MUNCHIE MONDAY
A WEEKLY HOME COOKING COLUMN FEATURING QUICK RECIPES WITH LOCALLY SOURCED INGREDIENTS
dONUT FRENCH TOAST
Photo by Anne Dunaway
Local food can be fun, and sweet!
You can do local food with fiscal responsibility while reducing waste. In our current food culture, consumers often use less of the life of our foods. We can do more for less, and be gentler on our food systems. We really can have it all. I am going to teach you how to enjoy this tasty treat made with wasted and local foods for around two dollars to feed six people.
What you see here is old donuts, transformed. These particular donuts were old enough that they were being removed from the shelves. I scored them free from the bakery at the unmentionable supercenter. However, many local donut shops like Mountain Donuts sell their day-olds steeply discounted, if you want to pay a little for local.
TIP: USE CLEARANCE FRUIT
Did you know that in the produce section of most grocery stores, they have clearance fruits? You will need to use it that day, but I got this perfect whole pineapple for 65 cents, just by eating the clearance fruit. It was perfectly ripe, sweet and delicious.
Nothing wrong with the clearance fruit, if you are going to use it. I always have a plan to use or preserve it the day I buy it. While I used this pineapple fresh, my favorite preservation with minimal special equipment is to make syrup or store it in the freezer.
I soaked the old, free donuts that I coveted like Gollum with his ring in egg batter. (I won’t be sharing my very secret batter, but the standard online recipes will be delicious). I used local eggs, butter, and milk in this recipe. You can get local eggs on my website. We are working to offer local butter too.
Milk is one of Utah’s largest agricultural commodities. You will find variations in quality and ethics, but you can find local milk at MOST grocery stores.
INGREDIENTS
Egg Batter:
2 eggs- available at Urban Prairie Agriculture
1 cup whole milk
2 TBSP sugar
½ TBSP Vanilla
Cinnamon and other spices to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Blend the batter ingredients for 2 minutes in a bowl or glass pan.
Puncture holes in the donuts. I just gently stab it with a knife a few times. You want to do this to help the egg batter saturate the donut.
Put the donuts in the batter to soak while you prepare your pan.
Heat a pan or skillet on medium to medium-low. You don’t want the outside to cook too fast.
Once you have a pan preheating with a pat of local butter from Mountain Born Creamery, flip the donuts over in the egg batter and continue to soak while you start peeling your fruit.
Once the donuts are well soaked, place on the griddle and cook for a minimum of 4 minutes on each side. You want the donut to cook throughout.
Finish chopping fruit and get plates ready. Once the donuts are cooked, plate them with fresh fruit.
