Sarina’s Oatsy Orange French Toast (recipe)

Well here it is, my first entry to a food event since my ‘hiatus’. Color me all aflush with nervousness and excitement! One of the things that I love about this food events is that they push me into new creative areas where genres and combinations of food are concerned 🙂 My concoction this time around, Oatsy Orange French Toast, was inspired by the requirements for this month’s Breakfast Remix.

… the latest installment of Recipe Remix revolves around: Breakfast! Yes, breakfast, the most important meal of the day!

We have chosen the following breakfast foods for “remixing”:

– Pancakes
– French Toast
– Crepes
– Eggs Benedict
– Egg Breakfast Sandwich (think: typical fast food chain fare)
– Continental Breakfast (includes cold items such as: muffins, Danish, cinnamon rolls, breads, etc.)

Again, we are giving you all an option of 6 different to choose from as you please. Your goal is to
take one of those dishes and create a variation of it that is not the “everyday.” For instance, maybe you have a great idea for a stuffed French toast, or a gourmet version of a breakfast egg sandwich, or maybe a savory stuffed crepe. The possibilities are endless!

With those parameters in place I started going through my recipe database. It wasn’t long before a recipe for Oatsy Orange Bread caught my eye… hmmm oats, orange juice… this could easily turn into an interesting batter for a French toast! I moved into the kitchen and threw some stuff together. The verdict? Yum! The orange juice combines with the almond and vanilla essences to create a very light, flavourful aftertaste, and the oats add an extra toastiness to the ‘crust’. I tend to eat my french toast with nothing more than a light sprinkling of brown sugar, but there’s no raeson why this can’t be turned into an IHOP worthy dessert creation complete with whipped cream, shaved nuts and syrup…. MMMM!!!! 😀

French Toast Factoid! (from The Good Home Cookbook: More Than 1000 Classic American Recipes
)
They don’t call this dish French Toast in France. There it is “pain perdu” or “lost bread”, which is what Cajun or Creole cooks in Louisiana also might call it. French toast is also known as German toast, Spanish toast, or nun’s toast.

Sarina’s Oatsy Orange French Toast

Makes 4 slices (serves 2)

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
1 heaping tablespoon quick oats
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond essence
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
4 slices bread

METHOD:

1. Whisk the eggs in a shallow bowl until foamy.

2. Whisk in the oats, orange juice, cinnamon, almond essence, vanilla essence and sugar until well-blended.

3. Melt the butter in non-stick pan over medium heat

4. Dip the bread slices in the batter on each side (spoon some of the oats over the top if necessary)

5. Cook, flipping once with a spatula, until golden brown on each side, about 4 minutes total.
6. Garnish as desired 🙂