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- A Breakfast Valentine
- BY DANA JACOBI
FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH
To win someones
heart or remind your family of how special they are, surprise
them on Valentines Day by serving this unexpected French
toast. With a little advance planning and preparation, you can
make this French toast even though its for a Monday morning
breakfast.
The sauce for
this version of French toast can be made a few days ahead. The
toast can too, if you prefer reheating already cooked and frozen
toast just before breakfast. However, use a toaster or toaster
oven and not a microwave oven, which will result in soggy toast
and poor flavor.
The fruit and
the filling for this cherry-stuffed French toast make it uniquely
different. And a few clever techniques explained in the recipe
below make this version easy to prepare. First, you cut out circles
from the center of the bread slices with a cookie cutter. Then
you cut up the circles and mix them with fruit to make the stuffing
for the French toast. The stuffing and the bread slices are soaked
separately in an egg mixture. At the beginning of the frying
process, both are combined in the skillet. The result is moist
French toast studded with fruit and flavored with spice all the
way through - a special breakfast treat for a special day.
Cherry-Stuffed
French Toast with Cherry Sauce - Makes 4 servings.
- 1 package
(10 oz.) frozen dark cherries, defrosted
- 1/2 cup dark
cherry (sugar-free) fruit spread
- 2 tsp. cornstarch,
dissolved in 1 Tbsp. cold water
- 1/3 cup dried
sour cherries
- 1/3 cup apple
juice
- 8 slices whole-wheat
bread
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg
whites
- 3/4 cup skim
(fat-free) milk
- 1 tsp. grated
orange zest
- 1 tsp. vanilla
extract
- 2 tbsp. canola
oil
Place defrosted
cherries in a blender or food processor and reduce to a rough
purée. Transfer to a small saucepan, mix in the jam and
bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stir cornstarch/water
mixture to recombine and stir into the cherry mix. Reduce heat
to a simmer and cook until mixture thickens. Remove from heat,
cover and set aside while making French Toast. (The sauce can
be made a few days in advance and refrigerated until ready to
use.)
Combine dried
cherries and apple juice in a small bowl. When the fruit is plump,
squeeze out excess moisture and coarsely chop. Set aside fruit
and discard the juice.
Using a small,
round cookie cutter (or fingers), remove the centers from bread
slices, leaving about a 1/2-inch of bread inside the crust. Transfer
slices to a shallow, flat container. Tear the circles into small
pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Mix in the chopped cherries.
In a separate
bowl, beat the eggs, then whisk in milk, zest, and vanilla. Pour
half over the bread/cherry mixture and mix with a fork until
combined. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread slices,
and let stand until liquid is absorbed.
Heat oil in
a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Add
the bread slices. (If the skillet holds less that 8 slices, cook
the French Toast in batches, keeping each batch warm until all
are cooked.) Fill in the empty centers of bread slices with spoonfuls
of the filling, pressing down with the back of the spoon to firmly
pack the mixture. Brown the bread on one side, 3 to 4 minutes,
then carefully turn to brown the second side. Meanwhile, heat
cherry sauce over low heat until very warm. Serve French Toast
with the warmed sauce.
Per serving: 441 calories, 12 g. total fat (2 g. saturated
fat), 72 g. carbohydrate, 13 g. protein, 6 g. dietary fiber,
390 mg. sodium.
Something
Different is written for the American Institute for Cancer
Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy and
recipe creator for AICRs Stopping Cancer Before It Starts.
AICR offers
a Nutrition Hotline (1-800-843-8114) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday.
This free service allows you to ask a registered dietitian questions
about diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR is the only major cancer
charity focused exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition
and cancer. It provides a range of education programs that help
Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also
supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment
at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S.
It has provided more than $70 million for research in diet, nutrition
and cancer. AICRs Web address is www.aicr.org. AICR is a member
of the World Cancer Research Fund International.
RECIPE POSTED
FEBRUARY 07, 2005
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