French Toast a la Alton Brown

Perhaps its not readily evident by this blog, but if you know me, you know I love brunch, breakfast, brinner... you take your pick: if starts with the letters 'b' and 'r' and describes a meal, chances are that I love it. As its Father's Day, if you happen to be waking up late and find your parental unit still hasn't had sustenance or is a brunch minded individual, you can whip this up rather quickly. Otherwise, tuck this away from later this week as a belated gift or to enjoy for yourself next weekend.

So as the title implies, this is not an original recipe. In fact you can get the Food Network version here or watch AB make it on Good Eats here:

One thing Alton Brown leaves out that I think is CRUCIAL to French Toast is cinnamon. Now you could say that would be Cinnamon Toast and French Toast doesn't necessarily need cinnamon, but does grilled cheese need tomato or tomato soup? Exactly!
I also highly recommend using challah. I really have no logic for this except that challah, like cinnamon, is ingrained my mind as the best for French Toast.
Copied and pasted for your ease (with my addition):
Alton Brown's French ToastPrep: 34 minutes | Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 (1/2 inch) slices of day-old challah (or brioche, country bread, etc.). I used raisin challah, but plain, chocolate chip, etc all would work.
• Butter (enough to grease your pan)

Directions:

1. In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, cinnamon and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. If you made custard mixture the night before, stir again to make sure cinnamon is well incorporated.
4. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Over medium-low heat, melt butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan.
6. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side.
7. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes.
8. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

As you might notice from my French Toast, I used strawberry syrup. From my Maple Syrup Muffins, you know I love maple syrup, but sometimes you're out of it, the real stuff is cost-prohibitive or you're in the mood for something else. Fruit syrups are incredibly simple:

Simple Fruit Syrup

Ingredients (for 2 cups):

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cup of fruit diced

Directions:

1. Bring water and sugar to boil, simmer and whisk continually until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add fruit and return to boil and then simmer until syrup is thick enough to coat back of a spoon.
3. Optional: I prefer my syrup as is, but if you want it thick without chunks you can blend it. If you want it smooth you can strain the fruit pieces out. This is totally up to personal preference and/or application.

Monthly Muffin: Maple Syrup Muffins

According to Epicurious there is only one seasonal ingredient in February in Virginia or Maryland... and that would be maple syrup! Who doesn't love maple syrup? I set forth to make the following muffin.

If you're like me, you love pancakes, but you rarely make them. They're delicious, but who has time to make them from scratch in the morning? We could make a lot on the weekend, but if you've had great success in saving pancake batter or reheating pancakes I'd like to hear about it. Pancakes are one of those things I hate to have leftovers of... so what to do? Maple syrup muffins! They keep well, they're portable, you can make a bunch at once and they taste like a maple syrup heavy pancake without feeling sticky after.

Maple Syrup Muffins

Prep time: 30-35 minutes | Yields: 9-10 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Brown sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
• 3/4 cup Oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon Oatmeal (for topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix together butter, sugar and egg.
3. In separate bowl or measuring cup mix together milk and syrup. Combine with other wet goods.
   
4. In a third bowl mix salt, flour, baking powder together.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir to combine, but do not mix beyond that.
6. Add oatmeal, again stir just to combine.
   
7. Fill non-stick greased muffin tins with batter. I recommend only fill them about 2/3rds to 3/4th of the way. (As you can see, my muffins grew like crazy!)
8. Top with remaining oatmeal.
   
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.
   
10. Let cool on a rack