“chello” and challah french toast

as amiee put it, i am also quite *delighted* to join the heathen-jewish-foodie-blogging team!

ah, cooking. as dafna can attest, cooking and i have not always been the best of friends–i.e. trips to the supermarket spent wandering for far too long and failed recipes gathering dew in our fridge were the norm after moving out of the dorms. but after a remedial cook book crafted by momma schneider and lots of practice, it has become my go-to stress relief and secret tool for bringing together all of my favorite people. in the last year my jewish cooking has evolved quite a bit. when i moved to nyc a year and half ago my living situation lent itself to lots of recipe sharing. picture this: twelve jews picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped! okay, not that last part…but i did find myself in one of the most religious neighborhoods in brooklyn (aka: midwood) sharing food with 11 other young jewish activists with a huge array of cooking expertise. though i’ve moved a bit north to prospect heights and my overt jewish inspiration has decreased, (not to mention the quantity in which i have to cook) i nonetheless retained a diverse database of jewish food.  good times.

okay, enough with introductions. shall we get cookin’?!

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to honor the shabbat tradition in my crazy, over-crowded house, i want to share with you our favorite: challah french toast. yes, i am claiming this as a jewish food despite its availability at almost any nyc brunch spot. who else would have leftover challah lying around on a sunday morning? challah is asking to be french toast: it’s sweet, it’s fluffy, and it toasts wonderfully. i had the pleasure of cooking with a friend today, and she shared her favorite proportions of the ingredients you will see below…

i started with amiee’s wonderful challah recipe and changed it a bit by using whole wheat flower.

six strand style

ingredients:

challah bread (at least one day old is best)

4 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

steps:

1. whisk together eggs, milk and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

2. slice the challah however you like–the thinner the slice, the more crispy the toast will be.

3. place your slices of bread into the egg mixture. make sure both sides are coated and well soaked in egg and cinnamon.

4. let your slices rest for a few minutes before plopping them into the pan. you can do this on a cookie sheet or plate. (fun tip c/o my favorite: alton brown)

5. melt butter into pan and add slices of bread. cook until browned to your liking and then flip! it’s done when both sides are browned and crispy. *each time you add more bread to the pan, make sure you add more butter, too!

6. serve hot with maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, fruit…or whatever you like!

yields about 6-8 slices

slice it. slice it good.

simplest list of ingredients. ever.

challah goes for a quick swim in the egg

ready for the pan

first side nice n’ toasted

ready for decoration

enjoying our creation with CANADIAN maple syrup. clearly, the best kind.