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

Some of the original literature for the Toas-Tite says it can turn leftovers into a delicious new meal.  Boy and I hadn’t done leftover Toas-Tites before, but the other night we decided to pick up some barbeque ribs, a pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, and baked beans for dinner.  Needless to say, our eyes were way bigger than our stomachs.

So the next day, we decided to throw the rest of the barbeque feast into some Toas-Tites.

Here’s what we came out with…

BBQ Pork Ribs and Coleslaw Toas-Tite

Ingredients

• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• Butter to cover one side of each bread
• 1/4 c. barbeque pork ribs
• 1/8 c. coleslaw

Pulled Pork and Baked Beans Toas-Tite

Ingredients

• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• Butter to cover one side of each bread
• 1/4 c. pulled pork
• 1/8 c. baked beans

Directions

1. Pick all your pork off the bone (if there are any bones) and cut it up into bite sized pieces
2. Butter one side of each of your pieces of bread and place one piece of bread buttered side down
3. Place your pork/beans or pork/coleslaw in the center of the Toas-Tite depression
4. Place the other piece of bread on top of your filling, buttered side up
5. Clamp the Toas-Tite and cut off the excess bread
6. Toast away!

Notes

Boy and I started with cold filling ingredients, so to warm up all the pork deliciousness through, we toasted over medium low heat (to avoid over Toas-Titing the whole thing).  Each Toas-Tite took about 10 minutes to get crispy and brown on the outside and hot on the inside.

Beware of using excessively saucy pork.  It can soak through your bread and make a bit of a mess.

Conclusion

The sourdough bread (which is actually the only bread option we had at the time) went really nicely with both types of pork.  It crisped up really nicely and sealed well in the Toas-Tite.

The coleslaw stayed surprisingly not wilted or squishy.  It actually maintained a nice bit of crunch with added to some uniqueness for the Toas-Tite.

But on the whole, we both liked the BBQ pork rib and coleslaw Toas-Tite better than the pulled pork and baked beans Toas-Tite.  I think in large part that had to do with the fact that the BBQ pork ribs were quite a bit tastier and more flavorful than the pulled pork we had but it also seemed that the pulled pork simply got more dried out than the ribs.  Either way, they were both really tasty and now any time we have ribs, I have a feeling Boy and I will both want to get extra so we can make Toas-Tites for lunch the next day.

by Girl

Yesterday, Boy and I made a couple of really fun Toas-Tites.  I have a pretty big weakness for caprese salad.  Well…really, I have a weakness for fresh mozzarella…and tomatos…and basil.  In any case, I’ve been wanting to experiment with those ingredients in Toas-Tite form for a while.

So Boy and I each gave it a go with a slight variation on each of ours.

Ingredients

• Sourdough bread (sliced)
• Softened butter (unsalted or salted is up to you)
• Fresh mozzarella
• Your favorite tomatoes, diced (cherry or grape tomatoes cut out some of the necessary chopping)
• Fresh basil (chopped) or pesto
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Slice up all your ingredients (mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes) into Toas-Tite sized pieces.  In our case, Boy and I used an imersion blender to slice up the fresh basil into fine pieces (closer to a pesto consistency).  We also used grape tomatoes and cut each one into 4-6 pieces.

Butter one side of each piece of sourdough bread.  Place one of these pieces, butter side down (of course) onto the Toas-Tite.  On top of this piece of bread, add your filling, somewhat alternating the layers of basil, tomato, and mozzarella.  Here you can consider adding the option/variation ingredients listed below.  Sprinkle in salt and/or pepper to taste.

Cover your filling with the other slice of bread, buttered side up.  Close your Toas-Tite and trim off the excess bread.  Toast it up!

Before you bite into your delicious caprese Toas-Tite, let it cool off a bit.  The juice from the tomatoes plus the melty mozzarella can be very hot.

Variations

• Add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil to your filling or on to one side of the bread
• Add in a few small pieces of sundried tomatoes to give it some punch

Notes

Boy and I each tried a different variation of the caprese Toas-Tite.  I added a few bits of sundried tomato bruschetta throughout the Toas-Tite to give it a bit more tomatoey kick.  Boy added a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top of the filling.  It soaked through a bit to one side of the bread (thanks very much, Mr. Gravity); but next time, we’re going to try mixing up the other ingredients with the balsamic/olive oil prior to adding it into the Toas-Tite.

Amazingly, the sourdough bread we used was actually larger than the Toas-Tite so we could orient both slices of bread the same way.  I think it’s the first bread we’ve seen that’s big enough.  When you’re choosing your bread, keep in mind the holey-ness of the bread.  It would be a shame to lose any of your filling to holey bread.

In terms of the fresh mozzarella, to help it get distributed evenly but not too thickly, we used pearls so we could sprinkle them throughout the Toas-Tite.  If those are not available, cutting up your mozzarella into 1/8 or 1/4 inch cubes (1/8 is closer to pearl size but 1/4 would probably be just fine too).

On the ingredients list, you’ll note we list fresh basil or pesto.  If you try pesto, just pay attention to how oily it is – of course, the more oil in it, the more it will soak into the bread while you’re toasting.

Conclusion

Whether you use it as an hors d’ouevre Toas-Tite or a sandwichy Toas-Tite, a caprese Toas-Tite is a winner in my book (and Boy’s book too).  If you’re in the mood for something a little fancier, give either variation a try.  They’re both equally wonderful.  Just in different ways.

by Girl