Create emblem of land we love — on French toast | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Create emblem of land we love — on French toast | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Wednesday, August 15, 2007

TASTE
Create emblem of land we love — on French toast

•	Orthodox cooking

By Elaine Magee

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Flag French toast calls for blueberries, strawberry jam and light whipped cream for Old Glory's colors.

In honor of Independence Day last month, I whipped up a lighter and higher-fiber French toast and decorated it American-style with red stripes (raspberry or strawberry jam), white stripes (light whipped cream) and blue stars (blueberries). This breakfast brought out the kid in me because it was as much fun to embellish as it was to eat!

I started with Martha Stewart's recipe for Perfect French Toast but used fewer eggs, fat-free half-and-half (or you could uselow-fat milk) instead of whole milk. And here's where it gets interesting: Instead of using 1/4 cup of butter plus 1/4 cup of vegetable oil to fry the slices, I used a generous shower of canola cooking spray and a darn good nonstick skillet.

This is one of those times when you want your bread to be sturdy so it can hold its shape when soaked with the egg mixture.

FLAG FRENCH TOAST

4 large eggs (higher omega-3 if available)

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 1/2 cups fat-free half-and-half or low-fat milk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons liqueur of choice (Grand Marnier, Amaretto, etc.)

1 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1 pinch of salt

8 large slices of whole-grain or multigrain bread (any type you desire), sliced 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick (day-old works best)

Canola cooking spray

For the garnish:

Pressurized can of light whipped topping (or use light Cool Whip)

Less-sugar raspberry or strawberry jam, at room temperature

Fresh or frozen blueberries

Place eggs, egg substitute, fat-free half-and-half or low-fat milk, vanilla, liqueur, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to mixing bowl and beat until smooth and blended.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Holding one of the slices with your left hand, submerge one of the bread slices in the egg mixture and let it soak it up for about 10 seconds. Carefully lift the bread slice out while using your right hand to generously spray an area (the size of the bread slice) on the hot skillet with canola cooking spray. Place the bread slice into the pan and repeat the steps with a couple more slices. Give the tops of all the slices a generous coating of cooking spray.

Fry the slices until golden brown (about 2 minutes) then flip them over to brown the other side (about 2 minutes more).

You will probably have enough egg mixture to make two more batches of French toast (about 9 thick slices).

To decorate as flags, add jam (at room temperature) to a pastry bag with whatever tip you desire and create three long stripes on each slice and two to three short stripes in the upper right hand corner of each slice. Decorate the upper left corner of each slice with a little light whipping cream in the shape of a square and top with blueberries. Then create white stripes with light whipped cream in between the strips of jam.

Makes about 8 slices.

Per slice (with 3 tablespoons light whipped cream, 2 tablespoons less sugar jam and 2 tablespoons blueberries per flag): 306 calories, 11 g protein, 50 g carbohydrate, 7.5 g fat, 2.8 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 1.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 117 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 358 mg sodium. Calories from fat, 22 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids, .2 g. Weight Watchers points, 6. Omega-6 fatty acids, 1.2 g

Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.

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