Thanksgiving Breakfast: Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. It means family, friends, road trips and excellent food. It also means spending-as much-time-around-the-table-as-possible and complete-disregard-of-caloric-intake. And it doesn't have to stop at the turkey!

My mom and MeeMee usually make this incredible breakfast feast after Thanksgiving. Is a bit labor intensive, but completely worth it.

You will need to begin the process the night before as it should chill overnight. (Sounds intense, but trust me: this is so completely worth it. I promise.) 

For the French toast:  

12 slices French Bread cut into 1-inch cubes

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I usually just use one package) 

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

12 large eggs 

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups milk

For the blueberry syrup:

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp unsalted butter 

Day 1: 

Grease a 13x9 baking pan

Place half of the bread cubes evenly in the prepared pan

Scatter cream cheese cubes over bread

Sprinkle with 1 cup blueberries

Arrange remaining bread cubes over blueberries

In a large bowl, combine all 12 eggs, syrup and milk and whisk to blend.

Pour evenly over reserved bread mixture. 

Cover with foil and chill overnight.

So many eggs. 

Mmm

Day 2: 

The next morning, make yourself a cup of coffee and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake -- covered with foil in the middle of the oven -- for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and continue baking 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan:

Combine sugar, cornstarch and water over medium-high heat.

Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until thickened. 

Stir in 1 cup blueberries and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until most berries burst. 

Add butter and stir until melted. 

Transfer to serving bowl.

Blueberries have not yet burst. 

Now they're bursting. I love this color. 

Serve on individual plates and top with blueberry syrup. Make yourself an extra large serving because you've earned it. 

Note: The syrup can be prepared up to 1 day in advance -- chill and reheat gently. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

One of my favorite things is cake disguised as bread. I'm not sure the details of the classification system, but if I can get away with eating cake for breakfast (lunch, dinner, dessert, snack) then I am all for calling it "bread."

I really love quick breads (aka quick cakes) because they fall in this category of cake/bread perfection, and because you don't even have to use a mixer to throw it together.

Here's my favorite fall quick bread recipe, coming from my all-time favorite baking cookbook by Baked NYC. If you don't already have it, put it on that Christmas list pronto! Perfect for a potluck or Thanksgiving celebration or just because--it's so easy you don't really have an excuse not to make it.

The recipe makes two 9-inch loaves, but is easily halved if you just need one.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

3 1/4 cups flour, sifted (or not sifted if you're me)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg if you're me)
1/2 tsp ground allspice (cloves would probably be nice too!)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (aka one 15-oz can)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar (I used all white)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup water, room temperature
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease & flour your 9-inch loaf pans (I use butter).

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and oil until combined. Add the sugar and whisk again. Add the eggs, one at a time whisking well after each addition, and the vanilla. Add the water and whisk until combined (I wish I could tell you why you add rando water. It's going to seem watery and weird. but I promise it makes it moist and delicious. #science). Using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips (yes, they'll mostly float to the bottom but don't worry).

Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined--try not to overmix.

Divide the batter between the pans (or pour it all in the one pan if you halved the recipe). Bake at the center of the oven for about 1 hour 25 minutes (depending on your oven. start checking it at 1 hr 15 min), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I was really worried that my edges were burning while the inside was finishing cooking, but it turned out perfectly, so be at ease and let it cook all the way through.

Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Or until your small group gets there and you can't wait any longer before diving into it.


Make this today! Your coworkers (book club, family, small group) will love you for it!

    

In season: Blueberries

[Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins]

It's beginning to look a lot like blueberry season! Not only are they one of the best superfoods, they're also on sale this time of year! I found them for 2 cartons for $5.

I needed to make a treat for book club, so I pulled out my favorite baking cookbook of all time (I don't know if I've ever mentioned this cookbook before, but it is my absolute favorite in the whole wide world. ever. of all time. Have I convinced you yet? Go get one now. Amazon, folks. You don't even have to leave your chair.) and flipped to the Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins recipe.

That sounds like a lot of things to have in one muffin, but the bright, fruity flavors marry so well with the subtle, nutty almonds. And look how pretty! The recipe encourages you to use sliced almonds to decorate the tops in a floral pattern. I love those little touches.

So go out and grab you some fresh blueberries (and an orange and some almonds) and whip these up today! Your friends/coworkers/family members will thank you--they are delicious and nutritious (sorta)!

Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Grated zest of one orange (this is a pain, but worth it)

1/2 cup orange juice (I used the juice of the above orange and supplemented with regular OJ)

1/2 cup milk (they suggest whole, I used 2%)

2 egg whites

4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled (so you don't scramble the eggs)

1/4 cup finely ground almonds (pulse in food processor until fine)

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (didn't toast 'em. because I'm lazy.)       

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup blueberries (I used more like 1 cup, and it turned out fine!)

sliced almonds for decoration

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare muffin pan with nonstick spray or muffin papers.

In a medium bowl, combine orange zest, orange juice, milk, egg whites, and butter (if your butter isn't slightly cooled to room temperature, it will scramble the eggs. promise. and that's gross). Whisk until combined.

In another medium bowl, combine ground almonds, flour, sugar, sliced almonds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined (over-mixing makes tough muffins!). Fold in blueberries.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, and decorate with sliced almonds. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

Made 20 muffins

      

Facing my fears: frying french donuts

I love Saturday mornings because they're my time to really experiment in the kitchen, usually in some form of breakfast food. and it usually takes so long that it turns into lunch also, which I'm totally fine with.

I usually try to attempt something that I wouldn't have time for on a weeknight. something that scares me even. something like heating extremely flammable oil up to ridiculous temperatures and putting stuff in it. Yes, I have a fear of frying. Not so much the frying part but the how-fast-it-can-go-from-good-to-bad part. It's trial by error and I'm not a fan of failing. Or achieving a failure. Or any of that nonsense.

[370° is scary hot, people.]

I decided that the potential deliciousness in this pin for French cruellers with honey glaze was greater than my fear (who doesn't love a twisty, fluffy, donut covered in a sweet glaze?!), and I dove right on in. I had a huge jug of canola oil on hand from the last time I attempted to fry something (spoiler alert: it went poorly). So I heated that up with my handy dandy candy thermometer and got out the fire extinguisher.

I've made pastry before (or as the French would say viennoise) but it's another thing that majorly intimidates me. Soooo many things that have to be just so and sooo many opportunities to go wrong. But I'm here to tell you this story has a happy ending.

I mixed the pastry according to the recipe (below), without burning the roux (heated mixture of milk, butter, and flour that makes the base of the "dough") and successfully incorporating the eggs. I ended up with this thick, sticky dough-stuff that I dumped into my piping bag with the biggest star tip I could find.

[Things are literally heating up over here.]

The recipe advises piping the cruellers onto squares of parchment to make the frying easier. And I'm an ESTJ so that's what I did. and it was brilliant, because it enables them to keep their shape because the dough is so sticky!

Okay. Fry time.

 [that is boiling oil, people. BOILING.]

Using tongs, I dropped five squares in at a time, parchment paper on the top. It almost immediately pops off and you can pull it out with the tongs. I left them for about 30 seconds on this side, but next time I'd do a minute. But I was so scared of burning them, that I was timid.

 [swirly twirly goodness]

Then I used the tongs to gently flip them over for the next side. I was thrilled to see how they kept their crueller shape! I gave them another 30 seconds on this side, but again I'd probably give them a minute both sides next time.

[My little beauties. no fire or anything!]

I used the tongs to pull them out, and dragged them, dripping, to the opposite counter to a cooling rack covered in paper towels, thus dripping boiling oil all over the floor. So I angled the rug to catch it all and carried on.

After I fried all of them (about 2 dozen total, though I'd make them thicker next time for fewer donuts), I mixed together the honey glaze and dipped the cruellers, twisty-side down. I had to add a little more milk to make the glaze thin enough to dip, but it was delicious.

[I think the French would be proud of these.]

I then proceeded to take a trillion photos, and by the time I got around to eating them they were kinda cold. Food blog problems. But I threw them in the microwave (shhh don't tell the French) for a few seconds and they were warm and perfect with a cup of coffee (at what ended up being 1pm).

All in all, my kitchen was covered in oil due to my bad practices, but the recipe itself was surprisingly easy! And the ingredients are all things you usually have on hand. I could hardly believe they actually turned out the way they were supposed to! Folks, if I can do this (fear and trembling and all), then you've got to give it a try. They are beautiful little treats that will really impress your friends. (Side note though: they don't save well. Like, not even one day. They turn to gritty mush. So eat up!)
   

