French Toast

The best french toast on the planet used to be served on the old Santa Fe Railway passenger trains prior to Amtrak's formation in 1972.

Fortunately, the recipe has been publshed in several cookbooks and railfan publications. We make it at home when we want to really indulge as it is quite rich.

Brooklyn and Queens' Diners are pretty famous for their deep fried french toast served with strawberry preserves.

You can make it yourself.....Using challah bread, you cut 2-3" sized triangular sized pieces and soak in a mixture of eggs, half and half, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, salt, etc. Then you deep fry the soaked pieces in very clean oil. They puff up and are terrific.

quote:

Originally posted by Williamsburger

When y'all stuff french toast, do you split a thick piece of toast and make a pocket? Or put the filling in between two slices? And I've heard of french toast soak overnight and baked in the over, anyone know about this?
Thanks
Cathy

Cathy,
I have made several different versions of french toast soaked overnight first, and I have given up. I feel like it is never really cooked through and it remains soggy. I have just gone back to my regular batter - eggs, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon and a bit of vanilla. Good luck though it you try it!
Kim

This past Xmas we made french toast with eggnog! Yummm...
Cathy

French Toast, the way I was brought up on: My whole family from England so I sort of had things a bit different than most people in the states. Dredge white bread slices through a bowl of mixed eggs with black pepper added, fry in a buttered skillet until nice and browned...add a little salt & extra pepper if you want and eat it while it's steaming hot! Yes, that's it. Go ahead, give me hell for it!
But it's really great & I still make it that way to this day!

NO, no syrup or fruits or nuts.....ever!

This is the way I do it, usually when we have guests. I've never had any complaints. I do make my own challah, but I'm sure store-bought would do just fine. Also, I'm not a big fan of cinnamon or nutmeg, but you might want to add a 1/2 tsp. of either to yours.

French Toast for Challah

Ingredients :

1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted,
plus extra for frying
3/4 cup milk or half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (I use Wondra
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 3/4-inch-thick slices day-old challah bread
Heat 10- to 12-inch skillet (preferably cast-iron) (or use an electric griddle at 325*), over medium heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat egg lightly in shallow pan or pie plate; whisk in butter, then milk and vanilla, and finally sugar, flour, and salt, continuing to whisk until smooth. Soak bread without over saturating, about 40 seconds per side. Pick up bread and allow excess batter to drip off; repeat with remaining slices. Swirl 1 tablespoon butter in hot skillet. Transfer prepared bread to skillet; cook until golden brown, about 1 minute 45 seconds on first side and 1 minute on the second. Serve immediately. Continue, adding 1 tablespoon butter to skillet for each new batch.

porkbeaks - thanks for the recipe - particularly the instructions about how long to soak the bread - I've never been sure.

Do y'all think the egg/milk should go all the way thorugh the bread or just on the outside? Should it be cooked all the way through or still mushy/soft?

Cathy, in search of her own perfect french toast.

quote:

Originally posted by Williamsburger

.....Do y'all think the egg/milk should go all the way thorugh the bread or just on the outside? Should it be cooked all the way through or still mushy/soft?................

In my recipe (above), if the bread is correctly "aged", the 40 second soak (per side) will result in the bread being just barely wet in the middle; definitely,not mushy. If the toast is too wet/too dry after the recommended cooking times, just use a hotter/cooler pan and/or cook it a little more/less. A good friend of mine used to make his so wet and used so much vanilla that I thought it to be a type of pan-fried bread pudding; it was good, though, just very very different. pb

I like my French Toast nice and simple.
Just a little bit of butter and then some golden syrup on top.