7/12/05 | Quick French Toast
[ Currently Eating: Much Needed Coffee ]
The other day I had a hankering for some French Toast which is a bit unusual for me because I’m not so much a “sweets” type of person. I’ve had good and bad french toast outside in restaurants, it’s pretty much been a tossup. So making it at home seems a good bet especially for those times you get a craving for it.
French Toast, or Pain Perdu (Lost Bread), was originally meant to be a way to fix up bread that had gotten old. This pretty much qualifies as Cheap Eats because you’re using stuff that otherwise might get thrown away.
The basic recipe is beat up an egg, dip toast in it, and fry that. Most add some sort of milk and sugar to the mix. The key is that you want it to be sort of crispy on the outside but buttery and velvet smooth on the inside. Pretty tough.
I think a lot of it has to do in the type of bread you choose. I hadn’t made french toast in awhile so I decided to go off a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. They did all sorts of testing and came up with the bread of choice being something called “Challah”(I believe this is Jewish?) They said to stay away from supermarket Italian or French breads beacuse it comes apart. White Sandwich bread seems to be acceptable though. I used bakery sandwich bread because it’s thicker and crisps better, but you can probably use Wonder as well.
Here’s the recipe as modified by me:
Quick French Toast
6 slices day old sandwich bread — $0.30
2 tbsp melted butter — $0.10
1 egg — $0.05
3/4 cup milk — $0.15
1.5 tbsp sugar — $0.05
1/3 cup flour — $0.05
2 tsp vanilla extract — $0.20
1 tbsp oil or equiv “Pam” spray — $0.05
1/4 tsp salt — negligibleTotal: $0.95
Heat up a skillet till it’s really hot, 3-5 minutes. I like to use a really flat pan (like for pancakes), and if you’ve got it use a Cast Iron pan. In the meantime, beat up the egg in a shallow plate, whisk in melted butter, milk, vanilla extract, sugar, flour and salt, in that order.
Soak each slice of bread for about 30 seconds a side in the batter mixture. Take it out and shake it to remove excess. Put some oil in the pan and swirl with a paper towel. Alternatively, you can use those “Pam” sprays. Fry the bread until golden brown. It’ll be about 2 minutes for first side and then 1 minute on the second. You made need to experiment based on temperature of pan. Serve while hot, hopefully with maple syrup!
My French Toast according to these instructions came out pretty well actually. If you don’t mind the bread burning a bit you can leave it on longer in order to crisp up.
The Cook’s recipe said to use butter to actually fry the bread in as well. I thought that might be too much butter, but you can try it out. The bakery sandwich bread I used actually came out really well, because it was thicker and more substantial than standard supermarket bread. So I guess if you can afford it, use thicker bread!
Even if you are going to only eat 2 slices of french toast, you may want to go ahead and make the full recipe. For one thing, the cost is nearly the same (especially if you are making use of old bread anyhow). Also, you can set aside the extra french toast slices and then make a really kick ass sandwich for lunch using those!
I believe in restaurants this is called a Monte Carlo Sandwich. In their version, they basically make a ham / turkey and cheese sandiwich, compress it and refrigerate it, and then batter and fry the ENTIRE thing. Often served with jam or fruit compote on side. It is delicious. You can make this taste nearly as good, by just using the leftover french toast slices, adding meats and cheese, and then bake it in a toaster oven until done. Yum!
Cheap Eats Score: 9/10
July 12th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Hi! Yes, Challah is in fact a jewish egg bread. it is very pourous and soaks up all kinds of goodness. If you use challah bread, let it sit out for a day to two days. You want this stuff pretty darn stale. And when you soak it let it sit there for a bit on each side to really soak in the custard batter (egg solution you just made). Challah franch toast simply rocks. Period. I’m a bachelor that drinks often so if there is french toast at all it is two day old bunny bread and straight eggs and milk with some kool aid on the side.
July 12th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
bonz - I’m not sure but I think I have had this bread before in a restaurant? Yeah, the recipe said that for challah you wan to soak it longer in the batter than normal sandwich bread. Where do you pick up Challah usually, do they have it in the supermarket?
Oops, I forgot to count powdered sugar in the ingredients list… makes it look more purty.
