French Toast was one of our dad’s best recipes. Maybe his only recipe, but surely his best.
He taught us to make it one Mothers Day, to surprise our mom with breakfast in bed. I’m quite sure she was tipped off when she likely heard at least 4 of her 5 children clammering around in the kitchen, and she lay hoping no one would get hurt.
I had never seen my dad cook before and was not even sure for a minute that this was my dad. He’d only been in the kitchen to eat, as far as I could remember. But, he was so confident and kind to show us how to make French toast, I just played along because it was so much fun.
He made a point to say that he had a secret ingredient! It was a splash of orange juice. He demonstrated so well how you just pour and mix in a little with the egg batter, soak the bread, and there you were. Suddenly I thought my dad was a world-class Chef, how did I never know that before?
Mind you, just like in the Netflix film French Toast, that I adore, there is really no recipe for this. But you can follow what I have here, and be just fine. I highly recommend sneaking in the other, very important secret ingredient – Love – and promise that it’s only a matter of time before someone asks for your recipe.
Larry’s French Toast
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
splash of orange juice
8 slices of really good quality bread – white or wheat, or any other you prefer
about 4 Tbsp butter, maybe more
Warm maple syrup and powdered sugar, for serving
In large shallow dish, whisk eggs with milk and orange juice. Dip bread in batter, turning once.
In large – preferably nonstick – skillet, melt ½ portion of butter over medium flame to coat bottom of pan. Add more butter as needed.
Gently place up to 4 slices of battered bread in skillet, cook until just browned, then flip and cook other side. Transfer to warm dish and repeat until all bread is made into French toast!
To serve, dust with powdered sugar, and pass maple syrup for topping.
Yields 4 servings.
Note:
Larry kept it really simple, which was perfect for teaching children … then, later in life, his daughter became a Chef 😉
You may wish to add any or all of the following to the egg batter. Truth be told – I do:
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg (about ½ tsp)
Fresh fruit / berries, for serving
