How to Make French Toast—and Happy New Year

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Tasha

With variations, tips and tricks to customize your own perfect French toast recipe.

It took me long enough, right? (Can you believe it’s been almost two years? Yeah, me neither.) For a blog with this name, which features recipes, the lack of actual directions for making French toast was getting a little ridiculous. Here’s the thing, I didn’t want to post just a recipe for French toast, that seemed silly, everyone already knows how to make French toast, right? Instead I would put together some marvelous, unheard-of combination of toppings and put that in a post, with the actual French toast just included almost as a by-the-way, here’s how I make it.

I started off yesterday morning with just such a plan, to make a seasonal orange-based sauce. I wasn’t going to tell you this next part, but it now seems important: it did not go well. In fact, it reminded me specifically of the part of the year just passed that I would very much NOT like to repeat in the year to come: me trying very hard for a goal which I (perhaps) have somehow misjudged in one or more ways, expending a lot of time and energy but not quite getting where I’d like to go.

I like to think I’m not superstitious, but at first, this seemed like the most inauspicious possible sign for January 1. Then, as it rolled around in my brain a little more, I started to think that maybe the ~~failed~~ orange sauce (it came out ok after all) was a cautionary tale, and if I took it the right way, I could use it to steer away from the process I don’t want, and towards the one I do.

I started thinking; maybe just French toast is enough. Of course not everyone already knows how to make it. Especially since I have some tips and ideas to get you started with your own never-before-seen, awesome variations. After all, this space is supposed to be about empowering you to make things, and not about me showing off, even though I love sharing the things I make here.

In 2014, I’d like to be more grounded, less hectic. I still have a million dreams of every kind, so many things that I’d love to do. But my journey towards them might not be about reaching as far as I possibly can in one grasp, or frantically trying to fit as much as I possibly can into every single day. Maybe it will be more about doing one little bit at a time, and even about recognizing and sharing the good bits I already have right in front of me.

Happy New Year, friends! May it be a good one for all.

How to Make French Toast

First, and most importantly, you need bread. You can use any kind, and it’s not just a metaphor, or part of the 6 words I chose to describe my life, it really is the best possible use for bread that’s staler than you’d like to eat it. Brioche, or banana bread, or any other thing that’s called a “bread” and maybe borders on dessert, will make amazing, Ann-Sather-worthy French toast. I’ve used my homemade bread for our most recent versions. As always, a quality bread (or any ingredient) will lend even more layers of subtle delicious flavor to the toast (or any finished dish), but it also may be a tastier use for a less-than-stellar bread than eating it alone. How much batter the bread will soak up varies wildly depending on the type of bread and how dry it is, etc.

Next, you need some egg and stuff to soak the toast in. I like it to be mainly egg, because I do not like the inside of the bread to be soggy when it’s done. I like to whisk up the egg etc. in a glass dish with a flat bottom rather than in a bowl, so I can put a few pieces of bread in to soak at a time, and not be left with a little well of liquid at the bottom that the bread can’t reach. For about 6 pieces of bread (again, this varies a LOT depending on your bread, but you can always add a little more to the pan) I use:

3 eggs, whisked up well with:

1/4 cup milk (it’s Ok to substitute non-dairy milk here)

A pinch of salt

A larger pinch of sugar

Next, add some flavorings to the egg mixture—whatever your heart desires. A generous sprinkle of cinnamon, a pinch of ginger and a pinch of cloves is a good way to start, especially in winter. A splash of liqueur is good—for an especially luxurious version, substitute a generous splash of cream for the milk, and add the lost liquid back in by way of brandy or rum etc. Vanilla extract is good (but probably choose it or liqueur), or try another extract, maybe paired with a spice or two, for a unique flavor. I especially like to compliment whatever I’m planning to put on top with a bit of something in the batter, but keep it fairly subtle.

Soak the toast in the batter for a few minutes, then flip the slices over, and let them soak for another couple minutes.

To cook the toast, heat up a heavy skillet over medium heat and melt some butter in it, maybe 1/2 Tablespoon butter for four slices (in my little skillet I used less). The toast should sizzle when it hits the pan, and the egg batter should start to set up right away. It only takes a few minutes to get lovely brown spots on the bottom side, at which point flip the toast over. You may need to add a little more butter between batches.

If not all of the toast is done at once, you can keep it warm on plates in the oven at 200° F, until you’re ready to serve it.

For toppings, really, the sky is the limit. It’s—ahem—delicious with just real maple syrup and homemade crème fraîche. A little orange zest (or even iffy orange sauce) is really good with this basic setup. Practically any fresh seasonal fruit is amazing on French toast, strawberries in spring are particularly wonderful. Any jam you have is good. Coarsely chopped toasted nuts are great (bread with nuts in it would also be great as base). Melted butter, fruit syrup, whipped cream . . .

