French Toast with Apple Topping

Fifty-two pages. The cookbook draft hit the June target, two pages over, which I will not apologize for because Betty had more than fifty pages of food in her and I could write a hundred more and still not get all of it down. The fried apple pie recipe took five batches but the fifth was right — the dough tender, the filling sweet but not too sweet, the edges sealed with a fork press the way Betty did it. I ate one standing at the counter and for three seconds I was eleven years old in the kitchen in Evarts watching her hands work. Then I was fifty-three again with a bad back in Lexington, but those three seconds were worth five batches.

Travis came by Saturday to help me fix the fence. The back section has been leaning since February and I've been ignoring it the way I ignore most things that don't involve food or family — with full awareness and zero action. Travis brought his tools and Jolene brought a casserole, which tells me they've entered the married-couple-brings-food-to-everything phase. The casserole was chicken and rice with cream of mushroom soup, which is not Appalachian but is universal, and I ate two helpings and complimented it honestly because the surest way to ruin a new daughter-in-law is to criticize her cooking.

The back was manageable this week. I've been doing the stretches the doctor showed me, not because I trust the stretches but because Connie watches and if I don't do them she says things. The things she says are accurate, which makes them worse. I can work. I can bend, mostly. I can lift, carefully. The trick is knowing the difference between pain that means stop and pain that means proceed with awareness, and I have been negotiating that difference for two years and I am getting worse at it, not better, because the pain is getting louder and my ability to ignore it is getting quieter.

Called Betty Sunday evening. She said the rhubarb is in and she's making a pie tomorrow and do I remember how she makes the crust. I said yes, ma'am — lard, flour, a little salt, ice water, don't overwork it. She said that's right and sounded pleased, which from Betty is like a standing ovation. I asked if she needed anything. She said she needs her son to stop asking if she needs anything. Then she said bring me some of that Lexington coffee next time you come. So she does need something. She just needed me to work for it.

After five batches of fried apple pies and a Sunday evening on the phone listening to Betty recite her pie crust from memory — lard, flour, salt, ice water, don’t overwork it — apples had worked their way into everything I was thinking about. I wasn’t going to fry another batch the next morning with my back the way it was, but I still wanted that warm, sweet-spiced apple feeling in the kitchen. This French toast with apple topping is what I landed on: simple enough that I didn’t have to stand too long, good enough that I ate it slowly and on purpose, and apple enough that Betty would probably nod and say that’ll do.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the apple topping:
2 medium apples (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
For the French toast:
4 thick slices brioche or Texas toast (about 1-inch thick)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for the pan
Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Cook the apple topping. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and the sauce is thickened and syrupy, about 8—10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
Make the egg mixture. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon until fully combined and slightly frothy.
Soak the bread. Working one slice at a time, dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture, letting it soak for about 20—30 seconds per side. The bread should be saturated but not falling apart.
Cook the French toast. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add the soaked bread slices in a single layer (work in batches if needed). Cook until deep golden brown on the bottom, about 3—4 minutes, then flip and cook the other side until set and golden, another 2—3 minutes.
Serve. Plate the French toast and spoon the warm apple topping generously over each slice. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

French Toast with Apple Topping — The Apple That Brought Me Back to Evarts