Fix Me a Plate: Traditional and New School Soul Food Recipes from Scotty Scott of Cook Drank Eat features 60 authentic and unique recipes paired with beautiful photos and engaging stories. A few highlights include Catfish and Grits, Chicken and Garlic Butter Dumplings, New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, Blueberry Corn Pancakes, and Salted Caramel Cast-Iron Bread Pudding. I will also be sharing his recipe for Rum Cake French Toast following the review.
Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Scotty Scott
Scotty Scott is a personal chef, recipe developer, and cooking video director. He is also the creator of Cook Drank Eat, a social media platform and catering service, and his work has been featured in 360 West Magazine, Delish.com, and Strive Podcast.
Scotty currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his partner and son.
Fix Me a Plate
Scotty Scott begins Fix Me a Plate with a short introduction of how he developed a love for cooking at an early age. Using social media, he paired this passion with photography and videography to share new recipes and cooking techniques in a creative and engaging way.
The chapters are divided according to the following: Mornin’, Put Some Meat on Your Bones, Skrimps and Such, The Soul Remix, Soul Sides, Sweet Tooth, and Sauce and Spice. On the contents page, there is a list of the included recipes with page numbers for easy reference.
The photography is provided by Scotty Scott and Rambo Elliot. Every single recipe is paired with an inviting full-page photo of the finished dish.
Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Titles are written in English. Each recipe has a short headnote with background information, personal stories, helpful tips, and yield.
Rum Cake French Toast
Everything we have tried so far has been fantastic, but I especially loved the Rum Cake French Toast. Scotty states, “I thought up this recipe one day when I really had a taste for some rum cake but was too lazy to make some rum cake…and honestly, this might be even better.”
His resulting creation definitely did pair together the best of both dishes. Thick slices of challah (or brioche or white bread) are briefly soaked in an eggy rum mixture, then pan-fried until golden on each side. Overall, everything came together in about 30 minutes too.
Serve the French toast with an easy Butter Rum Syrup for even more flavor (we are trying to empty out our freezer for our upcoming cross-country move, so I also added a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream).
To keep the Rum Cake French Toast warm, transfer the slices to a 225˚F (110˚C) oven while you fry the rest.
Other Dishes
I also made the Southern Raised Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Cream Gravy, Soul Satisfying Spaghetti, Tomato Pie, and Panfried Skrimps.
The Southern Raised Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Cream Gravy is the very first recipe in the book and such an wonderful start it is. Ground meat (Scotty discusses the different options here in the intro) is seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices, cooked, then combined with a creamy gravy before pairing with homemade biscuits.
My kids especially loved the Soul Satisfying Spaghetti. It is packed with so much flavor! Al dente spaghetti is paired with a meat and cheese-based tomato sauce for an incredibly comforting meal.
This savory Tomato Pie was my first big use of fresh tomatoes for the season! Nearly 4 pounds of tomatoes are layered with three types of cheese, plus even more cheese in the pie crust itself. Everything is assembled, then baked until golden for a delicious summertime treat.
The Panfried Skrimps were another personal favorite and so easy too! Peeled and deveined shrimp are coated in milk, covered in a seasoned cornmeal mixture, and fried until golden. Best of all, the instructions were detailed perfectly for creating shrimp with just the right texture.
Fix Me a Plate is a great pick for those looking for a mixture of both traditional and new unique adaptations of classic soul food dishes created with the home cook in mind. Many of the recipes come together in 30 minutes or less while others require a bit more time to develop the flavor.
Most of the ingredients are readily available in the average American grocery store. A few items that may require further searching include Andouille sausage, Creole seasoning, Cornish hens, smoked Gouda cheese, stone-ground grits, Chesapeake Bay seasoning, duck fat, and key lime juice.
Rum Cake French Toast Recipe
Excerpt from Fix Me a Plate
Rum Cake French Toast
Ingredients
For the Butter Rum Syrup:
- 1/2 cup (114 grams) butter
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) rum
For the French Toast:
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon rum extract or 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) rum
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (360 milliliters) heavy cream
- 8 thick slices challah brioche, or white bread
- Butter for frying
Instructions
To make the syrup:
- Place the butter, water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the maple syrup and rum and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 225˚F (110˚C).
To make the French Toast:
- In a shallow dish, beat the eggs, rum extract, vanilla, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir in the cream.
- Dip one slice of bread in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides evenly.
- Place a small pat of butter in a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat.
- Once melted, place a piece of bread in the butter and cook until the bread is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the bread and continue to fry for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the bread is browned on both sides.
- Repeat with the rest of the bread.
- Place the French toast in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining slices. Serve with the butter rum syrup.
Jamie
The butter rum syrup looks like such a hit. Thank you Tara!
Liza
What a great recipe! This French Toast looks so good made with the challah bread, and the syrup makes it even more delicious.
Mairead
Rum syrup is perfect with this hearty French toast. Such a delicious recipe and one for a special brakfast or celebrations such as Father’s Day or Mother’s Day.
Charla
Oh Tara this is such a genius idea, who knew rum would work so well with French toast.