The Sonoma

As you may have noticed, I didn't post last week, which usually means one thing-- I was traveling!  And for once, it was for fun!  This time I was on vacation in (mostly) sunny southern California.  I got in some relaxing time in Laguna Beach, some meh time in LA, and some GREAT time in San Diego!  Proof that I was there:

 

And what better way to celebrate a vacation than to honor it with a grilled cheese tribute?  So why is this week's sandwich called "The Sonoma" if I was in southern CA?  Well, mostly because "The California Grill" has already been used as a sandwich name.  But the reason we ended up choosing "The Sonoma" as a name is because we came across some habanero jack cheese in Safeway made by Sonoma Jack (yes, of Sonoma, CA).  We all know Colin loves spicy food, so this was a no brainer.  We had to use this cheese. 

The thing we loved most about food in southern California (aside from the abundance of quality Mexican fare) was the fact that they would include avocado on virtually anything!  I feel like it's far too rare here on the east coast to see abundant avocado options on menus, so we jumped at the chance to eat some at virtually every meal.  For this reason, no California-style sandwich would be complete without the addition of some avocado.  So even though this steals some elements from other sandwiches (The California Grill and Colin's Jalapeno Popper), we're always happy to tweak old recipes to create something new and delicious.

Ingredients:
1 avocado
1/4 - 1/2 pound deli sliced turkey
1 wedge Sonoma Jack Habanero Jack Cheese
Pepperidge Farm Sourdough

The beauty of sandwiches that we make up is that they are invariably easy to make.  This one took probably about 5 minutes of prep which consisted of grating the cheese and slicing the avocado.  Done!

So to assemble the sandwiches we added:

Turkey first-- two or three slices per sandwich.

Followed by...

the avocado. 

And finally...

the habanero jack.  Side note: I tasted the habanero jack to see how it was similar/different to generic pepper jack, and for me it was spicier!  The peppers tasted almost sweet at first, but then the fire took over and left a stronger after effect than I'm used to with pepper jack.  Colin, on the other hand, couldn't really taste much spice at all (I continue to contend that he has no taste buds).

Note: I made one of the sandwiches without turkey just to see how it would taste (and the half sandwich is also mine-- I wasn't as hungry as Colin).

You know where we're headed from here.  Grill 'em up and serve 'em!

Taste Review:

One of the first things we notice about the sandwich is that beautiful bright green avocado!  Anytime we have avocado on a sandwich it instantly looks delicious.  We could smell the aroma from the melted cheese, probably because it had that pepper aroma in addition to the standard melted cheese. 

The first words out of both of our mouths as we ate were that the sandwich was really creamy!  Avocado is so amazing-- it just gives that smooth creaminess that is subtle and a perfect addition to virtually any sandwich. 

Shocking factoid: I recently planned a meeting that was held in La Jolla, CA and some attendees actually complained that there were TOO MANY avocado options at meals.  They said that they don't even like avocado!  When I recounted this story to Colin he literally slapped me.  I feel that adequately conveys our mutual incredulity over the fact that some people might not enjoy such a delectable treat, but I digress.

Lucky for me, the habaneros didn't taste as spicy on the sandwich as they did when I was eating just the plain cheese.  This was probably thanks to the neutralizing effects of the bread and avocado.  I think the turkey helped to temper the spice as well because my turkey-less sandwich was noticeably spicier than my sandwich with turkey.  On the sandwich without turkey it was also easier to taste the actual avocado as a flavor whereas when combined with the turkey its flavor is sort of muted and you really only notice it for its creamy effect.  Not to say one sandwich is better than the other, it just all depends on your mood.

FINAL RESULTS:

 

 

Sandwich:	The Sonoma
Gooey-ness:	4
Aroma:	2.5
Appearance:	Bright green filling = deliciousness!
Taste:	A

We were both quite pleased with this one :-)

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!

Guest Post: The Two Cheese Avocado Sandwich!

