Move over, pain au chocolat and chocolate croissant. We don’t have to go searching for you anymore. We can make the American version of a chocolate sandwich at home—in five minutes.

A few days ago we suggested different uses for grilled bread. We saved the dessert version, grilled bread with chocolate, for today.

As with grilled cheese sandwiches, you can toast the bread on the grill, under the broiler or in a frying pan. Here are two recipes, including a quick variation, courtesy of King Arthur Flour—an exceptional resource for the finest flours and other baking ingredients.

Also as with grilled cheese, grilled chocolate sandwiches are cooked until the bread is toasty and the chocolate is chocolate melted. Make them as a snack or a fun dessert. We enjoy them with a glass of cold milk.

You can also use croissants and sweet rolls, although grilling the uneven tops is challenging. It’s better to microwave them until the chocolate melts.

What chocolate should you use?

The dessert sandwich on pound cake or bread. Photo courtesy King Arthur Flour.

GRILLED CHOCOLATE SANDWICH

Ingredients For 20 Sandwich Triangles

 
*In a pinch, you can use firm-textured white bread.

Preparation

1. BRING the cream to a simmer and stir in the chocolate. Continue to stir until the mixture is shiny and smooth, heating briefly if necessary to melt the chocolate completely. Let cool until thickened.

2. BUTTER one side of each piece of bread. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the chocolate onto the unbuttered side of 5 of the slices, leaving an uncoated rim around the edges.

3. TOP with the remaining bread. Sprinkle the buttered sides of the bread with the optional sparkling sugar.

4. GRILL the sandwiches over medium heat until they’re golden brown on both sides. Be careful if you’re using the sparkling sugar: The sugar tends to burn if the heat is too high. Be sure to wipe the pan between sandwiches. Cut the sandwiches into triangles and serve warm.

NOTE: Any extra filling may be stored in the fridge, tightly covered, for later use. You can warm it and use it as a dessert topping.
 
QUICK RECIPE: GRILLED CHOCOLATE SANDWICH

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. SLICE the cake into pieces about 3/8” thick. If desired, further cut the slices into more manageable individual pieces (e.g. for children). Butter one side of each slice.

2. SPACE the chocolate on the unbuttered side of the cake slices. Top with another slice of cake, buttered side up. Grill over medium heat, turning once, till both sides are golden, and the chocolate is melting.

3. SERVE plain or with one of the garnishes above.

FOOD 101: ENGASTRATION

Turducken consists of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which is in turn stuffed into a de-boned turkey. The dish is a form of engastration: a preparation method in which one bird is stuffed inside the gastric passage of another to create a bird inside a bird inside a bird. The term is derived from Greek words meaning “in the belly.”

Some recipes also have stuffing between each layer. The entire bird/bird/bird could also be covered in pastry.

The method of engastration supposedly originated during the Middle Ages (here’s more engrastration history). A popular dish in 19th century England was Pandora’s Cushion, a boned goose stuffed with a boned chicken, which was stuffed with a boned pheasant, itself stuffed with a boned quail.”

The Beast: a sausage stuffed with a hot dog, the cousin of turducken. Photo courtesy MLBlogs.com.

But turducken might easily have remained unknown outside Louisiana for a long time. Fortunately for turducken lovers, American football commentator John Madden promoted the dish on Fox Sports by feeding it to the Thanksgiving Bowl winners.

Schlitz claimed it was “The beer that made Milwaukee famous.” But with all the food fans online these days, that claim is waiting to be updated.

In the 21st century, the contender to make Milwaukee famous is The Beast, a grilled bratwurst sliced in half and stuffed with a grilled hot dog. The brat/dog is then wrapped in bacon and grilled.

At The Plaza Pavillion in Miller Park, it’s served with sauerkraut and grilled onions on a Pretzilla pretzel roll, with house-made potato chips and a pickle.

What, only one item stuffed into a second item? If the bacon doesn’t work for you as the third layer, just split the grilled hot dog in half and stuff it with cheese.

TURDUCKEN: A PORTMANTEAU

The word turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken.

