Grilled Cheese, Extra Ordinary

 I honestly had no idea what to call this grilled cheese sandwich.  I thought of calling it a lot of names, but kept coming around to extra ordinary.    

I need to tell you, it's National Sandwich Month.  So here's my latest, greatest, reiteration of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  

There are a bunch of bloggers who are also posting their favorite sandwiches, sides, or fillings as well.  You can check them out at the end here.  

I mean, we've all had grilled cheese sammies, haven't we?  It's a kinda go-to sandwich in my household. Pair it with a bowl of tomato soup, and you have comfort food, right?    I'd make it with ham and tomato inside, and that was a substantial meal in itself.   

I'm currently sorta houseless, my house is up for sale, and I'm bouncing around various furnished places, looking for my next home.   I'm staying in a cottage at the moment, which has a full kitchen, (Yippee), and have been using it as my base.   And since it's a temporary place, I've not stocked it up with a lot of food.  Mostly food I can cook quickly, without fuss.   Like grilled cheese sandwiches.  Easy peasy, right?

Last week, I took advantage of a nephew's offer to get me some fresh crab and decided to make some of my award-winning crabcakes for the family.   Said with a tongue in cheek.   They're good, don't get me wrong, but still, they're crabcakes.   They've also got a ton of ingredients in them, so I had lots of peppers, onions, and celery left over. I sautéed them in a pan, thinking I'd just portion them out and freeze them for future omelettes.   

Well, by the time I'd finished cutting all the stuff up and sauteeing them (I added a couple of mushrooms to the mixture as well),  I was hungry.  I was not in the mood for an omelette but decided to see how this would taste on a grilled cheese sandwich.  So I did a bit of a dive into the fridge, pulled out the heel of a piece of Havarti cheese, and some leftover gruyère I'd used in my Roasted Radish Tart.   I had been invited to a party and brought this as my offering to the potluck.  So many people now eat grain-free as well as gluten-free, and this tart is amazing.  It's a great dish to bring, unusual, and tastes amazing. I also had some dried-up (just a little) cheddar cheese, so I decided to go ahead and add it all to the sandwich.  

My mouth would have done a major happy dance if it weren't full of goodness.  

You all know how to make a grilled cheese: butter the bread (of your choice), place the buttered side down in a pan, add the cheese, then cook it until it's golden brown.  I started this one that way, and then added a generous spoonful of the veggie mixture, topped with more cheese, and another slice of buttered bread.  I like to cook mine over fairly low heat so the cheese melts and the bread browns.  But you do you.  

When I sauteed the veggies, I didn't bother adding any seasonings, cause I'm also cooking salt-free (mostly) these days.   And they didn't need any extra boosts, really, they didn't.   And there was plenty of salt in the cheeses, anyway.  

All right, enough of the hyperbole.   Here's the recipe, well, it's more of a how-to.  Cause let's face it, we all know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, well, many of us do. 

Saute together over fairly low heat - one chopped red onion, one each, chopped Red Pepper, Orange Pepper, Yellow Pepper, 3 stalks chopped celery, 3-5 large mushrooms.   Cut them all into uniform pieces.  And by the way, you can sub in Green Peppers for the Orange and Yellow peppers, but I would counsel keeping the Red Pepper or one of the other Peppers in.  They tend to be sweeter than the Green.   Just sayin...  I sauteed them in a mixture of ghee and a neutral oil.  

Butter your bread on one side, place it in the pan, butter side down.   Lowish heat.  Add your cheese of choice, sliced as thinly as possible; grated is better.   Add some sauteed veggies, then another layer of cheese.   As soon as you see some melty action happening with the cheese,  add the second slice of buttered bread, butter side out, and flip the entire sandwich.  The first side of the sandwich should be nicely browned.  Continue cooking the sandwich until the second side has browned, and then serve it.  You can add some ground pepper or other spices if you like, but I liked them just as they were.  The best part was that I had enough for several sandwiches or omelettes.  

And there you have it, an extra

ordinary Grilled Cheese.  

I also added a sprinkle of dried tarragon to the veggie mixture, but it kinda overtook the veggie taste.  

Take a look at what some other talented bloggers shared for National Sandwich Month. 

• Caramel Pulled Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Caesar Wraps by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Family Favorite Tuna Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Bombay Sandwich by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Grilled Cheese Extra Ordinary by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Hung Curd Veggie Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Pie Iron Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches by Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sunflower Pesto Turkey Sandwich by Our Good Life

Restaurant Meals on my Road Trips, part one.

 I usually post about the food I make and enjoy eating, but I'm in a situation right now where I'm not cooking, well, not much, that is.  
I am however eating many of my meals in restaurants, well, I've actually been eating in restaurants a lot. 

Along the way, I've been 'one of those' people who takes pictures of my food. Mainly because when it's presented to me in an appealing, visual way, I want to honor the artist who plated the food.  

