I Love French Toast

Is French toast really French? The answer is yes.... and no. Sure the French have a similar dish called pain perdu (lost bread), but people have been dipping stale bread in a variety of substances (from the eggy concoction that we use today to a mixture of wine and orange juice) and frying it for centuries.

This is a dish that has countless regional variations, exists in many different cultures, and has had numerous incarnations throughout the years. This is just the kind of dish that I love. I don't just love it because it is a practical way to use stale bread. I don't even just love it because it tastes great swimming in maple syrup. I love it for the stories that it has to tell.

I love that some people dip it in maple syrup, while others eat it with Vegemite or cheese and tomato sauce. I love it that some people cut the crusts off of sourdough bread and dunk it in rich farm eggs and cream while others use whole grain bread and egg whites. I love that variations of this dish have been served to ancient Romans, Medieval kings, French peasants and happy American 6 year olds. I also love the unlikely stories that surround its birth: The innkeeper from New York named French who didn't know how to use an apostrophe, or how French toast was called German Toast until WWI.

What I'm trying to say here is that I love French Toast!


For my French toast I use whole grain bread and dip in in a mixture of egg, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. You need almost one egg per slice of bread (I used 4 eggs for 5 slices of bread).


After it is soaked you cook it in a little butter in a non stick pan until the center is firm to the touch. If it feels soft in the middle chances are that the middle is still raw egg. You want to make sure that you turn it down if this is the case. You don't want the outside to get overly brown while you wait for the inside to cook.



Once it is done you just put it on a plate, cut it up and top it with syrup, honey, fruit powdered sugar ... or just about anything your heart desires. Dig in!

This is what I love this Wednesday....

Cheers,
Jenn