This one was from the Peters Valley Cooks book. The recipes did not have the contributors credited but it was called “Bronya’s French Toast with Thyme and Cheese” so I can only assume Broyna contributed it to the cookbook in 1973 or she made it so often, it was associated with her.
I was intrigued by this one because I am not a huge French toast fan–no real reason, it is simply not something I crave or give a thought to at all–but taking it out of the sweet realm and making it savory was intriguing. That is not something that would have occurred to me which is one of the reasons I love community cookbooks! There is even another, similar, simpler savory French toast grilled cheese recipe on the preceding page. Was there a wave of savory French toast in 1973 and I am unaware? It’s similar to a Monte Cristo but simpler and open-faced.
I kept this one pretty faithful to the original but with one major change–my husband had the idea to add some ham or Canadian bacon to the sandwich to make it a little more substantial. That addition inched it a little closer to a croque monsieur.
We both liked it. The onions were a little slippery so I’m glad I made it an open-faced sandwich to eat with a knife and fork. I did feel like that while it was a very easy dish, it took some time to make. Sauting the onion took about 10 minutes and they weren’t even very browned, much less caramelized. Cooking the sandwiches in the same pan was a good idea and added some flavor so I wouldn’t want to leave them out or replace them with raw onions but all in all, I spent nearly 30 minutes on four slices of bread and I had bought pre-shredded cheese. I think it would be fun to serve if you were having some guests over for lunch along with a salad or something like that. It was just a fair amount of effort for a regular weekday lunch. But it was very flavorful–I love marble rye–and the combination of thyme and gruyere was really solid. In the future, I might do a tiny thin spread of Dijon mustard on the bread or a dollop in the egg mixture. When we were in Lille, France a few years ago I ate their local dish, the Welsh which is basically mustard spread bread with ham drowning in cheese sauce and it was really good. Mustard makes everything better. But I am always looking for new ways to make things! It is honestly very good as-is. You could even leave the ham off if you wanted it to be vegetarian but I think it did make the sandwich feel more substantial. Take care to not let the bread get too brown while you melt the cheese–don’t be tempted to turn up the heat!
Savory French Toast with Ham & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 eggs
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 4 sprigs’ worth of thyme
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices marble rye
- 8 slices Canadian bacon
- 1 cup shredded gruyere
Instructions
- Sauté the onion in olive oil until soft and lightly browned around the edges in a large skillet or griddle. This took about 10 minutes. Lift the onions out into a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, thyme, and spices. Dip the bread in the egg mixture. Brown each slice on both sides in the same pan you cooked the onions in, adding more oil if needed.
- Top each slice with 2 slices of Canadian bacon, onions, and shredded cheese. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
The recipe was a little vague as to how many slices of bread to use. I doubled the eggs and milk and dipped four large slices of marble rye with a fair amount of egg to spare.