Thursday 13: Experimenting with grilled cheese recipes

here are lots of great grilled cheese ideas out there... but at our house it is usually pretty all-American, meaning American cheese between two slices of wheat bread. But in looking around at a few grilled cheese collections, (there are even cookbooks dedicated to this noble concept) I couldn't help but think we need to branch out a bit. 

Here are a few ways to diversify your grilled cheese cravings. A few of them I've tried, a few are still on the list to try, soon!

1. Grilled Cheese with Tomato Slices
If you need to start out slow, just add a few fresh tomato slices to your grilled cheese. It's really quite yummy.

 

2. Many-Cheese Grilled Cheese
Mix it up in the cheese department. Try a little swiss, provolone, havarti, pepperjack and gruyere... any OR a little of each!

3. Pears and Brie Grilled Cheese
This is a lovely flavor combination. I've made it many times, and always enjoyed it.

4. Hazelnut-Crusted Grilled Cheese
This sweet variation includes figs and cheese between two slices of hazelnut-crusted bread. Make it at home for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. I had heard of Nutella between slices of bread and grilled, but this sounds a bit more interesting (and a bit less like dessert...).

5. Butternut Squash and Swiss Grilled Cheese
For this sandwich, I put roasted butternut squash and swiss cheese between bread slices and drizzled a balsamic reduction on the whole thing before grilling. It was superb.

6. Asparagus and Jack Cheese
Pre-cook the asparagus (steam in the microwave, easy peasy) and put between slices of cheese before grilling. Really yummy. I had an asparagus panini at a local lunch joint just this week, and they added a bechemal sauce in the sandwich. Very yummy.

7. Sweet Grilled Cheese
This one involves 2 tsp. of brown sugar with the cheese, between the bread slices. Might be worth a shot--I have fond memories of jam and cheese sandwiches from childhood (I found a grown up version with mango jam... completely try-able!). Here's another variation, with honey as the sweetener. Nice.

But that might not be quite sweet enough for you? Give this one a whirl:
8. Sweet Grilled Cheese with Mascarpone and Orange
The bread is actually pound cake! Wow. And another variation on that, with cheesecake in the middle. How amazing is that?

9. Cranberry 'n Cheese Grill
Mmmm. Turkey, cranberry and cheese together, like Thanksgiving dinner, but all melty-like.

10. Grilled Cheese with Artichokes, Black Olives and Tomatoes
Some of my very favorite ingredients! Yum.

 11. Mozzarella and Fresh Apricot Grilled Cheese
This one I am definitely pulling out when the tree is laden over the summer.

12. Tarragon Vegetable Grilled Cheese on Sourdough
 Fresh and summery flavors... I'm ready for some of that!

13. Grilled Cheese with Bacon, Spinach, Tomatoes and Fried Eggs

Now there's one to end on--anything with a fried egg is high on my list!

I hope these  inspired some love for the humble grilled cheese. There can't ever be too much love for cheese, in my humble opinion. I know, you've never heard me say that before... shocking!

For more Thursday 13s, go here.

Countdown to Thanksgiving!

Oh the anticipation! Thanksgiving dinner is absolutely my favorite meal of the year. Hands down. And the fact that husband and I got married on Thanksgiving Day four years ago only adds gravy to my already happy mashed potatoes. Ah, tis true. Or as some would say, true story.
So what's on the menu this year? Well, the usual suspects, with maybe a surprise showing or two. We'll see. I like to keep a few things up my sleeve for the day of, but by and large it will look a lot like this:

*Turkey (we picked him up yesterday from Whole Foods, and he's a beaut. I have been told not to name him, but it's awfully tempting...)
*Mom's turkey loaf. Yum-o. Thanks for making and bringing, Ma.
*Mashed potatoes and gravy. Pretty standard, but heavenly. We're ricers around here, so the texture is To. Die. For.
*Roasted butternut squash
*Stuffing
*Brussels sprouts. Going to try something new this year, which sounds absolutely amazing to me: Brussels sprouts hash with caramelized shallots.
*Green salad. We will probably customize this for each person, given that we have some people (the men that I love) who are not so into the fruity aspect of an autumn salad (apples! pears! pomegranate seeds!) and others of us who definitely are.
*Rolls. No other meal of the year needs rolls (for me). Thanksgiving dinner definitely does. How else do you sop up all the gravy?
*Cranberry sauce. Homemade, none of that gelled stuff. I almost forgot this little gem as I was writing--well, technically I DID forget it and had to come back and add it. How could I forget the item that helps make the Perfect Bite possible? Sigh.
*Pumpkin pie. For those who feel the need (not me).
*Some other dessert I haven't thought of yet... It could be cranberry in nature, it could be chocolate, it could also easily be custard-y... can't quite put my finger on it. But I'll know it when I see the recipe... Guess I better see it soon. If you have any ideas for me, please let me know! ASAP!

