Pain Perdu- A Continental Breakfast

Early this morning I was surfing the net, looking for something new to make for breakfast.  I accidentally landed on a French cookery website...Meilleur du chef.  My French language skills were acquired from two years of high school French classes taught by a lady with a VERY Southern accent.  As a result, I don't speak French but I can read a bit.  So when I saw this recipe I thought...there's breakfast!  

Ingrédients pour Pain perdu :

1/2 litre de lait

2 œufs

50 g de sucre

2 cuil. à soupe de sucre vanillé

100 g de beurre

6 tranches de pain de mie ou de pain rassi

cannelle (facultatif)

sucre poudre

Pain Perdu is French Toast or Eggy Bread as some Brits call it.  It's one of those universal dishes. Everyone claims to have invented it and everyone loves it.  It's so easy to make.  So why am I giving you a recipe to follow?

Because I think Pain Perdu is a perfect recipe for young and beginner cooks.  If you've never made it before you might need a few instructions to get you started.  Experience cooks, look away now or supervise your children as they make their first French dish.  

You will need the following ingredients:

4 slices of day old or older bread- thick slices of homemade bread are best but any sliced bread will do 

2 Eggs

1/4 cup milk

Syrup or Powdered Sugar

Butter or Oil for frying

That's it! C'est tout! The whole list of ingredients.  I told you this was going to be easy!

In a bowl big enough to dip your bread in, beat together the eggs and milk. 

Dip the bread in and let it absorb some of the egg mixture. Now turn the bread over and let it absorb the mixture on the other side.

Heat a frying pan to medium high heat and pour in a tablespoon of oil or butter. When the oil is hot, carefully place the eggy bread in the pan and turn the heat down to low.

Let the bread cook for a few minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Take your time and cook it slowly.  Turn the bread over with a spatula to cook  on the other side for several minutes. The egg mixture needs time to cook so the French Toast isn't squidgy in the middle.  

When the Eggy Bread is golden brown on both sides you are ready to serve it. I like mine with maple syrup.  It's also good with a dusting of icing sugar.  I have been told that some people like to eat it plain or seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of  tomato ketchup.  That just seems weird to me but it might be worth trying.  

So that's the end of your first class in French cuisine.  You more experienced cooks might like to visit the Meilleur du chef website for more sophisticated French recipes.  Right now, I am just going to enjoy my Pain Perdu!