Anyone can slop food onto a plate, but much of the time, actually, most of the time, whoever prepares the plate in the kitchen takes pride in how that meal is presented.   I know I did when I cooked in a restaurant.  I wanted the food to not only taste good, but be of visual interest as well.  

Without further ado, well, not much of it, and where I can remember which restaurant I was in at the time, here are some of my meals from the past month.  

Clam Strips - Warmhouse Restaurant - Neah Bay - WA

Sweet n' Sour Pork - Fried Rice -Dynasty Restaurant - Sequim WA

This is my usual 'test' dish when I try a new Chinese Restaurant - if they prepare it well, I'll go back and I'm going to be returning here and trying more of their menu, cause this was hands down delicious. 

I'd ordered a french dip with salad here, and the salad came out just like this.  So pretty, I had to not only admire it, and take a picture of it, but also complimented the artist.  Salad at the "In Place", Forks, WA  It was so appealing, and made me happy to eat it. 

Pork Fried Rice at Seven Brothers, 7 Cedars Casino   

Beautifully cooked pork belly. Look at the presentation.  Adelicious meal, and one I'll go back for. 

Blackened Cajun Salmon at Applebee's, Sequim WA

On the way to Sequim, I was hungry and stopped at the Halfway House in Brinnon, WA.   I saw that they had a Monte Cristo on the menu and I didn't bother looking any further.  It had to have been at least an inch thick, perfectly cooked, and so good, I think I kinda overate.  I even got a slice of their coconut pie to go, and scarfed that down later on.  Didn't get a picture of that one, but I am so tempted to go back there and have a meal again.  Totally worth the stop. 

And last but certainly not least, I also stopped at a Mexican Restaurant, called SOL de Mexico, in Reedsport, OR and ordered the Chile Relleno Combo     So good and it hit the spot.   I admit it, I kinda pigged out a bit, but it was totally worth it.  Lots and lots of cheese in both the Enchilada and the Relleno.    

And there you have it.  A few of the dishes I've considered good enough to take pictures of, and blog about.  

I do admit to ordering a few, 'test dishes', in restaurants, Chile Relleno's is my test dish for Mexican Restaurants, and I get excited when I find one that measures up to my taste.    As did this offering.  Chile Relleno's is one dish I do know how to make and make well.  

I'll continue to be one of 'those' people who takes pictures of their food, but only when the dish warrants it.   

Garlic Scapes Stir Fry

 Have you missed me?  👀😉   I've been around, just haven't done a whole lotta cooking the past few months. 

 I either haven't felt like it or have been busy packing up my house, and well, gee, good home cooking hasn't been on my radar.    What didn't help was having most of my toys packed, and well, gee, it's kinda hard to cook when you've packed most of your tools.  

And now, I'm in an interesting 'pied a terre, a temporary apartment, and it's just fine.   There is even a two burner cooktop, and I couldn't help but think that this entire apartment, complete with the two burner stove insert was pretty much the same size as the apartment my parents had in Copenhagen, and they had 4 kids there. YIKES!!!  My mom would have been right at home cooking here. The kitchen is teeny, but serviceable, and I'm enjoying the challenge.  

Back to my story, I was first introduced to Garlic Scapes by my one of my sisters, she threw some on the grill and we ate them with a steak I think.  I was offered some scapes the other night and said Yes Please, and came up with the following concoction.  

A Garlic Scape is basically the flower stalk that comes up from the garlic bulb.  Growers cut the flower stalk to encourage the garlic bulb to get larger.  And ummm, the scape is totally delightful.  Mild, very mild garlic flavour.    And it lends itself to so many applications.  I don't have a full on kitchen or my usual supplies handy, otherwise I might have been seduced into making some pesto, with walnuts, or pureeing them and adding to some hummus.  I had all kinds of ideas floating through my head.   And next year, I'll be growing some of my own and then I'll have even more fun.  

But in the meantime, I also had some asparagus, carrots and a couple mushrooms, and decided that they would lend themselves well to a stirfry.   I also had a shallot and well, gee, I had to add it, not just for color but flavour as well. 

I also cooked some pasta to add in, cause my body doesn't think it's a complete meal unless there's either carbs or protein involved somewhere.  

There aren't any kinds of proportions here, just cut up what you think you'll eat and go from there. 

I did start cooking the carrots and shallot first.  Mainly cause carrots take a little longer to cook, and I wanted the shallot to cook and start breaking down a little to add a touch of sweetness to the dish. 

 After letting them saute for a couple of minutes, I added in the rest of the veggies, let them cook to crisp-tender, and finally dumped in some pasta.  (I forgot to take a picture, sigh.)  The only seasoning was a touch of salt, a salt free herb mixture and a couple grinds of black pepper.  And it was insanely delicious.  I ate every bite. 

I'm so totally making this again, but next time I'll actually take a picture of the finished dish.   In the meantime, I've still got some scapes left, along with more asparagus, and I'm wondering how they would taste mixed into some ooey gooey mac n' cheese?