la.foodblogging

I love to cook. You’ll probably find me in the kitchen at least five nights out of seven, concocting the evening’s meal for my husband and myself. As a full-time writer, I also work from home, so that affords me the luxury of being able to devote a fair amount of time to this gratifying yet sometimes time-consuming endeavour.

So, that means I also devote a lot of my time to perfecting certain dishes. That, in turn, means that there are some menu items I feel I do so well at home that I wouldn’t dream of ordering them when I am out, for fear of disappointment. I’m talking about meals such as Risotto, Osso Bucco, Roast Chicken, various Salmon entrees, Crepes…

French Toast is definitely one of these dishes.

I defy you to direct me to a restaurant, hotel or breakfast place that can deliver a better version of french toast than I can whip up, quite easily, in my own kitchen.

There are a couple of secrets to my success, which I am happy to divulge.

First off, you have to start with good brioche. Not just any brioche, mind you, but pain brioche or Brioche Loaf. I’m talking about the incredible fluffy, soft and yellow, high crumb content, enormously long loaf I get from LA Bread and Bakery, on Los Feliz Blvd.

Now, this is generally something you have to pre-order the day before you pick it up. Also, it is a huge loaf and I always slice and freeze about 3/4 of it. So, you can either pre-order it and pick it up the day you are making your brunch, or you can order it in advance and have it in the freezer for when you need it. Like all bread or cake when frozen, it probably wouldn’t keep much longer than a month or two. But I couldn’t say for sure because whenever we have it in the house, it doesn’t last that long anyway. You can toast it from frozen or have it on hand for entertaining or special brunch mornings. I recommend you thaw the slices for about 20 minutes before making french toast with it.

::STOP PRESS::
I have recently discovered that Trader Joe’s have a reasonably priced Brioche Loaf. Thank heavens!

My tried and tested recipe for Brioche French Toast goes as follows:

Ingredients for two persons:

3 eggs
decent quantity of milk (about ¾ of a cup, I think)
a good splash of dark rum (I like Jamaican varieties, and Myers’s (sic) Dark Rum is a good one)
1 teaspoon or more of vanilla essence
Four thick slices of brioche, approx ½ an inch thick

Method:

Whisk your egg and liquids together in a shallow bowl.

Get your frying pan good and hot (but not too hot - medium-high heat)

Drop in a pat of butter - if it browns too quickly, your pan is too hot

Now dip both sides of your brioche slices briefly into the egg mixture - take care not get them too sodden or they will fall apart when cooking and will taste too eggy - and immediately toss them into the pan.

Fry once on each side until golden brown. If you get the thickness of your slices right, as well as the pan temperature, the middle won’t be cold or seem uncooked.

Serve straight off the pan with fresh fruit of your choice, such as blueberries or thinly sliced strawberries, and take a minute to warm your maple syrup in the micro oven. You’ll be glad you did. This delicious meal goes especially well when paired with a strong cappuccino.

LA Bread and Bakery
3119 Los Feliz Blvd, LA, CA, 90039
nearest cross street is Edenhurst Avenue, just East of the 5 Freeway
323 662 8600

Brioche loaf is $18.00
available fresh on Mondays, or when you pre-order, but do call first.

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.