French Toast Braaibroodjies
by Jan Braai
from Atmosfire
The reality is that you’re very unlikely to ever have leftover braaibroodjies, but in the unlikely event that you ever do, this is a great way to repurpose them into a classy breakfast of little effort.
Introduction
We all know French toast, where you soak bread in an egg and milk mixture and fry that in a pan. Here we’re doing exactly the same thing, but with braaibroodjies, because as proven yet again at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, whatever France can do, we can do better! If this sounds like a great idea to you (it should) but you don’t have leftover braaibroodjies, then just make some braaibroodjies and then proceed with the rest of the recipe as per regulation. Bonus points if you braaied so consistently the day before that you don’t need to light the fire in the morning to make this breakfast; not only are you lucky enough to have leftover braaibroodjies, you also still have a bed of hot and usable coals in the fireplace. If this is the case, just use braai tongs to scrape open the coals, then give yourself a pat on the back (not with the tongs), grab a pan and proceed.
Ingredients (makes 4)
|
150g |
mature cheddar cheese |
|
1 |
onion |
|
2 |
tomatoes |
|
8 |
bread slices (regular sliced white supermarket bread) |
|
|
butter |
|
|
chutney |
|
|
salt and pepper |
|
4 |
eggs |
|
½ cup |
milk |
|
|
olive oil |
Method
Grate the cheese and thinly slice the onion and tomatoes.
Build the braaibroodjies: Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread (these sides will be outward-facing in the assembled braaibroodjie). Place half the bread slices butter-side down; spread chutney on the bread and start to layer with onions then cheese and tomatoes on top. Two or three slices of tomato per braaibroodjie. Grind salt and pepper over the tomatoes. Cover with the remaining bread slices, buttered sides facing upwards.
Braaibroodjies is draaibroodjies. Braaibroodjies should be turned often and are braaied in a closed, hinged grid. If you don’t have one, buy one – preferably with adjustable heights to compress each unit perfectly. You want medium-paced, gentle heat and the grid should be relatively high. Your aim is for the cheese to be melted and all other fillings to be completely heated by the time the outsides are golden brown. Slightly opening and closing your hinged grid a few times after the first few turns of the braai process helps the braaibroodjies not to get stuck to the grid.
Beat the eggs and milk together until smooth. Pack the braaibroodjies into a suitable flat-bottomed container so they are all lying flat on the bottom at the same time. Now pour the egg mixture over them. Let the bread soak up the eggs for 5 minutes, turning halfway through so all sides get the chance to swim at the bottom.
Heat the olive oil in your fireproof pan on the fire. When doing a single batch of scrambled eggs for myself I might use butter, but in this case there is a risk that some of the residual butter will eventually burn in the pan if you’re going in batches and that is why I suggest using oil here. It is important that the pan should be warm before you add the braaibroodjies. If your pan is not big enough to do all of them at the same time, some can have that egg bath for a while longer. Fry on both sides for about 2 minutes a side until golden brown and the egg is cooked.
Slice in half and serve immediately. For me, popular condiments at this stage include but are not limited to tomato jam from a farm stall or your favourite hot sauce.
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