Cooking Techniques That Are Excellent For All Types of Food

 With toast this excellent, nearly every meal will include bread-based ingredients after being crisped in oil.

Instead of using your toaster, pan-fry your bread.

I can say this with ease because I don't have one and haven't in over a decade. Even though my adolescence was full of Eggo waffles, counter space is limited in this area, so I no longer need large, single-task machines like the four-slice toaster I used to own. I haven't stopped eating toast; in fact, I think I may be eating more of it than ever. Simply said, I adjusted my approach. Nowadays, I only pan-fry my bread in oil to make a deliciously crispy, a little bit decadent base for whatever else I choose to eat. If you take one bite, you might be forced to stow your toaster cord away forever.

It might be time to call it quits with your toaster.

What distinguishes fried bread from regular bread so (SO) much better? It has the ideal combination of savory flavor, extraordinary crispiness, and flexibility. Given how radically different this toast is from the traditional breakfast carb, I'd even go as far as to argue that it shouldn't even be named toast. Permit me to list the many benefits of fried bread in an effort to persuade you to give it a try if you're on the fence about it.

• It's simple.Okay, so there are a few more steps to the procedure than simply placing slices into a slot and hitting a button. But it only takes a few more minutes of work for the improved flavor and texture.

• Just put a few drops of the oil of your choice in a skillet and heat it up over medium heat. Add the bread after the oil is heated. In order to ensure that the second side of my slice is already gleaming and ready to go, I like to brush it in the oil on one side only to coat it, then flip it over to fry completely on the other side before flipping back to finish. By doing this, you won't need to add any additional oil. When your toast is crisp and golden brown, transfer it to a platter, sprinkle it with a little salt, and then top it with your preferred toppings.

• It has flavor.Slices fried in oil are rich and opulent; that little bit of extra fat goes a long way in the flavor department. This is in contrast to the dry toast you can create in a toaster (or under the broiler in your oven). But by varying the oil you use, you may give your toast a more focused flavor profile. For crisping bread, I adore using coconut and sesame oil, especially when the toppings I'm using pair well with those flavors. While sesame oil gives a nuttiness to a slice of bread with plenty of mayo in the style of a banh mi, coconut oil's creamy, unique undertones are excellent under a scoop of dal. Consider using ghee, which makes a delicious toast that I could eat with just a spoon.

• If you only have olive oil at your disposal, think about enhancing the flavor by adding something more before toasting your bread. For a delicate bite, try infusing heating oil with a garlic clove or thinly sliced shallots before frying; add the crisped alliums to your toast toppings. In her cookbook Downtime: Deliciousness at Home, chef Nadine Levy Redzepi prepares toast in turmeric-spiked fat, which results in an earthy and intensely yellow slice calling for a meaty spread. You can also add a sprinkle of spices to the oil to both flavor and color your toast. If your toppings are on the sweeter side, follow her lead and add cumin, smoked paprika, sumac, curry powder, or even cinnamon.

• It is adaptable.Oil-fried toast is an excellent option for traditional toast. Yes, it works well with a layer of creamy kimchi, a thick spread of peanut butter, or a single runny egg. But you can pack fried bread with all the juicy, drippy, heavy-duty stuff that a toaster slice would be too weak to manage because it has a little more structure and can withstand heavier toppings better.

• Fried bread should, in my opinion, be served in a spaghetti bowl with extra room for toppings. Finish yours off with a ladle of stew, brothy beans and greens, saucy lentils, baked eggs, or even meatballs and sauce—anything that would profit from the crispy-turned-soggy delight of a once-well-fried slice soaking up the drippings.

• It resembles a large crouton in essence.We can all agree that the best component of a salad are the croutons. moreover, fried bread is merely a giant's crouton. I enjoy placing a salad directly on top of a piece of oil-fried toast when I'm eating with a fork and knife so that I can cut it into pieces as I go and soak up any surplus dressing from the plate's bottom. You may also serve fried bread with your preferred soup, where guests can dip it into the soup as they go, taking a cue from the French onion. Once you start frying bread, you'll realize that most meals would benefit from a slice, and you could decide to give up using your toaster forever.