pain perdu

french toast, bacon, and cabbage...
a rather international breakfast

I'm writing this about a week later than intended thanks to a complete failure of internet at the new apartment. Ah, well... several hours spent on the phone with the internet people and one new modem later, we're back in business! 

Last Monday, after a long weekend of moving and unpacking, breakfast for dinner was in order. Because let's be honest - breakfast, in the proper sense of the word (i.e. bacon must be included) doesn't happen all that often during, well, breakfast hours. But who doesn't love bacon and french toast? 

Funny story about this dinner, too...

Just as I was getting things around to start cooking, my dad called to ask how I was faring after the sad death of one of my favourite stoneware pans. It was perfect timing, because I'd just received his care package of the best coffee - Community - which would incidentally be the perfect beverage alongside breakfast-y foods. I told him what I was up to and it just so happens he, too, was about to eat breakfast for dinner. Great minds think alike.

'Pain perdu?' Dad replied in one of the worst mock French accents ever when I mentioned french toast. (I love my father, but he's one of the cheesiest people. Ever.) 'Do you know why it's called that?' I asked. He didn't, so I explained:

Pain perdu literally means 'lost bread' in French. The French, famous for their baguettes and boules, always eat bread with the meal. French toast is not served as its own breakfast entree item in France as it is in the States, but rather as dessert - after the meal. Thus the bread, which shouldn't appear in a dessert course, has 'lost' its way in the meal... hence pain perdu: lost bread.

And if you're in the mood for an easy Monday breakfast for dinner, just grab a loaf of french bread, slice it thick, dredge in a mixture of 3-4 eggs, 1/4-1/2 C milk, a splash of vanilla and a little salt (this isn't the sort of thing you need to measure exactly), and cook in a little butter in a skillet over medium-high heat until it's nice and brown on both sides. 

Voilà!