What a Breakfast!

With all this rain there's been quite a bit of TV watching around here. One of our favorite shows is Down Home With the Neelys on the Food Network.
They were making breakfast dishes the other day and we decided to give a couple of their dishes a try this morning.

Gina's Brown Sugar Bacon and Banana Stuffed French Toast.


Awesome! That's all we can say about those dishes.

Here's the recipes.

Gina's Brown Sugar Bacon

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* 1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, 8 slices

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper together in a medium bowl. Add bacon and toss.

Line a baking sheet with a wire rack and lay bacon on the rack. Pat any remanding spice mixture on the bacon. Put the baking sheet on the top rack of the oven and bake until crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven to a serving dish and let cool slightly before serving.


Banana Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* Pinch ground cinnamon
* 3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
* 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 1 large unsliced loaf French bread, bread cut into 8 slices
* 4 large eggs
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1 1/2 cups whole milk
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon rum extract
* Nonstick cooking spray
* Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
* Maple syrup, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted add the brown sugar and pinch of cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts into the butter and becomes a sauce. Add bananas and toss together. Let cook until the bananas are soft and incorporated into the sauce. Remove to a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, add cream cheese and mash with a wooden spoon.

Using a paring knife, cut a 2-inch-long slits in 1 side of each bread slice, cutting 3/4 of way through bread and creating pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide banana mixture equally among the bread pockets.

In a large bowl, add eggs, heavy cream, milk, cinnamon and rum and whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Put the bread into the egg mixture and let soak for 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the bread from egg mixture, using a spatula, letting the excess drain off.

Spray a wire rack with nonstick spray and put the rack on a baking sheet. Put the bread on the rack and transfer to the oven.

Bake the French toast until it is golden brown and filling is hot, about 25 minutes. Transfer the toast on a serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar and maple syrup.

I halved this recipe for Ray and I and we still had more than we could eat. I was glad I'd made french bread yesterday as it came in handy this morning.