Look at this! It's the beginning of fall, and I'm posting a relevant recipe. I'm pretty sure this is considered a sign of the apocalypse. End of days or not (chances are not, but the people who have predicted it have been wrong every time, so the law of averages* says that they must be right next time), it is always a good idea to have good French toast ready.
While grocery shopping the other day, I noticed my Aldi had moved everything around in an effort to give itself a makeover. This annoyed me. I like the fact that I know where everything is in the store. I realize that a revamp of the store can mean more money for the store as people who have established patterns of shopping will be forced to pass by items they normally do not, and may pick up those items, but I am constantly on the look out for new and interesting buys at Aldi anyway. Despite the fact that this is not the normal behavior of the average shopper, I still believe that the Aldi I shop at should be run according to my whims, and not what makes long term fiscal sense.
That being said, while searching for the bread in this new and unforgiving alien layout, I came across something new Aldi is offering.
I don't know if all Aldis are doing this, but mine is. So there. I had already planned to do the French toast post, as they have brought back the Friendly Farms Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer, but now I could use exciting bread. There were many selections including some lovely French baguette, and since I was making French toast, the choice was obvious.
Yeah, so I picked the Italian bread. Stop judging me. If you read the title of the post you would know this already.
PUMPKIN CIABATTA FRENCH TOAST
1 Egg ($1.29 for 12)
4 Slices ciabatta bread ($1.89 per loaf)
1/8 Cup half and half ($1.59 for 32 oz.)
3/8 Cup pumpkin spice coffee creamer ($1.49 for 16 oz.)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract($1.99 for 2 oz.)
1 Tbsp. Butter ($2.29 for 1 lbs.)
Prepare your custard first. Crack the egg, add the creamer and half and half, and then add the vanilla. Whisk until combined. Now cut the bread. You want between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch pieces, thicker than that and you may have burnt outsides and uncooked insides. Soak the bread one side at a time in the custard, a few minutes each side. You can add seasoning to your custard if you like. Cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, ricin, whatever. I added cinnamon, but you really shouldn't add ricin. I'm pretty sure Aldi doesn't even carry it.
Heat up a small pan on medium heat. Add 1/2 the butter. When the butter bubbles and is nutty smelling, add the bread. Brown each side of the toast. Repeat.
HONEY BUTTER
1 Tbsp. Honey ($2.99 for 12 oz.)
3 Tbsp. Butter room temperature ($2.29 for 1 lbs.)
Take the softened butter and put it into a small bowl. Add honey. Mix. Done. Although you can put it in the fridge if you would like to solidify it again.
Serve with powdered sugar, syrup, just with the honey butter, or with ricin. Really though, don't serve it with ricin. I just watched the season finale of Breaking Bad and all I can think of is ricin made the same way I make cinnamon toast. Seriously, do not Walter White your French toast.
*The "Law of Averages" is made up nonsense that people who have never taken a statistics class use to explain how they want reality to be, not how it is.
