This is a great dish for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a midnight snack! I mean, breakfast foods are good any time of the day, right? When I used to live in Korea when I was younger, I've actually never had french toast that was sweet. Maybe it's because Koreans generally don't like overly sweet dishes, but when my mom made french toast at home, she always made it savory, and we had it with ketchup, never with honey or syrup. Of course, after living in the U.S., I've come to love sweet french toast, drenched in maple syrup and powdered sugar, but I'll always be partial to savory french toast.
I needed to use up a large amount of leftover bread from making bread pudding, and decided to get creative. Since french toast can be a bit heavy with butter, milk, and eggs, I wanted to brighten it up with some cilantro and add some freshness to the dish. I crusted the toast with asiago cheese, one of my favorite cheeses, but feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand!
ingredients:
- 6 slices challah or white bread
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (stalks and leaves)
- 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese (+2 Tablespoons)
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
serves 2
prep time: 5min
cook time: 10min
adapted from food52
directions:
1. Slice the bread in half to make two triangles. If you wish, you can leave the slices whole.
2. Finely chop the cilantro.
3. Set up your stations. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, black pepper, cilantro, and 2 Tablespoons of asiago together. Lay out the 1/2 cup of asiago cheese on a separate plate.
4. Dip your bread into the egg batter, making sure it is completely covered. If your bread is thicker or sturdy, then you may soak it for 1-2 minutes, but if your slices are thin, just dip them for a few seconds. Then coat each slice with the asiago, making sure that it is completely covered.
5. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Lay out the bread slices in the skillet (you may need to cook in two batches). Cook, flipping occasionally, until the toast is golden brown on both sides, about 7-8 minutes total.
6. Transfer the french toast to a plate and top with more fresh chopped parsley.
This is great with sriracha ketchup! (Start with 1/4 cup of ketchup and add sriracha, little by little, mixing thoroughly, until you reach the desired amount of heat!)
Enjoy!