Scare me Savory

Savory french toast on Halloween morning? How perfectly frightful. Truth be told, savory french toast sounds frightful anytime of the year, but somehow suitable on Halloween. A day when ghouls roam the earth devouring such non-foods as human flesh and tootsie rolls.


I was preparing for a breakfast for 6 after an overnight in a spooky beachfront setting. The night had been dark as sin, sheeting rain, and zombie stories were tossed around the living room. Quite a setting for a potentially stomach churning experiment.

Even more diabolical were the recipes for savory french toast included in my girlfriend's favorite vegetarian cookbook. Need I say more than curried french toast, or barbeque french toast?


But, for some reason, the concept called to me and I boldly answered. As if in a dream, the idea took shape and I saw a simple base, with sauteed veggies on top and finished with cheese. Wild mushrooms, Emmentaler cheese, and spinich came to mind. And so it was.


This was pretty exciting. Usually when drifting into the culinary unknown, I hold onto a sensible recipe for dear life. But this was pure inspiration from on high. And it worked!!


Here's how it came to be:


Ingredients:


a loaf pre-sliced artisan bread
4-6 eggs
seasonings (salt, pepper, marjoram, basil, oregano, celery seeds, pepper flakes)
butter
dried porcini mushrooms
garlic, cut into slivers
spinich, chiffonaded or simply shredded by hand
grated Emmentaler cheese

1. Boil 1-2 cups of water in a small saucepan, add the porcinis, cover and remove from heat.
2. Beat the eggs and add the seasonings.
3. Melt a pat of butter into a skillet large enough to fry two slices of bread at once.
4. Dip the bread into the egg and fry until browned, turning once (one-two slices at a time).
5. Keep the bread warm on a baking sheet in the oven set at 200 or below.
6. When all the bread is browned, remove the porcinis from the water with a slotted spoon.
7. Reserve the mushroom liquid.
8. Melt another pat of butter in the skillet on medium heat and saute the garlic for 20-30 seconds.
9. Add the spinich and saute until softened, adding a spoonfull or two of the mushroom liquid.
10. Add the porcinis and saute until warm.
11. Remove the pan of toast from the oven and set oven to broil.
12. Add the spinich/mushroom mixture over each slice of toast and top with Emmentaler.
13. Return the pan to the oven and remove when the cheese has begun to melt.
14. Serve immediately.

By the way, you don't need to wait until next Halloween to try this. Any weekend mid-morning will do.