Pain Perdu...The Lost Bread

Last month I made an impulse buy at my grocery store. Part of it was fueled by hunger, part of it was that I didn’t have a list, but mostly it’s because I have this NEED to buy myself ‘a little something’ that is either a treat or something I wouldn’t normally buy to reward myself for being insert your word of choice here. Depending on the day, I’m rewarding myself for being a good person, for making it through work, for not crying when I look at my bank account, for getting a project done, and the list goes on. In a perfect world I would have enough money to buy myself ‘a little something’ AND give $2 to the Streetwise guy (which sometimes I do in fact do), but for me it’s the little victories, the small things that make my day and often times it’s the ‘little somethings’. Back to the point, which is, I don’t quite remember why I rewarded myself with this, but the important thing is that I did. I bought myself my first Gourmet magazine!

Part of what caught my eye about it was these hand cut French fries in a paper cone. I’m not sure why it caught my eye, but at that moment I knew I had found it. It was my ‘little something’ for the day! It looked delicious and mentally stimulating.

I took the magazine home and combed through it. First, I looked at all the pictures. Vivid colors, fresh ingredients, food styling at its peak. Then I noticed how many advertisements are in it, but I let that one slide. Then I got to reading it. I couldn’t get enough of it! Descriptions that made the meals jump off the pages, recipes for everything, I was pleased. After reading it and devouring it piece by piece (metaphorically speaking of course), I really wanted to cook something. I was ready.

My friend Rebecca came over on a Saturday morning for brunch to discuss a ‘business venture’ of ours. The truth is we talked business for about 10 minutes, the rest was devoted to anything but. However, I decided to try the recipe I found for Pain Perdu in the magazine. Pain perdu is a traditional French Toast made from day old or leftover bread. To me, it reminded me more of this Souffle/Quiche hybrid my mom made for us when we were kids. The way it’s cooked here, comes out more casserole type. It has a creamy, dense texture with a crunchy top. It’s the perfect balance for a savory breakfast. The recipe calls for the Pain to be served with poached eggs and a light salad, which sounds great, but is a little more work. I find that the Pain is meal enough, but I have also accompanied it with fried eggs (over hard) and bacon on the side.

For the last couple weeks I’ve been so in love with this recipe, I’ve made it another 2 times. Each time, adding to it and experimenting with the recipe.

The first time I followed/adapted the recipe according to Gourmet magazine (May 2009). And it came out great. Here’s how it works:

Ingredients:
4 slices of a French bread round (1” thick) – the recipe calls for a baguette and to use 6 slices
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg
½ cup grated parmesan
1 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make sure the rack is in the middle.
Use the 1 TBSP of butter and peel off the paper, lightly butter a 9-inch pie pan. (Or you can use a 1 qt shallow baking dish.)
Arrange the bread in a single layer in the pan. I cut little slices to fill in the tight areas between the large slices of bread, it was more of a solid layer of bread and it was great.
Whisk together the milk, egg, salt, and pepper.
Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread.
Sprinkle the cheese over the bread and press on the bread lightly to help it absorb the custard.
Let it stand for about 10 minutes until the liquid is most of the way absorbed. (Recommended standing time 15-30 minutes, but patience in the kitchen is really not my thing.)
Cut the leftover butter into little cubes and dot the top of the bread with the butter.
Bake, uncovered, until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes.

The first time I made it I was impressed by how easy it was, how delicious it tasted, AND how well the left overs reheated.

The second time I made it I added a teaspoon of Emeril’s BAM Essence to the egg and milk mixture. However, it was kind of lost in the custardy thickness of the bread.

The third time I made it, I double the recipe, and it still came out great. I used sourdough bread instead of French and I added a small handful of finely chopped chives. (Use your discretion.) The chives definitely gave it a little more flavor and the parmesan cheese got nice and bubbly.

I think that as long as you use an artisan, rustic, type bread it will be great. Steer clear of regular sandwich bread or even Texas toast, I think it won’t absorb as much of the milk and egg mixture and be a total mess.

In conclusion – if there’s one recipe you try – try this one. Pegleg sat this one out, because that’s how easy it is. When it comes right out of the oven, it’s puffy, golden, and quite impressive. Then, when you bite into the soft, creamy bread and crunch the golden cheese, you’ll think it took hours to make.