Homemade french toast is on a completely different level than the stiff, white sandwich bread french toast your mom used to make. The challah bread french toast from diners is usually decent, but almost always improperly made. A proper french toast should be creamy and gooey on the inside. This french toast elevates itself even further with it's sweet, bitter, and crunchy pecan crust while the rum gives the entire thing a wonderfully deep, bitter flavor. The homefries are perfect nuggets of creamy potato with a crispy outer crust.
dark rum elevates this french toast from something great to something amazing. while buying an entire bottle of dark rum just for a few tablespoons isn't ideal, it will last for years (also tastes great by itself). If you must omit the dark rum, the french toast will still taste great, it will just be missing that extra depth of flavor.
Do not use too much syrup on this french toast or else it will become way too sweet. Unlike pancakes which take well to a lot of syrup, this french toast only needs just enough to cover the surface of it. You can always add a few more drops if still not sweet enough, but always start with just a small amount.
Make sure to clean out the pan before cooking other batches, as the pecan topping will burn and cause other batches to become bitter.
pecan rum french toast:
enough for 8 thick slices
ingredients:
1. 1 loaf of good quality challah bread
2. 2 1/4 cups whole milk (warmed so the butter stays melted)
3. 4 1/2 large EGG YOLKS ONLY
4. 3 TBL melted butter
5. 3/8 (1/4 + 1/8) tsp table salt
6. 1 TBL vanilla
7. 2 TBL + 2 tsp dark rum
8. 3 TBL light brown sugar
9. 1 1/8 tsp cinamon
pecan crust topping:
covers 8 slices of toast
10. 1 heaping cup pecans
11. 1 TBL light brown sugar
12. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
recipe:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, place baking tray on the rack, and heat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Using a serrated knife, cut off a few inches from each end of the challah loaf. Then, USING A RULER, measure and cut 3/4" slices of bread. You should get 8 solid slices.
3. After oven has pre-heated, place slices onto baking tray and toast for 8 minutes. Flip each slice then toast for another 8 minutes and take out immediately. You do not want any browning.
note: - toasting dries out the bread so that it soaks up more liquid. BUT its important not to over toast the slices or else they will harden to the point that certain areas of the toast will become hard and chewy and never soak up enough liquid. You DO NOT want any browning on the bread. You are only looking for it to lose that soft, chewy texture and gain a drier, crustier texture. While 16 minutes is the perfect amount of toasting for my oven, it would be better to error on the side of slightly under toasted than over.
note: - if you are NOT planning to use all 8 slices of toast at once, be aware that if you leave out the toasted bread for a day or two, they will continue to dry out and become stale at which point they will become too dry and certain parts of the toast will become hard and chewy and never become soft. Instead, only toast the pieces you are planning to cook at that time and leave the rest of the bread on the side. When you are ready to use it, just check for dryness as it may have become stale enough to use. If it still has some moisture and softness to it, toast it in a 300 degree oven for however long it takes to dry out both sides without any browning.
4. For the pecan crust topping, add in 1 heaping cup of pecans, 1 TBL light brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to a food processor. Pulse 10-15 times until it forms small crumbs.
5. Combine milk and butter into a large bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until butter has completely melted. This could take 2-4 minutes. After butter has completely melted, quickly whisk, then add in all of the other ingredients into the bowl and whisk until well combined.
6. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat and melt 1 TBL of butter.
7. Dip in 2 slices of the toast in the milk mixture and count 30 seconds. Flip each slice and count another 30 seconds. Remove, let the excess liquid drip back into the bowl or baking dish, then place onto a large plate.
8. Sprinkle the top with enough of the pecan crumbs to completely cover 1 side evenly. You only need to cover 1 side.
9. After the pan is hot, use your hands to pick up and drop the bread, pecan side down, into the pan.
10. Cook, without touching, for 1 minute as you want the crust to firmly set up. Start to check for browning by peaking under. You are looking for it to slightly blacken, with just a few spots of black, as that gives it a good depth of flavor and a solid crust. It will not taste burnt or bitter, as long as you only slightly blacken it. This could take anywhere from 2-4 minutes.
note: - if you are cooking more french toast, you can soak them and place on the topping in the same manner you did in steps 7-8 while the first batch cooks.
11. As soon as the bottom has a few spots of black, flip it over and cook the second side, JUST UNTIL IT BROWNS (1-3 minutes). You are not looking to get the second side a dark color, you are just looking to brown it some.
note: - If you overcook the french toast, the middle will lose its pudding, creamy texture and become hard and chewy. Make sure to only cook the second side just until you see some browning.
12. If cooking more french toast, first clean off any excess pecan crumble topping from the pan so that it doesn't burn. Add some more butter then continue cooking next batch.
13. Plate and eat immediately with a little syrup. Unlike pancakes, this doesn't need a lot of syrup. Only use a little bit and only add more if you really want to.
home fries:
ingredients
1. 1 large russet potato per person
2. 1 medium sized onion per 2 large russets
3. Salt, pepper, paprika
4. Vegetable oil
5. Butter
6. Preferably a Cast iron pan but a skillet will do
recipe:
1. Wash the out outside of the potatoes and then cut them into 1/2" squares.
2. Place potatoes into a pot large enough to accommodate them and fill with cold water until 1" above the potatoes. Salt the water well, then cover and put over highest heat.
3. Meanwhile, put 2 tsp of vegetable oil per onion into a cast iron pan (or skillet) over medium heat. Dice onions then place into oil. Lightly salt and pepper them then cook for 5 minutes, just until translucent. Remove onions and place into a small bowl. Turn off the heat but don't clean the pan.
4. Watch the water carefully. As soon as it gets to a rolling boil, count 60 seconds, then drain all the potatoes.
5. Reheat the cast iron pan (or skillet) over medium high heat and add 2 TBL of vegetable oil and 1 TBL of butter.
note: - you want a good amount of oil when cooking the potatoes so it will prevent burning and help create a nice, crispy crust.
6. After the pan has heated up, add 2 potatoes at a time to the pan so that every piece of potato is touching the surface of the pan. Move and arrange potato pieces to make sure they are all touching the pan. There should be some pooling of oil in the bottom of the pan. If not, add a few more tsp of oil until it starts to slightly pool.
7. Cook, without moving or touching any of the potato pieces for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, check the bottom of a few pieces of potato for browning. You are looking to develop a dark brown crust. If it is still pale or just lightly brown, cook for another 2-3 minutes until it becomes a very dark brown.
8. After a dark brown crust has formed, use 2 forks to flip each piece of potato, 1 by 1, 90 degrees onto another side to cook. Yes, this is somewhat annoying and tedious, but if you don't do this step, some of the pieces will end up burning.
9. Cook this second side another 3-6 minutes without moving or touching the pieces, until it also forms a dark brown, crispy crust.
10. Repeat steps 8-9 until you have browned at least 4 sides of the potato.
11. Turn off the heat, re-add the onions back to the potatoes, mix and heat through for 1 minute.
12. Carefully bring the pan to the sink, then pour out most of the access oil while holding the potatoes and onions in the pan with a large spoon.
13. Add 1/2 tsp of paprika per potato and salt and pepper to taste. I like my home fries pretty aggressively salty, so I always end up adding a good amount of salt.
14. Serve with ketchup on the side and enjoy
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