French Toast

Friday Honey took the kids and some of their friends to Winter Jam in Little Rock.  It's become an expected thing that I cook breakfast for the crew that emerges at odd hours the next morning, so I asked them what they wanted.  This year, my kids requested I fix french toast, bacon, and eggs.  

To start off, I enjoy watching cooking shows, but what I really love to watch or the shows that tell you the how or why behind a certain food.  That's why I love Food Network's Unwrapped, Bobby Flay's Throwdown, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Alton Brown's Good Eats, where he tells the "origins of ingredients, decodes culinary customs and presents food and equipment trends."  One of my favorite recipes is Brown's simple French Toast.  French toast is one of those simple breakfast dishes that I've eaten since a child and love, so when I saw his show on it, I had to try it.  It ended up being really tasty and I hardly ever have left-overs.

I've use everything from actual french bread, Texas Toast Bread, and Hot dog buns (my kids used to love Hot Dog French toast), but I rarely use regular sandwich bread.   This is not my recipe, but it is one that is tried and true with us and I wanted to share it with you.  I love to set out some diced pecans, powdered sugar, homemade blueberry syrup, real maple syrup, and real butter to pile on the toast, paired with creamy scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, and orange/grape juice and the family goes away full and happy. 

French Toast

Ingredients

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
• 4 tablespoons butter

Directions

 He suggested to set the bread out the night before on a pan to let it "stale" just a bit.  

In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.  

Enjoy!