Ingredients:
10 ounces spinach (use frozen chopped spinach, but thaw it and drain most of the liquid in advance)
4 fresh croissants
3 ounces fresh goat cheese
6 ounces hard goat cheese (or Gruyere or Emmenthaler)
1 medium sweet onion (approx 1/2 pound)
And, of course, butter.
Step one was chopping the onion and sauteing it in a pan for about 7 minutes (until the onions were limp).
Once the onions were cooked a bit I added the spinach. I was extra careful to drain as much of the water as I could without leaving it bone dry (a little liquid is necessary for cooking). Wringing out the spinach by hand and patting it with a paper towel should be sufficient.
After stirring the spinach and onions together I covered the pan and let it cook for 2 minutes (I guess this is to maintain some of the moisture?)
At the end of two minutes I added the fresh goat cheese and mixed it in with the veggies until it was melted.
Now it was time to assemble the sandwiches. I had already sliced the croissants in half, so step one was covering the bottom of each croissant with the spinach mixture. Colin wasn't that hungry, so I was only making three, which meant that each croissant got a little more filling than it usually would, but typically this is enough for four sandwiches.
Then came the grated Gruyere (again, applied quite liberally).
The recipe suggests peppering to taste, but I don't like pepper that much, so my taste told me to add none. With the addition of the tops of the sandwiches I was ready to grill. I can't emphasize enough how "low and slow" is the name of the game with this one. The croissant is so delicate that it burns very easily (also thanks to its high butter content), so GGC makes a point of cautioning you to not rush things. Covering the sandwich while it's cooking (to facilitate cheese melting) is also crucial with this one. Luckily, for once, I heeded my own advice and didn't burn anything!
Taste Review:
I'm sick this week (boo), so I didn't really notice a scent, but Colin assures me that there was a strong aroma of freshly toasted croissant and spinach (and I'm sure some onion got in there as well). My first bite put a smile on my face. The spinach tastes REALLY GOOD when combined with the sweet onion. We all know spinach can be a little bitter on its own, and the fact that I was mixing bitter spinach with also bitter fresh goat cheese made me a little nervous; and they did form a bitter mixture, but in a good way. Part of the reason that the bitterness wasn't bad was the Gruyere. The sharpness of the cheese took some of the focus away from the more bitter elements of the sandwich. Overall I'd say there was a perfect balance of bitter (spinach and goat cheese), sharp (Gruyere) and sweet (onion and croissant). (Wow, did I really just use "bitter" 7 times in one paragraph?!)
Speaking of the croissant-- grilled cheese on croissant is an as yet under-utilized but EXCELLENT idea. The croissant is money in this sandwich. It makes the sandwich rich, but it's so light and fluffy you don't feel bogged down by the fat and grease that often accompany rich dishes. It just hit me-- this is sort of like a richer version of spanakopita, and I do love Greek food, so it's no wonder I'm a fan!
FINAL RESULTS:
Sandwich:
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Spinach and Goat Cheese Croissant
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Gooey-ness:
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2
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Aroma:
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4
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Appearance:
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Golden outside with green spinach oozing out of the sides.
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Taste:
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A- |
This is another week where Colin and I disagreed on grades. I think this can be attributed to the fact that our tastes are similar enough to know what we like and don't like in a general sense, but are different enough that we agree on what the best of the best tastes are. I wanted to give this one an A, but he said if last week's was an A- then this should be too. In the end I agree (that and I don't want to get a reputation of being too easy of a grader).
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