Friday, February 18th, 2011

Citrus French Toast (or more things to do with stale bread)

Today I’m going to continue my ongoing fascination with stale bread (see previous post on breadcrumbs HERE) by talking about French toast. Now, French toast is one of life’s real pleasures, don’t you think? Whoever thought of soaking bread in eggs and then frying it in butter was truly a genius (or a glutton). My mother LOVES to tell people how she was able to sneak eggs into my limited diet as a kid by making me French toast practically every morning for breakfast. She would also cut the finished toast into “little soldiers” (one slice down the middle, and four slices across) and dust them with powdered sugar as if they’d fallen asleep in a snow storm. I sometimes do the same thing when I make French toast for Conor and Belle, but I’ve also tried all sorts of cooking techniques: soaking them in a custard-like mixture overnight and then baking the toast along with fruits or pumpkin puree to make something resembling a bread pudding, baking the individual slices on a baking sheet and sprinkling the top with Demerara sugar to get a crinkly crust, and using all types of bread: from challah and sourdough to a dried-cherry studded Christmas panettone. But after reading the amazingly beautiful new cookbook Tartine Bread I was inspired to try something new…

From the owner/bakers of the famed Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, the book has gotten a lot of buzz because not only is it beautiful to look at, but there is a fascinating technique for making your own bread starter, one that could last your whole life if you tend to it, and also lots of wonderful ideas for what to do with bread, stale or otherwise, like pan con tomate, French onion soup, and a savory bread pudding. For the French toast they serve at the bakery the rustic bread is cut into thick slices and soaked in an eggy mixture that includes lemon zest. I decided to take it a bit farther and use orange zest. Since this is the citrus season, you could use a variety of fruits: lime, meyer lemon, tangelo,