French Toast with Stewed Pears & Crème Anglaise

Peel, core, and slice the pears into ¼-inch thick slices. Heat in a medium saucepan along with sugar and cinnamon and cook on medium heat until softened, stirring occasionally. Then set aside and let cool a bit while preparing the other components.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. In a medium saucepan, add the half-and-half and nutmeg. Slice the vanilla bean piece in half lengthwise with a knife. Scrape out the seeds and add them to the cream. Stir so they are well dispersed. Heat on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until just coming to simmer. Gradually pour about ¼ cup of the cream into the eggs while whisking in order to warm up the eggs a bit so as not to shock them when they come in contact with the heat. Gradually pour another ¼ cup of cream into the eggs in the same manner. While stirring, add the eggs into the saucepan, and continue to stir on medium-low heat until the custard sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and add in the bourbon, stirring quickly so that it incorporates well.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, and nutmeg. Slice the vanilla bean piece in half lengthwise with a knife. Scrape out the seeds and add them to the liquid mixture, stirring so they are well dispersed.

Heat the butter in a large skillet or fry pan over medium-high heat. Dip the bread slices into the egg mixture so that all sides are well coated. Then fry in the skillet, flipping once after the bottom side browns, about 2-3 minutes. Continue to fry on the other side until brown, and then remove from heat to a serving plate. Continue with the other bread slices, adding more butter to the fry pan as needed. Serve French toast with stewed pears and custard sauce as toppings.