>Ezekiel Bread French Toast with Caramelized Nectarine and Apple-Cranberry Syrup

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The morning before last as I was pouring my second cup of coffee I heard a common request from my teenage son in the next room, “dad, will you make me breakfast” (translation: will you make me French toast…his favorite breakfast). Having not gone shopping in a while I knew the cupboards were somewhat bare but not entirely, so I said yes straight away. After slicing a few pieces of Ezekiel bread (click here and here for recipes) and soaking them in eggs and milk I looked for the maple syrup only to find none. Ditto on honey; and not even a few grains of sugar. We were, in fact, having a sweetness crises. Not to worry I thought, as I poured my third cup of coffee, pushed my two pugs out of way as they hovered under foot, and answered “In a couple minutes,” to my son’s inquiry as to how long before it were ready. I looked in the fridge and saw we had a partial half-gallon of cranberry-apple juice. Ahhh…sweetness, I said aloud. As any cook knows (lay or professional), when you reduce something (simmer it down), and as it gets less in volume, flavors intensify. If, for example, you left a soup on the edge of the stove to simmer too long it may become salty, and in the case of fruit juices–which are naturally sweet already–they become super sweet and viscous when cooked down…in short, a syrup. To add to the flavor I also included a slightly under-rip nectarine to the pan (being under-ripe it held up nicely to the cooking, but softened and sweetened as it cooked. As my son ate and I checked my email and drank coffee, he stopped momentarily and said, “Dad…this is really good.” That to me meant more than any kudos or accolades I may receive from the many paying customers I cook for almost every day. OK, they are not all kudos and accolades, but on this morning I felt awarded in a way I cannot describe. Anyhow, here it is in pictures.