On Beyond Waffles!
Savory French Toast and its Cousin, Savory Bread Pudding
I felt like having a grilled cheese sandwich yesterday for lunch, but when I cut into my sourdough baguette, it was stale. My disappointment didn’t last long, because I quickly realized that stale bread is great for French toast. I had already cut several slices of cheese, though, so I made the leap to the savory side of French Toast.
Admittedly, this is not a very groundbreaking concept—people have eaten Monte Cristo sandwiches for years. I opted against the sandwich format, though, and instead topped it with Muenster cheese then served it with some Siracha Sauce and a side of cole slaw. It was a quick and easy meal, and I expect that I’ll experiment with the possibilities of savory French Toast in the future.
The batter was incredibly easy to make: instead of adding cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla to a mixture of eggs and milk like I might have to make a sweet French toast, I added about a half-teaspoon each of salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin. I added the cheese as soon as I flipped the toast and it melted while the second side cooked.
When I finished the usable portion of the baguette, I still had some eggwash left, plus the heels of the bread and the end of another loaf. I didn’t want to let it go to waste, so I decided to make Savory Bread Pudding (a dish that could quite easily be called French Toast Casserole).
I cubed the bread and tossed it with enough eggwash to moisten everything thoroughly (I had to supplement what was left with a couple more eggs and another healthy splash of milk, plus some more seasonings), then added a diced onion and several thinly sliced cloves of garlic. I let the bread marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for several hours, then put it into a greased and floured loaf pan and baked it at 350 F in my toaster oven for an hour.
I sliced the bread pudding loaf down and served it with pork stew. The onion and the garlic that I included with the pudding definitely added a pleasurable flavor component to the meal—the Bread Pudding wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good as it was without them.
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Savory bread pudding….now there’s an idea that’s new to me. Terrific!
February 2nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
At my house, savory bread pudding is called stuffing? And savory french toast is a staple of my dad’s . . . though his is more sweet *and* savory, basically french toast with cheese, munster, provolone, asiago.
February 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
The savory bread pudding is fairly similar to stuffing, the main difference being the inclusion of eggs to bind it together into a loaf form.
February 15th, 2007 at 8:33 am
You can make a sort of savory charlotte by lining a cake tin with buttered stale bread, with cream, eggs, ham, sharp cheese, mustard and green onions as a filling and baked in a bain marie for an hour or so.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I like how both sound, and once I come up with a new name for them, I’ll try them out. While my husband is good about trying new things, he can be particular about his old time favorites.
Since it sort of looks like sloppy joes, something like French Joes.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I have some wonderful herb bread and would like to make French toast but I am at a loss about what to put on it instead of syrup or jam. Any ideas?
February 4th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Perhaps a bit of cheese—especially a soft cheese that would spread easily? I enjoy the combination of brie and jam myself…but that’s not really an answer to using the herbed bread as a savory french toast.
The stir fry and mustard sauce I use with black pepper waffles would probably go nicely with the french toast. Also, consider a white gravy along the lines of what southerners serve with biscuits: make a basic bechamel sauce and add a bunch of cracked black pepper in with the fat and flour you use to make the roux. Some shredded chicken or turkey over top of the bread might make it more like a meal; especially if you serve it with some roasted root vegetables on the side.
Whatever you serve, also consider incorporating the herbs in the bread in the sauce (for instance, if it’s a rosemary-thyme bread, mince some thyme and rosemary and stir it into the gravy immediately before serving) for a green garnish and an extra boost of flavor.