Making French toast is a great way to turn stale ol’ bread into a luxurious, impressive breakfast, or lunch. I don’t make it too often (since most of my stale bread ends up as pangrattato), but when I do, I’m never sure why I don’t. While I love a good simple sugar and cinnamon version, or a sweet and salty combo with bacon, banana and honey, I think the most interesting version of French toast might be the savory kind, which you don’t see often enough.
I’ve topped mine here with toppings you might commonly see on other breakfast/brunch items, such as smoked salmon and sour cream-chive sauce, but I’ve elevated the dish slightly by adding salmon roe for some extra briny savouriness, which probably makes this breakfast better suited for those special occasions, such as birthdays, Mother’s or Father’s Day, or the coming Holiday season, rather than an everyday thing.
Tip: Can’t find, or don’t like salmon roe? Replace it by some salted capers.
Savoury French Toast with Smoked Salmon, Chive Sour Cream and Salmon Roe
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices of stale sourdough bread
- 1 large egg
- 120ml milk
- Pinch of salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 25g butter, for frying
- 100g sour cream
- 5g fresh chives (about a heaped tablespoon chopped)
- 100g smoked salmon
- Small jar of salmon roe
Method
- Combine egg, milk, a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper in a deep plate, or small oven dish (big enough to fit the 4 slices of bread).
- Place your slices of sourdough in the milk and egg mixture. Leave for a minute and turn the slices over. Leave in the egg and milk mixture until most (or all) is sucked up by the bread.
- In the meantime, finely chop the chives and stir into the sour cream to make a sauce. Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat a frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the pan and add slices of sourdough once the butter has melted. Work in batches if necessary –in that case don’t add all the butter all at once, but add some each time before adding another batch. Fry slices of bread until the slices are golden brown on both sides. If working in batches, keep slices of fried French toast under a piece of aluminum foil until you are finished.
- To plate, place two slices of baked French toast per person on a plate, top with the sliced smoked salmon, some of the sour cream sauce to taste and top with a scoop of salmon roe. Serve warm.
Ohh I know what I’ll be making for Easter!! 😍
I think it’s a perfect Easter breakfast/brunch! I might be doing the same 😉