A portmanteau (port-MAN-toe) is a combination of two or more words or morphemes, and their respective definitions, into one new word.

The term derives from portmanteau luggage, a British term for a piece of luggage with two compartments, which in turn is derived from the French porter (to carry) and manteau (coat). A porte-manteau is a coat tree.

The term was first used in the combined-meaning context in 1871 by Lewis Carroll in “Through the Looking-Glass.” Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky: “slithy” means “lithe and slimy” and “mimsy” is “flimsy and miserable.”

Humpty Dumpty explains: “You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

Yes, avocados have their share of calories, but they are healthy calories—most are from the monounsaturated avocado oil*.

Salsa bobos is our favorite salsa. Bobos means confetti in Spanish. The mixture of black beans, green bell pepper, orange carrot, red tomato, yellow corn and salsa looks even more festive than most confetti.

We’d happily eat this every day, and typically serve it as party salsa. Sometimes we make it, sometimes we buy it from Jardine’s (we buy it by the case).

So delicious, and truly healthful! Photo courtesy Avocado Central.

The salsa is so thick, you can serve it as a side dish even without the avocado. Salsa bobos also can be used for a seven-layer dip or as a topping for fish, chicken, baked potatoes (delicious with sour cream or Greek yogurt) or fancy nachos. Try it in the center of a shrimp cocktail, atop the cocktail sauce.

AVOCADO WITH SALSA BOBOS

Ingredients For Four Servings

Preparation

1. COMBINE beans, corn, carrots, cilantro, salsa, green onion and red pepper sauce in a bowl; stir to combine.

2. FILL each avocado half with 1/4 of the bobos mixture. Garnish with sprouts and serve.

TIP: Cut a thin lengthwise slice off of the bottom of each avocado half to make the avocados stable on the plates.
 
 

 
*One cup of avocado has 234 calories and 21g total fat, of which 14g is monounsaturated; 708 mg potassium; 10 g dietary fiber, 2.9 g protein, 24% DV vitamin C, 20% DV vitamin B-6 and other nutrients.

†A large avocado averages about 8 ounces.
  

Certified Humane is the seal of compliance bestowed by Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC), the leading non-profit certification organization dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals. The program aims to improve the lives of farm animals by driving consumer demand for kinder and more responsible farm animal practices.

That’s you: a consumer who is reading this!

ABOUT CERTIFIED HUMANE PRODUCTS

When you see the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label on a product, you are assured that the food comes from a facility that meets precise, objective standards for farm animal treatment.

Look for the Certified Humane label. Can’t find it? Ask the meat department manager. Photo courtesy HFAC.

Nationally recognized as the Gold Standard for certifying animal welfare from birth through slaughter, the program is supported by more than 50 humane organizations. More than 100 U.S. companies, representing thousands of farms and millions of farm animals, are now certified. The assurances include, among other things, that:

WHERE TO FIND CERTIFIED HUMANE
PRODUCTS

With the addition of Alaska this year, Certified Humane products are now available in all 50 states. Certified Humane products are available for sale 9 out of the top 10 grocery retailers, in more than 10,000 locations nationwide. Products are also available in Canada and for online purchase.

To locate the nearest products, simply download the Certified Humane App from the Apple Store for iPhone, or from Google Play for Android.

Accessing CertifiedHumane.org from any mobile device will instantly pull up a “Where to Buy” button, made for quick access to nearby products. From a computer, visit the Where to Buy page of the website.

Learn more at CertifiedHumane.org.

Simply slice the bread, brush with olive oil and grill. For even more flavor, blend the olive oil with minced garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, thyme or a combination. Sprinkle with a pinch of regular or flavored salt when you’re ready to remove the bread from the grill.

No grill? Use your broiler. The only thing you’ll miss is the the smoky flavor of hardwood on a charcoal fire.
BREAD GRILLING TIPS

There’s a lot of grilled bread excitement beyond the sliced loaf. McCormick suggests these complements with non-traditional grilling breads.

 
FIND MORE DELICIOUS BREADS TO GRILL IN OUR
TASTY BREAD GLOSSARY.