It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes,
accidents lead to invention too. Many favorite foods have been
created by accident. The waffle ice-cream cone was a rolled waffle
first used at a world fair when the cups for the ice cream ran
out.
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes, accidents lead to invention too. Many favorite foods have been created by accident. The waffle ice-cream cone was a rolled waffle first used at a world fair when the cups for the ice cream ran out. After a patron complained about thick fried potatoes, a chef fried very thin potatoes and created the potato chip. One of the best food accidents, the sandwich, was created when the Earl of Sandwich didn’t want to stop playing cards to eat. More recently, attempting to prepare French toast lead to another inventive food variation.
One of my favorite breakfasts to make is French toast. I like how the bread and custard mixture cook together. I also enjoy French toast’s combination of flavor and texture. French toast is light and fluffy, slightly sweet and unlike regular toast, it is filling.
When I make French toast for my grandmother at her house, I use her largest skillet. Although it is a standard large skillet about eleven inches, it does not hold four pieces of bread that well. The sliced French bread we use is an odd shape, and when it absorbs the custard mixture, it expands a little, too.
I have two choices when making French toast in the skillet. The first is to cook three pieces, serving two hot ones to grandmother and letting the third get cold while cooking the fourth piece by itself. The second is to cook two separate batches so both are hot at the same time. Although I insist for grandmother to eat her batch first while it is hot, she will wait for my batch to be ready. Neither option was very good. Just last week, I thought of a new option to solve this problem: prepare the French toast on the George Forman grill.
For the good of this column, I know I had to try it. I used the same method I always do by making the custard mix and dipping the bread. Instead, I placed it on the hot grill and closed the lid. The French toast turned out exactly the same on the George Forman grill as it would have in the skillet. Another bonus was that the French toast was ready in half the time since the grill cooks from both sides. If your grilling appliance is built to drain away excess liquid, place a book or cutting board under it to make the grilling surface level.
When experimenting, I continued to think about French toast. Can something so good actually be improved upon? It later occurred to me that I have heard of French toast with filling or stuffing. For this, a thick slice of bread is sliced to create an opening. Filling is added and the bread is dipped into the custard mixture and then cooked in a skillet.
It seems a little complicated and time consuming to cut an opening into every slice of French bread. It would be much easier to use two slices of French bread. If the filling was placed between the two pieces of French bread, like a sandwich, it will have the same effect as stuffing a thick piece of French bread.
I continued to use the method for the George Forman grill. For my first trial, I used some berry jam. After assembling the bread with jam, like a sandwich, I dipped it in the custard mixture and was careful and made sure the two pieces held together. It was placed on the grill and cooked the same way as my first trial.
I was very pleased with the French toast and jam stuffing. Prepared this way, it reminded me of classic French crepes. After all, the custard mixture is almost the same as crepe batter, but does not contain flour. French toast prepared in this method on the grill makes a great sweet breakfast. Instead of using jam, ham and cheese can be used to make a savory version of stuffed and grilled French toast.
If you like French toast prepared in the traditional method, you will also like it prepared on the grill. With a few changes, you can stuff the French toast for a different spin on the traditional method. You can use jam or fruit preserves for the sweet option, or ham and cheese for the savory option. Have a little fun and try some others fillings such as Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), peanut butter, cream cheese or Brie. The recipe this week features the method for stuffed and grilled French toast. If you prefer the traditional method, dip the bread and place it on the grill for half of the time.
Stuffed & Grilled French Toast
(From Mitch Mariani; Serves 4)
8 slices of French bread
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Half &Half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 Cup Jam or Fruit Preserves (Sweet Option) or
4 Slices of Black Forest Ham & Cheese (Savory Option)
Powdered Sugar (Optional Garnish)
Step 1: Preheat your grill press or grill pan according to the manufactures directions.
Step 2: In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, half & half and vanilla until well incorporated to create the custard mixture. Divide the sweet or savory fillings evenly among four slices of bread and cover the filling with the remaining slice of bread.
Step 3: While holding both slices of the French bread together, dip both sides of the bread into the custard mixture. Place the French toast onto the heated grill press or grill pan.
Step 4: Grill the French toast in the grill press for 3 minutes or for 3 minutes per side on a grill pan. Remove and serve immediately. Garnish with powdered sugar.
Mitch L. Mariani II is a self-taught amateur chef. Questions, comments and suggestions should be e-mailed to mi*******************@***oo.com. For tips and recipes, visit www.geocities.com/mixedgrillsouthvalley.