It's an exciting day for The Big Grilled Cheese-- time for our first ever GUEST POST!  It couldn't have come at a better time seeing as how some weeknight plans have precluded my ability to write my own post this week.  Thankfully, Whitney and Caroline have stepped up to the plate (ba dum ching) and bring us a tasty twist on a recipe Whitney found.

Caroline, Whitney and me.

Whitney's description and notes are as follows:

Hi!!!

You must have such a good time each week! Caroline and I had fun tonight making this. :o) Attached are photos. Slight caveat: We did not have pesto. Why? 1) We are lazy and did not want to make pesto 2) We could not find pre-made pesto 3) We decided we were still lazy and didn't want to revert back to making pesto. Therefore this recipe's "green goddess" quality has been slightly rewritten and renamed. It is now: The Two Cheese Avocado Sandwich!

Ingredients: 1 avocado, 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella (dependent on how cheesy you want it), whole wheat bread (2 slices), spinach leaves (1 handful), AND the best part: basil goat cheese (sprinkle 'til satisfied)!
It was super easy to make:

Step 1: Prep Items (slice avocado, etc.)

Step 2: Begin grilling bread in pan

Step 3: Add mozzarella to bread
Step 4: After mozzarella has melted a slightly, add spinach leaves

Step 5: Wait a minute or two and then add the secret ingredient: basil seasoned goat cheese (we bought this pre-made, but you could probably just mix your goat cheese with basil and add it)

Step 6: Add avocado

Step 7: After mozzarella is melted, smush (technical grilled cheese term) the two sides together
Step 8: Voila! Yummy grilled cheese in 20 minutes or less :o)

Here is our review:
Gooey Scale: 3-3.5 We tried to get a picture of how the cheese pulled apart, my phone's camera abilities are sadly not high-tech enough!
Aroma Scale: 2 There isn't anything too fragrant, aside from the goat cheese, in this sandwich. So it was a pretty neutral smell in the kitchen.
Overall Grade: B-B+ (you pick, we didn't want to alter your grading curve)

We really liked this! It wasn't anything too special, but we did enjoy it so much that we made another batch so we could each have one in our lunch tomorrow! (fingers crossed it keeps overnight!)

Quotes from the Kitchen:
"Everything is better with avocados." - Whitney
"You can never go wrong with goat cheese!" - Caroline

Thanks to Whitney and Caroline for this stellar guest post!  They presented some interesting ideas for me to try-- most notably grilling the cheese on open faced bread (aka not assembling the sandwiches before frying).  I've also spotted the seasoned cheeses at Wegmans, but haven't made use of any yet.  This sandwich definitely gives me the motivation to give them a try! 

I like the fact that, despite the absence of the pesto, the sandwich lives up to its colorful name with the dark green spinach and light green avocado.  Those are two ingredients that I wouldn't have thought to combine, but that probably go together quite nicely. 

Now I can understand why people always tell me that my blog makes them hungry-- I definitely wish I could take a bite of this one! 

As always, any guest submissions-- be they suggested recipes, field reports, or full blown cooking features-- are always welcome!

California Grill

I don't mean to give away the finale up front, but let's just say this sandwich is the first one to officially give our sole A+ winner (the Original American Grilled Cheese with yellow American) a run for its money... but will it tie the coveted A+ rating?  Stay tuned to find out!

OK, so seeing as how I just returned from California (and because my field trip there left much to be desired) I figured now was as good a time as any to try the California Grill.  I still had some sourdough bread left from my Wizard of Oz grilled cheeses, so I just needed a few additional items to get started:

One avocado, 1/2 cup high quality salsa, 8 ounces of monterey jack cheese (decreased to 6 ounces since I only had enough bread to make 3 sandwiches, not 4).

My first order of business was asking sous chef to look up a video on how to peel an avocado.  After watching said video he was feeling confident and told me to step aside while he went to work.

