Pain Perdu With Apricot Sauce Food

PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• Combine the sliced strawberries, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, honey, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons orange liqueur, the vanilla, orange zest, and salt. Slice the bread in 3/4-inch slices. Pour the egg mixture into a large shallow plate and soak a few slices of bread for 4 minutes, turning once.
• Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat. Take each slice of bread from the egg mixture, dip one side in the toasted almonds, and place in the saute pan, almond side down. (While you're cooking each batch, add more bread to the egg mixture to soak.) Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked bread on a baking sheet and keep it warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel, add more butter and oil, and continue to fry the remaining soaked bread until they're all cooked. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve hot with the strawberries.

PAIN PERDU RECIPE

Steps:

• Slice baguette into 2" thick slices set aside.
• In a shallow bowl add the eggs, milk, sugar, salt, whisk that together and then add the vanilla and orange zest, whisk to combine.
• Then place bread in the bowl to soak for at least a total of 6 mins (3 mins on each side)
• While bread in soaking you can heat the syrup. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoon (30 ml) of syrup, 2 tablespoon (30 ml) butter and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) orange zest until warm. Keep on a very low flame just to keep warm.
• Then heat 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of butter in a large non-stick skillet. Place soaked bread in pan, be careful not to crowd them so they can brown. Once browned on 1 side, flip them on the other side and cook for another 1-2 mins until golden brown. Then turn them on their sides to brown a bit, making sure the raw egg is being cooked on all sides.
• Then remove from a pan and place on a serving platter. Drizzle the orange syrup over the bread and top with some freshly grated orange zest to garnish. Enjoy!
• Entertaining with Beth is a weekly food series hosted by Beth Le Manach sharing easy recipes for elegant entertaining, that are also simple enough for a weeknight meal! Beth's motto is "Minimum effort for maximum impact!" Food tastes better when shared. So go ahead and have friends over!

PAIN PERDU I

Steps:

• Cut the bread and place on a wire rack to dry out a little as you prepare the batter.
• Whisk the egg to blend. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan or on the stovetop and allow to cool slightly. Whisk the sugar, salt and spices into the egg. When the butter has cooled slightly, slowly drizzle it in to the egg, whisking all the time. A little at a time, add the flour to the egg mixture to make a smooth thick paste. After it is all added, slowly blend in the milk and finally the vanilla. Whisk until just smooth and set aside.
• Heat the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip a slice of the bread in the batter and allow to soak for 30 seconds, no more. Remove from the batter and allow the excess to drip off, back into the bowl. Place the battered slice in the skillet. Repeat with the remaining slices. Cook until golden on one side and then flip to brown the other. Serve immediately--a fresh squeeze of lemon juice and a good dusting of powdered sugar is traditional.

PORK WITH APRICOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Place tenderloins on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 30-35 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir until heated through., Slice the pork; serve 1-1/2 pounds with the apricot sauce. Refrigerate or freeze remaining pork for another use.

APRICOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the apricots in a heavy saucepan with the water, the cinnamon sticks and the lemon zest, cover, and let stand at room temperature for three hours.
• Set over medium heat, bring to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer gently, covered for 35 to 40 minutes until the apricots are very soft.
• Remove from heat and discard the cinnamon sticks and the lemon peel.
• Using an immersion blender (or, if you prefer a blender or food processor, but the stick blender is so much easier), puree the apricots and the cooking liguid.
• Add the lemon juice, sugar and butter to the apricot mixture in the saucepan and return to low heat, simmering the mixture uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes.
• Cool to room temperature before serving (and try to resist constant tasting).

APRICOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine 2 cups water, sugar and dried apricots in heavy medium saucepan. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until apricots are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer apricot mixture to blender and puree, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if needed to form smooth sauce. Add vanilla extract and blend well. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon until blended. Arrange the bread in a large shallow baking dish, overlapping the slices if necessary.
• Pour the milk mixture over the bread and let stand for at least 30 minutes, carefully turning the bread with a wide spatula and rearranging it so it is evenly moistened halfway through the standing time.
• Position one oven rack in the upper third of the oven and one in the lower third and preheat the oven to 400°. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter on each of two baking sheets with sides and place in the oven until the butter melts and pans are hot, about 5 minutes. Tilt the pans so the butter covers them evenly. Remove from the oven.
• Place 5 to 6 slices of the soaked bread on each of the hot pans, spacing them evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. Take the pans out of the oven and turn each piece of bread over with a wide spatula. Return the pans to the oven, placing the one from the top rack on the bottom rack on the top, and bake until the bread is puffed and evenly browned, 15 to 20 minutes more.
• Transfer to a platter, dust with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup, if desired.

PAIN PERDU WITH APRICOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Apricot Sauce: In a heavy saucepan, stir together the sugar, water and cinnamon stick; cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil; simmer until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add apricots and cook until apricots soften, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and keep warm. (Note: sauce can be made ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Re-warm over medium-low heat before using.)
• Pain Perdu: Whisk milk, eggs and salt in 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish; add bread in single layer. Let stand until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute per side.
• Heat 2 tablespoons CRISCO® Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat; add 3 bread slices to skillet and cook until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to warm platter. Repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons Butter Flavor CRISCO® and 3 bread slices.
• Divide pain perdu among 6 plates. Spoon warm apricot sauce over, discarding cinnamon stick. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.