The Downside About Living Near a Diner...

...is smelling French toast every morning. Why is this a downside, you ask? Because I'm not going to eat French toast every morning, that's why, but today I'll succumb and make some myself.

Update: Well it was there again this morning. Damn them, but that French toast smells too good, so I had to make it again. (I know they wish I'd just stop by and get some there, but noooo, I'm going to make it myself.) Here's my take:

Three large pieces of good (preferrably stale) bread
Three eggs
1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk (approx)
1 tbsp Chinese five spice
1 tsp allspice
pinch of salt
t tbsp honey, warmed so as to be runny (or use brown or raw sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp walnut oil in tsp amounts (approx)

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, honey and spices together into a custard and put it in a shallow, flat-bottomed bowl. You may not need all the milk so don't add it all at once. The goal is to get a nice custard-like consistency, but it shouldn't be over-beaten either. Soak the slice of bread in the custard mix until it has saturated. Set the frying pan on low and let it heat up in the meantime. It's a little slower but low heat lets the eggs settle nicely in the bread without getting tough. Put 1 tsp of walnut oil in the frying pan, roll to coat thoroughly and cook each slice until brown on both sides, but be sure to pull when the bread is still soft. Carryover will finish the job to make sure it's cooked through and you don't want the eggs to get tough. Rinse, lather, repeat.

The walnut oil gives a nice nutty flavor. Low heat ensures it doesn't smoke and maintains its flavor (as well as nice nutritive properties). Butter would also work, of course. The honey is there to add that little extra bit of sweetness and, more importantly, to enhance caramelization without overcooking. This didn't need much, I just added a teaspoon of jam.

Lots of people like challa for French toast but I find it a bit too dense and eggy. I prefer a country bread with a reasonably airy texture, but that's up to you. Just use your whole wheat bread for something else because it's not going to absorb the custard (this means you, Mom...). Staleness is important because you need to have the custard get into the bread without destroying its integrity and turning the bread into goop. This happens best when the bread is dried out and thirsty for liquid. Because I usually keep bread in the freezer, I had to defrost it before cooking. This turns out to make an admirable substitute for stale bread if done in a dry frying pan on low. The frying pan will be thoroughly heated to the right temperature and ready to go.