A simple and festive recipe for baked eggnog french toast from Jennifer Farley’s gorgeous new cookbook The Gourmet Kitchen. [Read more…]
cinnamon orange baked french toast
I woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain. Unseasonable warmth means we have the windows flung wide. This morning’s downpour has given way to a drizzle, and outside, birds chirp, geese honk, and rain drops plop. Inside, the tree is lit with a single strand blinking, its verdant pine fragrance enhanced by the humid air.
Brian’s running errands with the girls right now. Soon we’ll all be back home listening to Christmas music, making cookies, and probably bickering about some nonsense. Before I’m swept up, before you’re off to wherever you’re going, I want to wish you the merriest possible Christmas. [Read more…]
brown sugar and cinnamon baked french toast
A recipe for kid-made make-ahead brown sugar and cinnamon french toast that’s perfect for special occasions or every day celebrations.
baked strawberry french toast
Things around here feel lighter lately. The blustery spring winds seem to have taken many of my worries with them. Life feels really right, and I’m grateful for it. I have a tendency to make things much more complicated than they need to be, but recently I’ve tried to streamline, keep my brain in check, and above all else, keep it simple. Also, our house has been clean for 5 days straight and that’s seriously some kind of (wonderful) record.
For Mother’s Day we’re going to stay close to home, eat some brunch, and maybe fly a kite. [Read more…]
french toast with orange
Tomorrow morning is set to be a rainy one here in Brooklyn. Maybe the perfect time to make French toast. French toast is not really the type of thing you should eat all the time, but when you do, you might as well do it up. This version uses a fluffy white artisanal loaf and features the delicious combination of orange, vanilla and maple syrup.
The key is to really get the bread saturated with egg mixture until it is almost falling apart. I fry my French toast in a combination of butter and coconut oil. The coconut oil resists smoking and adds another layer of perfume-y but not over the top flavor. If you don’t happen to have coconut oil, just use something neutral.
French Toast with Orange
(serves 3 or 4)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt, heaping if you have a salt tooth like me
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
6-8 thick slices of bread, preferably something fluffy or spongy
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons coconut or neutral oil
a couple grates of orange zest and maple syrup for serving
Put a large platter into the oven and heat it to 170 degrees. Put the biggest frying pan you have on the stove over medium heat while you prepare the French toast. The lengthy pan heating makes for more even heat and perfectly cooked French toast.
Break the eggs in to a large bowl and beat, whipping air into them. Then whisk in the milk and orange juice, and then the salt, sugar and vanilla. Put three of four slices of bread into the egg mixture and soak each side for four or five minutes. When the pieces are thoroughly saturated, heat the butter and oil in the frying pan. Add the french toast, making sure that the pieces are drippy and drizzly when you put them into the pan. Put new slices into the batter to soak. Meanwhile, fry each side until it is seared and golden, then flip and cook the other side. When the pieces are done, carefully transfer them to the heated platter in the oven. Cook the second batch and continue until all the pieces are cooked. If there is leftover liquid, dump it onto the last slices as they cook.
I think French toast holds up well in the oven for 15 minutes or so, if it’s going to be any longer, turn the oven temp up a little. Serve with a grate of zest, a slice of orange, a drizzle of maple syrup, and, if you like to push your luck, slices of bacon.