Melbatoast Recipes

Steps:

• Toast the bread slices on both sides, under the grill or use a bread toaster.
• Cut off the crusts, lay the slices flat on a cutting board, put your hand on top of it, and using a serrated knife slide through the bread to split it, or hold it in your hand and cut through it rotating the slice of bread.
• If you want, cut these thin slices into a triangle.
• Do these above steps while the bread is still warm otherwise the bread will crumble or break.
• Then you toast the untoasted sides under the grill until golden.
• The sides will curl up; keep your eye on them because this will go very quick.
• This can be made well in advance and kept in a tin.

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler to high and toast the bread lightly on both sides.
• Cut off the crusts and then, holding the toast flat, slide a sharp knife between the toasted edges to split the bread so that you now have 8 slices that are toasted only on one side.
• Cut each piece into 4 triangles, and then toast under the broiler, untoasted sides uppermost, until golden and the edges curl.
• Serve warm with soup.
• Alternatively, make Melba toast earlier in the day, and warm for a short time in the oven at 170ºC/ 325ºF/ Gas Mark 3 before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Slice bread very thinly, then cut into 3-by-2-inch pieces. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet.
• Toast bread in oven, flipping slices halfway through, until dry, about 2 hours.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Brush a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust it with flour.
• Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.
• In another medium bowl, rub the citrus zests into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is fragrant and takes on a bit of the fruit color. Beat the eggs into the sugar with a wooden spoon until blended. Stir in the flour mixture to make a smooth, sticky but pourable batter. Stir in the pistachios. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the surface lightly with a spatula.
• Bake until the loaf is lightly browned and pulling away from the sides of the pan, about 40 to 45 minutes. A skewer inserted into the center should come out clean, and the loaf will look like a not so great pound cake. Let stand for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack for 1 hour.
• Wrap the loaf in plastic and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Slice the chilled loaf as thin as you can -- 6 to 8 slices to the inch. (It helps to mark the loaf lightly with a serrated knife every half-inch and use that as a guide.) Lay the slices flat on 2 baking sheets and bake until brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Take care -- the cookies can go from pale to dark brown quickly.)
• Let stand overnight or for at least 12 hours on a rack to cool and crisp up. Serve. Store in a well-sealed jar or other container.

Steps:

• In a small bowl stir together the butter, the dill, the thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Roll each slice of bread as thin as possible with a rolling pin and trim and discard the crusts. Brush both sides of the bread with the butter mixture, cut each slice diagonally into 2 triangles, and bake the triangles on a baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven, turning them once, for 15 minutes, or until they are browned lightly and crisp. Let the toasts cool on the rack.