The first step was preparing the cucumbers. First you peel two medium sized cucumbers and then slice them into rounds that are about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Once the slices are ready, set them aside to prepare a sweet vinaigrette to soak them in.
The vinaigrette consists of 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed. I combined these ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl (until the salt and sugar had dissolved) and added in the cucumber slices, stirring them up to help evenly coat them in the vinaigrette. The cucumbers must soak for at least 15 minutes (basically long enough for the cucumbers to start soaking up the flavor). Apparently you can even prepare the cucumbers the day before and refrigerate them as long as you bring them to room temperature before actually using them in the sandwich.
While these were soaking I went ahead and grated the cheese. The recipe calls for 6 ounces of Havarti cheese (without dill, since we'll be adding dill via the cucumber/vinaigrette combo) and I had a chunk that was about 10.5 ounces. I do like cheese, so I decided if I used about 2/3 of the block this would be about 7 ounces, which is more than is called for (only needs 6 ounces), but not so much that it would be out of control. Colin and I then disposed of the remnants at which point he declared: "This is my favorite cheese so far. I want that on the record." Well, here it is.
From there it was just a matter of waiting for the cucumbers to finish soaking. Once they were done I commenced making the actual sandwiches. The first step was to evenly distribute the cucumbers over two slices of bread (well, the recipe calls for 4 slices of bread at this stage, but again I'm using the larger loaf of rye where one slice really equals two slices of normal sized bread). I used a slotted spoon but transferred the cucumbers quickly, so a majority of the vinaigrette ran off, but some still sloshed over onto the bread.
After the cucumbers, naturally, came the cheese! The texture of the Havarti reminds me of when we worked with the jack cheese-- both are soft enough that they sort of stick to themselves and make it easier to pile the cheese up on the sandwich.
Once all the cheese was added I couldn't help but notice how HUGE these sandwiches were! Not only was the bread huge (as expected), but the sandwiches were incredibly thick! This would undoubtedly prove a challenge when it came time to flip the sandwiches.
In went the first sandwich and, once again, it was so big it wouldn't fit under my little red frying pan to cook/melt, but I covered as much as I could.
As expected, flipping proved particularly difficult. I had to go with a typical two spatula attack, but even that couldn't stop me from spilling some cucumbers and cheese on my first flip.
Things got better as I went along, but I'd say a cucumber or two went astray pretty much every time I flipped the sandwich. At one point so many dislodged that I had to perform open sandwich surgery to restore them to their proper locale.
One unexpected upside to the messy flipping was that when some of the cheese spilled out it fried onto the outside of the bread, which I have concluded is my new favorite development in the world of grilled cheese making. These crispy bits of fried cheese are DELICIOUS! They make me want to just put cheese straight into a frying pan just to have tasty little fried cheese nibblets!
Anyway, once the first sandwich was done frying I transferred it to my not so tried, but already proven to be true sandwich warming pan to continue simmering while I cooked the second sandwich. Again, the flipping proved difficult, but I persevered and both sandwiches were ready for consumption before I knew it! Now, on to the taste review!
Taste Review:
In case it's not apparent from this much shorter description, the preparation for this sandwich was very quick and straightforward. This is a sandwich that would be easy to whip up anytime assuming you had the ingredients on hand. That's one plus point on its scorecard, but let's talk taste. My first reaction upon biting into the sandwich was that the cucumbers add a lot of heft to the sandwich, but sort of make it runny (the cucumbers are watery and tend to slip and slide in and out of the sandwich).
The cheese tasted creamy (as expected for Havarti), but it wasn't too rich-- I think this may be because the vinegar and sweetness of the vinaigrette cut any excess richness the cheese might have had. I had been skeptical about adding cucumbers to a sandwich since I always think of them as a sort of "throw away" vegetable-- one that has no real taste and is more there just as filler. In this case, the cucumbers were a filler, but also had their own sweet and delicious flavor thanks to their vinaigrette bath. The cool feel of the cucumbers wrapped in gooey cheese was just the right combination. This cool element makes me think this would be an ideal sandwich for summertime.
 |
| Yummm! |
FINAL RESULTS:
Sandwich: | Havarti and Dilled Cucumbers on Rye |
Gooey-ness: | 5.5 (cucumbers falling everywhere)! |
Aroma: | 2.5 |
Appearance: | Looks very full and chunky, but the inside is melty and delicious! |
Taste: | A |
Gooey Scale | Aroma Scale |
| 1 = still cold/hard | 1 = can’t smell a thing |
| 2 = slightly melted but still firm | 2 = tender waft |
| 3 = melted evenly | 3 = makes your stomach growl |
| 4 = melted and slightly runny (starting to get those cheese strings between your sandwich and your mouth when you take a bite) | 4 = strong scent |
| 5 = runny | 5 = overpoweringly pungent |
| 6 = sloppy mess! |
MUUUUCH better than last week! It's good to be back on track :-)
*Addendum to Colin's favorite cheese comment: This is his favorite cheese so far to eat by itself. His favorite cheeses on sandwiches are still jack and American.
NEXT WEEK: An exciting adventure with a BOO G8R original!!
Your blog articles are great. The only downside for me is that I inevitably get that 'hungry for a grilled cheese' sensation.
ReplyDeleteLove your "open sandwich surgery" comment.
Also, regarding breads, I've noticed that for whatever reason, rye often provides a firmer, more crispy result than white bread; which is a definite plus as far as I'm concerned. I suppose it's a matter of personal preference, but I definitely prefer darker grilled bread over the more lightly grilled variety. I have not yet been able to master the fine art of obtaining the darkest possible grill (but without burning the bread).
Question: Do you use the butter on the bread, cooking spray on the pan, or some other method?
Your Dad
I love the little red pan's attempt to cover the sandwich -- it's like the Little Engine that could - but in the pan's case it's ALMOST could. I think this sandwich would be my favorite of those you've made thus far. It's appearance is appetizing and I love cucumbers, especially soaked in vinagrette.
ReplyDeleteDad,
ReplyDeleteI agree on the rye bread-- I think the reason GGC may have recommended it for these last two sandwiches was because there was so much sandwich filling you need more substantial bread to hold it all in!
I agree that getting charred bread without burning is a tough art! I've had issues with it (as you've read), especially since I cook on a gas stove. The best tips I can give for dealing with that so far are cooking for a longer time on a lower heat. That will gradually melt the cheese and char the bread with less chance of burning. Also, grilling cheese onto the outside helps make a guarding crust that could be worth a try if you have a non-stick pan.
I use butter on the bread and no cooking spray in the pan since it's a non-stick pan. The butter actually just helps char the bread evenly, it's not necessary to keep the bread from sticking to the pan.
Moo,
Agreed-- I think you'd like this one too.