Every now and then a recipe lands on my desk. Usually a chocolate recipe (often bittersweet – Rob pulls these) but this time it was (surprisingly) a french toast recipe. Rob likes french toast but lately he is so health oriented that he will usually save his treats for chocolate (hence the chocolate recipes!) But I think he was thinking of the kids who happen to love french toast. I make french toast a lot – but I just wing it in the hopes that it turns out ok and it usually does. But this recipe caught my eye (well, it was smack in the middle of my desk) so I decided to try an actual recipe and one that the author worked so hard to perfect. Greg was my guinea pig (this was before he went to school, sigh). And well, the results were great. Terrific. Beautiful looking and so tasty. It’s hard to really screw up french toast – but try this for a change and see.
Enjoy –
brown sugar french toast (from The New York Times Feb 22 issue by Sarah Karnasiewicz):
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
eight, 3/4 inch thick slices day old white pullman bread (I made this again with challah and also good)
veggie oil
1 lemon
powdered sugar
In a wide shallow bowl, combing the milk, yolks butter brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk until well blended.
On medium high heat, swirl just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pans (I like to use 2 pans and do it all at once) – and heat until it begins to shimmer.
Dip each slice into the custard until it is moistened but not soggy. (About 15 seconds per side). Place bread slices in the pans and fry until crisp and golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.
Divide slices among four plates and top each with a small squeeze of lemon and a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Delicious.
