Toas-Tite Recipes

Well, whether it’s Valentine’s Day or just a Tuesday, this Toas-Tite is pretty darn magical. But to preface its genesis, here’s a story.

The real inspiration for this Toas-Tite flying saucer sandwich came from two wonderful ladies who work at Soto’s Market in Cambria, CA.  Boy and I were on vacation in Cambria a few weeks ago (we highly recommend checking out Hearst Castle if you’re ever in that area) and stopped into Soto’s to pick up some bread and cheese for snacking.  Walking down the aisles, we picked up some rather generic looking brie and a loaf of french bread.  When we got up to the counter to check out, a woman with a long white braid told us we didn’t want that brie…she told us what we really wanted was at the back deli counter at the far end of the store.  She escorted us down there and introduced us to her co-worker behind the deli counter.  She said, “What you really want is my favorite…Humboldt Fog…or her favorite…Midnight Moon.  I don’t even know why we sell that generic stuff.”

And let me tell you, she was right.  After tasting Cyprus Grove’s Humboldt Fog goat cheese and their Midnight Moon sheep’s cheese, we were sold.  We ended up chatting with these two women about different cheeses and the awesome sandwiches they made with them for quite a while.  Our friend with the braid told us that the next time we were at Whole Foods, we just had to pick up a container of Dalmatia Adriatic Fig Spread (the original kind).  She told us that spread paired with Humboldt Fog was just out of this world.  So a few days later, we made a special trip to Whole Foods for just this combo.

Let me tell you, it’s brilliant on crackers and it’s absolutely unreal in a Toas-Tite.  You could make this on Valentine’s Day, today, tomorrow…it is definitely a special treat for a special someone (and a special you too)!

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Boy and I tend to gravitate toward the savory Toas-Tite pudgy pies, but the other day we bought a bunch of blueberries to make blueberry muffins (we highly recommend the one from Cook’s Illustrated, the June 2009 issue).  And of course, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs so we ended up with an extra pint.

And what else do you do with extra blueberries but make blueberry pie Toas-Tites!  We couldn’t stop with just one fruit pie so we also made a lemon curd and raspberry pie Toas-Tite inspired by Tartine Bakery’s fresh fruit tart made with lemon cream and raspberries.

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Disclaimer: We started this blog post a few days after Halloween…now, we find ourselves finishing it…a few days after Christmas.  Sorry about that!

Boy and I started seeing each other shortly before Halloween 2008.  One year later, we decided to have a quiet evening at Boy’s house handing out candy to little neighborhood hooligans and making Toas-Tites.  To celebrate the holiday of ghouls and goblins (and lots and lots of candy), we decided to make a Reese’s candy filled Toas-Tite (it was either that or something with Air Heads…which might have been a big weird gummy mess).  So with Boy dressed up as a karate kid/ninja/Jedi type guy and me dressed up in a pink bunny hat my mom made for me when I was 4, we got started.

Ingredients

2 slices of white bread

Unsalted butter

2 Reese’s candies (unwrapped)

Directions

1. Butter one side of each of your slices of bread
2. On your Toas-Tite sandwich grill, place one of your pieces of bread with the buttered side down
3. On top of that piece of bread, place your two Reese’s candies (tops together in the middle of the sandwich)
4. Place the other piece of bread on top of the Reese’s with the buttered side up
5. Clamp the Toas-Tite sandwich grill closed and remove the extra bread
6. Place over low heat to get the most out of melting your candy without over toasting the bread
7. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Notes

The Reese’s Toas-Tite definitely was chock full of Halloween candy goodness.  However, one thing to keep in mind is that Reese’s are designed to sit on a shelf without refrigeration…and not to melt in the packaging.  That also means that out of the packaging they still lack a certain meltiness one desires in a Toas-Tite.

Eating this Toas-Tite sandwich, you certainly don’t forget your eating Reese’s.  But the beauty of the melted Toas-Tite filling is lost a bit.

For a close (and some might say better) approximation, try it with Nutella (or chocolate chips) and straight peanut butter.  You’ll get more melting out of the peanut butter than with Reese’s candy.

Conclusion

Not a total winner, but definitely a Halloweeny treat.  And it always tastes better when you’re in a costume.

So for our first Toas-Tite recipe, we’re going to dive right into the sweets with a good ol’ Nutella and strawberries Toas-Tite.  Sure, you’ve had it in a crepe.  And maybe you’ve even had chocolate covered strawberries.  But a Nutella and strawberries Toas-Tite?  It’s a great one for breakfast (if you like a sweet breakfast), dessert, or…whenever you’d eat a Nutella and strawberries crepe…

Ingredients

• Sweet/unsalted butter (enough to cover both pieces of bread)
• Two pieces of white bread
• Two big strawberries
• Nutella

Directions

Gather up your ingredients.  If your butter came right out of the fridge, you’ll want to soften it up a bit (but not melted).  Butter your two pieces of bread.  Your buttering should be…generous?  Well, not too terribly generous.  Too much butter will make your bread a little too soggy and it will take a long time to toast up making your Toas-Tite a) very, very hot and b) gush overly-cooked strawberries.  Cut up your strawberries into medium sized pieces (roughly 8 pieces per strawberry).

Place one of your pieces of bread on your Toas-Tite with the buttered side down.  We’ll get in to tips and tricks later but if your bread is a little bit smaller than your Toas-Tite, turn one (with the longer side) horizontally and the other vertically.

Spread Nutella onto both pieces of bread.  On one piece, try somewhere between 1/16th and 1/8th of an inch thick – this is really a personal preference depending on what you want as your Nutella to strawberry ratio.  On the other side, just put a very light layer.  This will give your Toas-Tite a nice sandwich of Nutella but it won’t completely overpower the strawberries.  When it comes to Nutella, a little goes a pretty long way.

Layer in your cut-up strawberries into the center of one of the pieces of bread on top of the Nutella.  You can make a nice little mountain of strawberries.  The more you can get in, the better (or at least that’s what I think).

Carefully place the other piece of bread on top of your strawberries in the opposite orientation (as mentioned above).  Close the Toas-Tite, remove the extra bread, and latch away!

Toast up your Toas-Tite as usual (depending on your toastiness preference).  Boy and I definitely prefer ours distinctly toasted…otherwise you just end up with a slightly warmed, panini-like pocket, rather than a Toas-Tite.

Once you’re done, take it out and let it cool off a bit.  The inside will be plenty hot…and nobody likes a burnt tongue.  But then…enjoy!!

Notes

Boy and I actually tried our Nutella and strawberries Toas-Tite twice…once with rather finely chopped strawberries (think 16 pieces per strawberry) and once with chunkier strawberries.  Truth be told, it didn’t really make that much of a difference either way.  The strawberries retain just a bit more of their…strawberriness (it’s not exactly crunchy as your strawberries are good and cooked, but they’re a little less jam-like).

The Nutella and strawberries Toas-Tite isn’t really one that’s meant for cutting in half…the Nutella gets pretty saucy with the juice from the strawberries.  So be warned that it’s easier to just dive right in when you’re eating.  Otherwise, you might want to eat over a plate or the sink.

It helps to have at least a bit of a layer on each piece of bread to coat the strawberries.  But again…a lot of it really depends on your own personal preference for the Nutella:strawberry ratio.

Conclusion

This was our first experiment with a sweet Toas-Tite.  And other than being a little on the messy side, it was delicious and definitely one to be repeated.  If you’re a fan of the Nutella and strawberries combination, and a fan of the Toas-Tite, I think you’ll dig it.

by Girl