Published October 2, 2010 
Early this month two new friends spent a couple of days with me for a weekend of cooking classes. Laura brought me some delicious pears from trees on their place way up in the Texas Panhandle. They needed some time to ripen fully.
I love pears with soft white cheese and French bread and maybe a glass of white wine.
Or another favorite is to poach pear halves in equal parts of sugar and water until tender and refrigerate until cold. Spoon the simple syrup over a pear half and fill the center with a spoon of mayonnaise and topped with grated sharp cheddar cheese. This is a delicious side salad.
After trying to think about what I wanted to make with the pears I remembered this recipe. It’s really good for that special breakfast or brunch! Several years ago my friends, Kathy and Larry, took me to Pagosa Springs to their vacation home for a few days and I made this for our breakfast one morning. It was a huge hit!
Peel and thinly slice your pears. Toss them with sugar and lemon juice. In a large skillet melt butter over medium high heat and add the pears. Cook them until they are tender and caramelized. Remove them from skillet.
In a large baking dish or pie plate mix milk, sugar, salt, eggs, lemon and orange juice, and zest of lemon and orange whisk until well mixed.
Slice bread into ¼ inch thick slices and dip in the egg mixture until thoroughly moistened. Remove to a baking sheet.
Cover half the slices with sautéed pears and top with the remaining slices of bread.
Melt butter in the large skillet and add the sandwiches. Cook until they are a deep golden brown and then turn and cook the other side until browned and slightly puffy.
It’s really pretty to top the French toast with a few remaining pear slices and serve with plenty of maple syrup and dust with a little powdered sugar. A perfect fall recipe for breakfast or brunch!
A big thank you to Laura we loved the pears!
Hope you love the recipe…
Leah
Pear French Toast
3 large pears
1 loaf French bread
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1½ cups milk
½ cup orange juice
½ teaspoon salt
Juice and zest of 1 orange and 2 lemons
Maple syrup
Powdered sugar
Peel, core, and thinly slice pears. Sprinkle ½ cup sugar and juice of 1 lemon with pears and stir until coated. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large skillet and sauté pears until tender and caramelized. Remove pears from skillet.
In large baking dish or pie plate whisk together until well mixed eggs, milk, remaining sugar, salt, remaining lemon and orange juice and zest from orange and lemons.
Slice French bread into ¼ inch slices. Dip into milk mixture until thoroughly moistened. I use a fork to lightly tap down the bread into mixture and then turn over and repeat. Remove the bread slices to baking sheet and cover half the slices with the pears. Top with remaining slices to make sandwiches.
Melt half of the remaining butter in the large skillet. Add the sandwiches and cook over medium high heat until well browned. Add remaining butter and cook the other sides of sandwiches until well browned. You will know they are cooked when sandwiches are slightly puffy.
Serve hot topped with remaining pears and maple syrup and dusted lightly with powdered sugar.
Published April 22, 2010 
Don’t think you have to resort to frozen, fast food, or eat breakfast at a restaurant to have delicious Hashbrowns and eggs! You can make them in just a few minutes at home to rival the best you’ve ever tasted. Believe me…it’s true…and the most inexperienced cook can turn these out perfect the first time.
This is what you will need…for your Hashbrowns…
A box grater
A potato
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
9-10 inch non-stick skillet
For the eggs…
3 eggs
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
6-7 inch non-stick skillet
Start by peeling and grating a potato using the largest grate size on the box grater. To make it easy… lay a sheet of wax paper on top of your cutting board or cabinet and grate the potato onto the wax paper.
Heat up about three tablespoons olive oil in a 9-10 inch non-stick skillet. Pick up the sides of the sheet of wax paper and slide your grated potatoes into the skillet. Pat them evenly around the skillet and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat until you lift the edges and can see the potatoes on the bottom of the skillet are very brown.
Use a spatula or turner and flip the potatoes over and cook the other side the same way. Remove from skillet onto a plate. At this point if you are making more potatoes or cooking eggs…put the plate into a warmed oven so the Hashbrowns will stay hot.
I usually cook my eggs in another skillet while I am cooking my Hashbrowns.
In the smaller skillet heat about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and gently crack three eggs into skillet. Make sure to cook the eggs on medium low to prevent browning. As your eggs start to cook salt and pepper to taste. Use a large tablespoon and dip the hot oil from around the eggs and pour on top of the yolks as the eggs cook. You can tilt the skillet from side to side to dip the oil into your spoon from the skillet.
Just keep dipping and pouring the spoonful of oil over the yolks until a film starts to form over the yolk. If you like your eggs less cooked or with the yolks runny it isn’t necessary to do this step.
I like my eggs soft but for the most part cooked throughout…remove eggs with large turner or you can just tilt your skillet and pour out eggs on to the top of your Hashbrowns. The eggs are soft but cooked in the middle and the potatoes are browned and crunchy…delicious for a perfect breakfast, brunch, or late night supper!
