The Toasted Cheese Sandwich: Gourmet or Not? You Be The Judge

When I first started dating my wife, we invited her sister over to her house to meet me and I wanted to prepare a nice luncheon for us.  If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I'm a big fan of hearty home-style food but I like to turn-up the volume when entertaining so that something quite ordinary turns into something fancy with very little extra work (sometimes by simply using premium ingredients).

"What are we having?" my wife asked.  Her sister wanted to know.

"Hearty Turkey Stew and Toasted Cheese Sandwiches," I replied, making-up a fancy name for what was essentially soup and grilled cheese.

The truth is, pretty much everyone loves a good toasted sandwich.  Call it grilled cheese, call it a panini...  If it's two slices of bread with your favorite ingredients, toasted and held together with cheese, it's perfectly elegant in my humble opinion.  It just depends on how you present it.

Take for example, the humble tuna melt (bread, tuna salad, cheese).  Upgrade from white bread to a heartier Italian or sliced artisan bread and you get this:

Throw it on a ciabatta roll, bake it in the oven open-faced, and add some lettuce, and you get this:

 And since I can't just leave you with your mouth watering, staring at the photos of warm cheesy crusty goodness, here's a recipe:

Justin's Tuna Melt (or Anything melt)

4 slices Italian or artisan bread
1 can of Chunk White Albacore Tuna, drained
2-3 tablepoons mayonnaise (to taste)
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickles
celery salt
3 tablespoons butter

1) Mix the tuna, mayo, and pickles.  Add celery salt to taste.

2) Spread the tuna evenly onto two pieces of bread and use the other two pieces to top each sandwich.

3) Heat a nonstick skillet on medium-high.  Melt the butter and wait until the foam subsides.  Place both sandwiches into the skillet and leave on one side until they are golden brown (use a spatula to peek).

4) Gently turn the sandwiches and brown the other side, moving them slightly to make sure they come into contact with butter.

5) Remove from the pan, slice in half, serve with chips, pickles, and a tall glass of chocolate milk (or Coffee Milk if you're from Rhode Island).

Recipe: Potato Pizza

A couple of Christmases ago, I received a copy of the book My Bread by Jim Lahey from my darling wife, who is a good sport about my growing cookbook collection.  Jim Lahey's the guy who is credited with the original New York Times No-Knead Bread recipe that started a near revolution for home cooks.  Anyway, when I first received the book, I read it cover-to-cover and I remember a recipe for potato pizza that piqued my interest.

Just the other day, I was prepping for our weekly "Pizza Night" and a) I didn't have any tomato sauce handy and; b) I was tired of the usual.  So, I thought it'd be a great time to play with the idea of a potato pizza.  Of course, I didn't pull out the recipe and follow it...I just decided to wing it and do my own version.  When it came out of the oven, I was a little skeptical but oh-my-goodness it was fantastic!

The only thing I'd recommend is to double or triple the potatoes.

Potato Pizza

Your favorite Homemade or Store-bought Pizza Dough
3-5 red potatoes, scrubbed
1 sweet onion, peeled
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Parmesan cheese, finely grated
olive oil
salt & pepper

1) Heat your oven to 500 degrees (or the highest it'll go)

2) Finely slice the onions using a mandoline or knife.  Microwave on high 1-2 minutes until they are soft and have exuded some liquid.

3) Finely slice the potatoes with a mandoline or knife.  Toss with a little olive oil and microwave on high 2-3 minutes until softened but not mushy.

4) Stretch the dough onto a half-sheet pan

5) Place the dough into the oven and cook just until the dough sets.  It should not be brown.

6) Run an icing spatula under the dough to gently loosen it from the bottom of the pan.  Gently fold the par-cooked dough back and use a pastry brush to paint the bottom of the pan with olive oil.

7) Paint the top of the dough with olive oil and spread-on the garlic.  Top with cheese.  Continue topping with potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, and cheese.

8) Return the pan to the oven and continue cooking until everything starts to brown.  Serve warm.  Sour cream works great as a dipping sauce but it's purely optional.

Thrifty Satisfaction: 10 FREE Quarts of Poultry Stock

I'm an avid canner, but it's been awhile since I've actually had/taken the time to do some serous canning--the kind that saves us time and/or money.  That's partly due to the holidays, partly because we're beyond the bounty of summer, and partly because of the new addition to our family that's kept me quite busy.

