Opera sandwiches--Oopperaleivät

Yesterday was the first day back to school since daylight savings time, our whole family felt like we had a bit of jet-lag!  These quick sandwiches were just the thing to make us feel a bit better.  I am not sure why these are called opera sandwiches, but I have read online that they were served in the 1950s and 60s at dances.  They are a perfect food for when you stay up too late and need something full of protein to fill you up!

These are basically an open-faced hamburger on a piece of french toast, with an egg on top.  

I have a large griddle to fry on, so first I cooked a package of hamburger (around 2 pounds or 1 kilo) in 6 patties.  While these were frying, I broke two eggs in a bowl, stirred them, then added a little less than a cup (2 dl) of milk.  Completely submerge bread slices in the egg mixture and fry in a pan that has just a bit of melted butter.  This amount made 6 slices of bread, but the bread I used had large slices.

My griddle is so big that I was able to fry all at once.  

After removing the hamburger patties and french toast, fry one egg for each sandwich.  Leave plenty of room around the eggs so they don't stick together.  We like our eggs with the yolks broken and cooked hard.  You could make them "sunny side up" also.

These sandwiches go great with a fresh salad and a big slice of onion on top.  Or try them in the Finnish style with a couple of pickled beets.  Only my daughter and I ate them with the beets on top, but they were MUCH better like that!