Challah french toast

There's no better Sunday morning than one on which you sleep late, stumble out of bed, make yourself some good strong coffee, and then follow those first sips of coffee by cooking brunch in the kitchen. That's precisely what we did this morning, and it was fantastic.





One of our favorite things to make for brunch--now-- is french toast. I must say "now" because, growing up, I wasn't a french toast fan.


But I think that I know what the problem was: the bread. The trick to making really good french toast is to find yourself some really good, fresh bread.



We've experimented with many types: multi-grain, sourdough loaf, plain ol' white bread...and today we used a nice loaf of challah. I think that this was my favorite, or at least it makes it to the top of my list. It's not so much the flavor of the bread as it is the texture.


You see, many loaf breads are just too wimpy. You dip them in that nice eggy mixture and they just dissolve. Challah on the other hand, well, there's a bread that is up to the challenge.



For our recipe, we generally adapt the Joy of Cooking recipe for french toast:

Whisk together in a shallow bowl:
-2/3 cup milk or half and half (Note: I actually like to use butter milk)
-4 eggs
-2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup (go for the maple syrup if you can!)
-1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 tablespoon of rum
-1/4 teaspoon salt

One at a time, soak both sides in the egg mixture:

-8 slices white sandwich bread (um...try challah instead!)
-Butter as needed

Brown the bread on each side in a hot well buttered skillet. Serve hot sprinkled with confectioners sugar (or affectionately smothered in maple syrup and topped with a dollop og whipped cream)