When was the last time you fired up your grill before noon? OK, maybe you were tailgating or you had a very late night, but you know what I mean. We often don't think about grilling anything that we normally eat for breakfast. Some time ago, I was at a friends house and he was a huge breakfast guy. He was one of those guys that could eat breakfast anytime of the day. We thought about going out to eat, but didn't feel like dealing with the crowds. That's when I had a brain-storm.
I told him I would cook breakfast and I was going to do it on the grill. I started to think about what I could create that was quick and easy and also come out really good. I decided to grill some french toast. I had never done this before, but to me it made perfect sense. I told him about my plan for breakfast and he looked at me like I was crazy.
I started with some raisin bread that I found in his bread box on the counter. I then placed 4 eggs in a bowl with 1 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 3 tablespoons brown sugar. I whipped all of the ingredients together and set aside.
My next step was to get the grill going. I knew I needed to keep the grill on a medium/low temperature as to not burn my toast. I got the coals good and hot. I came back into the kitchen and started to dredge my bread into my batter. I wanted to make sure the bread was thick enough to grill so I doubled it up. I placed two pieces of bread together and soaked them into the egg-wash.
Once the bread was wet, I placed all of my double bread pieces on a sheet pan and went to my grill. I placed the toast on the grill and lightly grilled each stack. The aroma from the grill smelled like a french bakery, but better. My friend peeked out and admitted that this experiment might just work. I grilled my bread for about 3 minutes on both sides and removed the toast from the grill to finish in the oven.
I placed the toast into the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. This allowed the bread to fluff up and create a custard inside the two pieces. I removed the toast from the oven and topped the toast with apple maple syrup. I simply added cup apple juice to some maple syrup and reduced it on the stove for 5 minutes. The grilled flavor of the bread and the added bite of the raisins was awesome. Any type of bread will work, sourdough, french, or regular white.
I hope you get a chance to try this great recipe soon, it is one that I'm sure the whole family will enjoy.
Eat Well!
Chef Brian
http://htbbqsaucemix.com
