Stuffed Freedom Toast

NOOOO! I'm not one of THOSE Americans who insisted on renaming French Fries and French Toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast when the French abstained from getting involved in our still dubious war on terror via Iraq. I just love making fun of those Americans that did. I still cannot believe our congress put time and effort into changing the names of food. Redonk. Fast foward to now, I have hope for my country's new leadership. I have to.

Another thing that gives me hope is good food. Good, wholesome food that is easy and that you can make at home to both save your hard earned money and know what you put inside your body. This dish, while not exactly healthy, is at least tasty good and you can identify the ingredients that go into it.

Boyfriend and I once went to a breakfast joint in the fringe of San Francisco's bad neighborhood, The Tenderloin. The place itself was tiny, filled with kitsch, and had an old diner charm about it. The food was nothing short of delicious. I remember Boyfriend got the stuffed French Toast and it was stuffed with a lot of cream cheese and fresh strawberries. This is my take on that French Toast. My take, however, is lighter, hopefully healthier, and definitely not as sweet.

Stuffed French Toast
Serves 2
4 slices of bread
1/3 cup light cream cheese
2 Tbs straberry jam (you can use any type of jam you have available as long as you like its flavor)
2 eggs
2 tbs milk
2 tsp sugar
1/8th tsp vanilla, just a splash
2 tbs canola or corn oil

Mix the cream cheese with the jam until well mixed. Divide the cheese/jam mixture between 2 slices of bread. Spread out the cheese unto an even layer. Cover each slice of bread+cheese with the remaining slices of bread. Set aside.

Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a shallow bowl or dish with sides. Whisk it until the sugar dissolves and it is well blended. Set aside.

Place the oil into a medium fying pan and heat it to medium/high. You want the oil to warm up but not be too hot. Take each cheese+jam sandwich and place it into the egg mixture, one at a time. Let the sandwich briefly soak up the egg on one side and then turn the sandwich over to repeat on the other side. Place the egg soaked sandwich into the hot oil. You want it to sizzle but not smoke so if the pan is too hot, turn down the heat. Let the sandwichs cook for about 2 -3 minutes on each side, looking for a deep golden brown color on each side. I made mine just a bit darker because I like the added crispy texture. Repeat for the remaining sandwich.

We had our Stuffed French Toasts with sausage but you can have it with some cottage cheese and fruit. The toasts aren't overpoweringly sweet so they will complement the fruit well. You can drizzle maple syrup over the toasts but honestly, you really don't need it.