French Roast Food

FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and set aside briefly.
• In a 10-inch or 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk together cinnamon mixture, eggs, milk, and vanilla and pour into a shallow container such as a pie plate. Dip bread in egg mixture. Fry slices until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side. Serve with syrup.

POT-ROAST BEEF WITH FRENCH ONION GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Rub the meat with 1 tsp of the oil and plenty of seasoning. Heat a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the meat all over for about 10 mins. Meanwhile, add 2 tsp oil to a frying pan and fry the carrots and celery for 10 mins until turning golden.
• Lift the beef onto a plate, splash the wine into the hot casserole and boil for 2 mins. Pour in the stock, return the beef, then tuck in the carrots, celery and bay leaves, trying not to submerge the carrots too much. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hrs. (I like to turn the beef halfway through cooking.)
• Meanwhile, thinly slice the onions. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and stir in the onions, thyme and some seasoning. Cover and cook gently for 20 mins until the onions are softened but not coloured. Remove the lid, turn up the heat, add the butter and sugar, then let the onions caramelise to a dark golden brown, stirring often. Remove the thyme sprigs, then set aside.
• When the beef is ready, it will be tender and easy to pull apart at the edges. Remove it from the casserole and snip off the strings. Reheat the onion pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min. Whisk the floury onions into the beefy juices in the casserole, to make a thick onion gravy. Taste for seasoning. Add the beef and carrots back to the casserole, or slice the beef and bring to the table on a platter, with the carrots to the side and the gravy spooned over.

FRENCH ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree.
• Place the onions and garlic on the bottom of your pan. Add roast.
• Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over roast in pan.
• Bake 3-4 hours, covered.

FRENCH ROASTED BEEF

Steps:

• Sprinkle salt over roast. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 12 hours. Remove roast from refrigerator, unwrap, place on a wire rack in a shallow pan, cover and let sit until it reaches room temperature. Discard wrap.
• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.
• Prepare another shallow pan with a wire rack in it. Place in oven to heat.
• Pat the roast dry, rub 1 T oil evenly over the meat. Pepper roast.
• In a heavy pan, cast iron is best, place remaining T of oil. Heat almost to smoke.
• With kitchen tongs, place the roast into hot pan. Sear on each side for 3-4 minutes each.
• Remove pan and roast from heat.
• Place roast on warmed rack in preheated oven.
• Use a probe thermometer to monitor temperature.
• You want to try to keep the internal temperature of the roast below 122 degrees. Adjust oven temperature as needed, or open door briefly, to keep that temperature down.
• For a medium rare roast, cook to 115, remove from oven. Turn oven off. (A 5 pound roast will take around 2 hours in my oven to reach 115 degrees.) Leave roast in oven until thermometer reaches 130 F for medium rare. This will take 30 to 50 minutes longer.
• If your roast is not coming up to temperature, turn the oven back on to 225 for 5 minutes, turn it off and finish.
• When roast is at 130 F, transfer to cutting board and let rest 15 minutes.
• Slice and serve.

THE BEST FRENCH TOAST I'VE EVER MADE

Steps:

• Choose your bread. If you like very thick french toast (you should try it at least once!), find a local bakery and get yourself a loaf of challah or brioche bread (buy a day-old loaf if they have it.) I don't like using French bread or the regular loaves you find in the deli at the grocery store; the crusts turn out too chewy. You want a nice soft edge. If you can't get to a bakery, head to the grocery store and buy the thickest and softest white bread you can find. (3/4 inch or thicker.) Texas toast is great. I like to use the Artesano brand of bread; they sell a pre-sliced brioche loaf that is pretty legit. But their white bread is also nice and soft. See photos.
• Slice your bread with a serrated knife if you are working with a whole loaf. See photos. I like my slices to be about 1 and 1/4 inch thick, which feels a little ridiculous, but trust me. You can even go up to 2 inches if you're feeling wild. Don't slice thinner than 3/4 inch.
• Set your bread aside, spread out so that it gets a little dried out. Day old bread is great for French toast. In France, they call this dish "Lost Bread" because it's what you make when you have dried out bread to use up. (I experimented with toasting the bread first, but thought it dried out the finished product too much.)
• Make the egg mixture. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl,* whisk together 3 egg yolks, 1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream* or half & half, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg, if you like. Whisk until it is completely smooth and the cinnamon is well incorporated.
• Pour the mixture into a shallow dish like a pie plate, or an 8x8 inch pan. Place a slice of bread in the mixture and let it sit there for 10 to 20 seconds. How long you soak it depends on how thick your bread is. It should be soft when you touch it, but still hold itself together. Flip the bread and soak the other side. You can start cooking the French toast right away, or you can place the soaked bread on a baking sheet or plate while you finish soaking all of them.
• Cook the French toast: Heat an electric griddle or large 12 inch skillet over medium low heat. When it is hot, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or any oil with a high smoke point.) Swirl it around until the pan is coated. Place the French toast on the pan with 1 to 2 inches in between each slice of bread. Cook on medium low heat for 3-5 minutes. The timing depends on your oven or griddle, so stick around and keep an eye on it.
• Caramelize. When the bottom of the first side is LIGHT brown (we are going to cook this side twice), sprinkle about a half tablespoon granulated sugar on the top (raw) side of the bread. Flip the toast, sugar side down, and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. (Be sure to swirl the pan so oil re-coats it, or add more butter/oil if necessary). Then, sprinkle another half tablespoon of sugar on the cooked side, and flip it over again so that it lightly caramelizes the first side.
• Keep your toast warm. Preheat your oven to the "keep warm" setting, about 170 degrees F. As you finish frying the toast, transfer each one to a wire cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Keep toast warm in the oven until ready to serve.
• I honestly don't even put maple syrup on caramelized French toast. I feel like it doesn't really need it, plus it makes the caramel edge not as crunchy. I like to eat it plain, or with a little jam. But maple syrup is really delicious if you are in the mood! A sprinkle of powdered sugar and a berry garnish never hurt either.
• Keep leftovers stored covered in the fridge. It will keep for 3-5 days. You can reheat leftovers in the microwave or the toaster. Or heat your oven to 350 and heat the toast all together on a wire rack set over a baking sheet, until the toast is warmed, about 5-10 minutes.

FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Beat the eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. Whisk until well blended.
• Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, allowing bread to soak up some of the mixture.
• Melt some butter (or use vegetable oil) over a large skillet on medium high heat. Add as many slices of bread onto the skillet as will fit at a time. Fry until brown on both sides, flipping the bread when necessary.
• I prefer to serve with golden syrup.

FRENCH TOAST ROAST WITH BANANAS AND WALNUTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the custard: Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Add the sugar, cream, milk, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
• Trim the crust from the brioche, then cut it into a 4-by-6-inch cylinder. Place the brioche in a baking dish and cover with the custard. Let stand until the custard has soaked through all of the bread, at least 15 minutes; turn the bread occasionally with tongs to make sure it soaks evenly.
• For the bananas: While the bread is soaking, peel and slice the bananas 1/2-inch thick. In a bowl, toss the bananas with the melted butter, pecans, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and 1/2 cup water and pour into a roasting pan.
• For the French toast roast: When the bread has finished soaking, melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the soaked brioche with sugar and carefully place it, sugar side down, in the melted butter. Sprinkle the top with more sugar and sear the bread on all sides until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Carefully place the bread over the bananas and transfer to the oven for 15 minutes, or until the bread is caramelized. Remove from the oven, dust with powdered sugar, cut into 1-inch slices and serve with the banana mixture.