Pecan-Orange French Toast with Homemade Strawberry Syrup

I saw this recipe on taste buds, a food blog that also participates in Tuesday's with Dorie. I love pecans and yummy breakfast, so I adapted it a little and we enjoyed it for Sunday breakfast. You really have got to try this!

I put my pecans in the food processor so that the are ground up really little, it makes it easier for me because I don't have to chop and my kids like it better with smaller pieces of nuts to work on.

I absolutely love citrus zest in anything, so I added the zest of a beautiful, fragrant orange to my ground nuts. I also threw in some cinnamon and nutmeg to the nuts.

I cooked this french toast in my electric skillet, which I love. It smelled great and tasted even better. The only advice I have is to make sure you cook it long enough on both sides, because it is tough to tell if the egg is all the way cooked through all those nuts and no one wants soggy french toast!

Pecan-Orange French Toast with Homemade Strawberry Syrup

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of cardamom
5 1-inch thick slices of french bread or texas toast (I used texas toast)
2 cups ground pecans, the food processor does wonders with nuts
grated zest of one orange

sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Homemade Strawberry Syrup*

Process pecans in food processor until the pieces are small and uniform. Transfer nuts to a shallow dish and grate the zest of one orange into the dish. Mix with your fingers and add a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a med size bowl beat together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom. Dip bread into egg mixture, coating both sides (let soak atleast 10 seconds), then dip into ground pecans, pressing pecans into bread if necessary. Cook on a skillet over med heat about 4-5 min per side. To keep warm, place on single layer on a baking sheet in a 170 degree oven until done cooking all of the french toast.

Serve with Homemade Strawberry Syrup

1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam

1/4 cup water

2 Tbls freshly squeezed orange juice

1 cup fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped

Heat jam and water over medium heat in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve jam and bring to a low boil. Stir in orange juice. Remove from heat and stir in strawberries. Serve over warm french toast