Railroad French Toast on Amtrak's Southwest Chief

When I first heard about Railroad French Toast, I was reading an article that compared the Super Chief that ran on the old Santa Fe Railroad to Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.  Apparently, the recipe is a bit of a legend to those who once dined on the Super Chief.  They bragged of fluffy, golden brown toast dusted with confectioner’s sugar and topped with sliced strawberries. 

I consider myself a bit of a French Toast connoisseur.  As a kid, my Dad made it every Christmas.  Even after munching on Santa’s leftover cookies, I could always make room for a slice or two (or four).  Now that I am an adult, I have started making my own French Toast with my own secret ingredients. In all honesty, though, it all comes down to the bread.

My favorite bread to use is the homemade cinnamon sourdough bread from the Dayton Farmer’s Market in Dayton, Virginia.  The swirls of gooey cinnamon rival the inside of the most epic Cinnabon, and that bread dipped in a pile of Log Cabin Light is divine.  Though I have also used cinnamon raisin bread, pumpkin spice bread, regular old white bread, and honey wheat bread, nothing tastes as good as French Toast made with Dayton Farmer's Market cinnamon sourdough bread. 

Because of my success with homemade French Toast, I rarely order it when dining out.  I have made an exception on two ocassions—1) at Little Grill Collective in Harrisonburg, Virginia and 2) the Dining Car on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.  On the Chief, when I took fork and knife to those fluffy pieces of golden brown toast, which was dusted with confectioner’s sugar and topped with sliced strawberries, I felt like I was cutting into a piece of history.  When I took my first bite, I would have sworn that I bit into a legend. 

There was something about my Railroad French Toast that was just, well, special.  I don't know if it was because of the fellow adventurers I was sitting with.  If it was because I was on my very first cross-country train trip, or if the French Toast was just that good.  Maybe it was all of the above.  Whatever it was, eating Railroad French Toast while experiencing California's landscape for the very first time will be a memory I carry forever.