Quail Eggs, Bacon, and Banana French Toast with Blueberry Topping - My #whatscookingchallenge entry

Ive been challenged the one and only @borrowedearth to create something for the #whatscookingchallenge created by @jaynie.

Here is @borrowedearth's article
You can see @jaynie's rules to the contest here

To begin a great breakfast, you need one thing first. COFFEE!!!

I am going to share my protips for making great coffee. We live on a tight budget on the homestead, so we cant usually fit more expensive coffee into the grocery list. To make a cheap coffee taste like something that came out of a fancy bistro, you can add a pinch of salt to your grounds before brewing. The slight addition of salt will cut out the acidic, bitter taste that usually comes with a cheaper coffee, and will bring out the light, nutty notes coffee has. Here is my secret ratio to coffee:

1 1/2 to 2 tlbs of coffee grounds to every 1 cup of water I will make 8 cups at a time, and use 16 tlbs, and 1/8th teaspoon of salt. Now that the coffee is brewing, on to the breakfast!

The ingredients for this French Toast is very simple:

6-8 pieces of thick bread (Left out to get dry overnight is the best, but fresh bread is ok too)
1 egg
1/2 cup half and half (Milk can work, buttermilk is great too. I like the half and half for the creaminess it provides)
1-2 tsp cinnamon (Depending on your taste for it)
1 ripe banana - frozen overnight and allowed to completely thaw

Combine all ingredients in a bowl (except the bread) and mix and whip until there are no large banana pieces, and the mixture is smooth. Heat 1 tlbs of butter in a pan. Dip/coat 2 pieces of bread at a time into the mixture and cook on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan between batches.

We made the blueberry topping in advance, here is the recipe:

2 Cups of Frozen Blueberries, thawed
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tlbs of cornstarch mixed with 2 tlbs of water
1 tlbs lime juice

Combine blueberries, water, and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until thickened. Crush berries with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Stir in cornstarch slurry and lime juice, allow to cool.

Next up, Eggs!

Our Jumbo Coturnix Quail started laying eggs recently, and they make a tasty addition to any breakfast. You can find out more about our jumbos here. The trick to frying quail eggs is in two parts. First, you want to crack the shell at the wide end, and it will not break open like a chicken egg. Instead, the membrane will stay in tact, and you then tear it open and pour the egg out. The second part is to pour your eggs into a measuring cup first, instead of straight into the pan. You can then pour 3 or 4 at a time and they will cook up like one big egg. All I do to mine is fry them in bacon grease and a little fresh cracked pepper.
Speaking of bacon, I was so in the zone when cooking it I forgot to take any pictures, but I promise I did haha!

As requested, here is proof of me and my awesome breakfast:

Breakfast doesn't get much better than this, and I am happy to have been nominated by @borrowedearth for the contest.

To keep this great contest going, I will nominate the following steemians!

@freedompoint
@papa-pepper
@awesomehomestead
@hethur240
@senorcoconut
@fetherhd

Thank you so much for the inspiration and I hope you all have enjoyed it today. Thanks for stopping by and Steem on!