So after I was feeling quite pleased with myself for buying an organic, free-range, vegetarian-fed turkey yesterday, I made the mistake of reading this article in the NYTimes about the cruelty of eating animals, period... sigh. Not sure I'm with this guy on the whole completely-and-totally vegan thing, but he makes a point or two worth considering. I'll give it some more thought AFTER Thursday...

Off to make my grocery lists! Oh joy. It's the most wonderful time of the year... or very close to it!

Party No. 2, or as Sher says...

...help me, I've fallen into the holiday baking black hole! Or is it rabbit hole? Either one works right now. I have moments of sheer baking joy, followed by despair. (Will my kitchen ever be clean again? How many cookies should one person eat in an hour? Why am I out of chocolate again?) The highs, the lows. Could it have something to do with sugar? Perhaps...

But the menu for this week... think of me at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Actually, just think of me all day on Wednesday!

In the savory realm...
*Tortilla tapas. Think bite size chile rellanos, sort of.
*Broccoli cheese souffle cups. The broccoli is just there as a foil for the cheese, and a little color too, I suppose.
*Endive with chevre and grapes.
*Artichoke toasts--as in, artichoke spread on baguette, broiled, toasted, etc.
*Cucumber cups with salmon mousse.

The sweet kingdom contains:
*Chocolate cups with custard--I have wanted to get those chocolate cups from Costco for the past couple of years... finally did. Now to fill! Yum.
*Florentine tarts. Taking the easy way out with the florentines... yum. They turned out scrummy tonight. Don't ask me how I know for sure (pats her tummy).
*Chocolate-dipped marshmallow squares.
* And here's where we confess that things change up around here... rather frequently. I said something about peanut butter cake "truffles" and chocolate hazelnut cake "truffles" for the last party... then I decided I didn't want too many round things (mini caramel apples in little cups) and went for the fruit and nut fudge (which was very yummy indeed). Well, now the truffles are ready to roll (ha, literally! I amuse myself!), and they are quite fine. AND, I'm making those apples again (see below; so obviously I got over the too-man-round-things issue...).

So here are the truffles on their first go-round with experimenting...
Fine, pretty, gooey and chocolatey, of course...

And then, I spent a few hours dipping the marshmallow treats in chocolate and thought, not gonna do that again. I like mindless dipping same as the next fella, but really? Let's get a little creative. And, having a steady supply of hazelnuts on hand (always!), I went for a little more rustic on the approach. And, frankly, I like the taste better... less overwhemingly CHOCOLATE. (Don't kill me chocoholics. I understand your kind, I'm just not one of you.)


*And back, by popular demand, the mini caramel apples. Every once in awhile there's an item that gets so many positive comments you just have to make it over and over again. And since I finally got it going really well just as I was finishing making these last week, I figured, why not?!This time I will take pictures.


And now for a completely random boy in the post. Someone had his last basketball game of the 6th grade season today! It's been a fun season, some really good games, and not that it matters, but his teams (he's on both A and B) both won today, so yeah! And the only way I got him to even smile for my camera (Mom at a basketball game is pretty embarrasing on so many levels) was to tell him this was for his Grandma and Grandpa! Ha. So I figured I should share, seeing as how it was such a blatant lie!

I will one day figure out how to cook AND blog about it at the same time. Right now I am fine doing one or the other, but both seems just a little more than this little bunyon can handle. Yes, you read right. I feel like a bunyon right now. Not Paul. A foot thing. And yes, that is an acceptable spelling. Thanks for asking.

Christmas party menu No. 1

Woe is me. Holiday menu planning has gotten more and more difficult over the years. One simple reason: access to an increasing number of recipes online. Isn't that just a trial? Don't you feel sorry for me? Ha.

Those lovely and predictable Better Homes and Gardens special occasion publications at the grocery checkout just don't cut it any more. Which is not to say I don't still rely on old favorites and traditions... I do. But this year is somewhere around the dozenth year that I've done the work-party-catering thing, and I do feel the need to shake it up a little. So no little flourless chocolate bites this year, no pesto-sundried tomato torte. There's time enough for those next year... let's do something different. Something fun! The only problem is knowing when to stop looking and just start cooking. It's a bit of a trick.

First party's on Monday. I think the time to stop browsing is now?

My go-to site for inspiration (at the moment) is http://www.foodgawker.com/. I know that http://www.tastespotting.com/ is over there in my "blogs I love" section, but they are incredibly similar, and I discovered the "favorite" tag on foodgawker first, so I have just been returning there out of habit.

