The Best French Toast Recipe Ever

With Mother's Day right around the corner, everyone should be honing their breakfast skills. One of the components of a lush morning meal is French toast. Nothing beats this variation of the French pain perdu. It's a surprisingly easy to make dish that even works for a Saturday or Sunday night supper.

Julia Moskin lets us  in on the magic in her column in today's New York Times Food section. She has always gone for what she calls the "slosher" method. where milk and eggs are sloshed together in a bowl. It's then whisked together into a frothy liquid and white bread is dunked in, scooped out and fried in butter.  The chance if it is delicious is about fifty-fifty - not very good odds for any recipe,Ms Moskin goes to a good source for advice , this being  Jessica Koslow, the owner and chef  of Spirit. Her French toast starts with thick, almost steak like slices of white bread, first seared on the stove and then roasted in the oven. She follows the popular New York trend of stuffing the slices with jams (other restaurants use a sweetened cream cheese) However the secret isn't this, but whole cream. A  few tablespoons go a long way according to her,It gives the custard a richer mouth feel. Home chefs who are still wary about using such a rich ingredient should opt for whole milk. The effect is sort of the same  yet results in a better taste than using two percent milk.

Another aspect in making the pain perdu parfait is the bread itself. Home chefs can use regular or Pullman bread which will give uniformly dipped and grilled slices. Ms. Moskin also suggests using the egg rich challah or equally rich brioche bread.Personally I'd prefer either French or Italian bread.It's dense and chewy and makes a wonderful French toast when sliced into half inch rounds.Another factor in making an excellent slice is the amount of time in the custard mixture.Remember that French toast that has been over soaked will have a damp and gooey middle while the crusts stay crisp and brown. To have an evenly coated slice dip it in, letting both sides soak for about three to four Mississippi  as Ms. Moskin advises. There are some schools of thought that advocate adding everything from sugar to Gran Marnier and Amaretto. Don't.It's not a dessert to be later served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Stick with the butter and maple syrup.Cooking it means aiming for a lacy brown crust on both sides. Think the golden brown of caramelized sugar   and not the dull brown of overcooked eggs. You can do what the chefs do and coat it in sugar  as it's fried in butter (Or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter).It'll be the perfect slice.

French toast is a simple but decadent dish. Make it correctly and it will come out as good as any restaurant.version.It will be more than a simple slice of bread, it will be a sensual experieince.

The Po Boy Guide

NOLA or New Orleans Louisiana  has given the world some of the best foods. One truly outstanding one is the po boy , a huge French bread filled with anything and everything, including gator. It is truly tasty and completely filling sandwich and one that can be created to suit anyone's tastes.Luckily there's a new cookbook out to guide those po boy fans.

Southern Po Boy Cookbook (Ulysses's Press) is a great and interesting compilation of po boy recipes..The book was written by New Orleans born foodie Todd-Michael St. Pierre who has written other cookbooks about the delicious cuisine of the Crescent City. His take on po boys is varied and best of all , any body including a young chef can make any one of the recipes. Mr. St.Pierre uses true Cajun/Creole ingredients such as alligator(!) and the famed and flavorful boudin sausage. he also has spins on the other NOLA sandwich , the muffaletta as well. There is a nod to pain perdu or French toast with the entire po boy bread dipped in egg and fried  and stuffed with powdered sugar, jam and Canadian bacon.

Of course New Orleans also has an international population and Mr. St Pierre honors that in the recipes too. He has come up with The Mexican, a Cajun take on a taco, complete with beans, sour cream and chicken. The Germans are also given an homage to Germany with a po boy stuffed with bratwurst, Gouda cheese , sauerkraut and mustard For truly exotic, there are sandwiches that salute China and Thailand.The Beijing  has pork chops cooked in soy sauce and black rice vinegar while The Bangkok fills a po boy loaf with squid and Thai chili. Of course it;s not a true po boy without Cajun mustard which gives the sandwich zing., There's also a spin on the traditional Cuban pork sandwich renamed The Havana by Mr. St Pierre.

For po boy New Orleans lovers or sandwich buffs  , The Southern Po Boy Cookbook is for them.It is chock full of tasty and truly truly filling sandwiches.It caters to traditional Cajun and Creole as well as international flavors. The book is definitely one to own , perfect for those who love a good hearty dish .

This Is The Weekend To Cook!

Mother's Day is this weekend and this is the weekend to cook! I've just received my shipment from Sur La Table . I am over the moon about my new olive oil mister (which will definitely be used) along with my tomato savers and the colander ladles. Both Saturday and Sunday will be spent putting new spins on old favorites.Will I have enough time to create the perfect Saturday supper and Sunday morning brunch? I hope so.

Any meal comes down to planning. I know that for the dinner I will be making spaghetti with Bolognese sauce. The twist on this will be adding the chicken flavored soy strips to it .It'll be like a vegan cacciatore over pasta instead of the usual polenta. The"chicken" will add texture and more taste. It'll also be a turn from the usual, heavier recipe.Of course with it comes fresh made garlic bread and a nice crisp salad.

As for Mother's Day, I may make my Mom's favorite, Eggs Benedict. As you all know I made this just last week and it was a great success. I fried the eggs with the bacon as opposed to poaching them. This gave them a richer flavor and the yolks were more well cooked. I could also go the other route and make French toast, much in the style of its' parent pain perdu. This is where you sub in French bread slices for regular white or challah bread.It makes for a nicely chewy and more flavorful French toast.

This is definitely the weekend to cook. You can try to make the classics or try something else. Just plan now for what you'll be doing. It's easier and you can have more time to cook.