French toast - as we know it - was almost certainly introduced to the USA by the Creoles in New Orleans. The date is uncertain, but I have a recipe dating from the Civil War Era. It originated as a dish called "Pain Perdu" (Lost Bread) and it was designed as a way to utilize stale bread...really stale bread. The recipe calls for soaking the bread in an egg, sugar, orange flower water and brandy mix for at least 30 minutes. I'll print the original recipe at the end of this Newsletter, but first I'm gonna tell you a little about French Toast and give you my recipe for "THE WORLD'S BEST FRENCH TOAST" (which was inspired by the Creole version of "Pain Perdu"), stuffed with cream cheese and topped with bananas and pecans flambé in Orange Liqueur. If you want to make good French toast you have to use some good bread and it absolutely cannot be real fresh bread. At Mama's if we have to use real fresh bread we slice it and leave it out, uncovered for at least a couple of hours. If you have a good Jewish bakery near you get some Challah (egg bread) I think it's the perfect bread for my French Toast. Unfortunately we don't have any such bakeries in Cabo so we have a local bakery make us a pretty good, slightly sweetened, dense white bread. Second, you have to thin the beaten eggs with some other liquid (water, milk, cream, juice or liqueurs all work well). If you just use just straight beaten eggs they will be so thick that they will merely coat the bread and not soak into it. Lastly, you have to cook the bread at the proper temperature. Too hot and the outside will be done and the inside will be a raw, soggy egg soaked mess. Too low a temp and the outside will not crisp up to a beautiful golden brown. Okay, here's my recipe.

Batter/Toast - Parts List

bread

One loaf of unsliced bread. Unsliced bread is mandatory for stuffing. You could just put some cheese between two slices of bread but it will be way too thick and the cheese won't melt properly and the inside will be uncooked and I just don't like the idea. I suggest some sort of white bread. Challah (egg bread) would be my first choice and I definitely don't recommend any heavy dark bread. Sweet French or Italian or whatever white loaf your local bakery has will probably work great.

batter

Just some beaten eggs with a little bit of added liquid (1 or 2 tablespoons per egg). milk is what I use, but you can use cream or some orange juice or water. If you want you can add some orange or lemon zest and/or a little vanilla...maybe a shot of rum or orange liqueur.

cream cheese

You may see some yuppie chefs calling for French toast with brie or some other pricey cheese...ignore them. Cream cheese works great although some sweetened riccotta works just as well.

Okay, let's make some French Toast!

You're probably gonna need a bread knife here. Slice (a very, very thin slice) down through the loaf almost - but not quite all the way through. Make the next slice just as thin but go all the way through. You should now have a slice of bread that you can open like a book. If you don't, reread the instructions and try again. When you finally get the bread right, place a slice of cream cheese (or spread some riccotta) between the book cover. Keep doing this 'til you have enough slices for everybody. Three slices is a more than generous portion and I can barely eat two. Dip the prepared bread into the batter and make sure it soaks it up. Hold it under for a while. You want the batter to soak into the bread - not just coat it. Toss the battered bread into a generously buttered (you can use margarine) pan or onto a griddle and cook it over no more than medium heat until it's golden brown. Turn it over and do the same to the other side. If you got it right the bread should be moist (but not raw and runny) all the way through and the cheese should be hot and softened. Hey, you just made some terrific French toast, but you should have made the topping first.
Here's the recipe for the topping.

Fruit and Liqueur Topping - Parts List

bananas

one small banana (sliced into rounds) per person sounds about right

pecans

sugar

...a lot. I use regular granulated sugar but brown raw sugar would probably be wonderful.

butter

...a lot, but you can use margarine. No one will know and margarine doesn't burn as easily as the butter.

orange liqueur

let your conscience be your guide, but I use about a half shot per serving. If you have too much money ­ use Grand Marnier, but any Orange liqueur will do.

orange juice

about half a small glass per serving.

Start the bananas frying in a hot pan with lots of butter. When the bananas start to show a little color add the sugar - enough to absorb most of the butter. Stir until the sugar has melted and add the liqueur. A word of caution here - remove the pan from the flame before you add the liqueur. The liqueur is highly flammable and it can catch fire, travel up the liqueur and set the bottle on fire. Then you're standing there looking silly with a lit Molotov cocktail in your hand. You panic and drop the bottle - the bottle breaks, spreading burning Grand Marnier across your kitchen, setting the curtains on fire, burning down your house and you get really mad at me for not warning you and I just don't need anyone else mad at me right now. If you have an electric stove you'll have to set the liqueur aflame with a cigarette lighter or a flint and rock or something. When the flame dies down add the pecans and enough orange juice to make a syrupy mix to put over your French toast. If you have a whole bunch of pretty mint growing in your back yard - a sprig of mint and some powdered sugar makes the perfect garnish. If not, an orange slice looks pretty good, too. Let me know how it turns out.

I promised to give you the original "Pain Perdu" recipe and here it is. This is reprinted without permission from a hundred year old cookbook put out by the "Picayune" in New Orleans. The recipe was old then and still is.

Pain Perdu
(lost bread)

5 Eggs
2 Tablespoons of Orange Flower Water
1/2 Cup of Sugar
Slices of Stale Bread
The Finely Grated Zest of a Lemon
3 Tablespoons of Brandy (if Desired)

The Creoles utilize left-over stale bread in that delightful breakfast relish known as "Pain Perdu". Break the eggs into a bowl, beat them till very light, add the Orange Flower Water and the Brandy, if desired, and then add the sugar and beat thoroughly. Add the grated zest of a lemon, mix well, and then cut the bread into slices or round pieces, taking off the crust, or still again into diamond shapes, and soak them well for a half an hour in the mixture. Have ready a frying pan of boiling lard, lay in the bread, and fry to a golden brown. Lift the slices out with a skimmer, and drain on brown paper in the mouth of the oven. Then place on a hot dish, sprinkle with powdered sugar, as you would fritters, add a little grated nutmeg, if desired, and serve hot.