French Crullers
from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni, originally found here

1 cup water
6 Tbs unsalted butter (I used salted, no shame)
2 Tsps white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifting recommended, but who has time for that?)
3 eggs
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying (I used canola oil, you know, to be healthy)

Honey glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs honey
4 Tbs milk (I used 5 to make it thin enough for dipping)

Bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a brisk boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour all at once and continue stirring until the flour is completely incorporated. Keep stirring over medium-high heat. Lara says the more moisture you can remove, the more eggs you can mix in later which will result in a lighter pastry. When you see a thin film start to coat the bottom of the pan, the batter is ready. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to stir the dough for a minute to help it cool. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add one egg. Don’t add the next egg until the previous has been completely incorporated into the dough. Then add the egg whites a little bit at a time (I used two egg whites) until the dough becomes smooth and glossy and holds a little shape (not much). Lara warns not to add too much egg white or else the crullers will become heavy. Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip.

Fry the crullers in 2-inches (or more) of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. The oil should register 370°F. While the oil is heating, cut a dozen 3-x3-inch squares of parchment. Lightly grease the squares on one side (I brushed with vegetable oil) and pipe a ring of dough onto each of the squares. When the oil has reached temperature, carefully place a cruller, paper-side up, into the hot oil. Do this one at a time unless you like the idea of hot oil burns and other disasters. After a minute or so, I would use tongs and a sharp knife tip to gently peel the parchment off the cruller. When the cruller turns golden (about 2 minutes), flip it over and let it fry for another couple of minutes before removing it to drain on a cooling rack or paper towels.

Make the glaze: While the crullers cool, mix the confectioners’ sugar, honey, and milk together until smooth.

When the crullers are cool to the touch, dip the top of each cruller into the honey glaze and set on a cooling rack to let the drips run off. When the glaze has set, the crullers are ready to serve.

Crullers can also be baked. Preheat oven to 450°F. Pipe crullers onto a parchment-lined baking sheet at least 2-inches apart. Bake for five minutes then reduce oven to 350°F and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off heat, open the oven door a crack, and let crullers sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Glaze and serve.

Banana bread so good you'll slap yo mama

[spiced chocolate chip banana bread]

Happy Thursday, eaters! It's almost the weekend, which means you need to be thinking about what you're going to eat this weekend, right? ...Right?

Good thing we've been bringing you our favorite banana bread recipes all week so you can budget for some delicious banana-y goodness this weekend to impress your friends. What's your fancy: an extra kick in your morning muffin? What about a little sweet and buttery extra sumpin sumpin on top? Or is it all the chocolate chips? We three eaters just couldn't put enough chocolate chips in our banana bread this week.

Well, chocolate or no chocolate, this here recipe for banana bread is the absolute best I've found. I could make this in my sleep. This one's different for a few reasons: I use half whole wheat and half regular flour, but this recipe does NOT come out too dense, dry or cakey because of the whole wheat. I also use olive oil instead of oil and/or butter. It also has some added spices: ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Don't be afraid. Once you taste it, you'll be kicking yourself for not putting ginger in your banana bread before.

You'll need:

3-4 medium to large bananas

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

To be alone when you eat this otherwise you might slap somebody

 

Preheat your oven to 325 and grease a large bundt pan (or bread pan).

Peel and mash bananas in a large bowl. Add olive oil, brown sugar, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat until everything is incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine the flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda and mix well. This is important. I know I'm always tempted to skip the "in a separate bowl" step, but don't. You want your baking soda to mix properly with the flour. I've found if you skip this step, there is some kind of dark magic about baking soda in banana bread (in particular)- if you don't mix it well in the flour prior to adding it to the bananas, you get disgusting pockets of bitter baking soda in your banana bread.

Once all your dry ingredients are mixed, slowly add and gently stir to your wet ingredients. I'd like to reiterate here something Laura said on Monday: don't over stir your batter. The worst thing banana bread can be is tough and dry. Now, add your chocolate chips at this point if that's what you fancy.

Pop that sucker in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour and it's done when you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean.

[no mamas were hurt in the baking of this banana bread]

Enjoy, eaters!

Until next time,

Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Muffins.

