For His Master's Veneration: Elma's French Toast

This is a special recipe from my Great-Grandmother. She was born into a family of 12 children in 1876. Being a woman then meant you cooked although it was never her favorite thing to do. At that time they used the term “French” to imply something was fancy! Thus this was her “fancy toast”. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I found none of my friends ever tasted a “french toast” like my “grandma's”. She used almost a crepe batter to coat the bread and it was one of my most prized memories of mornings with her.

A wonderfully rich breakfast or brunch treat. Next time do more than just soaking bread in an egg! Pair it with some oven baked bacon for an easy clean-up. In history it has been called: Bombay toast, German toast, gypsy toast, or in England: Poor Knights of Windsor.

Ingredients:

4 slices honey-wheat bread (regular white bread will also do)

½ Cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 Egg + 1 egg yolk

½ Cup milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

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Directions

Heat 3-4 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium high heat.

Mix the flour and salt, then add egg + yolk, vanilla, and milk. Whisk together just until no big lumps. Do NOT overwork this, lumps work out just fine.

Dip first piece in batter then fry in skillet. Turn when patches of golden brown show.

Do this first one by itself!

I was amazed to find that most chefs agree the first one usually does not come out right, so it is disposable!

Now then you might want to pair this with bacon, if so start this before heating up the pan for the toast.

Perfect Bacon in the Oven

A pound of medium-thick bacon fits on a single baking sheet. To cook even more (or if your bacon doesn't all fit on one sheet), you can cook two baking sheets at once.

It's just so easy — there's no flipping or monitoring involved. You just lay the bacon on a baking sheet, stick it in the oven, and set a timer. The strips of bacon bubble away in the oven (no splattering!) and gradually become the crispy, golden-hued, irresistible bacon we know and love.

Ingredients

1 - 2 lbs sliced bacon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (this makes cleanup easier). Lay the bacon on the baking sheet in a single layer. The bacon can be close together, but don't let it overlap or the bacon will stick during cooking.

Bake until the bacon is deep golden-brown and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. Exact baking time will depend on the thickness of the bacon and how crispy you like it. Begin checking around 12 minutes to monitor how quickly the bacon is cooking. The bacon fat will bubble as it cooks, but shouldn't splatter the way it does on the stove top.

Remove the bacon from the oven and use tongs to transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and finish crisping. Serve immediately.

Clean up. If you want to save the bacon grease, let it cool slightly, then pour it into a container and refrigerate. If you don't want to save the grease, let it solidify on the baking sheet, then crumple the foil around it and discard.

Recipe Notes

For even crispier bacon, fit a metal rack over the foil-lined baking sheet and lay the raw bacon on the rack. Elevating the bacon allows it to cook from all sides and become extra-crispy.

Slave uses a no sugar syrup here, however true heaven is using real maple syrup and heating a cup full in the microwave first!