My Uncle Earl taught me how to make french toast.  Uncle Earl was my Dad’s brother.  He lived with us for awhile when he was ill.  His daughter, Gail, was my favorite cousin. Warning – not low calorie, not low cholesterol, not low fat. This is perfect for breakfast or brunch. I’ve never had french toast this good – To. Die. For. This is his recipe:

2 eggs

1-2 tbsp. of milk

butter

powdered sugar

maple syrup

Break two eggs into a bowl and mix – like you are going to scramble them.  Then add approximately one to two tablespoons of milk, you can also use water, this thins the eggs so that they absorb easily into the bread.  I use a shallow flat bottomed bowl to mix the egg mixture in, then I add the bread one piece at a time, and let it soak up the egg.  This is perfect for day old or slightly dried out bread.  When the bread is soaked through, spray your skillet with Pam, turn on med low to low, and add butter to melt and coat the bottom of the pan.  Add bread and cook slowly so that it puffs up and cooks through.  The bread will almost taste like cooked custard on the inside when done.  Caution: shouldn’t be runny, if you cook it too fast it will not cook through in the inside.  Remove from pan when puffy and golden brown on both sides.

Immediately butter with approx two teaspoons of butter.  Rub butter around bread until completely melted.  Then cover top of bread generously with powdered sugar.  Make a trough down the middle of the bread and add about a teaspoon of maple syrup.  Then mix it all together to make a thick frosting.  Then EAT!  Yumm!  Best french toast EVER!

For more of my french toast pics, please see my flickr photostream at:

http://flickr.com/photos/lauralovesart/sets/72157607412011370/

For a glamourous buffet…an East Indian dish.

3 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup minced onion

1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

3 tbsp. flour

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1 cup chicken broth (or 1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup hot water)

1 cup milk

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

3 to 4 cups cooked rice (1 cup uncooked)

Melt butter over low heat in a heavy saucepan.  Saute onion and curry in melted butter.  Blend in flour and seasonings.  Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and bubbly.  (Laura’s note – sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t.  I can’t always get to smooth and bubbly, but if it’s cooked for a few minutes (5) I move on)  Remove from heat and stir in broth and milk.  (Laura’s note-I don’t remove from heat, just turn it down low) Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil 1 minute.  Add chicken and lemon juice.  Heat.  4 servings.

Spoon Chicken Curry over the rice, then sprinkle accompaniments over the top as desired.

Curry Accompaniements:

Chutney, tomato wedges, raisins, slivered salted almonds, chopped salted peanuts, sauteed onion rings, pineapple chunks, sieved hard-cooked eggs, crisp bacon bits, sweet or sour pickles, currant jelly, flaked coconut, India relish, Sliced avacado. 

Shrimp Curry

Make Chicken Curry (above) – except use 2 cups cooked, cleaned shrimp in place of chicken.

Laura’s note:  I’ve never tried it with shrimp.  I usually put raisins on top of my chicken curry.  I’ve never tried any of the other accompaniments but they might be good too!

This recipe came from my mother, Geraldine Brewer’s Betty Crocker Cookbook, published in 1961.  It says first edition, second printing.