Apr 29, 2013

D94: Making the Most of Your Jaffle Toaster Part 1: French Toast

Bon appetite!
Hub received a jaffle toaster - or an old style toasted sandwich maker - for his 21st birthday (I think).  It was an inspired gift and a must for every household, in my opinion, especially share houses.  My favourite toasted sandwich is banana, and sometimes just plain jam, but I'm a little limited by my lactose intolerance.  For instance, I can't really enjoy Hub's patented egg, cheese and chill sandwich*, but it is glorious to watch.

This model, which attempts to cut each sandwich into two triangles, is what I would call a toasted sandwich maker.  I grew up thinking a jaffle was only ever made with a jaffle iron in a camp fire, but everyone else seemed to say "jaffle" for all the toasted sangas.  As you can imagine, it took me some time, and therapy, to adjust.  The modern ones, which use flat hot plates, are things I would call a toasted sandwich press.  You're welcome to try this recipe in a press, but you must share your pictures.  Good luck.

So, pros and cons of using a jaffle toaster?
Pros: 
  • It's generally neat.  Mess is usually wipe-able. 
  • It's quick, or it'll wait, depending on how soon you need food.
  • It cooks evenly and I can't remember ever burning anything.
Cons:
  • Everything is a right-angle, scalene triangle.  So if that's not your favourite triangle, shit be hard.  Major con.
It's clean on the inside, and that's what counts.


Here you can see my French Toast in progress.   Yes, the toaster is showing it's age, but it just strengthens and affection I think.  And adds to the flavour.  
Hopefully I'll share my other jaffle recipes with you over the winter months.

Jaffled French Toast

  1. Heat your jaffle toaster.
  2. In a bowl or some such - preferably with a flat base - beat two eggs with a slosh of milk and shake in some nutmeg and cinnamon.
  3. Take two pieces of bread (or whatever will fit in the toaster) and press them into the open toaster to mark where the toast will be divided into two.  Cut along this line. Remembering which piece went where is handy, but not really important.
  4. If you like, put a a bit of butter in each toasting segment and enjoy the sizzle. Wiping the whole thing with a buttered paper towel is also effective. Usually these appliances are 'non stick' so the butter is mostly for crisping and flavour.  Our toaster is old, so buttering every now and then is helpful.
  5. When the toaster is hot, dip your pieces of bread into the egg mix and tuck them into their triangle.  (If your bowl will fit all the pieces flatly, put them in, turn them once, and let them soak up the egg mix.)  Pour any remaining egg mix over the pieces once they're positioned in the toaster.  Close the lid. (Rinse the bowl and wipe up spills - raw egg is like plastic once set.)
  6. Don't bother opening the lid until sometime after you can smell it cooking for the next room.
  7. When you do open the lid, the French Toast will probably deflate.   It's not done yet.
  8. When your toast finally holds it's form, gently prise the prices from the toaster and arrange on a plate with your chosen condiment.
  9. Enjoy.


*Butter four pieces of toast. Spread sweet chilli sauce on the lower pieces of bread, put them in the toaster, buttered side down; lay down sliced tasty cheese on both; crack an egg over the whole thing and swizzle the yolk around a bit; lay down the top piece of bread, butted side up. Attempt to close the toaster; its a bit dangerous to clamp it shut but a heavy item like the honey jar might help control it. Goes best with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.





No comments:

Post a Comment