Leonard Maltin’s Grand Marnier French Toast

From the TV Guide Celebrity Cookbook, 1994

Leonard wrote:

For any food lover, the ultimate food film is Babette’s Feast.  Like Water for Chocolate is a wonderful food film, too,” he says.  “The connection between food and sensuality has been done before many times, but seldom as well.  Citizen Kane, of course, has that famous breakfast sequence where the table gets longer and longer as Orson Welles and Ruth Wrrick get more and more distant as their marriage goes on.”

“I’ve always loved breakfast food, and I’ve always been partial to French toast.  The recipe I’ve give TV Guide is actually my wife’s.”

Ingredients

1 extra-large loaf Italian bread

12 eggs

4 cups milk

1/2 cup Grand Marnier

1 tbsp. finely grated orange zest

3 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. salt

butter

confectioner’s sugar

Directions

Cut Italian bread on a slant into 12 slices, each about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Arrange in single layer in three 12 x 8 x 2-inch baking dishes.  Beat eggs with mild, then add Grand Marnier, orange zest, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.  Mix well or blend on medium speed.  Pour mixture over bread, turning slices to coat both sides.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Over medium heat, sauté bread in buttered skillet until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.

Dust generously with confectioner’s sugar.  Makes 12 servings.

More Leonard Maltin in Stargayzing:

A Letter From Film Scholar Leonard Maltin Regarding His Fanzine Film Fan Monthly