The Classic Mother's Day Dish Redone

 There will be  a lot of French toast made this Sunday, The American variation of the famed French pain perdu is a Mothers' Day classic right up there with macaroni necklaces and handmade cards. yet imagine doing it just a tad differently for a truly memorable holiday.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark gives her spin on it in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section.French toast has been around, way before the French used stale bread to create a tasty dish.The Roman Apicius had a recipe for it using wine and honey to an Anglo-Norman cousin which was served with almond milk.There is also a Spanish version called torrejas made with cinnamon and syrup. There are modern variations that include peanut butter and condensed milk, French toast with a streusel topping and even ones with pears, pumpkin spice and pecans.If you want the perfect French toast make sure you use stale or dehydrated bread .Fresh bread is too spongy and it would dilute the egg mixture with moisture.Most recipes call for frying the bread but why go to all that trouble. Baking it works better.it may not give you that crispy buttery crust but  it will become crunchy and caramelized with a sprinkling of sugar.

Her two recipes are baked French toast with different flavors. Those who love the earthy mellowness of brown sugar should try her sheet pan version. What bread should you use. Anything that strikes your fancy.It could be croissants for a light airy bite or challah for rich one. Regular white bread or pain de mie can also be used. The first recipe is soaking the bread in the egg ,milk and cinnamon mixture on the pan itself.The bread should be allowed to soak from anywhere from four hours to overnight. It's then sprinkling the brown sugar on the sheet pan and over the slices,Bake in a 375 degree Farenheit oven for twetty-five to thirty-five minutes.The tops should be golden brown and puffy. The other recipe calls for heavy cream lemon and Gran Marnier to create a lemon souffle type recipe .Whole milk and heavy cream are also added. lemon sugar is first created by mixing lemon zest into white sugar. A dash of nutmeg is also added for flavor The egg ,cream and dairy are added to this.It's poured over slices of toasted challah and baked ina  buttered casserole dish. Set in a 375 degree oven for twenty to thirty minutes.

These are great recipes for Mother's Day.It's nice to have a classic dish but even nicer when it's updated. Try for a great Mother's day brunch or even a light supper.

Fired Up Foods

 Setting food on fire is as old as  the flames themselves. There's something dazzling about a dish that comes to the table with a burst of light. This kind of flamboyant coookign is coming back. Best of all it can be replicated in the home kitchen. What better way to enjoy it than for Valentine's Day.

Melissa Clark wrote about this type of cooking in her A Good Appetite column in today's New York Times Food section. Flambeing was a must in so many restuarants in the Fifties and Sixties. The one dish, whcih she also features was cherries jubilee , first created by the great French August Escoffier for Queen Victorti'as Golden Jubilee. Another dessert, New orlean's famed Bananas Foster is another such dish. This si a delcious mix of sliced bananas cooked quickly in a butter, brown sugar and cinnamon saute. Rum is added tableside and the whole flaming sauce is then ladled over vanilla ice cream. Crepes Suzettes are made in a similar vein with the crepes being ignnited tableside to the delight of diners. She also gives the recipe and writes about Cafe Brulot a fancy whipped cream coffee , laced with  cognac and Gran Marnier>Flambeed food goes back to Eighteenth Century Germany when young university students used t ignite their punches. Flaming it tempered the harsher tastes of new alcohol.The 1800's saw a rise in it, especially  with sauces,puddings and even fruit cakes. Charles Dickens wrote them, in  his famed "A Christmas Carol" with  about Mrs. Cratchet's flaming plum pudding alight with brandy and fire.

Ms. Clark offers more romantic fare for a spectacular Valentine's Day at home. There is the classic French bistro dish of Steak Diane along with Cherries Jubilee and Cafe Brulot. Steak Diane has filet mignon or strip steak that's first saiteed in unslated butter.It's then sliced  and kept warm under an inverted bowl. The sauce is made by sautring shallots in grapeseed or safflower oil. Tomato paste is added and cooked untilits' deepened in color. This si when the cognac is added .Light it with a long stick match  and let it cook until the flame burns out. It's then time to add cream, Worcester sauce , mustard and fish sauce .Cook for another three minutes. You could serve it with shoe string fries for  true bistro dinner. For dessert it's Cherries Jubilee!! It's first crearing a sauce of freshly squeezed orange juice, butter and cardamon pods Sweet cherries and sugar is added to this and cooked until the sugar is dissolved.Pur Cognac in a ladle then into the cherries. Ignite and then turn down the flame. Add a pinch of salt and add oiver cake or ice cream (try chocolate instead of vanilla this time) Finish with the Creme Bruyot. It'd cooking Gtand Marner with  orange and lemon zest along with cinnamon sticks. Igniteand then pour in th e coffee. Strain and served piping hot topped with a good head of whipped cream and cinnamon.

A flambeed meal is a special one. Try a French classic Steake Diane and finish with Cherries Jubilee and Creme Bruyot. It' will make for a fiery and delicious Valentine's Day dinner.