Tags
al fresco, baguette, balcony, brunch, chocolate, croissant, flowers, french toast, frittata, herbs, nutella, pain au chocolat, planting, strawberries
Last week my mom dropped off a pint of these gigantic strawberries she got from Costco. Somehow produce from Costco always seems so excessive and a little too perfect. Regardless, it tasted perfectly tart and sweet and was juicy. It’s been a while since I’ve tried strawberries like that.
Vince has been working a lot of evening/night shifts lately and so brunch has become our only meal together on the weekends. One of ideas he had was to make stuffed French toast with fresh strawberries and Nutella.
It might sound fancy and complicated, but this is actually a really simple dish to make.
All you need is:
4 slices of bread (your choice – at least a day old).
4 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Salt
Nutella (as much as you want…we used about 1/4 cup for 4 slices of bread)
1 tbsp butter or margarine
Fresh strawberries (again as much as you want)
Crack all the eggs into a shallow dish that your bread can fit into. Add the milk and vanilla and whisk together. Add pinch of salt.
Trim the tops of the strawberries. Slice the them lengthwise. Spread nutella on the inside of two slices of bread. Layer the strawberry slices on one side and then place the second slice of bread, nutella side down, on top. To keep the strawberries in place you need it to be in between the nutella.
Heat the butter on medium heat in a pan. Very carefully dip the bread in the egg mixture ensuring both sides are evenly and thoroughly covered. Place in the pan. After 1-2 minutes, very carefully flip the bread to cook on the other side until brown (another 1-2 minutes). Remove from pan.
Repeat for second French toast.
Garnish with fresh strawberries.
We found this stuffed French toast to be the perfect mix of sweet, savory and tart, so we didn’t use any syrup or icing sugar. You might like a bit of butter on top…either way, I won’t judge.
One of our other brunches included this frittata, which has peppers, spinach, tomatoes in it, topped with jalapeño havarti.
I took a walk to a nearby bakery that morning to pick up some fresh poppy seed, cheese and onion baguette as well as a few pain au chocolat.
Brunch meals always taste better at home… especially when Vince makes it and we get to enjoy some gorgeous morning sunshine on our balcony. As you know, we LOVE dining al fresco.
We got some new plants to make our balcony a prettier outdoor living space. I want to try and plant some herbs out there too, including mint, basil, thyme and rosemary. When I figure out some great ideas (likely on Pinterest), I’ll share this new addition to our concrete garden with all of you.
Have you planted some flowers and/or herbs yet? Do you have a favourite brunch recipe? Any unique French toast ideas?
With love,
Chef’s Wife
Diary of a Chef's Wife 
Drooling now! I want to try that!
Totally try it Aubrey! I promise you’ll be drooling while you eat it, too haha. Or if you end up trying a variation of stuffed french toast, let me know!
Aubrey summed it up…I’m drooling as well! I love nutella and strawberries. Yum, that looks delicious! And jalepeno havarti sounds so good too!
I used to think of strawberries and nutella only in crepes but now this dish makes it so much more manageable to make at home (since home made crepes seem so daunting!). I think jalapeno havarti is my absolute favourite cheese with eggs…hands down.
For whatever strange reason, I’ve never been a big fan of French toast, but now this description is changing my mind (YUM!)! Stuffed with strawberries and Nutella – genius! 🙂
That is a bit strange to hear that you’re not a fan of french toast. I think it would be a great challenge to make the above recipe healthier and more home made which is totally up your alley! For instance, I’m sure I found a recipe on line somewhere to make your own hazelnut spread. And of course you could use gluten free bread. If you end up making a variation of it, please do share!
I’ve noticed a lot more recipes are calling for Nutella lately. Has it always been a staple in your home or a new addition?
Hmmm, well Nutella wasn’t necessarily a staple per se but more of a treat. As I got older I think I realized I couldn’t have it very often since it’s loaded with sugar and calories so I would spread it on some whole grain toast once in a while for breakfast or a snack. Have you tried it before? If you’re not into storebought hazlenut spread, or Nutella, there are recipes online for the homemade stuff.
Nutella is great for a recipe like this or maybe even spreading some melted chocolate instead would be delicious, too!