You know what this Monday needs? Muffins. Muffins with chocolate. and coffee. and maybe some fruit so we can call it "healthy." Basically, almost-cake that can be eaten for breakfast.

Welcome to Banana Bread Week! Throughout the week, each of the 3 Happy Eaters is going to share their take on this diverse baked-deliciousness that works for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert! 

When I find myself with some almost-rotting bananas, I immediately reach for my Baked NYC cookbook, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is my all-time favorite baking cookbook. You usually only find about a third of the recipes in a given cookbook to be appealing, but I kid you not: every single recipe in this book is unbelievable. Not only do you want to make them, you can make them and when you do make them, they are show-stopping good. Have I made myself clear how incredible this cookbook is? Go get it right now. The link opens in a new tab so don't worry I'll be right here waiting for ya.

The first recipe section in the book is, of course, breakfast. One of the first recipes that I ever tried from this section was for Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Muffins. Holy sweet goodness, these are good. I like to make muffins because they're easier for sharing at work (and you can get away with eating five at a time). and this recipe is SO easy to throw together. You can find this recipe on the web in other places, so I'll share it with you here. But really, please, right now, go get this cookbook. Seriously, you won't regret it.

Baked NYC's Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Muffins
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Makes 12-18 muffins

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (like, almost rotten, about 4)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or instant coffee granules, but NOT ground coffee)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter, which you shouldn't!)
1 cup (6oz) semisweet chocolate chips (resist the temptation to add more, too many and your muffins won't hold together)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with papers, or use nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. It's important here that the butter be melted but not still hot so that it congeals in the cold milk, or scrambles the egg. That'd be disgusting.

In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda, and salt.

Gently pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir until just combined (the more you stir the tougher the muffins will be). Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin tin about 3/4 full each. Bake for 20ish minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffins come out clean (minus melted chocolately goodness). Let muffins cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 15 mins, then remove and let finish cooling on the rack. 

Or devour them as soon as they're cooled to an endurable temperature. Store them in an airtight baggy (after cooling completely) or container for up to 2 days but I doubt they'll be around that long. They're delicious the next day if you nuke them for 5 seconds. Remelts the chocolate. Mmmmmm.

I like my banana bread muffin-shaped and sprinkled with chocolate and a hint of coffee. Stay tuned for Amanda and Katie's favorite versions!

    

DIY Buttermilk. Thank me later.

We 3 Happy Eaters kind of stumbled upon Breakfast Week. You might say it was fate, but whatever you call it, we all separately had our minds on the most important thing of the things you eat. Katie with French toast, Amanda with a fresh herb omelet, and me with pancakes.

While my fellow Happy Eaters ate their aforementioned breakfast foods at the appropriate time of day, I whipped mine up for a weekday dinner. Pancakes are great for when you're just too lazy to go to the store, because the ingredients are all things you normally have on hand anyway! It's like a free meal!

 

[Read on to find out how easy homemade whipped cream is! Really!]

I used this recipe for the pancakes. Obviously the key ingredient in buttermilk pancakes is the buttermilk. Let me stop you before you run to the store because I said the ingredients were all things you have on hand and I stand by that.

Buttermilk is expensive and you rarely need the entire half-gallon you're required to purchase when all you need is 1/4 cup (so the rest rots in your fridge). So allow me to change your life with this simple kitchen trick.

When recipes call for buttermilk, more specifically baking recipes, what they are really calling for is the chemical part of buttermilk (baking is a science, folks!). By adding regular vinegar to milk you've already got on hand, you can re-create this chemical state. It's really that easy! Never buy buttermilk again!

DIY Buttermilk

3/4 cup regular milk

1/4 cup vinegar

Before you start your recipe, combine the milk and vinegar and give it a little stir. You'll see that the milk is already becoming thick, like buttermilk. Let it sit while you're preparing the other ingredients, then add whatever amount the recipe calls for. I always make the above proportions even if the recipe calls for less than a cup.

I really like this pancake recipe because they have a slight crisp to them and they aren't too sweet. That means you can heap loads of sugary things on them without hesitation!

 

[An homage to Paris's Nutella-banan crêpes. Sigh.]

I layered mine with Nutella and sliced bananas and topped the stack with a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Speaking of awesome kitchen tricks, homemade whipped cream is so easy there's no excuse to buy the hydrogenated stuff ever again. And it tastes so much better. And your friends will be so impressed. I dare you to try it.

