This Morning's Tajalli - Coconut Milk French Toast

'This is not a day for asking questions. 

Not a day on any calender

This day is conscious of itself

This day is a lover, bread and gentleness,

More manifest that saying can say'

Rumi

Homemade bread, homemade plum compote... a perfect day , I thought for yummy French toast.. 

'Not a day for asking questions' 

Shall we have French toast or not? Salty or sweet? Ok, lets just have left overs... no.. actually, lets try and have both, hallumi? no.. I can't tell you how much time I spent procrastinating in the kitchen while my Italian coffee was brewing (Lavazza no less..) He may be a dervish, but I, - as he kindly put it this morning - am more of a Sultana. (No not a raisin... more like a queen... or drama queen;)

He had no answers... staring at me blankly, not acknowledging my faint distress when I realised that we had no milk. No half and half. No cream. No butter. Even my alternative information companion - Google - was reiterating the need for these essential dairy items.. and my memories of Homemade French toast included at least some milk and butter... may not fancy pancy cream... 

'This day is conscious of itself....'

Until a breakthrough happened. A lightbulb moment occured and Coconut Milk was found amongst the multifarious wedding gifts that had overwhelmed our new home only 40 days ago when we married... to be honest there really weren't enough reviews of this recipe for me to feel comfortable.. (I'm a Capricorn, if we are gonna do it, lets do it well ) but the picture looked so delicious I had to try it! Silk.com to the rescue! (At least it sounded slick!)

Finally. My drama queen of a morning became calm and all of my wasted time on procrastination didn't seem to matter any more (the new french toast recipe only takes 15 minutes and the coffee was ready!)... simples ;)

Coconut Milk French Toast it is my darling Dervish ;)

'This day is a lover, bread and gentleness...'

Sultana's Tips!

 My adaptations to the recipe as I find it the easiest way to remember that; we don't always have everything at hand, everything can be done slightly differently, and there are some things, that just can never be left out!

- This recipe calls for almond extract (that is even too much of a luxury for this queen right now... so I just left it out!)
- If I had been organised enough, I could have conjured up some almonds or other nuts (I actually think that I have some hazelnuts..) but all that procrastinating made me forget... I am sure they would have been delicious
- I did not have any fresh fruit to hand (gasp!) but the homemade compote was delicious with it.... and I highly recommend having compote handy for almost any (sweet) occasion!

- The recipe calls for 2 eggs, in my experiment, this meant 2 large eggs, all I have interestingly.. is tiny eggs... chicken eggs, but tiny... so I put 5 tiny eggs in, to equal the 2 large eggs... Someone mentioned that maybe these were young chickens and therefore have not acquired the skills of producing large eggs... I leave you with a photo in their memory!
- If you don't have coconut milk I am almost 100% sure you can exchange this for normal milk or cream
- Do not be afraid to experiment! French toast is also delicious savoury (I remember this vividly, just add a pinch of salt to the recipe and leave out the vanilla, nutmeg and cinammon)
- Adding butter instead of sunflower oil, will only increase how delicious this is (in my world, calories do not exist, butter is not fattening, and taste is everything)

Happy cooking!

Coconut Milk French Toast!

'More manifest that saying can say'

Serves 3 hungry Peeps, 4 Normal Peeps

2 Large Eggs (or 5 tiny eggs)
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla powder)
1/2 tsp almond extract
Sunflower Oil
6 Thick Slices of
home made bread
Homemade Spicy Plum Compote
Any other delicious garnish, fruit, berries, maple syrup, 

Directions

1. Put on oil in pan and put on a medium heat

2. Whisk together eggs, coconut milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla extract

3. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture, soaking well on both sides.

4. Place bread pieces on hot skillet and cook on each side until golden brown.

5. Serve with a selection of spicy plum compote, fresh fruit, toasted almonds, real maple syrup or honey

Deeeeelicious! 

(Remember to serve it with Love ;)

Spicy Plum Compote

'The clear bead at the center changes everything
There are no edges to my loving now'
Rumi

OK peeps this recipe is deeeelicious.. very easy, multi use.. chocolate apple cake and pancakes (may be any thing with cake on the end) all really enjoy being tied up with this baby.. delicious on its own with yoghurt.. if you happen to find some Plums lying on the side of the road.. you must try this out 

I found this amazing recipe after finding some deliciously ripe plums on the side of the road, just asking to be made into something, if possible, even more delicious!

I began my search for chicken and plum recipes, but soon found that I had no clue how to made a plum sauce..  but I already had a delicious chocolate cake just waiting to be devoured and covered in compote and cream....

This recipe was used in Masterchef  and I only used the Plum Compote part... I had already made a delicious chocolate cake, and had some crème to whip it up with or drissle on...

The honest truth is that even though this chocolate cake was divine to begin with, the plum compote was able to compliment it beautifully, adding new textures to the cake and subtle contrasts as the two melted in my mouth! 


I have also used this recipe on Pancakes and with home made yoghurt on both Chocolate cake and Pancakes.. absolutely delicious!

Tips!

 


My adaptations to the recipe as I find it the easiest way to remember that; we don't always have everything at hand, everything can be done slightly differently, and there are some things, that just can never be left out!

- I adapted this recipe, as I thought that the skin would make the compote too sour.. the original directions highlight that you leave the skin on, and then sieve everything at the end, throwing away anything that doesn't get through... However, I removed the skin with my fingers, putting it aside and cooking everything else together. This also left the recipe with delicious bits of fruit in it.

- I have also tried this recipe with green and red plums... the main difference is how appealing it looks to the eye! My husband has certainly had less of it that the pinky one... although it is still very delicious
- This is a super simple recipe that enhances any sweet you may want to have (last night I had it on this delicious apple cake) 

Spiced Plum Compote

- 10 ripe red plums stones removed
- 100ml water
- 2 cinnamon sticks,
- 100g caster sugar plus extra if necessary

Directions

1. Remove the skin from the plums with your fingers and break the fruit into 2cm chunks

2. Place all the ingredients in a pan and simmer gently for about 30 minutes, until the plums have  cooked down.

3.  Taste for sweetness and add more sugar is the fruit is too tart. 

4. Place into clean bowl and leave to cool.

Let me know how it was!