I recently had the opportunity to hop on a special Capital Ale House Brunch Bus, visit the area’s Capital Ale Houses and sample brunch items from all three Richmond locations, plus the Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg.
While I’d be hard pressed to choose my favorite dish, I will admit that one of the most enticing was created by Andy Faehl, chef at Capital Ale’s downtown location. It’s the Banana S’mores Stuffed French Toast.
Faehl credits the dish to his wife’s love of s’mores. “If we are at a restaurant and there is s’mores anything we have to order it,” he says.
A native of Chesterfield County, Faehl has lived in the Richmond area most of his life. “I had a small family. It was my older sister, my parents, and I. My parents both worked full time jobs,” he says. Dinners on weekdays were quickly prepared meals. But we always had what they called ‘a big breakfast’ on Sunday mornings.
Career-wise, Faehl’s story is an interesting one. His first restaurant job was as a dishwasher at Capital Ale House. He started there at age 22 and has been there ever since, working his way up. “I do not have any real, formal classroom training,” he says. “Everything I have learned is from books, Internet, TV, magazines and on-the-job training.”
I’m always interested in what chefs eat when no one’s looking. Does Andy Faehl have any guilty pleasures when it comes to food?
“My favorite dish is raw oysters on the half shell. I could eat them all day long,” he says. But as regards any guilty pleasures, he tells me, “I do not like the term ‘guilty pleasure.’ Why do I have to feel guilty about anything I eat? Calories are not supposed to be counted or limited. With that being said, Lee’s Fried Chicken is probably my favorite unhealthy meal. But who cares because it’s so crispy and juicy.”
I like that attitude.
Banana S’mores Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients (per portion)
- two slices of thick cut bread
- 1 tablespoon Nutella spread
- 1 tablespoon marshmallow fluff
- 4 slices of fresh ripe bananas, sliced at an angle
- 2 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- chocolate syrup
- powdered sugar
- marshmallows
- French toast batter (recipe below)
French Toast Batter Recipe
- 6 Eggs Beaten
- .25 Cup Whole Milk
- .25 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- .33Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
Instructions
Whisk all of the ingredients above.
Spread the Nutella on one piece of bread. Spread marshmallow fluff on the other slice of bread.
Place the four slices of banana on the bread with the Nutella.
Make a sandwich by placing the marshmallow fluffed slice of bread on top. Let this sandwich sit in the fridge for twenty minutes.
While the sandwich is setting up in the fridge, preheat a griddle to 350 degrees and the oven to 400 degrees.
Pour the Graham cracker crumbs evenly on a large plate.
Submerge the Nutella marshmallow sandwich into the French toast batter for 15-20 seconds. Take the sandwich out of the batter and place it on the crushed Graham cracker crumbs. Flip to make the sure that the other side is coated just as well. Shake off the excess crumbs.
Take 1 tablespoon of butter and put it on the heated griddle. Let the butter melt and place the French toast on top on the butter on the griddle.
Cook until it is golden brown. Then add the remaining tablespoon of butter and flip the French toast. Once again cook until it is golden brown.
Place the Stuffed French Toast on a grease sprayed cookie sheet. Cover with the marshmallows and put them in the oven. Bake them in the oven until the marshmallow top is hot, blistered and gooey.
Cut the Stuffed French Toast in half, diagonally. Present this dish by layering the two pieces on top of each other. Drizzle the top with as much or as little chocolate syrup as you prefer. Dust the top with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
