You Had Me At Bacon

I have survived the pre and post-holiday sales, the pre-Valentine's sales, not finding any "furlough sales".  But I have been busy, not writing on book #5, as the muse went south with my paycheck.  But I'm taking care of an elderly lady from our congregation several days a week.  She fell, not badly injuring herself, but leaving her bruised and a little wobbly.  Home health care is expensive, so she has a nurse for overnight, but needs some company during the day so myself and a couple other ladies from the Bell Choir volunteered to keep her company until she healed and felt stronger and used to a walker in the home.

Tonight I'm home, another lady is covering and I really didn't want a supper I had to fuss over as my husband is working late and then making an Aldi stop before the big storm this weekend (for milk, emergency dog yogurt, and white wine).   I thought I'd make one of Angel Barkley's favorite treats.  He didn't get maple syrup but sausage was usually involved.

WELL OK, IF YOU INSIST.

I'm not sure how "French Toast" got its name as it's been around since the Middle Ages in a whole lot of places other than France (who call it "Pain Perdu").  Day old bread dipped in egg and milk and fried is something that translates to Yum" in any language.  In Norway, where my Grandfather  Gullikson is from, it is called  “Arme Riddere”. This translates to “Poor Knights” and it is often topped with a bit of sugar and cinnamon before frying and then topped with fresh jam. It's also sometimes made with savory ingredients, such as ham or cheese, whatever is on hand.  This makes it a dish the  Norwegians would refer to as “restemat”, Norwegian for ‘leftovers’.

And I have leftover bacon!

Arme Riddere (French Toast) Panini.  Using what little bits I had on hand in the fridge, I smeared some sourdough bakery bread that was getting dry, with a Tablespoon or two of low-fat Neufchatal Cheese (low fat cream cheese) and then smeared with a thin layer of Golden Shred orange marmalade picked up in the UK. Then I topped that with some freshly cooked thick cut bacon. Perfect!  It was then dipped on each side in an egg whisked up with a little milk and then popped into the chicken grill/panini contraption and baked until it's golden and toasty.  Norway Meets Italy!!

I drizzled it with just a bit of maple syrup and ate it like a sandwich.  Sweet and savory, creamy inside with just the right bit of crunch outside, it was the perfect little supper.