until recently i was a savoury food only kinda gal. ice cream? no thanks. cheesecake? not today. giant plate of beer battered fish and chips? yes, now hand them over before i get violent. unfortunately, as i have ventured further into the culinary universe, my once dormant sweet tooth has flared up. where once i shuddered at the thought of sugar, i now daydream about brulee-ing bananas and adding meringue to my milkshake. this of course, has devastating consequences for one’s waistline and/or proximity to diabetes. so, in an attempt to return to my piquant roots, i decided to whip up one of my favourite savoury dishes, thyme french toast & home made ketchup:

though the sweet variations of french toast are always popular, they sometimes seem out of place on the breakfast menu, perhaps being more suited to the dessert cart. my version is perfect for a sunday morning hangover emergency, late night supper or those can’t-be-bothered-to-cook-but-still-want-to-eat-something-yum-ok?-gosh-just-leave-me-alone-no-fine-get-your-own-dinner-ok-i-will moments. 

here’s how to do it. get two pieces of bread. really any kind of bread works well, i’ve made it with just about every kind. on this occasion it was sourdough. for two smallish slices of bread i use one egg. crack aforementioned egg into a shallow bowl. add a splash of milk or water, whatever you have. whisk together until smooth and combined. season with salt and pepper, then add whatever herbs you have. if you have dried oregano, that’s cool, if you have some beautiful fresh rosemary, thyme, basil, chives, or dill growing on your windowsill, then aren’t you clever? either way, a generous sprinkling of herbs (1-2 tablespoons) is all you need. stir to combine. 

next, heat a saucepan (one large enough to fit your bread, of course) over a medium-high heat. you want it quite hot, but not dante’s inferno hot. while this is heating up, coat the bread in the egg mixture. you don’t want it overly eggy, other wise you’ll just have an omelette with some bread in there somewhere. i use a fork to coat the bread on either side, scraping any excess back into the bowl and dabbing any dry bits of bread into it. next, pour a glug of oil into the pan. not extra virgin olive oil, as it will smoke and burn, but regular olive oil or vegetable oil, whatever you have. once the oil is hot, place your bread in the pan and leave until golden and crisp, before flipping it over. remove from pan when bread has reached your desired level of crispiness. 

now, for my (self-annointed) legendary spicy “ketchup”- heat some oil in a saucepan. toss in 3 cloves of garlic, 1 small red chilli and 1 small brown onion, all finely chopped. cook until softened, but not brown. toss in 2 punnets (about 250g each) of cherry tomatoes, halved. cook until tomatoes begin to soften and lose their skins. next, add one cup of tomato passata (pureed tomatoes), 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/3 cup sugar. season generously with salt and pepper. allow to reduce for about 10 minutes, or until a ketchup/chutney consistency is reached. serve with your french toast, then store in a sterilised jar and use on sandwiches, burgers, frittatas, or any other meal that cries out for a spicy sauce.