Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local
I heard the bedroom door pop open with its all-too-familiar snap, and the tentative yet determined footsteps led straight to me in the living room. Benson crawled onto the couch next to me, looking up at me with those blue eyes. “I really miss Papa, Brecken, Callahan, and Mary Beth,” he said plaintively, “so I should probably watch Olympics.”
While I’m not entirely sure of his logical sequence, it worked on me for the few minutes until Brian came in from pushing feed. Benson is fairly screen-naive, but we have only a limited two-week window of opportunity here. Also it’s the Olympics, so it’s good wholesome tv, right?
Five minutes of my three-year-old watching judo told me that is absolutely not a correct assessment of the situation. We do not need any more encouragement for him to be crazy, and his new high kicks looked a little too inspired. You should have seen his face when we turned the tv on once in the middle of a wrestling match. “Mom!! They’re wrassling!”
Now I know there were other parts and aspects of the Olympic Games that would not be considered wholesome. I’m thinking specifically of this year’s controversial opening ceremony scene, which fortunately I did not see. I won’t delve into any of that, but of course since the games were held in Paris, I’ve been thinking about French food. I like any excuse to focus on some global cuisine, although these last couple weeks have been busy enough that I have fallen regrettably short on bringing Paris to our table.
That said, we did have some French food…French toast. You may or may not know that French toast isn’t necessarily as associated with France as the name would suggest, unlike one of our bonus kids for the weekend who quizzed me, “Do you know where French fries come from? From French!”
There is a version of what we Americans call French toast in France, although naturally English would not be the language they would use; there it is deliciously poetic pain perdu, meaning “lost bread.” But this leftover bread soaked in milk and eggs, then fried and topped with a sweet drizzle, apparently is mentioned as far back as 4th century Rome. It’s been the perfect pantry dish for coming up on two millennia!
The reason the United States calls this preparation French toast, however, is not even related to the European continent. I was intrigued to learn that the title comes from a New York hotel manager in the early 1700s, Joseph French. He put “French’s toast” on his menu, but somewhere along the way we lost the apostrophe and s — and voila, French toast!
It’s one of the few/possibly only ways Brian appreciates repurposed “lost bread,” and he puts enough peanut butter on it to make it have at least some protein. I love making bread with wheat flour from our fields, and living on a dairy farm and raising chickens makes the milk and eggs bit a given. Serving it with fresh whipped cream and plain yogurt only requires more pantry staples, so it’s a great dish to make on the fly. Benson loves anything with honey or syrup of course, and has been super into cracking eggs (fortunately only at my request so far), so he gives it a thumbs up as well.
As long as he doesn’t start using his new judo skills to help.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Baked French Toast
I had seen a recipe for pb & j cobbler, so I had peanut butter and jelly mash-ups on the brain when I also had a lot of leftover multigrain bread from a catering gig. I knew the time was right to work up a pb & j french toast, and this might even merit a place on the medal podium. It was so easy and handy, and fun to make with that homage to everyone’s childhood favorite sandwich. I loved the layers of peanut butter running through it all, especially complemented by the sweet, luscious strawberry jam.
Prep tips: I prefer a good hearty bread to add both flavor and texture. Try this with different berries if you like.
10 slices of bread of choice, about 1 pound
6 oz peanut butter of choice, plus more as desired
1 lb strawberries
½ cup white sugar
6 eggs
2 cups whole milk/cream
2 T syrup
dash salt
Toast bread; spread with peanut butter; layer into a 9×13” baking dish. Meanwhile, roughly chop remaining berries in a medium saucepan, add the sugar, and cook over medium heat for several minutes, until juicy and jammy. Reserve about a cup, and spoon the rest of the strawberries over the bread. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs; then whisk in milk, syrup, and salt. Slowly pour this over the bread, letting it soak in. Cover and refrigerate for several hours/overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, until just set in the center. Serve with reserved strawberry jam-sauce, more peanut butter, and whipped cream.
