Mom's Best French Toast - updated 2nd edition

[Mister Moo]

(when you get sick of steel cut oats)

To die for...



You need bread twice as thick as normal sliced bread. Fresh spongey/poofy-type bread is required - the best is challah or egg bread but Sunbeam Texas BBQ Slices works great. Stale bread or coarser, very dense bread isn't going to cut it.

In a low sided bowl beat or whisk together:

1 1/2 cups milk (skim works but anything fatter is better)
5 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon (or more) of vanilla extract

Add bread so it is flat and soaking up the juice; when it gets heavy, cradle and flip it carefully (it's got to get a bit soggy) with a spatchet (or two spatchets) and let the other side get soggy. Let it get soggy about clear thru.

While the bread soggies up, heat a skillet or griddle and melt more butter on it than is probably healthy for a human. Do not ever let the butter burn or smoke or the toast will taste terrible. Place the soggy bread, which would otherwise rip in half if you didn't cradle it on the lift, in the butter and expect to hear a little sizzling sound. If it doesn't sizzle the griddle isn't hot enough. Cook to half-golden on one side; flip and cook to nearly black on the other side; flip again and cook to dark brown. The inside texture should finish off like a very moist cake. The sugar in the batter will add a slightly hard crust to the outside; it's the sugar that may turn black - don't worry if it goes it little dark looking if that what it takes to cook the batter through the bread.

Serve hot from the griddle. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with choice of syrup or toppings. A little shot of whipped cream get extra points. Crispy bacon alongside is double points.

Eats best with premium coffee followed by a short cigar.

revision...

Originally Posted by BengalMan
What level did you melt the butter and cook the french toast on?

You raise a good question. Burn the butter and the breakfast is screwed. Burnng the butter will ruin the taste of french toast - this toast in particular. Heat the pan on medium- to medium-low and make sure the melting butter doesn't go brown. Watch the butter closely when melting and cooking; you never want to see smoke. When it's melted and bubbling (but not smoking or burning) immediate add the (already) batter saturated bread.

You definitely want the egg-soaked bread to sizzle a bit when it hits the (hot) butter. This will immediately cook the egg (and harden the sugars) to "seal" the skin of the toast. This prevents all the butter from soaking in and making the toast into a greasy blob.

If the butter is brown or smoking it's too hot and ruined for cooking; if it isn't bubbling a bit (enough to make the batter sizzle when it its the pan) is isn't hot enough. Cook medium-low to prevent burning the butter and to insure the batter cooks thru the thick bread - about 5-8 minutes per side. I usually let the first side cook until it gets sealed, about a minute or two, then turn to let the other side cook to dark/golden (5-min) - then flip once more (5 more, approx). Slow heat - sizzle - seal - golden brown to very dark works. If one side goes too dark, serve that side facing down. Nobody will notice.