French toast with pears and pomegranate sauce

This is the recipe that always made me wish I had a food blog. It's relatively simple, tastes great, and most importantly, looks really fancy! It is our favorite weekend morning breakfast/brunch. Something that takes more time and skill than pancakes or waffles, yet is still do-able on a lazy Sunday before football. The only tricky part is making sure not to thicken the pomegranate sauce too much, in which case you end up with pomegranate caramel. Actually, maybe that isn't too bad after all . . .

French Toast with Pears and Pomegranate Sauce
Slightly modified from Bon Appetit
Serves 4

5 eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 slices challah bread
4 Tbsp butter, divided
2 pears, halved, cut lengthwise into 1/3-inch-thick slices
1 cup pomegranate juice
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla in glass baking dish. Add bread slices; let stand until egg mixture is absorbed, turning bread slices occasionally.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears and sauté about 3 minutes. Transfer pears to plate. Add 2 tablespoons butter to skillet and stir to melt. Add pomegranate juice and sugar and simmer until liquid is slightly thickened and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove sauce from heat.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter on griddle. Add bread slices and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Top French toast slices with pears, spoon sauce over, and serve.