1 teaspoon sugar or a teeny pinch of salt (if you like)
2 slices white or whole wheat bread, each no more than 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil, plus more as needed
Instructions
Crack the egg and open it into a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate as described in Scrambled Eggs on page 39. Add the milk and the sugar if you want the toast to be a little sweet (or the salt if you don’t). Whisk with a fork until the mixture—called a custard—is a light yellow color without streaks.
Set the bowl of custard near the skillet. Put the butter or oil in a 10-inch skillet over low heat. Add the first piece of bread to the custard and turn it over with a fork a couple times until it gets a little soggy.
Turn the heat under the pan to medium. When the butter foams or the oil shimmers, carefully put the soaked bread in the pan and add the other slice to the custard. Let the French toast cook without touching for 3 to 5 minutes while you turn the second bread slice in the bowl and let it sit, just like you did the first one.
Look at the bread in the pan. When the edges turn brown and you notice a toasty smell, lift one corner with a stiff spatula and peek to see if it’s the golden color you like and either let it cook some more or slip the spatula all the way under, lift it up from the pan, and turn the bread over. Cook the other side the same way, peeking after another 2 minutes or so.
The French toast is ready when you press down in the middle with the spatula and it’s no longer squishy. If you need to turn it again, go ahead. When that slice is ready, move it to a plate and repeat with the second slice. While the second slice is cooking, you can top the first one as you like and begin eating. (Be sure you come back in a couple minutes or ask someone to watch the pan!) Or wait to eat both at the same time.