Sunday, June 15, 2008

Puns and Penalty Kicks


On Friday, June 13, teams from France and Netherlands played for a spot in "The Group of Death" in the UEFA European Cup soccer match. The Netherlands' team, known as the Mechanical Orange, beat the pants off the French team, runners up for the World Cup championship in 2006, 4 goals to 1.

At the 90th minute when the game was over, ESPN commentator Andy Grey (a portly man with an amazing Scottish brogue) proclaimed Holland the victor by brilliantly observing:

"It's a Dutch oven, and the French are toast!!"

Anyone want to bet that he'd been waiting the whole match to say that?? To honor the French effort and th Dutch victory, I'll include my recipe for Cheese Danish Stuffed French Toast. I like using baguette instead of regular white bread because it's heartier and great for stuffing.


Cheese Danish Stuffed French Toast (serves 2)
4 1.5" thick slices stale baguette
3 large eggs
1/2 c milk
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Stuffing:
1 package cream cheese
1/4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the stuffing ingredients together with an electric mixer and refrigerate. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Dunk the baguette slices in the egg mixture and fry on a non-stick skillet over Medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Make a slit in each baguette slice with a knife to make a pocket about 2" wide. Place a heaping spoonful of cream cheese stuffing inside the bread slice. Serve two of these per person and top with berries, maple syrup, powdered sugar, or whatever topping you like best.


Bon appetit and Geniet van!