Earl Cooks French Toast and Rutabaga? Breakfast and Root Vegetable Dinner

Until today, I had never eaten rutabaga! It is a strange sounding name that we laughed at in high school. It is not what you think. I was preparing French toast for my wife and me when I mentioned I bought a rutabaga while shopping today. When I read the recipe I found on FoodNetwork.com to her, she said it sounded good and she must be hungry. I took that to mean she wanted it now, but that was not what she meant. So after I cooked the French toast I put the rutabaga in the oven to roast. That's how we got such a unique combo for dinner. Back to the French toast; I tried a new method for making the French toast as follows:

Ingredients for French Toast:
day old bread, 4-6 slices
eggnog, non-alcoholic ½ cup
whole milk,  ½ cup
eggs, large, 6 ea.
sugar, granulated
salt. a pinch

Instructions:

Crack the eggs into a pie plate, add the milk, eggnog, and the pinch of salt. Add a dash of sugar here if you think it needs to be sweeter than what the eggnog provides. Mix all of these ingredients together well with a fork or whisk. Preheat oven to 350℉

In a rimmed baking sheet, crinkle  aluminum foil and then straighten to cover bottom of the sheet pan, and spray with non-stick spray.Crinkling allows the bread to have air circulate, and keeps the bread from sticking. Now, dip your slices in the egg mixture, allowing each side 30 seconds to absorb some lusciousness.

Lay the soaked slices on the baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with  sugar and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Check after 10 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, remove from oven and gently flip. Sprinkle this side with sugar, using more than before. Increase your oven temp to 375℉ and cook for another 20 minutes, checking again after 10 minutes for doneness. They will be lighter in color than the French toast you are used to because of the oven baking rather than direct contact with a pan but will have a slight crunch from the sugar with a creamy, though fully cooked center. Top with maple syrup, whipped cream or powdered sugar!

Directions for Roasted Rutabaga:
Toss 1 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed  (¾ to 1 inch) with 3 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and fresh cracked pepper, on a baking sheet. Roast at 425℉ until golden and soft, 40 minutes. Toss with ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar.
Results:
The rutabaga was tender, though dark in places, I will cut the time and/or temperature back next time. The rutabaga is much the same as a turnip and one of its monikers is "Swedish Turnip", so it could be cooked the same as a turnip. We liked the radish-like taste of it raw and it would go well julienned in a salad too! Cooked it is smooth and winter-squash like. It will be a regular item around our house. As for the eggnog French toast, my wife didn't care for the seasoning in the store-bought eggnog, but I loved it!