Easiest-ever Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs white granulated sugar (not powered!)

Beat the cream until it's a little bit frothy, so it'll hold the sugar without it all falling to the bottom of the bowl. While beating, slowly add the sugar. Then beat until peaks form that don't fall. (Don't over beat though.) Put. on. everything.

                  

                

    

What have we always said is the most important thing?

[fresh herb omelet]

 
After talking with the other two happy eaters, it turns out we all had the same thing on our minds this week: Breakfast.
 
Katie and Laura have the sweet stuff covered, but I've got a savory tooth that would only be satisfied by something salty, eggy and sans a lot of carbs. Enter: the omelet. Or, as Jacques Pepin and the rest of ze French call it, ze omelette.
 
Omelets are super easy. And super easy to screw up. I was inspired to learn how to make the perfect omelet after I saw Wolfgang Puck instruct the latest contestants on Top Chef how he makes an omelet- and then they were to replicate it. My husband and I watched as the contestants struggled, for various reasons, to replicate his simple recipe with their own added twist. After the verdicts were handed down, my husband and I were silent for a long time. I knew what he was thinking. After what seemed like forever, he finally asked me the question I was dreading, "Do you know how to make an omelet?" I'm sure I defensively replied, "Pshyeah! Do you?!" I'm also sure I stayed away from making him eggs of any type for a couple of weeks (a difficult task for us- we go through about a dozen a week). I couldn't admit that I just wasn't sure.

As it turns out my omelet-how-to knowledge was hovering at around 60%, if you want to try to quantify it. Which I do. I was overstuffing. I was cooking it at too high a temperature. I was just letting it sit there. I was using Pam instead of butter. I was ashamed. Ashamed, I tell you. But then I watched a short video tutorial and gave it a go. And it was good.

Here are some easy, basic tips I took away from Jacques Pepin's video:
 

• Eggs, salt and pepper. That's it for the base.
• Make sure you've beaten your eggs enough so that you don't have pieces of egg whites in your pan.
• Use a non-stick pan and just a little bit of butter (1/2 tbsp) to coat.
• Pour your eggs into a low-medium hot pan. You don't want to cook your eggs too quickly.
• Add your fillings as soon as you put your eggs in the pan.  
• When your eggs start to cook (coagulate) around the edges, use your fork or a spatula to gently drag the cooked eggs towards the center (but don't scramble them). Then, let a 'crust' begin to form again. Repeat this process again. And again, if necessary.
• Gently fold your omelet in half while it is still fairly wet in the center. This keeps it from getting too cooked and breaking in half. I did this slowly using a spatula- a fork tends to tear.
• Let your omelet brown on one side and then flip it onto the plate (browned side up).

 
For my omelet, I wanted to do something simple, light and flavorful, so I went with what I had on hand: fresh basil, parsley, chives and thyme (about 1 1/2 tbsp chopped) with some grape tomatoes to garnish. I used 3 eggs, a little salt and pepper, butter in the pan and that's it.
 
 

[aww, look how those pre-birds are nestled in those fresh herbs]

 
 

[eggs, salt, pepper, fresh herbs]
 



[almost ready to flip]


*At this point I thought I was going to switch to a post about scrambled eggs with fresh herbs. But have faith in yourself and in Jacques Pepin. He won't lead you astray.   
 




[perfect]

 Until next time...




Wishing it was Saturday morning again

Happy Monday, Eaters! 

Has your day been as weird as mine? I find myself just wanting to go back to Saturday morning again... mainly because I made French Toast and it was awesome. 




You should totally try this next weekend (or tomorrow if you allow yourself more time for breakfast than I do in the morning). 

This makes 4 slices of French toast. Adjust accordingly...

1 large egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice 
zest of 1 orange (I was too hungry to waste time zesting... it doesn't make or break the recipe, but I have a feeling I'd be happier with the amount of orange-ness if I had zested.) 
4 thick slices of bread
2 tablespoons butter

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, milk, orange juice, and orange zest. Pour onto a rimmed plate.

Soak each slice of bread in the milk mixture for 30 seconds per side. Don't leave them in too long or they'll fall apart. Yes, this happened.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium low heat. Fry the soaked slices in the melted butter until golden.  

Serve warm, topped with whatever your heart desires. For me, that meant strawberries and syrup. Yum.