A Small order of Pain Perdu, please

Pain Perdu

Ah,  Oui. Pain Perdu is the French way of saying French toast. They call it “lost bread”.  French toast didn’t even come from France. Nope, we can take our hats off to Rome for this tasty breakfast treat

photo from French Learner

Simple But Tasty

French bread is a pretty tasty breakfast dish often served with maple syrup although I like a dusting of confectioners sugar instead. Some folks like fruit (especially strawberry).  Its pretty simple to make and it does work better with stale or at least day old bread. They dry bread absorbs the egg coating better than fresh. I prefer thicker cuts of bread too but usually will use whatever I have on hand.  (Pro tip: Warm the maple syrup before drizzling it over these beautiful slices of toast.)

Credit the Sister

I am going to give credit for this post to my sister. When I wrote about pancakes she commented that she prefers French Toast. So of course once that was in my head I had to make some.  I also needed a reason to try out the griddle on my new stove. Well I guess the stove isn’t so new anymore more but I still hadn’t tried out the griddle. It was so nice and shiny and clean. I was afraid I’d ruin the griddle and not be able to keep it clean. Well here goes nothing. Lets see how it does with French Toast.

French Toast Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 EGG
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 Cup milk
• 4 slices of day old (stale)  bread

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk egg, vanilla and cinnamon in shallow dish. Stir in milk
2. Dip bread slices in egg mixture, turning to coat evenly on both sides
3. Cook bread slices on lightly greased non-stick griddle or skillet on medium heat until cooked through and brown on both sides.

• This recipe is very forgiving. I almost never measure any of the ingredients and it always comes out good.

My Griddle

So how did my French Toast come out on my griddle? In a word, BEAUTIFUL! The bread took a little longer to cook than when I use a cast iron pan which was my skillet of choice but it browned much more evenly and the end product was great! Turns out the griddle cleaned up easily with a quick sponge down followed by a wipe with a paper towel. I think I’m in love with my griddle.

Here’s a picture of my golden brown French Toast on the griddle right before I plated and dug in. 

photo credit Deb Neumann

I hope you enjoy your Pain Perdu too! Bon Appetit!