fit for a queen

when mothers' day came around this year, my mother was just an hour away visiting my sister and her husband, and -primarily- her 18 month old grandson. grandson carl (nephew carl to me) is a joy and mom jumps at the chance to travel five hours to come for the weekend so she can babysit. carl is both coy and energetic. he has the year and a half's ability to do exactly what he is not supposed to and make you want to see him do it again. no, carl! we do not try to ride the dog! carl's also mastered the concept of performance, but you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting an answer if you asking him what the duck says.
since mom was at my sister's this day of mother-worship, my husband and i traveled over for a sunday brunch. ayer, my sister, provided the fruit salad and fried potatoes. i brought the green salad and baked french-toast. the brunch was wonderful, not just because of the fabulous food, but because of the family time we spent putting the meal together.
in response to ayer's and mom's requests for the french toast recipe, i thought i would share it for all to enjoy. it does not take a holiday to enjoy a decadent dish, but you do have to plan ahead. the dish requires a blending and soaking of flavors overnight for best results.
the original recipe for this dish is a single layer casserole. mom loves stuffed french toast, however, so i did a layered casserole with marscapone and strawberries in the middle. any 'filling' would work-jam, fresh fruit, cream cheese...or just keep to the simple single layer.
you can top with butter, syrup, unsweetened whipped cream or simply serve as is.

Baked (and stuffed?) french toast

6 slices (double if stuffed) firm bread *
5 eggs (8 if stuffed)
1 1/2 cups low fat milk (2 1/4 if stuffed)
2 teasp. vanilla (3...)
1 teasp ground cinnamon (1 1/2 ...)
1/8 teasp. grated nutmeg (what the heck, 1/4 if stuffed)
----
topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or brown if you want)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
dash cinnamon

• butter a 12 x 7 inch baking dish. lay the bread slices in the dish, cutting slices to fill the spaces
• if you are stuffing the french toast, add your filling here (i used marscapone and strawberries) and top with layer of bread
• beat the eggs in a large bowl. add milk, vanilla and spices-beat well. if stuffing: pour over bread slowly--make sure you give the liquid mixture time to soak in the top bread slices as well as the bottom.
• cover and refrigerate overnight
• for topping, combine the butter, sugar, nuts and cinnamon in small bowl and refrigerate. bring to room temperature before you bake the casserole.
• in the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees
• spread topping over the casserole before baking. bake 40 minutes and let sit 10 before cutting.

* really good breads include sourdough, challah, or a raisin cinnamon. use bakery bread or unsliced bread if you can so your slices can be about twice as thick as regular sliced bread.

This recipe was adapted from main-course vegetarian pleasures by jeanne lemlin. it is a wonderful cookbook that has quite a few "quick recipes". all the ingredients are easy to find and some of the combinations (tortellin and spinach salad with sesame dressing) are incredible. lots of vegan options, too