Burn Your Toast (on Purpose)

Powders are all the rage in restaurant kitchens right now. The easiest one we've come across is from Nick Balla and Cortney Burns of San Francisco's Bar Tartine. They have enough bread kicking around to experiment with for days (and weeks and months) and found this clever use for a morning mishap: Grill slices of crusty country-style bread until five-alarm black, and grind them into a fine powder. The fragrant charcoal-like dust lends a nutty, smoky element to spice mixes and sauces, chicken, and roasted vegetables. Or do as we did, and mix it into ice cream.