Don’t Toss It, Eat It!

Hello and welcome! From the title you might think I’m asking you to eat spoiled food! I can see where it might be mis- leading, but I’m talking about using items that you may have left over, and turn them into something else. Here in New York we tend to do a lot of Italian takeout. From most Italian restaurants, unless you’re eating pizza, you’re going to get a loaf of bread or two. From Chinese takeout you’re probably going to have leftover rice. If you’ve cooked a whole chicken you might have some chicken left over and we’ve talked about making chicken soup in this post here. The point I’m making is at least for the bread and the rice, they usually get tossed out to the wild animals in my backyard. However they can be used to make some very simple dishes.

For the left over rice you can make a delicious side dish simply by sautéing the rice in butter and garlic. I like too add any leftover vegetables that might be in the fridge. Just make sure you cook the garlic and vegetables in the butter before adding the rice. Then you could keep the Asian taste going by adding soy sauce or some siracha sauce. Personally I love the flavor of garlic rice with mixed vegetables.

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With the left over Italian bread or a French Baguette or any left over kind of stale bread, a great thing to do with it is to make French Toast. What I love about using Italian Bread or a Baguette is they make cute little sized piece of French Toast. You can also cut them a little thicker than a regular piece of sliced bread. Cooking the stale bread in the French Toast mixture brings it back to life. What you get is a great piece of toast that has a little crunch on the outside and tender center. There are many recipes for making French Toast on the web but the basics work just fine and if you feel adventurous you can branch out from there. All you need is an egg, some milk, and then you can add things like cinnamon, sugar, honey, or maple syrup and some like to add flavoring like vanilla extract or maple extract. Then you dip the stale bread into the mixture and melt some butter in the frying pan and add the bread. Cook it on both sides till golden brown and you’re ready to have a simple yet amazing breakfast! Here’s the basic recipe below.

• Basic French Toast Recipe
• 1-2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of sugar or maple syrup (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• In a bowl or deep plate big enough to soak the slices of bread you have chosen, whisk together the eggs and the milk.
• Add the ground cinnamon
• if desired add the sweetener of your choice
• if desired add the vanilla extract
• Over medium to medium high heat place a frying pan and put in enough butter to cover the bottom of the pan completely
• Place a slice of the bread into the milk and egg mixture letting each side sit in the mixture for a few seconds.
• Pick the piece of soaked bread up and let the excess drip back into the mixture then place it in the frying pan
• continue that process until you have a full pan or have used all the bread you want to eat.
• Flip the bread once it becomes golden brown, usually a couple of minutes
• Remove from frying pan and place on a plate, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on the French Toast before serving if desired
• Serve with warm maple syrup or jelly or more powdered sugar. I’ve even seen someone use vanilla ice cream!

That’s all there is to it. I think more people would make French Toast if they knew it was this easy! I think its even easier than pancakes and certainly easier than waffles. We all have our favorites but lately I’m a fan of repurposed French Toast! If you have any recipes for French Toast please share them with us. I’d also like to know what you chose to put on top of yours. Do you serve it with bacon or sausage? Please let us know in the comment box below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Until next time Boone Appétit!