With Father’s Say tomorrow, we couldn’t wait to test these French Toast recipes.

First up: French Toast sandwiches.
 
 
SWEET OR SAVORY FRENCH TOAST SANDWICHES 

Use French Toast slices as bread to make a sandwich.

We made a wonderbar French Toast sandwich with smoked salmon, soft goat cheese (substitute cream cheese), onion, and tomato. Then we tried other favorite fillings:

 
To make Grilled Cheese French Toast: Sauté the second side of the bread to a lighter “toast,” add the cheese (and ham or other meat), add the top slice, and grill until the cheese melts.
 
 
RECIPE: APPLE PECAN FRENCH TOAST

This recipe isn’t a sandwich but was such a delight that we had to include it.

The recipe is from Zulka Morena, producers of top-quality, minimally processed sugars (granulated, confectioner’s, brown) made with freshly-harvested sugar cane. The sugars are not refined, which helps preserve the fresh flavor and natural properties of the sugar cane. You can taste the difference in a cup of tea. Zulka makes.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CORE, peel, and quarter the apples, then slice into ¼-inch thick slices. Place in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and ¼ cup of sugar, making sure the apples are well coated. Set aside.

2. WHISK together the eggs, ¼ cup of sugar, the remaining tablespoon of cinnamon, vanilla, milk, and cream in a large bowl.

3. GREASE the bottom of a large baking pan with the butter. Dip half of the slices of bread in the egg mixture quickly so they are not saturated, one at a time, and place in the pan. Spread half of the apple mixture over the bread. Repeat with the remaining bread and apple mixture. Then pour the remaining egg mixture over the top of the pan.

4. SPRINKLE the top with the chopped pecans and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

5. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Remove the pan from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking, warm to room temperature, and bake for 45 minutes, covered. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm, drizzled with maple syrup.
 
FIND MORE FRENCH TOAST RECIPES

[1] French Toast sandwich with fig jam.

[2] French Toast sandwich with Nutella and jam on pandoro yeast bread with fruit (photo © Bauli USA).

[3] Grilled Cheese French Toast—even richer than grilled cheese because of the egg-milk batter (photo © Arla USA).

[4] Not a sandwich but a delicious French Toast recipe with apples and pecans (photo © Zulka Sugar).

Take your choice: innovative Mac & Cheese (photo courtesy Chef Eric LeVine) or a conventional preparation (photo courtesy Dietz and Watson).

What’s on this plate?

 
This may be just the thing for a fun food-loving dad on Father’s Day.

The concept is from one of our favorite innovative chefs, Eric LeVine.

Chef Eric is the author of Small Bites Big Flavor: Simple, Savory, And Sophisticated Recipes For Entertaining.

This imaginative cookbook is written for home chefs who want to expand their repertoire with fun and unconventional dishes.

The 100+ recipes also include mid-sized, larger and sweet bites, and even some signature cocktails. It demonstrates how much fun it can be to prepare, present, share, and of course, eat food.
 
MORE FUN MAC & CHEESE RECIPES

These are a bit more conventional, yet still fun food:

Here’s one of the easiest, tastiest “sticky buns” recipe. It was developed by the master bakers at King Arthur Flour.

Simple biscuit dough is dropped atop a sweet and salty maple-bacon-brown sugar syrup. Once baked, the biscuits are turned out of the pan upside down, so the sticky topping drips down their sides.
 
BACON STICKY BUNS

Ingredients For The Syrup

 
For 16 Small Biscuits

 
Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Lightly grease an 8″ square or 9″ round pan; whichever size you choose, make sure it’s at least 2″ deep, to prevent any boil-over.

2. MAKE the syrup: Chop the cooked bacon into 1/2″ pieces. Combine the bacon with the remaining syrup ingredients, stirring until well combined. Spread in the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. MAKE the biscuits: Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly; some larger, pea-sized pieces of butter may remain intact. Add the milk or buttermilk, stirring to make a sticky dough.

Top: Bacon sticky buns. Bottom: Maple syrup and bacon go into the sticky bun syrup.

5. BAKE the biscuits for 10 minutes. Turn the oven off, and leave them in the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove the biscuits from the oven and immediately turn the pan over onto a serving plate. Lift off the pan, and scrape any syrup left in the pan onto the biscuits. Pull biscuits apart to serve.
 
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*You can easily make buttermilk at home. For one cup of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to measure 1 cup. Stir, then let stand for 5 minutes. You can also use 1 cup of plain yogurt or 1-3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar plus 1 cup milk.