Toas-Tite Recipes

Broccoli cheese soup and broccoli cheese casserole is the stuff of childhood.  A green veggie that not everyone likes covered in yummy melted cheese which most people like.  Now wrap that up in a Toas-Tite and you’ve got something pretty special.  Boy and I whipped this one up a few days ago loosely inspired by the American classic twice baked potato (Toas-Tite).

Broccoli and Cheese Toas-Tite

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (or a little more) cooked and chopped broccoli
• 1 slice of Kraft American cheese
• 2 slices of bread (we used Oroweat Country Potato)
• Butter (softened)
• 1/2 slice of chopped bacon (optional)

Directions:

1. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread (as usual)
2. Place the buttered side of one piece of bread down on the open Toas-Tite sandwich maker
3. Tear off half of the slice of cheese and place it in the center of the Toas-Tite
4. Pile the chopped broccoli on top (and sprinkle in your bacon if you’re throwing it in there)
   
5. Top with the other half of the slice of cheese
6. Place the other piece of bread, buttered side up, on top of the filling
7. Close the Toas-Tite sandwich maker, trim the extra bread, and toast

Notes

To be honest, neither Boy nor I really had a preference on the bacon in this Toas-Tite sandwich (we did indeed make two, one with bacon and one without, just jam packed with broccoli).  They were both excellent.  The half slice of bacon definitely gave the sandwich a hint of bacony goodness but it didn’t make or break the sandwich.

On the whole, I generally like a higher ratio of broccoli to other stuff so I packed as much in as I could.  But don’t let your eyes deceive you.  We over estimated how much broccoli we needed and bought two heads of broccoli but got 3 Toas-Tites out of one head.

Conclusion

After Boy bit into this one, he said, “Every time…I have a new favorite.”  This one had all the goodness of any other cheesy broccoli combo in a nice little Toas-Tite package.

Last week, Boy came home with a bunch of potatoes from the farmer’s market.  I love a good potato…but I don’t cook them that frequently.  So we decided to go pretty basic and we made mashed potatoes with three of them.  However, there are only two of us so needless to say, we ended up with a lot of mashed potatoes left over.

A few nights later, we needed to use up the rest of the potatoes.  One of my favorite things to eat as a kid was scalloped potatoes (the ones my mom made, anyway).  I’d never cooked them myself but I figured it was high time to give it a try.  Yet again, Boy and I found ourselves in the situation of cooking with three potatoes with only two of us eating.  So our scalloped potatoes joined our mashed potatoes in the fridge.

With all the left over potatoes, tonight got to be left over night.  But why just reheat a bunch of potatoes?  Instead, we of course decided to experiment with delicious potato-filled Toas-Tite sandwiches.

Twice Baked Potato Toas-Tite

Ingredients

• Left over mashed potatoes (i.e. potatoes, milk, butter, and a pinch of salt)
• Two slices of buttermilk bread
• Softened butter
• Diced ham
• Grated cheddar cheese
• Diced green onion
• Sour cream

Directions

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread and place the buttered side down on the inside of the Toas-Tite sandwich grill
2. With a large soup spoon, dollop a generous amount of mashed potato on top of one of the pieces of bread in the center of the Toas-Tite cavity
   
3. Layer on your preferred amount of diced ham on top of the potatoes (we used about half a tablespoon)
4. Sprinkle on some grated cheddar cheese
5. Close the Toas-Tite sandwich grill and clasp it
6. Remove the excess bread and toast away
7. When your sandwich is toasted to your liking, remove it carefully from the Toas-Tite sandwich grill
8. With a serrated knife, cut open your sandwich
   
9. Spread a bit of sour cream on the top and garnish with a bit more grated cheese and green onion
   
10. Enjoy!

Scalloped Potato Toas-Tite

Ingredients

• Scalloped potatoes*
• 2 slices of buttermilk bread
• Softened butter
• Grated Cheese

* To make scalloped potatoes, we sliced three potatoes thinly and layered them in a casserole dish, alternating layers of potato and ham.  On top of the potatoes, layer on grated cheddar cheese and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft

Directions

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread and place the buttered side down on the inside of the Toas-Tite sandwich grill
2. Place about a quarter of a cup of scalloped potatoes on one slice of bread
3. Sprinkle on some extra grated cheddar cheese
   
4. Close the Toas-Tite sandwich grill and clasp it
5. Remove the excess bread and toast away
6. Revel in the melted cheesy, potatoey goodness
   

Conclusion

Both of these Toas-Tites were…well….just plain delicious.  The twice baked potato Toas-Tite really did taste like a twice baked potato and was just so darn tasty we had to make another.  Next time, we plan on trying it with diced bacon to compare it with the ham version.  I’m guessing both will be new favorites.  The scalloped potato Toas-Tite had a more definite potato texture as we had full slices of potato inside and was equally delicious.

