Deluxe French Toast

I tried this recipe thanks to Laura over at Real Mom Kitchen. She got it from Cooking Light (and it is technically called Pain Perdu). I love my plain old French toast that I make for my family and cook up on the griddle, but I thought this was fun for when you want to make something special.

The only drawback is it took too long to cook enough to feed my family hot out of the pan (3 pieces every 7 minutes).

That said though, my family raved about this meal. It was rich and buttery and tasted like restaurant French toast. If I were to make it again, I think I'd get two pans going with melted butter or try it on the griddle so I could cook more pieces at a time. Also, when I made this, I made a double batch, but I had to triple the amount of the egg and milk mixture to have enough liquid to coat and saturate the bread. I also made it without the orange rind, purely by accident, and served it with syrup because I was in a hurry and didn't have my strawberries ready to go.

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 (1-ounce) slices diagonally cut day-old French bread (about 1 inch thick)

2 cups sliced strawberries
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
4 teaspoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Combine milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, salt, and eggs in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Place bread slices in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish; pour egg mixture over bread; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until egg is absorbed.

2. Combine strawberries, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and rind in a small bowl. Let stand 20 minutes.

3. Melt 2 teaspoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 bread slices to pan; cook 3 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and bread.

4. Place 2 bread slices on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar; top each with 1/2 cup strawberry mixture.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 349
Fat: 10.2g (sat 4.5g,mono 3.4g,poly 1.1g)
Protein: 11.7g
Carbohydrate: 52g
Fiber: 3.4g
Cholesterol: 172mg
Iron: 2.8mg
Sodium: 540mg
Calcium: 136mg