Milk Toast or Milquetoast? - by Karla Jacobs
When one writes for public consumption one invites all sorts of criticism, particularly when one writes about politics, as I do in other places from time to time. I don’t know what it is about the internet, most likely the feeling of anonymity that comes from being safely behind a keyboard, but people will say all sorts of things in the comments that they would never in a million years say to someone’s face. I finally convinced Stephen to stop reading the comments on my articles when a piece on sex trafficking I wrote for a national online outlet yielded all sorts of insults from declaring me a left wing hack to insisting I’m a right wing nut job. Some comments assured me I am brilliant while others were certain I am dumb as dirt. All on the same article. Goes to show you can’t please everyone, and I solve this problem by not reading any of the comments in the first place. (Except here at Sweet Tea. Sweet Tea is a nice place to read comments, and I read every one of them.)
My favorite insult—and this has happened more than once—is when someone declares that I am milk toast. This insult was a favorite for a while on the right side of the aisle, particularly on cable news channels, which is why lots of people don’t know how to spell it. (The corollary is a word someone doesn’t know how to pronounce because they’ve only seen it in writing.) I can never resist responding: “The insult you are looking for is ‘milquetoast,’ which means feeble, insipid, or bland. ‘Milk toast’ is what Southerners buy ingredients for whenever snow is predicted.”
Most of us north of the Gnat Line in Georgia got to stock our pantries with milk toast ingredients this past weekend as a winter storm was predicted to move in on Sunday. The snow was mostly a nonevent in Metro Atlanta. It was pretty coming down, but didn’t accumulate enough to be any fun.
North of us got a good bit more snow and the temporary winter wonderland that goes with it.
Now that the weather is back to normal, what do we do with all this extra bread and milk we bought? The correct answer is add a few eggs and make some French toast.
My family loves French toast. If we are in a restaurant, and that restaurant has French toast on the menu, there is a good chance someone in my family will order it. We’ve eaten French toast at so many places, we can tell you for certain Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg, Tennessee has the best breakfast French toast anywhere. They pile those yummy, eggy toast triangles on your plate, dust them with cinnamon and powdered sugar, and drown them in a cinnamon cream syrup. Add a side of bacon and a glass of OJ, and you won’t have to eat again for a few days. They only take cash and there’s always a line to get in, but their French toast is definitely worth the effort.
Our current favorite way to eat French toast is with a slab of fried chicken, stewed apples, and maple syrup as one gets it at The Marietta Local on the Square in Marietta. It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet, crunchy and bready, fruity and savory. It is in a word, perfection. Our tradition is to eat The Local’s Chicken-N-French Toast during finals week at the end of every semester.
Did you know French toast was not actually created in France? It’s good enough to be French, rich and sweet, but as we’ve discovered with other traditional dishes, like deviled eggs, the Romans discovered it first. Or at least they were the first to write the recipe down. They called it aliter dulcia which translates to “another sweet dish.” In the beginning they dipped bread into a milk mixture and fried it up—milk toast—but later eggs were added to the mixture making it a savory breakfast option.
Peasants across Europe in the Middles Ages ate some form of the concoction as a way to keep from wasting days old bread. Soaking the dried bread in milk and eggs softened it up again and made it easier to eat, and frying it made it delicious. The dish goes by many names. The Germans call it arme ritter or “poor knights.” The English call it “poor knights of Windsor,” and the French call it pain perdu which means “lost bread.”
Why is it called French toast if the actual French don’t even call it that? Legend has it we can blame that on Americans. In 1724, an innkeeper in Albany, New York named Joseph French began making the eggs, milk, and bread dish and called it French’s toast. Only he wasn’t very good at grammar and left out the ‘s on the menu, and the name stuck. Rumor has it, many food historians roll their eyes at this claim since this dish has been a part of European culinary history for centuries.
It took me a while to find the perfect recipe for French toast to make at home. I always felt like the bread ended up either too soggy or not eggy enough. That could have been because I was trying to use loaf bread. Once I switched to brioche, things got better. The final product got even better when I found the recipe I use now that calls for drying out the bread in the oven before dipping it in the eggs and milk. I highly recommend taking the time to do this because it makes for a perfect French toast texture.
My recipe is largely based on the one in Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book. If you do not own this book, you need to buy it. Everything I’ve made out of it from blueberry scones to cinnamon babka has been wonderful.
French Toast
8 large slices of brioche or challah
1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Bake bread slices at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. The bread will be mostly dry, but you still want the center to be a little moist.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg yolks, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt, and pour it into a 13 x 9 inch dish.
Dip and flip your bread slices, coating both sides in the egg mixture. Fry the bread in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet on medium-low heat 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. You’ll have to do this in batches using about a 1/2 tablespoon of the butter at a time depending on how many slices will fit in your skillet, and you can keep finished slices warm in a 200 degree oven.
Top as you prefer—powdered sugar, maple syrup, baked apples, peach slices, berries, fried chicken, whatever.
Enjoy!
The New York Times put out their list of best cookbooks from 2021.
If you aren’t playing Wordle, you’re missing out on a lot of fun. There is a new one each day, and Stephen and I are now that old couple that solves a daily word puzzle together to stay sharp. You can share your triumphs on social media too!
You can find Wordle here.
I had not intended to take so much time off from Sweet Tea, but the new year came in hot and busy, so here we are. We have Abby safely ensconced at school in France where she will spend the semester abroad, and Daniel started his last semester as a high school student. We will know in the coming months what his college future will look like. Yellow Jacket or War Eagle? Only time will tell. In the meantime, do your best to stay warm and enjoy your French toast or milk toast, however you like to roll.
Until next time,
Karla
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