Diner-Style French Toast

Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen aren't always right. Well, mostly they are, but I vividly recall my father saying as he watched Alton Brown spatchcock a duck, "That's really interesting. I can't imagine ever wanting to actually do that, but it's interesting."

He had a point. Some recipes from ATK or Alton Brown seem, if not unnecessarily complicated, perhaps trying to accomplish something beyond the basic--admirable in some cases, but in the case of french toast, it's not what I'm looking for.

I've been making french toast since I was in the single digits, and it's still what I will order in a restaurant if I'm there for a weekend brunch. I've always been frustrated when I made my version, because it didn't look--or taste--like the french toast I got at a diner. I knew that part of it was the bread--thin slices of wheat bread, while great for sandwiches, were not, I knew, what the diner was making their french toast out of. The wheat bread I had made a very tough, dry french toast--diner french toast was thicker, and stayed moist but not soggy on the inside, while the outside got brown with eggy goodness.

The answer I eventually worked out was Texas Toast, available for about $2.75/loaf at Trader Joe's. Regular white sandwich bread (like the Farmhouse-style from Pepperidge Farm) will do if there is no TJ's nearby. A slice of Texas Toast is about 3/4 of an inch wide, compared to 1/2 of an inch for regular sandwich bread. This helps the toast stay moist on the inside.

I tried both Cook's Illustrated and Alton Brown's recipes for french toast. They were good, but a) they were overly complicated--CI's in particular requires 8 different ingredients, including whole milk, which I don't typically keep on hand--and b) the flavor they made was classic, rich, and French-inspired. I want diner, not petit dejeuner. So here is my adapted version, which borrows a couple ideas but definitely looks more like something a lady named Muriel might hand you on a bleary Sunday morning.

Ingredients

• 3 slices Texas Toast
• 1/2 cup of milk (I use 2% because it's what I have)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/2 tbs of butter

Hardware

• nonstick frying pan/skillet
• pie plate or other receptacle for egg mixure (microwave safe)
• whisk or fork for beating eggs

Directions

1. Beat eggs and milk together. Add butter to mixture in small pieces, and microwave mixture (up to 1 minute) until butter melts. (Keep a close eye on this and stir if necessary so the egg doesn't cook, just warms. Microwaves differ, and I've had some unpleasant surprises.)
   
2. Add vanilla to egg mixture, and stir to combine.
3. Let each piece of bread soak in egg mixture, 30-60 seconds each side, and then set aside to rest on a plate while the skillet heats over a medium flame. (A drop of water put in the skillet should boil quickly, but not skitter all over the surface of the skillet.)
4. Fry the pieces of toast until brown on both sides, about 3 min per side. (You can choose to put butter in the skillet to truly "fry" the french toast, but with a good, heavy non-stick skillet, I've never actually found that necessary in order to brown.)
5. Let finished toast slices wait in a 250 degree oven while you finish the remaining slices. The slices can stay in the oven up to 45 minutes, if preparing for a crowd.
6. Serve with butter and icing sugar, maple syrup, or fresh fruit as desired.

Mini-post: Blueberry Pancakes

I made blueberry pancakes today--pics to come soon--and they were pretty much my best attempt yet. In place of buttermilk, I use regular milk that has been curdled and thickened with lemon juice. To prevent overmixing, I beat the egg(s) in the "buttermilk" and added the liquids to the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar). This way, only a few stirs to combine finishes off the mixture. Today's pancakes were the fluffiest, most tender ones I've ever had. What do you know...Alton Brown proved right yet again!