Rachel Ate Richmond

I spent this past weekend in Richmond, home of my alma mater, eating at some of my favorite places. 

Friday night featured good beer, appetizer samplers (with Shrimp Toast), and beef pho at Mekong.

Then Saturday evening was the La La Yu Yu Roll and a bucket of tots at RVA's own Sticky Rice.

Both highly recommended for anyone venturing through the River City.

Bourbon Vanilla French Toast

I love French Toast. It has pretty much always been one of my great joys. I also really love bourbon and the way it highlights subtler vanilla notes.  The end result?  My Bourbon Vanilla French Toast.  I made a huge pile of the stuff for a brunch with a few friends from college.

You will need:

• Nice eggy bread like challah or brioche (I have challah, sliced and knotted, because they only had one loaf of each and I was making way too much)
• 2 eggs per serving (~4 slices)
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 shot of bourbon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Cinnamon or cinnamon sugar to taste

Heat a skillet or nonstick pan over low-medium heat.

Whisk together your eggs and milk until mostly combined. Add your bourbon and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add cinnamon, making sure to whisk between slices.

Add butter or cooking spray to your pan. You'll want some kind of fat to allow for that lovely browning on the french toast.

Coat your slices of bread (I like about 3/4" thick) in the egg mixture and add to the pan.  Cook until the egg on the edges of the bread starts to solidify, then flip and continue cooking until browned but not burnt on either side.

(The grill marks are because making this much food meant I needed every pan I had, including my cast iron grill pan.)

You can serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream or bourbon maple syrup (bonus recipe below):

Bourbon Maple Syrup

• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Reduce the bourbon in a pan on medium-high heat. Be careful to pull the pan off the heat while adding the bourbon to avoid flare-ups. Bubbles will form as it reduces. Once it's about 1/4 the original amount, add the maple syrup, whisking constantly until evenly combined. Serve hot.

Back from Accidental Hiatus

Hey y'all!

It's been a minute since my last post (kidding - it's been 9 months), and there are some things you might want to know! First and foremost, I'm no longer a grad student - so this blog is no longer Grad Student Eats DC...Welcome to "Rachel Eats DC!" I work in the non-profit world, which means money is still pretty tight and stress is still pretty high, so most of the schtick of this blog is about the same.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was working and schooling full time for the last semester, which left me pretty drained, so when I did cook or go out to eat, it was rarely with an eye on documenting the process -- and when I didn't, I was eating a lot of Lean Cuisine. It was a dark time, I don't want to talk about it.

But this post is an attempt to welcome y'all back to Rachel Eats DC! Since we've been gone, I've fallen in love with Mad Fox Tap Room in Glover Park and Rice Bar on 14th St, finally discovered the entrance to Brown Bag, and found a favorite lunch place that promptly closed (R.I.P.).

Super excited to be back, and I'm planning on trying to run with an election-theme in the next few months, but we also all know how good I am at running with those things, so no promises. What I AM promising is the recipe for my Bourbon Vanilla French Toast in the next week, and a concerted effort to be here more often.

Let's eat, y'all!