Some of my favorite flavor combinations may yet appear as time goes on. Please share yours as well!

Preserving Watermelon, or what I took on our Trip to Michigan

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Tasha

This last month or so was the first time in a long time I got to really settle in at home in the summer. To me, one thing that settling in means is buying a lot of fresh food, and cooking it up. Plums just appeared at my farmer’s market a few weeks ago, and my husband loves watermelon. Plus, I was testing out recipes for raspberry jam, in advance of picking black raspberries as they come into season at my friend’s secret raspberry picking spot. So, I found myself about to leave town, in the phase known as “eat the fridge,” with a bowlful of plums, 3/4 of a fairly good orange watermelon, part of a jar of jam, etc.

At first this really bummed me out because I cannot stand to waste food, I pride myself on planning so that we’ll eat everything, and it seemed like a bit much to just chow down.

Then I got to thinking, isn’t this the original reason for preserved foods, because you can’t eat everything while it’s fresh? The plums we’re pretty easy, canned into a delicious compote (more about that later).

Watermelon, though? A quick search produced this article on The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking and this one on Mother Earth News. I basically followed their advice. Cutting the watermelon into quarters longways definitely made it easier to slice it thinly, and to take out lots of seeds, although more appeared as it dried. The flavor of these was actually really good, Bryan likened it to watermelon mixed with butternut squash. I’m still on the fence about whether it was good enough to do again, mainly because it took forever in my oven, where forever is about 5 hours at 170° F, the lowest setting. After letting it dry overnight, I had to heat it up again because cooled, it was stuck irrevocably to the broiler pan I used as a drying rack. By the time it reached the “not tacky” stage recommended in Mother Earth News, it was a struggle to get it off the pan, even warm, without leaving about half behind. The top photo has the most picturesque shreds. If you happen to have a dehydrator though, it’s a no-brainer, you should definitely try some watermelon.

The thing that I’m most happy about this whole escapade though, was instead of seeing all the food we had as something that had to go before we left, I started thinking of it more like an ongoing process, that tied the food to our trip and to our return. After I started thinking this way, I bought a loaf of bread, used part of it to finish up the jam, took part of it with us, and froze part to eat when we come back. I’m looking forward to some French toast with plum preserves!

I’ve also been inspired to think about unconventional road food this summer by Kimberley’s series on The Year in Food. As we sat on the plane, eating fresh bread, carrots & cheese (the last ones left in the fridge, washed and/or sliced and packed to go) and shreds of dried watermelon, I was a happy camper. Having my own food, especially interesting food, definitely takes away some of the sardine can/cattle drive feeling of flying these days.

As I type this, we are getting ready to head over and set up for the Ann Arbor Art Fair, in 103° weather. The dried watermelon is all gone, finished up at the last show. But writing this post and thinking about our food adventures is putting me in a good mood, hopefully one that will last!

Recipe Sketch – Summer Tomato Bruschetta

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Tasha

About time for a post about food, don’t you think?

Although I haven’t had very many opportunities to cook on the road, we’re coming up on the part of summer where there is so much fresh lovely produce, it hardly needs actual cooking. We found some local heirloom tomatoes last week in Maryland, although they are from the hothouse, they put me in mind of late summer bounty.

Bruschetta is one of those foods that doesn’t need much of a recipe, you can vary it infinitely to suit your taste and what’s available. It’s also easy to present in a variety of ways; either everything mixed together to spoon on toast, or all the ingredients laid out for everyone to layer on their own. If you are just learning to cook, it’s a wonderful way to experiment with mixing flavors and proportions.

Summer Tomato Bruschetta

I like the bulk of mine to be tomatoes, the fresher and more colorful the better. Any size will work, bigger ones cut into smaller pieces will make the bruschetta more juicy than baby tomatoes cut in half.

I also like a lot, a lot of basil, it’s one of my all-time favorite favors. When we rented in Madison I would get a few little basil plants at the farmers’ market in the spring and keep them going though the season. If I’m mixing everything together, I stack the leaves, roll them up, and slice the roll into strips to sprinkle in. If you are setting things out buffet-style, whole leaves are fine.

This is tasty with cheese, but don’t feel limited to mozzarella! Try any kind you like, or what’s locally available where you are. My favorite recent find was a goat cheese with the soft texture of brie. I like not too much cheese, not to overwhelm the tomatoes, but of course you can vary it. A soft cheese will blend more with the other ingredients, especially if you mix it all in a bowl.

A little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper will really bring the flavors together. You can set them out if you are doing make-your-own, and drizzle them on top.