Anyway, let's dive right in. I had a moderately difficult time choosing the sandwich for this week because we're sort of getting down to some of the sandwiches I've been avoiding thus far (meaning a lot of the remaining options don't get me salivating like some of the varieties I've already made). In the end I opted to go with one that is a sandwich representation of a much loved soup: broccoli and cheddar. I've been in Panera enough times to know that many people feel you can't go wrong with some broccoli and cheddar soup served out of a bread bowl, so what more logical step from there than broccoli and cheddar on sourdough? I don't like broccoli (or most cruciferous vegetables for that matter), but thousands of happy Panera customers can't be wrong.
Necessary ingredients include: 1/2 lb broccoli, 8 oz. high quality cheddar (but then, do I use anything but high quality ingredients?), 1/4 cup slivered almonds, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, butter, and a loaf of sourdough (Pepperidge Farm as always).
First up was cutting the broccoli into florets-- no problem (once I googled what a broccoli floret actually is). Turns out they're just individual smaller versions of the big broccoli tree. Each ended up about 1.5" - 2" long. I placed those in boiling water along with the salt to cook for about 3 minutes (or until bright green and tender but not mushy).
While that was cooking I melted a pat of butter in my frying pan and added the almond slivers (stirring occasionally until toasted-- or, in my case, slightly burned).
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| Oopse! |
Once the broccoli was done cooking I strained it and further cut the florets into more manageable bite sized pieces.
I let those sit while I grabbed a small bowl to mix 2 Tbsp soft butter with 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Among the many useful skills GGC has taught me, adding herbs, spices, cheese, etc. to butter is definitely among my favorite!
I think we all see where things are headed from here. First I spread half of the butter evenly on four slices of bread and placed them face down on my prep plate. Next came the broccoli (on 3 out of 4 sandwiches-- I'm leaving one just plain cheese in case my aversion to broccoli is too strong to be overcome even when the broccoli is smothered with cheese).
Next came the 8 ounces of grated cheddar.
Followed by the almond slivers.
And topped off with the remaining four slices of bread (spread with the remaining cayenne butter).
That was that! Fry them up and we were ready to roll.
Taste Review:
The sandwiches looked really great! Something about that bright orange and bright green got me pretty excited for how they would taste (despite my broccoli aversion). Unfortunately, the first bite was pretty bland. If I hadn't made the sandwich I probably wouldn't have been able to tell what it was. But, I did take a bite starting around the crust (an area notoriously devoid of filling), so I remained optimistic that things would pick up as I ate. Right I was-- the center of the sandwich was hearty and perfectly gooey without being messy. I couldn't taste the bitter taste that I usually associate with broccoli, the broccoli was more there to act as a contrast to the sharp cheddar. All in all I was liking it, adding further anecdotal evidence to the fact that I like basically any sandwich involving cheddar and sourdough.
The cayenne butter definitely gave a clear after taste without making the sandwich too spicy to enjoy. I couldn't taste the almonds too much, but they did give a slight additional toasted taste to the sandwich. Colin and I agree that we could do without the almonds. They give a crunch to a sandwich where we wanted things to be creamy.
FINAL RESULTS:
Sandwich: | Cheddar and Broccoli with Cayenne Butter |
Gooey-ness: | 3 |
Aroma: | 2.5 |
Appearance: | I love the bright green and orange look! |
Taste: | B |
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! |
We debated between a B and a B-, but ultimately I decided that any sandwich that gets me to eat and enjoy broccoli deserves a good grade.
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