Anchovy Toast: The 'Chovy Saga Continues On

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Are you sick of me and my anchovies yet? This is likely to be my last post about the little fish that I love for awhile as I seem to have run out of anchovies in my pantry. And, I'd like to feature other ingredients, so will probably take the 'chovies off the list for a bit so as not to bore you (or my taste buds). But, I just couldn't deprive you of this toasty treat.

I often find myself not really eating all that much while I'm shooting and writing. Eventually, I do eat what I'm working on, but I guess I just get so into my work that I kind of forget to eat. Funny, since I'm working with food (I know you got that, just had to say it, too).

The toast pictured above has been fried and covered with onion and shallot marmalade, topped with an anchovy and some black pepper. I know, it's not for everyone, but it certainly made my day.

Fried Toast with Anchovy

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Heat a small skillet over high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat up until just before the oil smokes.
  3. Fry the bead on both sides until it's as brown as you'd like it.
  4. Serve by putting the onion and shallot marmalade on the toast and topping it off with the anchovy and some pepper.

If you eat cheese, you can also add some grated Parmesan on top.

French Toast for All

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My daughter loves french toast. When she was about 6 years old, she got a kids cookbook for her birthday. I had never successfully made french toast when she asked me if we could give the recipe in her book a try.

I was worried that it wouldn't work out, but she was very encouraging. So I persevered, and we made the recipe. Imagine my delight (and hers, too) when three perfect slices emerged from the pan on the stove. I still remember my feeling of relief (and pride) tha I have managed to master french toast.  Although I do cook a lot, I have certain things that always give me trouble: baking, frozen veggies and, until that day, french toast.

7 years later, I'm an old pro, even breaking out french toast for an early morning school day treat. I've even made it for myself using almond or rice milk and gluten-free bread. Take that difficult recipe....I have triumphed!

French Toast for One

Ingredients:

  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup Milk (you can use Rice or Almond Milk instead)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 4 slices Bread (regular wheat bread, or gluten-free rice bread like Udi's)
  • Butter for cooking

Method:

  • In a shallow pie pan, mix all of the ingredients.
  • Heat a flat griddle or pan on high heat.
  • Soak each individual piece of bread until coated in the mixture.
  • Lower the heat to medium, and add a pat of butter to the pan.
  • Once the butter has melted, take one of your soaked pieces of bread to the pan.
  • Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, turning the toast over only once you see the edges of the egg coating beginning to brown.
  • Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

*only the regular bread version is pictured, no gluten-free picture available!

A Fried Egg (and Fried Toast) for Friday

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Fried eggs are a my comfort food. I find myself frying them up at all times of the day and night. After a long night out, I've been known to curl up in bed with a fried egg sandwich (on a plate, of course).

I found myself on my own at home for breakfast a few days ago and realized there was no rush or pressure to get out the door. I heated up my pan, good and hot and was about to fry my egg when a thought occurred to me. Fried toast would be really nice, too.

It seems odd, the idea of frying bread, without some kind of sweet French-toast style coating. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that fried bread was something I had eaten in Italy many years ago, and loved.

The year was 1989, a 19 year old me and Gran-Fran (pre the "Gran" days, still just "Fran") left NY and went to live in Italy for a month on a college language program. It was awesome.

We had fried bread one night, and vowed to make it ourselves one day. Well, we never managed to replicate that fried bread, and I'm not saying mine is an exact copy of it, but it turned out really tasty. The keys were to make the pan super hot, and use more olive oil than you normally might. And, wait for it....frozen bread. This was the first time I happened to have frozen bread, since the gluten-free kind I use (Udi's) is sold and stored in the freezer. Instead of toasting it, I decided to just throw it in the hot oil. It fried up just right, and quickly, too.

I'm going to explore making some kind of an egg wash to fry my next batch, since I think what we ate in Italy wasn't just plain old bread fried extra crispy. For now, though, I've found my new favorite breakfast.

Fried Eggs over Fried Toast

serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 piece of  frozen Bread (Udi's Gluten Free is my bread of choice)
  • 1 Egg
  • 3 Tbsps Olive Oil
  • Salt to Taste
  • 1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika

Method:

  • Heat a small frying pan to super hot (I know this is not a technical term, but it's the most descriptive I can come up with).
  • Add the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
  • Put the frozen bread in the oil and cook for about 1 minute.
  • Turn the bread over and cook for another 30 seconds, or until evenly browned.
  • Put fried bread on a plate and set aside.
  • Crack the egg into the super hot pan and cook until it's done to your liking. It took about 30 seconds for my egg to cook.
  • Add the paprika.
  • If you want an over-easy egg, flip it and cook for another 20 seconds.
  • Remove the egg from the pan and place it on top of the fried bread.

Enjoy!