Grand Marnier French Toast

Last recipe-related post for the evening: MORE FRENCH TOAST!

Again, I was at a loss for what to do for dinner, so my fallback is always brinner. I had retrieved a free bottle of Grand Marnier from a family who is PCS'ing (Permanent Change of Station - basically, people/families who are moving onto their next base) and I figured I should make use of the windfall by making something yummy.


Grand Marnier French Toast

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur or frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 3/4-inch-thick French bread slices

• 4 tablespoons(1/2 stick) butter

Preparation

Whisk first 6 ingredients to blend in medium bowl. Dip each bread slice into egg mixture and arrange in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour remaining egg mixture evenly over bread. Let stand until egg mixture is absorbed, at least 20 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 350&F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add 4 bread slices to skillet and saut&until cooked through and brown, about 3 minutes per side. Place on baking sheet in oven to keep warm. Repeat cooking with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and 4 bread slices. Transfer French toast to 4 plates. Sift powdered sugar over. Serve with maple syrup.

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In an unusual move, I strayed from the path right from the start. Judging from my last try at French toast and the fact that I ran out of batter and butter from the get go, I adjusted. Also, I had no half and half, so I made do. Here are the adjustments:

5 eggs
1 1/2 TBsp water
1 1/2 TBsp  milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp banana extract
7 TBsp butter
1/8 c Grand Marnier

That last tweak was because I was a little worried that the alcohol wouldn't burn off completely and I was serving it to Violet. Yay, responsibility!

The recipe turned out pretty well and I had batter to spare, so I just fried it up like it was regular scrambled eggs. The eggs tasted a tad greasy, but pretty good other than that. Definitely warranting a bit of variation, but good overall.