French Toast Union Pacific Style

Of the five French toasts in this group, this is probably one of the simplest. It stands or falls on two factors: whether you prefer mostly egg and just a little dairy in the mixture that coats the bread, and whether you don’t mind tasting your frying fat (in this case a combination of clarified butter and lard, which turns out to be quite nice). 

It’s difficult to avoid the thought that the lard was more or less unavoidable in this dish, given the fact that the Union Pacific railway‘s rise to dominance across the US’s Midwest probably had much to do with its relationship to the huge Union Stockyards facilities outside of Omaha, Nebraska, and the staggering amount of livestock (particularly cattle and hogs) that passed through the railhead there for processing. 

That said, it’s also true that frying in lard can also produce a crisper product with a “deeper” taste: so I’ve got no arguments about that approach. If you’re not a lard fan, I recommend that you just use clarified butter (which prevents the toast scorching as it fries, due to the butter’s higher burning temperature).

Also, just as a matter of interest: while the version of the Union Pacific French toast that I’m dealing with here is the one that appears in James Porterfield’s Dining By Rail,* there are various other “Union Pacific French toast” recipes scattered around the web that describe a heavily battered toast. I have no data on where those recipes might have come from, or when. It’s not impossible that the railroad’s dining car operation changed their recipe at some point, but there’s no telling when that might have happened just by the dish’s presence on its menus. (And since apparently—probably due to the railway’s sheer size—the Union Pacific was one of the most prolific producers of dining car menus in the US, digging much deeper into that issue would be a rabbit hole I’m not interested in falling down at the moment.)

Anyway: enjoy! 

*Please note that if you should elect to buy Porterfield’s book using the link above, our website gets a wee tiny commission on the sale. But you probably knew that.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

You’ll need: shallow bowl or jug, bread-soaking dish, large skillet. Heat oil for frying to hot

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

• 2 slices white bread (I used slices cut from a loaf of our House White Bread recipe, baked as a Pullman style / sandwich bread. That version of the recipe’s here.)
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. light cream
• 1 Tbsp. clarified butter
• 1 Tbsp. lard
• powdered sugar

Directions:

Cut two slices of bread ¾-inch thick and trim crust.

Cut diagonally, making four triangular pieces.

Beat eggs and cream together well.

Dip bread triangles in mixture.

…I let these have a second “soak” on each side until they’d sopped up almost all the egg and cream mixture. This makes for a much tenderer toast, and keeps them from going tough during the frying process.

Then get your fats ready to heat up… 

…and fry the toasts until golden brown in the hot butter and lard.

Serve hot and well drained. Top may be sprinkled with powdered sugar if desired.