I love French Toast

[Blackhorse]

I love French Toast. But I’m really really picky. I make mine with Grand Central Como bread. The Como is a signature Italian-style hearth bread! Named one of the country’s best artisan loaves by Saveur magazine, Como has a golden crust and chewy interior. Perfect for sandwiches, toast and bruschetta. (A blend of Shepherd’s Grain and Roger’s unbleached flours, water, salt, yeast.). I slice it a little over an inch thick then let it rest in a simple mix of eggs, a splash of milk and a dash of pure vanilla. I have a 12” Ninja non stick pan that I bring to temperature then squirt in some Kouzini Ultra Premium Raw Extra Virgin Olive Oil to help crisp the edges. Once browned nicely it goes on a wide plate, gets a slather of organic butter and a hefty dollop of Pacifica pure virgin raw unfiltered Sage honey. Oh Mama…so good.

 

[RSteve]

Does it hold up in the mail?

 

[D.L.Ruth]

Does it hold up in the mail?

I know right? That sounds so good

 

[Blackhorse]

Does it hold up in the mail?

You’ll never find out.

 

[RSteve]

For my grandkids I buy a baguette at Aldi's, slice it on the bias about 3/4" thick, then soak it in egg with a bit of milk and a little maple syrup. I melt some butter in a non-stick pan and drop in the slices. They don't like it very browned; actually want it really soft in the middle. After I take it out of the pan, I put some butter and more maple syrup on top. They let it sit until it's cool enough to pick up and eat with their fingers. Usually they pull it apart, eat the inside, and leave the crust, which I usually eat before I wash their plates and yell at them to wash their sticky hands.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I'm INTO this thread. I love french toast. I love it so much that though I don't dream about being rich enough to rent a motor yacht, and though I think spending $200K to rent a motor yacht for a few days and make such a big deal about the food is nutty and wrong, one of things on my preference sheet would be for several recipes of french toast to be at each breakfast and never have a recipe repeated. I don't care about a chef turning a dinner plate into a work of art or 7-course meals or this reduction or that michelin experience, but I would love to experience a chef going nuts with french toast. Also crepes, but that's for another thread.

I've tried many recipes. Ingredients I've liked, but not necessarily all at once or always included: orange rind (get one of those microplanes), yogurt, whipping cream, cream cheese, challah bread, french baguette.

If you prefer a soft, almost custardy/gooey center, challah bread is a good choice. The french baguette is for the opposite side of that.

 

[Blackhorse]

Zeno Marx - I think the orange zest idea is brilliant. I can see it dusted over a blended topping of whipped cream and cream cheese. Maybe a little cinnamon or nutmeg.

 

[Sherlock]

Now I'm hungry. Each version sounds so yummy. I've never been that creative with French toast.

 

[Blackhorse]

I often use a slather of salted organic butter followed by a schmear of marionberry jam plus a drizzle of maple syrup. But really it’s mostly about the bread. To me, the Grand Central Italian loaves are ideal. A heavy crust and thick chewy center. Their Ciabata is the best tasting bread I’ve ever encountered.

Of Course all this rich sweetness needs a foil. Aside from the coffee or strong tea…it’s bacon. Yup…bacon is the thing. It makes the plate that stunning combination of sweet/salt. Lovely…just lovely.

 

[Zeno Marx]

That's how I use yogurt or buttermilk in the soak, for the wee tangy juxtaposition to the sweet syrup and rich challah. To me, plain yogurt is the better option of the two.

 

[Blackhorse]

That's how I use yogurt or buttermilk in the soak, for the wee tangy juxtaposition to the sweet syrup and rich challah. To me, plain yogurt is the better option of the two.

What kind of yogurt do you prefer? Old standard American, Greek, Bulgarian, Swiss, Icelandic, etc., etc.? I wonder if it would make a difference. Aside from the thickness I mean.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

What kind of yogurt do you prefer? Old standard American, Greek, Bulgarian, Swiss, Icelandic, etc., etc.? I wonder if it would make a difference. Aside from the thickness I mean.

I like plain Greek yogurt myself

 

[peanubutter]

Recently discovered a French toast breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese at the store. I have made it at home several times and it an awesome sandwich anytime.

 

[Blackhorse]

Recently discovered a French toast breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese at the store. I have made it at home several times and it an awesome sandwich anytime.

Well…..there’s always the traditional Monte Cristo sandwich. They used to be more prevalent, but times change. Do a google search using the term and you’ll see oodles of tempting photos. But essentially it’s uses egg dipped bread with turkey, ham and Swiss cheese. You do the egg dip after the sandwich has been assembled. Then you dip it and fry it like french toast. Eat it like a French Dip but using something like thousand island dressing for dipping. Do it with turkey, cream cheese and cranberry for a Turkey Cristo…etc., etc., etc. Better than good.

 

[Zeno Marx]

What kind of yogurt do you prefer? Old standard American, Greek, Bulgarian, Swiss, Icelandic, etc., etc.? I wonder if it would make a difference. Aside from the thickness I mean.

I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to yogurt...and I'm frugal and usually use whatever I have on hand. I like the stuff. Plain and simple. I tend to buy Greek, but I do remember trying a Bulgarian that I liked quite a bit with french toast. Not really a fan of Swiss or the mixed, though I have tried both a vanilla and a lemon yogurt with the french toast soak that worked OK. You really are better off with plain yogurt and vanilla extract or zest or whatever. We have one store in particular that has nice, smartly curated ethnic sections, and it is really the only store in town that can have "unique" goods. They have the best cheese section in town, and that's where I found the Bulgarian yogurt on clearance...because as you could rightly assume, the only store with unique selection is also a store that can sit on said unique selection and then have to discount it to get rid of it vs trashing it. I'll have to pull out the recipe I use, because I think I only use 1/2 cup of yogurt.

 

[Blackhorse]

That would be 1/2 C yogurt to two eggs?

 

[Zeno Marx]

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/challah-french-toast
This is the core recipe in which I danced around with experimentation. Usually 1/2 cup yogurt, which leaves a couple spoonfuls for me to eat out of a standard 6oz yogurt. No exact rule though. And with 6 eggs, you know why it is custardy.

 

[Blackhorse]

Today’s version was made from two slices of Grand Central Ciabata cut 1” thick…two large eggs…a dollop of sour cream…a splash of 1% milk…a dash of pure vanilla extract…and a shake of cinnamon/sugar blend. Fried using Kouzini Olive Oil. Topped with one pat of organic butter per slice plus a drizzle of Blackberry Honey.

Note: some time ago when I was checking out the reviews of the Blackberry Honey there was actually someone complaining that it didn’t taste like Blackberries at all! Several other customers had to post that it wasn’t supposed to taste like the berry…there was no added flavoring…and that it meant that the majority of the honey was from hives where the bees were into blackberry bushes as their pollen source. DO come along Sparky!