter in it. After the butter foamed a little, I placed my soggy bread in it, and fried it. The smell of it all cooking (butter, egg, berries, bread) was very pleasant, in a tantalizing way.

My secret trick was to put little pats of butter on the top side of the bread after it was already flipped. Just for added... butter... nutrition?

In any event, the toast, when smeared with compote, and eaten with milk was one hundred percent satisfying, and nutritious if calorie dense. What can I say? It was a cold day yesterday.

What do you top your breakfast goods with?