Anyway, I finally got a chance to do some canning the other day and I'm pretty proud of the output.  If there's one thing that's worth making and canning around this time of year, it's chicken stock.  Think about it.  All those turkey carcasses are available from Thanksgiving and Christmas (you did remember to toss them into the freezer, right?) and let's not forget all those chickens you've been roasting-up for finger-licking comfort meals (you saved those bones too, right?).

Anyway, even though I didn't actually do a lot of cooking myself during the holidays, I somehow found myself with two turkey carcasses and a chicken carcass taking up space in my freezer.  What can I say?  My family loves me enough to give me their old bones and skin.

On a recent Sunday morning, I tossed all the frozen poultry bones I could find into my humongous 96-quart pressure canner along with some celery, onions, garlic, and carrots, and bay leaves.  I topped it off with water, lidded it up and set it on the stove.  After about 35-40 minutes to come to pressure (that's a LOT of cold water to heat) and another 45 minutes of cooking, I had freshly made chicken stock.  No need to simmer all day when you have a pressure cooker.  I then poured the majority of it into quart jars, lidded them with Tattler reusable lids, popped them back into the canner, and processed them for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

The result was 7 beautiful jars of homemade stock and another 3 quarts in the freezer:

By my calculations, this equates to roughly $30-35 worth of store-bought stock that cost me absolutely nothing other than time and a little electricity to make.  I didn't even waste metal flat lids on the jars!  We'll definitely have no shortage of homemade soup and gravy for the rest of the winter.  Yum!

The Perfect Side Dish: Cheesy Toast

As the primary "get dinner on the table" person for our family, I often find myself tossing dinner together after a long day of work.  And as much as I try, I've never been a very good planner.  I'm more of a last-minute kind of guy.  It's not uncommon for me to roll in the door at 6pm, kiss my wife hello, sit with my infant daughter for a few minutes, then actually start dinner around 6:30 or 7.  And let's face it... By that time, I'm hungry, tired, cranky, and I just want to get it done and sit down.

One of my go-to side dishes (for the starch component of the meal) is Cheesy Toast.  I find I turn to this most when the meal is something like a soup or a stew or saucy dish that requires a little crunch on the side and I don't feel like waiting the 10-20 minutes for rice, pasta, or potatoes to cook.  It's dead simple and incredibly easy.  Plus, I usually have the ingredients hanging around (some crusty bread, a block of parmesan cheese, some olive oil, salt, and pepper).

I hope you'll forgive the fact that I don't have a finished photo.  It seems I remembered to snap a pic before the bread went into the oven but I was too much in a hurry to chow-down to get the after pic.  Nonetheless, I assure you...it was tasty, delicious, and quite pretty to look at.

And so, the recipe...

Cheesy Toast

Sliced Crusty, Rustic, or Italian Bread
Finely grated parmesan cheese (the real stuff works best)
olive oil
salt & pepper

1) Heat your oven to 350 degrees
2) Lay the bread slices out on a sheet tray and drizzle lightly with olive oil.
3) Sprinkle the bread lightly with salt and pepper.
4) Cover each bread slice liberally with cheese.
5) Bake until the tops begin to turn golden-brown and the bread is crispy throughout.

Pot Luck Etiquette

Okay, okay.  I know this post is a day late and a dollar short.  Truth is, we're still adjusting to having an infant around and well, it was the holidays.  However, this information is fresh in my mind, having come off of a round of pot-luck family parties through the holidays, so I'm going to go ahead and get it in writing now and we'll dig it out again around Memorial Day when it's once again seasonally appropriate.

So what do I mean by Pot Luck Etiquette?  Well, maybe it's not so much etiquette as it is things to make life easier on both you and the host.  These are things I've learned over the years by both bringing dishes myself and having hoards of people show-up at my own home with their own dishes.  I thought it'd make a great list of helpful hints.  I hope you find it helpful...

Bring Serving Utensils and Dishes
Your average home is not stocked with 20+ large serving spoons or more than a pair or two of tongs.  Same goes for pot holders, mixing utensils, and serving bowls or platters. Help your host out by bringing everything that's needed to plate and serve your dish.  If you're bringing soup or something that requires bowls, bring disposable bowls and spoons as those are usually in short supply at most gatherings.  Label everything so it finds its way back to you.
 
Bring Leftover Containers and a Plastic Bag
Often, when you're ready to leave, leftover food remains in the dish that you'd love to leave for your guest to enjoy.   If you bring disposable leftover containers, you can transfer the food and leave the containers instead, allowing you to take your good serviceware home (provided you don't see the person often enough to retrieve it later).  A plastic bag lets you transport the dirty dish home without making a mess or asking your host to wash it.
 
