Skip the Skillet and Grill French Toast
Welcome back to Sunday Sus maintenance! Last week we kept our summer freshness and tasted it as mouth-watering dishes . Today we will be working with old, stale bread.
Well, not that old. Overnight, ideally. Because we’re making French toast and fresh, soft, custard-soaked bread will fall apart. “No, everything will be fine if you just carefully transfer it to the pan!” It’s true, but we don’t fry it. We fry it.
Like a kabob.
“Hey, stop, stop. You cannot toast French toast! “- you say. Of course you can! What is a grill more than a large convection oven that can make the world’s best hot dog? With the grill, you can cook over direct or radiant heat, smoke slowly and slowly, or bring it up to a temperature that burns the grass in the surrounding area, and fry yourself a nice ribeye. I would be surprised if someone still hasn’t used the grill to bake the pie. In addition, by making French toast in the shape of a kebab, we can expose a large surface area of the bread to heat, resulting in a crispy crust and a tender soft center.
For French toast and custard
- 1 loaf of bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 1/2 cups milk, half cream, or heavy cream
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- A pinch of salt
I’ll leave a lot of controversy open about the ideal French toast bread, but I prefer a good filling sourdough, Italian bread, French baguette, or sometimes challah. I’m not discounting brioches, but trust me, the thicker the better and the better with the crust. Start by cutting a loaf of bread into cubes. Place the diced cubes on a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet, uncovered, and set aside overnight. While you can cook with fresh bread, the bread’s natural moisture combined with the added custard makes it very prone to decay. This state is not ideal for grilling, let alone eating. Dry bread, devoid of its own moisture, will gladly absorb the custard and retain its shape.
If using wooden skewers, soak them for about 15 minutes to withstand the heat from the grill. While they are soaking, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss the bread cubes until they are coated. Skewer the bread, leaving a space between each piece. Depending on the size of the skewer you use, you should end up with four to six slices of bread each.
Your beautiful, clean and well-oiled cooking grates will serve as our frying pan today. We need medium heat, about 325-375 degrees, and very, very clean grates. Did I mention the grates? They must be clean. Crispy leftovers will cling to the bread and egg and refuse to let go, and this can be disastrous. So take some time to clean it up, wipe it down and use oil with a high smoke point – grape seeds work well – on grates.
It is very important to let the skewers come loose when they are ready, otherwise you will rip off pieces of egg bread and leave them to turn into charcoal. Continue driving for about 2 minutes on each side and lift gently. If he’s ready, you will know.
While you can serve the toast right away, you can bake it in the oven at 200 degrees for a while if you want to get the toppings together. You can use classics like butter, candy sugar, maple syrup, honey, berries, or let the sweet reign with Nutella, Biscoff, Ice Cream, or Biscoff Ice Cream . The list is endless. I especially like buttered pecans and bourbon maple syrup. By the way about those:
For pecans with butter
- 1 cup pecans, raw
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar 1 teaspoon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Although you can roast the pecans on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, your grill is already so hot anyway. Place them in a 10-inch cast iron skillet and place on a wire rack. After they are browned, add butter, sugar and salt and stir. The butter mixture should turn golden brown in about 3-4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
For maple syrup, bourbon
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon plus 1.5 ounces bourbon, divided
- A little vanilla extract
Pour 1.5 ounces of bourbon into a shot glass and drink. It has been a tough week; you deserved it. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth and warm. Transfer to a glass beaker to keep warm as you serve, not that it will last very long.