OK, first up is a party for grown ups and kids, about 200+... so the menu needs to be a) easily maintained in a buffet setting over a few hours, and b) family friendly!

So we start out with a big display of fruits, veggies, cheese and crackers. Yummy, fresh, easy for everyone to find something they'll enjoy. Very good for the youngsters. I remember attending these things when Seth was little and he'd go straight for the cheese and crackers... actually, he still does...

Then we move on to the ubiquitous tortilla roll-up (there's got to be a more classy name than that...). Two varieties: cranberry/turkey and cream cheese, and kalamata olive/roasted red pepper and cream cheese.

I found a great recipe for a jalapeno popper dip, with chips. I can see this one disappearing quite quickly...

And hummus with baguette.

So that takes care of the non-sweet... on to the fun stuff!

I found a rockin' recipe for peanut butter "cake" truffles... I am very excited to try it. I think they will be entirely too popable! There's also an option for Nutella ones... I may have to make both...

Orange cinnamon palmiers: a twist on the traditional puff pastry favorite. (Picture above is from epicurious.com.)

Elfin shortbread bites: Don't they just sound cute. A little red, a little green, a lot of butter. Yum.

Candy cane biscotti: I discovered these last year and just loved them. Easy to make, easy to eat! I figure I'm not really repeating, since I've only done these one year... right?

Mini caramel apples. This is another big fun new experiment this year. I had this idea of dipping apple slices in caramel and coating them with nuts or chocolate or something. So I did a little online fiddling around and found that Cat Cora did something really cool on an Iron Chef America last summer, and now it's been recreated and flick'red and it's everywhere! So I'm hopeful that it will work and be as cute and creative as it seems like it might...

So that should keep me busy this week. I'll post for the next, more grown up (employees only!) party, once this one is past...

And recipes as I go! Whee!

What the guys need for Thanksgiving dinner

So it's just going to be the three of us for Thanksgiving, which essentially means we can have whatever we want. Not like we don't usually have whatever we want, but somehow, not having guests feels wild and crazy, like we could order pizza or make tacos. Well, that's not happening. I need the stuffing and mashed potatoes (turkey is somewhat optional), but truly, it's about the leftovers. There is nothing on earth like Thanksgiving leftovers all weekend... you have the freedom to pile your plate with whatever strikes your fancy, and who has room for salad?

So in the planning, silly me, I thought I'd open it up for discussion. All went well until we started talking dessert...

Here are the current requests from the men:

Turkey

Stuffing (no fruit and barely any nuts, please, say the boys: see below)

Mashed potatoes

Peas for Alan, green beans for Seth, butternut squash for me

Gravy

Cranberry sauce for me, and me alone.

Rolls with butter

Some sparkly fizzy thing to drink

Dessert... Lemon meringue pie. What? Can you hear that sound of a record player's needle being ripped off a record mid-song? Does that seem even remotely right? This is going to need some serious discussion between now and next Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm angling for apple pie. I could even be persuaded toward pumpkin, but I'm really not in the mood. Or, maybe, like the vegetable, there will be a different dessert for each of us. That's happened before... (hee hee, I'll make mine, and buy theirs. They'll never know. Oh stop that with the horrified gasps.)

This whole discussion reminds me of a negotiation that took place recently in San Luis Obispo, Calif. A couple, who shall remain nameless, was discussing the upcoming holiday and their menu options. The lovely husband put in a request for fruit-less stuffing. Lovely wife, stunned yet confused, agreed.

What is it about guys and fruit? I've already referenced this dilemma in regards to salads... but apparently it crosses course-boundaries and now applies to stuffing as well. My advice, which the aforementioned wife already had well in hand, was to make the plain, boring stuffing, and separate the batch, jazzing up the concoction with her fruits and nuts, and thus, pleasing all. Or, like me, she could make hers and buy his! Ha. She's probably a much better wife than that (ie me)!

All this menu planning reminds me of a particular Thanksgiving celebrated at my brother and sister-in-law's, a gathering of friends with family too far-flung to make a turkey trek. Anyway, we all contributed various aspects to the meal and one dish from a friend-co-worker of my brother's was a quite-horrifying dressing/stuffing. It was a family recipe, we were told, of an all-meat "stuffing." I had never heard of anything like this. Growing up in a very bread-oriented household, it was quite unthinkable that the stuffing not consist mostly of bread (we don't really quibble over whether it's sourdough, cornbread or someother bready substance). A little internet sleuthing later, and apparently it's not that uncommon; I think the origins are originally French and trickled down to New England via the French Canadians. Just one more thing to thank them for: cretons! Luckily, neither of my men a) like meat THAT much and b) even know that the possibility of an all-meat stuffing exists. We'll keep it that way.

I'll keep you posted on dessert. And I'm open to ideas... anyone got anything for me?