Plain and simple French toast

[bearfan454]

That's right. FRENCH toast is good. My granddaughter likes to make this with me when she's here on weekends. It's also a good way to get rid of bread that is getting old. Beat an egg in a bowl



Add some milk and beat that with the egg until it's mixed up real good



Get your frying pan hot and melt some butter



Dip your bread in the egg / milk mixture and turn it over and dip the other side too



Put them in the hot pan and let them get pretty well brown on one side before you turn them over



Flip them and brown the other side



Plate them and add your butter and syrup. There are a lot of variations on what to put on top such as some people like powdered sugar, cinnamon, jelly, and other stuff. I like syrup.

[livetohike]

1. I love your pictures and instructions bearfan

and I love French toast (not freedom toast, lol).

[bearfan454]

2. I have a lot of fun posting cooking pics.

A lot of us here in this group know how to cook already. I post these pics to show people that don't know that much about cooking how to do stuff.

[tishaLA]

3. You don't use vanilla extract in your egg mixture?

I've never done it with just eggs and milk....

[bearfan454]

4. I've never tried that.

It sounds good though. I will try it that way next time.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Sparkly makes our French toast

She adds vanilla, some sugar, and sometimes orange or almond extract, too.

We like layers of flavor.

[bearfan454]

6. Mmmmmmmmm. n/t

[RedEarth]

10. In addition to vanilla extract, I also like to use nutmeg....

and when done,top it with fruit.

[tishaLA]

12. I usually do cinnamon instead of nutmeg

but I'll have to try the nutmeg. I also like Sparkly's use of orange and/or almond extract!

[iverglas]

7. use the cinnamon!

There's some evidence that "a small amount of cinnamon taken daily can be instrumental in lowering blood sugars", which is a good thing for people with Type 2 diabetes or its precursors (like impaired glucose tolerance) -- and these days, for just about all of us.
http://dietsnutrition.allinfoabout.com/features/cinnamon.htm
And with all the sweet stuff that people put on their French toast, that's a good thing.

As I sat in the lab this week waiting for the second part of my glucose tolerance test (no results yet, but my co-vivant has Type 2 diabetes, and I'm the cook, so I'm up to speed on it all already), I picked up an old copy of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, and found this (which I'd already looked up on the net after seeing a reference to it in the only other copy of the mag I'd read, also while sitting in a medical waiting room, 2 years ago).

http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/food/recipes/food_200201_frtoast.jhtml

SAUCE

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
4 bananas, sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup bourbon

BATTER

6 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
4 to 8 tablespoons butter
8 slices country-style white bread
(preferably 4 to 7 days old)

Maple syrup, optional

To make sauce:
In a small pan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat; carefully add bananas and simmer for 2 minutes.
Remove from stove and add bourbon; return to flame and continue simmering an additional 2 minutes.
Cover and keep warm until ready to use.

To make batter:
In a large bowl, lightly whisk eggs and salt. Add vanilla. Pour in cream, continuing to whisk until well blended.

Melt 1 to 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Dip 2 bread slices in batter and cook each side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining bread slices.

Transfer 2 bread slices to individual plates and top with banana slices and sauce. Serve with maple syrup, if desired.


Now, Canadian though I am, maple syrup makes me gag.

And I'll be altering the recipe (which I think I'll try this weekend) by
- using brown sugar substitute in the sauce (which probably won't work, but I'll try it)
- adding about 2 tsp of cinnamon to the batter (it really doesn't taste very strong)
- using whole-grain bread (if you're going to eat bad stuff, you may as well eat some good stuff with it, but I'll avoid the stuff with the actual seeds and lumps in it)
- using (less) 1% skim milk instead of heavy cream
- using unsalted Becel instead of butter

and heck, it might not taste so fabulous, but it will be actual food rather than artery cement.

[Shakespeare]

8. Here's how I make it:

Cut day-old french bread (even sourdough works well for this) into 1 1/14" thick slices (I usually do 4 slices). Make a "custard" of 4 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups half & half, 1/2 cup sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Place the slices in a baking dish and cover with the custard mix, making sure all pieces are well-soaked. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. I've found it works best to put the slices into a dish that they fit into with little or no extra room--it sort of forces the bread to soak up more of the custard.

The next morning, cook them with a little butter on LOW heat (so all that custard that's soaked through to the middle gets done) in a frying pan until nicely toasted on both sides. Dust liberally with powdered sugar and enjoy! I occasionally top with sliced berries or peaches, too, if they're in season.

[merci_me]

9. That's what I was doing during the SOTU last night.

I even use the same bowl for the egg mixture. Is that a 1 quart Corning?

My husband stopped at the thrift bakery yesterday and picked up two loaves of the thick sliced bread and I made up both loaves last night. One's in the fridge and the other in the freezer.

I use vanilla and a bit of sugar in mine. I wish I'd have seen this and tried the almond in some. For a loaf of the "Texas toast" bread (15 THICK slices), I use 5 eggs and maybe a half cup of milk.

My grandson is here everyday for breakfast and he loves the French toast warmed in the microwave and then while it's hot, I sprinkle a bit of sugar and Cinnamon on it, once in a while some sort of syrup instead.

Mary

[RedEarth]

11. If you look closely, you can see the virgin mary's face

on one of the pieces of french toast......gosh, I sure hope you didn't eat it....:)