Pre-Heat or Cool The Food
As someone who frequently hosts parties, I can't tell you how unsettling it is to have 20 people arrive all at once with 20 dishes that either need to be re-heated or re-plated.  Meanwhile, you're trying to put the finishing touches on the main course and keep eveything hot and greet everyone as the arrive.  There just isn't enough oven or microwave space to go around and people are underfoot.

If you're not traveling far, pre-heat food that is intended to be served hot and transport both cold and hot foods using insulated traveling bags to keep it warm or cold without needing your guest's oven, microwave, or fridge (the latter of which is usually packed to the gills just before a party).  Some "take and go" dish and bag systems even include a microwavable or freezable pad to help keep the dish at the correct temperature.

Slow cookers are also an excellent way to carry and serve your food.  Just check with your host ahead of time and make sure a plug will be available near the serving area.  If it needs extensive reheating, arrive earlier than other guests and offer to lend a hand while your dish reheats.  Bring your own extension cord!

Presentation is Still Important
Want to be that guest that always gets asked to bring a signature item to the party?  Don't sacrifice presentation for convenience:

• Home baked (or even bakery-bought) cookies look ever so much more festive and delicious when displayed on a nice ceramic dish instead of paper plates or cheap disposable plastic platters.
• Salad looks best on a nice platter or bowl with dressing in a glass cruet instead of grocery store packaging.
• Cake pedestals are not only great for just about any dessert (cupcakes, cookies, pies, pastry), but they add height to the table and take up less of a footprint than a 16-inch platter.  Since they tip in the car, consider arriving early and arranging the food on the pedestal at the party.
• Nothing is more elegant and easy than a trifle in a pedestal trifle dish.  Invest in one for around $10-15 and I guarantee you'll use it over and over.
• Were you asked to bring drinks?  In addition to the usual soft drinks, consider bringing a glass pitcher and the makings for a simple mixed beverage like Sangria (wine, fruit, & sugar over ice), wine spritzer (wine and fizzy water or ginger ale), mimosa's (orange juice and sparkling wine), etc.

My Favorite Dishes
Here are just a few of my favorite dishes to bring along to a pot-luck:

• Trifle - A simple combination of cake, pudding or mousse, chunks (crushed candy, chocolate chips, etc.), and whipped cream layered in an attractive glass bowl or trifle dish.
• Wings - Chicken wings, tossed with your favorite sauce or marinade and cooked in a slow cooker.
• Antipasto Platter - A beautiful arranged salad with lots of great Italian ingredients.  Actually, any arranged salad.
• Any Side Dish the Host Requests
• A Mixed Beverage (see above)
• Cookies, Homemade Candies, Candied Nuts, and other munchies

My Favorite Products
Here are a few of my favorite products for transporting and displaying pot luck foods:

• Slow Cooker - Every household should have one, IMHO.  If you're going to use it for pot lucks, choose a model with an insulated carrying case.
• Pyrex Portables - This is a line of baking and casserole dishes from Pyrex that come with matching insulated carrying cases and heat/cool packs.  Start with a 13x9 baking dish and expand from there if you need to.
• Inexpensive Serviceware - If you do a lot of pot-lucking, keep a few inexpensive plastic serving spoons, pie servers, or inexpensive tongs around specifically for that purpose.  Think dollar store finds.  That way, if they get misplaced or don't make it home, you won't cry about losing your favorite heirloom service piece.
• Label Maker - I like having a label maker, such as those found in office supply stores, around the house for labeling things that travel to other peoples' houses (or day care, school, the office, etc.).  Find one that offers plastic-coated labels as they tend to wash off slower than paper-based ones in the dishwasher or sink.
• L.L. Bean Boat and Tote Bag - This may sound silly, but I have two of these, purchased on the cheap as customer returns at the Bean Outlet (who cares that they have someone else's initials on them), and I use them EVERY time I'm going to a party with food.  They're big enough to fit my 5 quart dutch oven or slow cooker crock in, they're heat resistant, sturdy enough to tote even the heaviest of items (if you can lift it, it'll hold it), and they're just the right size to wedge on the floor in the back seat or, in a pinch, sit it on the back seat and buckle it in like a child (I'm not joking...I do this all the time).  Go for the extra-large one with the short handles (you can't sling a crock-pot laden one over your shoulder, anyhow).