Savory French Toast
As much as I love sweet treats at all times of the day, every single day, I generally prefer a savory breakfast. I have gone through many phases of breakfast in my life, from not eating it at all in my teens and early 20s, to a bagel and cream cheese phase that lasted an entire decade from mid-20s-30s.
Since leaving a professional life in an traditional 9-5, I have become a vocal proponent for a lifestyle that includes a huge weekday breakfast, when possible. These days, we rise before the sun so our kid can be sitting at their school desk by 7:50am. This means I wake at 6:20, and immediately start our coffee maker; in other news, !wow! who knew I’d be such a parenting cliche but honestly coffee is the lifeblood of that first hour of the day. By the time we get our whole crew: in pants, with clean teeth, shoes on, backpack fastened, and where they need to be for the day, it’s high time for me to think about what I’m going to make to break fast. At this point, I’ve usually been up and hustling about for 3 hours min. So, when my stomach starts to grumble and moan around 9:30am, I hit the pause button on my day, and turn my focus to prepping a massive breakfast.
Since the pandemic, my dear spouse is oftentimes home when I’m making said morning feast. Sometimes we’re able to take a few minutes to eat together, and other mornings I take immense joy in seeing her face light up when I hand over a platter of hot eats for her to enjoy in her home office. One of the things about AK that I absolutely adore, is that she will eat whatever I hand over to her, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
I didn’t even notice this was a thing until Miles was old enough to ask me with words what something I put on his plate was, and I became visibly irritated by it. We joke that for decades I’ve been: plugging away, making whatever inspired me, and happily handing it over to another human, no questions asked. It honestly makes cooking for someone besides myself so fun, and I keep her general food dislikes/allergens in the back of my mind so I’m not serving up something that will be a raw deal right off the bat.
I digress though, because the whole point of this is the savory French toast I made this am. Per usual I wanted something warm and satisfying, and I remembered Miles had picked out a giant loaf of Wedemeyer French Toast bread. It’s slightly sweet, and thickly sliced, akin to a brioche but not nearly as sugary and rich. I decided it would be the perfect vessel for me to try out some savory slabs for today’s first meal, and I was correct. I brought Anne her plate during a call, as silently as this Lauren is able to manage, and she gladly accepted it with her usual morning glee. We both went back for seconds, and continued to grab bites here and there at the slices remaining on the baking sheet. It was then I knew then I had to share the deets.
Savory French Toast à la Kitzelmann:
*Note that you can make the mixture the day before, and presoak your slices for thorough bread saturation. You can even go as far as baking it in the same whisking+soaking vessel and turn it in to a one pan dish: everyone’s fav.
You need to:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
Gather up 8-10 slices of scrummy, thick-cut bread, arranged to lie flat on a baking sheet (use parchment on your baking sheet if you have it; I didn’t and scrubbed until I had one Popeye arm that could no longer be contained within the confines of my weekday Mom-style sweatshirt)
Whip up your savory custard (see breakdown of the goods below)
Prep 1 cup of sharp shredded cheese (I used 1/2 aged English white cheddar and 1/2 Manchego)
Prep 6 TBSP of melted butter, browned for fun if you have the time and patience
Extra credit: prepare side salad + dip-da-dip for the toasts
Savory Custard
-In a large mixing vessel, whisk all of the below ingredients in any which order you please, until you’ve got a cohesive egg base. Feel free to sub flavors/ingredients out for what you have on hand/personal preferences. If garlic didn’t wreck my entire family, I’d lob in some garlic powder as well, but alas those days are gone for us.
This is a very adaptable “recipe”, so keep it loose, ya goose. No pressure:
Six eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp smoked soy sauce
2 tbsp whole grain dijon
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp hot horseradish
1 tsp each: pimentón, shiitake powder, sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper
Pour custard mixture over your pre-arranged bread slices, ensuring each slice is coated. Let rest for one minute then flip slices over-and back, ensuring each side gets some eggy love. Sprinkle your sharp cheese mixture over each slice, doing your best to provide the coverage you’d like to enjoy in each bite, just a little while away from this very moment. Once the cheese is sprinkled evenly about, gently use your hand to press it in to the bread so it sticks. Take your melted brown butter and drizzle a little over each slice as evenly as possible, then crack a little fresh pepper and sea salt over the entire tray. Now you’re ready to pop the whole situation in to the oven for 15 minutes, or until you see the slices slightly brown and the cheese gently bubbling on top.
While your toast is baking, prepare a side salad with a tangy dressing (I used a balsamic glaze over top arugula and radishes, but you do you), and assemble on your plate.
If you’re so inclined and have the ingredients, I highly recommend a dollop of the:
Dip-da-Dip
1/2 cup sour cream or whole milk Greek yogurt
2 tbsp hot grated horseradish
1/2 tsp each: pimentón, apple cider vinegar, s+p
Whisk until emulsified and plop a dollop on each plate adjacent your side salad
Remove piping hot savory French toast tray from oven, pry from sheet pan (or glide off if you’re brilliant and used the aforementioned parchment), slice on a diagonal because everything tastes fancier that way, and DIG IN + ENJOY!
Additional ways to use this recipe:
Griddle some deli ham/turkey bacon/wild mushrooms in a bit of maple syrup and slide between two slices for a most decadent breakfast sandwich
If there are leftover slices, chop’em up, and toss back on to your baking tray to broil for one minute. Then, toss with your dinner salad for boss-tasting croutons.
Lay a slice of American cheese on two slices of the toast, and add pile of dill pickle slices between, ensuring the pickle juice won’t penetrate the bread when you sandwich them together. Griddle on your stovetop in a scant amount of sesame oil until the cheese is melted, and slice. Hold on to the counter to steady yourself, for here comes a bite of the most incredible grilled cheese of your life. *Dip in yellow mustard if more tang is desired, and repeat until only crumbs remain.