Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Before the weather goes completely to hell
The sea was gorgeous this morning. The photo doesn’t do it justice.
All before noon, I have
- Washed, dried, and folded a load of laundry.
- Fixed some killer French toast — oops! — liberty toast for Karen. Recipe below.
- Fixed ham and eggs for my son.
- Macerated four cups of dried fruit in dark rum to make Alton Brown’s fruitcake recipe. I’ll let you know if it’s worth the effort.
- Done my grocery shopping for the weekend.
- Mailed off the mortgage check.
- Brined a few pork chops.
- Marinated chicken in onions, yogurt, salt, black pepper, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, and fenugreek.
- While she was showering, I watched my wife in a sweet, yet somehow creepy, stalkerish way.
Why do most restaurants screw up French toast? It’s not that tough. Slice French bread into four slices, each 3/4 inch to one inch thick. Put the slices into a one gallon ziplock bag in one layer.
Beat two to three eggs, 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup milk, a slosh of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and a shake of cinnamon. Pour this into your ziplock bag and roll it around to evenly distribute the liquid. Throw it into the fridge until you are ready to use it. (It will keep overnight. On weekends, I always make two days worth.)
Fry the bread in butter over medium heat. When the toast is crispy on both sides, slosh some maple syrup into the frying pan. The syrup will get very hot, will partially caramelize, and will coat the down-side of the toast. Pour everything out onto a plate.
As my son used to say when he was three, “Wallah!”
Now, if only I can
- Get some editing done.
D.
Oh Doug, Doug, Doug…you forgot to mention a crucial ingredient in that French Toast recipe: nutmeg.
Try it – you won’t be disappointed.
French Toast
an alternate recipe
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk or 1 cup milk and ½ cup maple syrup (real maple syrup, not that Aunt Jemimah stuff)
dash of salt
Melt butter. Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
Spread on bottom of 9×13 pan. Cover with 2 layers of bread
Slices (best with the thick Texas toast-style bread).
Beat eggs/milk/salt. Pour over bread. Cover overnight in
fridge. Bake at 300 for 30 min.
Thanks! Yes, fiveandfour, I forgot the nutmeg. My wife doesn’t care one way or the other, so I usually leave it out. Back when I made it for myself, I would include it.
Maureen: this sounds very interesting. Too bad I’m only feeding one person!