Once we had the avocado open we realized there were two problems-- one, the pit was so hard there was no way to remove it (we tried, but were only successful in slicing off small bits of the pit and flinging them about the kitchen) and two, there was no way to remove the skin.  Looks like I had just chosen an un-ripe avocado (I had no idea what to be looking for in terms of color/feel and my sister's text regarding avocado selection tips arrived just as I had left the store).  So back to the grocery store we went, returning home with a ripe avocado.

This made all the difference in the world!  It was peeled and ready in no time.  Once we had the just the filling to work with we went ahead and sliced it into slices that are small/flat enough to fit easily on a sandwich.

That was basically all the prep work that was required-- on to assembling the sandwich.  First came 1/2 cup of salsa evenly distributed between the three slices of bread (buttered on one side, of course).  A note about the salsa-- if it's watery it's advisable to drain off as much water as you can so as to retain the crunchiness of the bread once the sandwich is cooked.

Oooh, pretty!

Next came 6 ounces of grated Monterey Jack.

And finally, the avocado slices.

Lookin' good!  I cooked those puppies right up but soon realized I hadn't buttered the bread sufficiently because it charred very easily.  Oh well!  That's what I get for trying not to be a total fatty.

Alright, on to the good stuff...

Taste Review:

I INSTANTANEOUSLY noticed how smooth the avocado makes the sandwich.  It was perfectly creamy with just a mild flavor-- enough to notice it's subtly there, but not so much that it tries to compete with the other flavors.  Ever quotable, Colin noted "Food isn't always all about the taste."  Agreed.  Texture plays a big role here.

The jack cheese has a little punch to balance out the mildness of the avocado and the salsa adds the perfect amount of acidity without taking over.  It was just a perfect balance of textures/ingredients/flavors.  Sometimes I would get a bite that was heavier on salsa and that would definitely kick up the spice, but in a fun way not in a "too hot in the hot tub" kind of way (see, I told you I use that reference a lot)! 

When I first looked at the recipe I was surprised that sourdough was the bread of choice for this-- I picture Californians as all healthy and into something like 9 grain bread or some such.  But then I remembered this:

Boudin's Bakery in San Francisco is actually the birthplace of sourdough bread!  So for that reason the use of sourdough was a good call (well for that reason and because it was delicious).

Some bites that were jam packed with salsa and avocado got a little messy, but that was part of the fun of it :-)  I think it's good that you can flavor this to your personal taste by using any number of salsas (from mild to super spicy).  As usual, Colin and I disagreed on the appropriate level of spiciness-- I felt like the medium salsa (that we used) gave it enough of a kick without overpowering it, but Colin disagreed.  He would like his food spicier.  In fact, he doused it pretty heavily in Sriracha sauce (wait, what happened to food not always being all about the taste?).  He loves that stuff.  A lot.

Farewell, tastebuds!

Anywho, this one was a resounding success!  I was bummed that this was the week that I only had enough bread to make 3 sandwiches because both of us could definitely have enjoyed more (and will definitely be making this again sometime)!  In fact, this is kind of similar to Colin's jalapeno popper from a few weeks back; so it's a sandwich we were shooting for but hadn't quite perfected-- glad we've found this recipe to help us attain perfection.

FINAL RESULTS:

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Sandwich:	California Grill
Gooey-ness:	3.5
Aroma:	2
Appearance:	Beautiful color combination with bright green, white and red!
Taste:	A+

That's right, folks!  We have a second A+ worthy sandwich!  I debated just giving it an A, but I realized I can't downgrade sandwiches for the sake of preserving the elite status of others.  This is a true winner and deserves to be rated as such.

