Cooking Up a Storm!!! Er, Bombay Toast, Actually!!!

We had another potluck at my workplace today! It was a super-duper one; absolutely smashing! I'm just back from it, and my tummy feels like an inflated balloon! I must admit I overate! <sheepish grin>

The good thing about this potluck was that everyone had made something and brought. Usually, there are always a couple of us who buy something from the store and land up, grinning from ear to ear; a fact that can be attributed to our almost non-existent cooking skills, at least, in my case!!! Barring the one time I made gulab jamuns, I have mainly relied on my mom's culinary skills (when she's in town) and the oh-so-convenient near-my-house stores, to rescue me whenever I'm in a culinary soup of this kind!!! :-) This time, however, I managed to cook up a pretty delectable dish! Of course, I must admit that the determination to do just that was triggered by the non-availability of anything good enough in any of the oh-so-convenient near-my-house stores, last evening, as also A's brilliant suggestion that I make that instead of something else I'd been thinking of burning, er, making!!! Yeah, can you believe it, those very oh-so-convenient near-my-house stores that I've already written (wait, let me count!) three times about in this one paragraph, quite managed to shatter my faith in their oh-so-convenient reliability!!!

Anyway, let's get back to the masterpiece that I concocted! Well, I made what has been handed down from my mom to me, as Bombay toast!!! No, I don't think it has any particular connection with Bombay, but then, neither do French fries have any connection with France, do they!?! I must tell you that till today's lunch I really thought that the name was something my mother had thought of, whatever may be her reason! However, a couple of other people seem to have heard of it too! So, I guess my mom was only reiterating what she had herself been taught to call it! Of course, the dish is more popularly known as French toast; there comes the French non-connection again!!! For me, French toast was never sweet; I always thought that it was a savoury version, with salt and pepper, rather than sugar! Another of those hand-me-downs, I guess!!! It seems it's actually made in both ways!!!

Nonetheless, I set about making my masterpiece of a Bombay toast! Well, that's how I know it, and that's what I'm going to call it for the rest of my life! Rest assured, I'll be sure to hand it down to my brood too! <grin> While in the process of making it, I was so delighted with my efforts that I took pictures of the batter and then the finished goods too! Of course, it helped to have a shiny new camera in my immediate vicinity! :-) The batter was easy enough to make. A vessel of milk, with lots of sugar and some eggs nicely whisked into it! The tough part was the toasting of the bread slices! I carefully dipped each slice in the batter and spread it out on the pan. Some, of course, stuck; it was me at the helm of affairs after all!!! Let me make it clear that the previous statement is only applicable to cooking, alright!?! Well, although the first couple wasn't any great shakes, the rest of the slices came out pretty good! Once all were done, I arranged them neatly on a platter and clicked quite a few snaps, so pleased was I with my work of art!

The Batter!

Yeah okay, it doesn't look all that impressive, but take a look at the finished product!!!

The Finished Product!!!

Yeah okay, this doesn't look that great either, but believe me, it sure did taste good! At least, that's what everyone who had it, told me! It's no mean feat, considering there were so many things to give my poor Bombay toast competition today; what with the table laden with pastas and chocolate cakes and salads and the like!!! I'm quite pleased with myself, aren't you?!? :-D