french toast with lemon-ricotta filling

Well since I posted the recipe for the Fresh Citrus Compote, I might as well go all the way and post the recipe for the treaty french toast.

French Toast with Lemon-Ricotta Filling

Thy Tran
Executive Chef, CUESA

1/2 cup sheep's milk ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 thick slices firm bread
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/4 cup orange liqueur or fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter or oil
Powdered sugar, for garnish

Stir together the ricotta cheese, zest, and cinnamon until evenly blended.

With a paring knife, cut a pocket into one side of each bread slice. Gently fill the pockets with about two tablespoons of the ricotta filling. Set aside.

Whisk the cream, eggs, liqueur or juice, and vanilla until smooth.

Arrange the filled bread in a large baking pan. Drizzle the mixture over the bread and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or preferably overnight.

In the morning, turn the slices careful with a wide spatula to redistribute the egg batter. Let sit for a few minutes. In the meantime, heat a large, heavy skillet or preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the french toast with butter or oil, turning once, until golden brown on each side and just warm at the center. Transfer to warm serving plates and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.

Serve immediately with Citrus Compote.

Makes 4 servings.

My notes:

• Although it tastes great, I have no clue where to find sheep's milk ricotta around here, but I figure regular ricotta would work just as well.
• I'm not sure why, but powdered sugar is labeled as confectioner's sugar by Domino sugar.
• This goes well with a small side of scrambled eggs and peppered bacon.
• Chef Thy Tran mentioned that straining scrambled eggs before cooking them makes the resulting eggs super smooth. Straining the eggs removes the larger strands of protein, but of course, that's protein no longer being eaten.