A New Take on French Toast

This Saturday morning has dawned not quite as warm and lovely as I would have preferred. I suppose that in the Grand Scheme it's kinder that the weather isn't so inviting, because I have lots of cooking to do this weekend for the baby shower. If the Cullinary Gods straighten up and fly right I will hopefully have a new appetizer invention to share with you later in the day. And if those Cullinary Gods arrive on flying pigs I will have two of the shower dishes finished today.

To prepare my sous chef (the amazing and patient Hubs) and I to launch into the whirlwind of shower cooking we needed a good, hearty breakfast to sustain us (and to keep us from picking at what we're making...we'll never feed 60 if we snack on the product). At yesterday's farmer's market I picked up some local pecan raisin bread.

This is the bread, in it's original, lumpy, glory

Generally, any raisin bread and its ilk are relegated to toast and jam patrol, but not at our house. First, the bread was destined to star as french toast. I find it interesting (and thrifty) that almost every culture has their own way of making pain perdu (lost bread), thereby turning stale bread into something wonderful. The raisins gave the french toast a slight tartness and the pecans provided an unexpected crunch. For lunch the raisin bread will be turned into BLTs (the Hubs' sole request from the farmer's market was bacon). This raisin bread fits well into my central culinary tenent: the Sweet-Savory rule (i.e. all good recipes include a little of the sweet and the savory as balances). Finally, when the bread is almost gone and has started getting stale, I will turn it into croutons for salad (just cut the bread up into cubes, brush it with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and toast it under the broiler). Here is the fench toast recipe, just in case you don't already have it.

French Toast

2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
6 slices bread


Beat the eggs and milk together in a shallow, wide bowl, adding in the spices. Place a piece of bread in the bowl, allowing it to absorb some of the egg mixture. Then flip over the bread, exposing the other side to the egg mixture. Set this piece of bread aside to let the bread really become saturated with the egg mixture. Repeat this process for all of the slices of bread. When the bread seems very wet, set a large grill or skillet over medium heat. Cook the bread in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan until both sides are golden. If you want to serve everyone at once, keep the prepared bread warm in a 200 degree oven. Serve the french toast with maple syrup, dusted with powdered sugar, or with your favorite jam. Bon Appetit!

Serves 2

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