Next Week: Well, let's not worry about that-- for now we will revel in the glory that is our second A+ sandwich!  Sing it with me: "I wish they all could be California griiiiiillllllsss" ;-)

Colin's Jalapeno Popper

As mentioned, this was the week for my sous chef to take to the main stage with a creation all his own!  Finally the roles would be reversed-- I would sit on the couch watching TV while he worked tirelessly in the kitchen on a delicious dinner for us both :-)  That was partly true-- but I turned out to be more of a back seat chef than I thought I would be (i.e. "Maybe you'd like to assemble the sandwiches before you put them in the pan?")  But I like to think that my help was actually beneficial.  I had told Colin about some jalapeno/cheddar bread that I saw at Safeway that he might want to experiment with, so our first stop was the store to acquire other ingredients to turn this bread into a full fledged grilled cheese.  We ended up with the bread, pepper jack cheese, spicy guacamole and ground turkey.

Apron on and Kostritzer in hand (thanks, Mom) he was ready to attack!

The first step was grilling the turkey into patties.  I wasn't entirely on board with this step due to my bias against sandwiches that focus too heavily on the meat and not enough on the cheese, so I politely requested that I be allowed to make one meatless sandwich as well.  Colin gave the patties a splash of the Kostritzer just for the heck of it, but I'm pretty sure that probably cooked off.

While he worked on the meat I worked on slicing the bread.  The bread was too thin to slice vertically, so I cut it into four big slices that I then cut in half horizontally (so it was sort of the thickness of ciabatta bread).

I tried to scoop out the insides a bit to remove some of the heft and allow for us to put more ingredients in, but it wasn't quite thick enough for this to be really successful.  We also experimented with grilling just the bread in my rarely used sandwich press, but I don't think that really added much to the sandwich either.

From there Colin began his sandwich assembly... in the frying pan.  He started out with a bottom piece of bread and sprinkled a little pepper jack in the middle.  That was topped with a turkey patty.

Next came more pepper jack, also sprinkled in the middle on top of the patty.

And finally, a few dollops of guacamole.

For a beginner, Colin showed a surprisingly good command of the double spatula flip, which was particularly necessary for this sandwich seeing as how it was quite thick and heavy (thanks to the turkey patty).

While he worked on that, I went ahead and assembled my meatless variety, which involved a little more evenly spread ingredients.

Colin liked this approach and started preparing the remaining sandwiches for the pan.

The pepper jack melted surprisingly quickly, so the sandwiches were ready to go in no time at all!

Yummmm

Taste Review:

The bread was very crunchy-- probably because the jalapenos and cheese formed a hard crust on the outside to begin with and the hardness was intensified by the grilling.  I tried the variety with meat first and was surprised by now not spicy it was (part of this could be because I got the first sandwich-- the one with not too much cheese).  I guess there was such a thick patty of meat that it basically dulled all the spicy elements.  The guacamole consistency made the inside nice and smooth-- this along with the melted cheese were a good contrast to the crumbly/firmer meat. 

Then I moved on to trying my meatless variety.  This was VERY different in that my mouth was lit on fire with the first bite.  The pepper jack really takes hold and the spiciness is undeniable.  Since the goal of this sandwich was to keep it spicy, I liked this version more.  One way to potentially keep the meat on the sandwich and still maintain the spiciness would be to use less meat and spread it more evenly across the sandwich.  This was basically a burger, but if you had meat that had been seasoned with some spices and spread throughout the sandwich that would help to maintain the overall spicy flavor. 

I could take or leave the spicy guacamole-- but on the non-meat sandwich I actually think that regular guacamole would do better since it would provide just enough of a cool contrast to the strong heat from the cheese and bread.  I would also add some cheddar to the non-meat sandwich just to have another element in place of the meat (and I think it would look neat to have a green/orange/white layered sandwich) and to give the pepper jack something to contrast with.  But overall I'd say this was a success!

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Colin's Jalapeno Popper
Gooey-ness:	3.5
Aroma:	3
Appearance:	Bright green and white with a crispy cheese crust.
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!

Next Week: TBD, but potentially something utilizing my leftover ricotta and goat cheese from last week.