July 12th, 2005 at 9:09 pm
Here in Hawaii, many places use local sweet bread, which is pretty darn good with some syrup and powdered sugar. The slices they use are pretty thick, about twice the thickness of the bread you used. If only I wasn’t so crappy in the kitchen, I would make French Toast all the time.
July 12th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
ah marvo, yeah i like the hawaiian sweet bread. are you talking Kings or is it another brand? Now that you mention it I’m getting a hankering for some. I usually get a large circular loaf and just eat it straight up…
July 12th, 2005 at 11:36 pm
Usually it’s the Kings sweet bread, but I’ve had it with others. Oh, it’s sooo good.
July 13th, 2005 at 12:17 am
They actually have a “King’s Hawaiian Bread” bakery plant 20 miles south of me in Gardena / Torrance area. I pass by it all the time on the way to a friend’s house. I haven’t been inside, but I’ve been meaning to check it out sometime!
July 13th, 2005 at 2:05 am
I instead of vanilla extract, I use ground cinnamon.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:48 am
Mmmm I love french toast! I use evaporated milk instead of regular milk because it gives it a bit of a sweeter taste. Yum!
July 13th, 2005 at 9:02 am
I’ve never used stale bread for my French toast since….well, bread doesn’t last that long in my house.
Challah bread (cut about 2 inches thick, hehe) makes the best French toast I’ve made so far, having the most sponge-like quality. Mmm, egg sponge!
July 13th, 2005 at 9:31 am
You can pick up challah bread in most supermarkets here in the Midwest. Challah bread is very similar to the Hawaiin sweet bread but obviously not quite as sweet. The texture is almost identical. The bread itself is very yellow (egg bread duh!) so if you use it for french toast it gives a striking yellow consistency throughout.
Cheap eats addition to FT: It is mid July right now and those berries that just came up and out are DIRT cheap right now. Toss em on fresh or moosh em up with a bit of water and honey for a syrup of sorts.
July 13th, 2005 at 9:33 am
earl - cinnamon sounds like it’d be a good fit. I’m not sure why this Cook’s recipe didn’t have it, because a lot of the recipes I know call for a pinch of it.
andie - wow, that sounds pretty decadent! Almost like a bread pudding?
robyn - 2 inch thick bread?! that’s a thick french toast! I’m going to have to look to see if they have Challah bread at the market…
July 13th, 2005 at 9:40 am
Bonz - huh, so I could probably use hawaiian bread then! I’d probably use less sugar than the recipe said.
When I was younger, I went to Oregon and I remember picking blackberries along the side of the road. They were growing like weeds. We made a ton of blackberry jam/sauce out of them!
July 13th, 2005 at 4:46 pm
Just so you know, while at the store today I picked up some Challah bread so I can make french toast this weekend. LOL LOL
July 13th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
AGHH! Everyone is luxuriating in loaves of Challah and Hawaiian bread except for me!
July 15th, 2005 at 6:36 pm
I’d use more egg and less milk. Restaurants usually serve French Toast topped with syrup or powdered sugar, but I like mine with a cinnamon/sugar topping.
July 15th, 2005 at 7:09 pm
jain - well, i try not to use too many eggs just because of cholesterol. Although, the “1 egg”, “3/4 cup milk” is straight from the Cook’s recipe. But I do think the cinnamon idea is a good one, as earl and you both suggested!
November 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am
french toasts stays together and crisps more easily if you pop it in the toaster first…
March 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
When I whip up a quick French toast (usually because I have nothing left but eggs, milk and bread) I just whisk the eggs and milk together with the vanilla, add cinnamon, and batter the bread, then fry it with butter or butter-flavored PAM — I think white and wheat taste about the same. I’m sure this recipe would taste wonderful but even the paired down cheap version is tasty too.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:12 am
So, as I sit here writing this, I’m enjoying the first French Toast I’ve ever made, and it’s delicious. I wanted you to know your post inspired me to do it, and it’s amazing. Thanks! I did read some of your reader’s comments too, and added ground cinnamon and I got a big round loaf of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread. Just simply amazing.
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:56 am
I just made this french toast and I am a bit disappointed. I should have added some cinnamon, but for the most part I found this relatively flavorless. Had a hard time finding a temp balance to actually cook the pieces a bit and not burn them. Overall: feh, but it may have been my own fault for not cooking them long enough, so perhaps I will try again with cinnamon and report back.