All in all, it was a pretty successful left over dinner.  And likely one we’ll repeat again soon.

One of the major dilemmas of making sandwiches in the Toas-Tite grill is bread size.  In this day and age, most sliced bread just isn’t big enough to cover the Toas-Tite sandwich grill all the way!  And without a tight seal, you run the risk of making a mess of your stove dripping cheese and whatnot all over.  With this challenge in mind, Boy and I really met our match when attempting a Reuben Toas-Tite with rye bread.

Ingredients

• Two slices of rye bread
• Thousand Island dressing
• Swiss cheese
• Sauerkraut
• Corned beef
• Butter (melted to spread on one side of each piece of bread)

Directions

1. Butter one side each of your slices of rye bread.
2. Place the buttered side down on the grill.  If your bread slices are kind of small, place one going horizontally compared to the Toas-Tite sandwich grill handles and one vertically compared to the handles.
   
3. Place your corned beef and sauerkraut on one of the slices of bread.
4. Drizzle 1-2 tsp. of Thousand Island dressing on top of the corned beef and sauerkraut – depending on your quantities of corned beef and sauerkraut, you may need to reduce this quantity to prevent the dressing soaking through the bread of the Toas-Tite sandwich.
5. Place your Swiss cheese (torn into small pieces) on top of your corned beef and sauerkraut.
   
6. Carefully close your Toas-Tite sandwich grill making sure the other piece of bread is centered on top of the filling.
7. Toast over your heat source for the desired toastiness.
8. Open up your Toas-Tite grill, remove the sandwich, and enjoy!
   

Notes

As long as you place your bread in two different directions in your Toas-Tite, even if your rye bread is quite small, you should be able to get a decent seal on your Toas-Tite sandwich.  If you’re feeling nervous, try layering two slices of bread on each side.  The extra bread slices should take up the rest of space, helping you make a good seal all the way around.

Conclusion

While it presented some minor difficulties, the Toas-Tite reuben was very much worth it.  Rye bread toasts up very nicely and generally has a bit more crunch than equally toasted white bread.  The combination of the toasted bread plus Swiss cheese, corned beef, and sauerkraut packs all the punch of the best diner reuben in a magnificent Toas-Tite package.

You might of read on the About Toas-Tite Recipes page that I told Girl to put Toas-Tites on our list of things to do, if not, go check it out and see how all of this came to be.

Anyways, I figured I would put up the Toas-Tite that began my love affair with this unique gadget. My family would always make hot Tuna Melt Toas-Tites after a long day in the cold ocean and it always hit the spot.

I feel there are many ways to create a delicious Tuna melt Toas-Tite so I figure I’ll put up a few recipes and let you experiment.

Tuna Melt

Ingredients

• 2 Slices of sourdough
• Tuna
• Mustard
• Mayo
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Raw Chopped Cucumber or Chopped Celery or Chopped Sweet Pickles or Relish
• Cheese
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Open can of tuna. Separate water from tuna
2. Combine tuna, salt, pepper and mayo in a bowl and mix together (see bottom for more possible options)
3. Butter one side of each of your pieces of bread and place one piece of bread buttered side down
4. Fill bread with tuna concoction and add cheese on top
5. Place the other piece of bread on top of your filling, buttered side up
6. Clamp the Toas-Tite sandwich grill and cut off the excess bread
7. Melt on!

Notes

Feel free to add all of the extra ingredients from the above list, but maybe only one helping of either the sweet pickles, cucumber, relish, or the celery. I would at least have tuna, salt, pepper mayo and one of the previously stated crunchy items but, the beauty of the Toas-Tite is to create what fits best for you and yours! Also if you use a cheese, try and stay away from cheddar as it tends to put a little more oil out as it melts. And when picking tuna, I always go for tuna canned in water, as the tuna canned in oil is just to slick of a texture for me.

Conclusion

This really is one of my favorite Toas-Tites of all time, and after a few years of dormancy Girl sparked my love for Toas-Tites all over again. Also, tomato soup is a great companion for this Toas-Tite. Luckily I met Girl who brought back my love of the Toas-Tite and all things awesome. Toast on and Enjoy!!!

by Boy