Pamplemousse French Toast

I am kind of in love with grapefruits. I remember my Mum cutting them up for us with the wooden handled grapefruit knife and scooping the juicy pieces out for breakfast.

It's the height of grapefruit season and I have been eating one every day. I made a delicious and easy breakfast the other day. This would be a fun thing to surprise your sweetheart with on Valentine's Day!

• 1 pink or Red Rio grapefruit
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup plus one tablespoon maple syrup, divided
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 8 slices Challah or country-style bread (about 3/4-inch thick) I didn't have any on hand so I used regular 12 grain.

Cut a small slice off each end of the grapefruit and stand it upright on a cutting surface. With a knife, remove the peel from the grapefruit in strips, maintaining the curved shape. This is a great way to cut up/peel citrus of any kind.

Holding the grapefruit in one hand, cut out the segments of fruit between the membranes.


When you are done, squeeze the remaining juices from the skeleton of the grapefruit into the bowl, and put aside.

In a small sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add the almonds, 1/4 cup of the maple syrup, and the reserved juice. Bring to a simmer and cook until the consistency of light syrup, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Toss in the grapefruit sections. Stir very gently to coat the sections and set aside.

Beat the eggs with the milk, the remaining 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Dip 3 or 4 slices of bread into the egg batter and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a heated platter or keep warm in a low oven. Repeat.

To serve, place 2 slices on each plate and top with the grapefruit.