Primanti Brothers-Style Grilled Cheese

Anyone who has been to Pittsburgh should know the glorious foods that result from the application of French fries to basically anything and there is no greater manifestation of this combo than a Primanti Brothers sandwich.  The first time I had one I didn't even know what had hit me.

Officially the sandwich involves coleslaw, tomato, and french fries as the topping to your choice of meat and cheese (for me that's traditionally been turkey and provolone).  You can add extra meat or extra cheese or even an egg and, in my experience, any combination is really a good one.  But as you can see in the photo above, the sandwich isn't grilled.  Now, I'm not one to try to improve on a winning formula, but this sandwich was so good I had to include it in my blog-- and for it to be in my blog it has to be grilled!  So, let's get down to it :-)

Ingredients:
* Deli sliced honey ham
* Provolone
* Coleslaw
* Tomato
* Frozen French fries (or really any french fries will do-- in an ideal world I would've gotten some waffle fries, but that wouldn't be true to the original)
* Pepperidge Farm Sourdough (I believe they usually use plain white bread, but we know how obsessed I am with the P. Farm Sourdough)

The only significant prep work to be done was cooking the french fries according to the package instructions.  I had purchased pre-made coleslaw, but in retrospect making my own would have been better (this slaw was too runny, but more on that later).

Once the fries were done it was straight to sandwich assembly.  Since these were going to be massive we opted for one per person and started off with two slices of provolone (yes, I'm deviating from the norm and going with slices this week) on two of the slices of bread.

Next came the honey ham.

Followed by the coleslaw.

And then another layer of provolone.

Next the tomato slices.

And yet another layer of provolone (I mean, for it to be a grilled cheese the cheese has to be the star of the show).

And finally the French fries.

It was tricky to get them to stay on the sandwich, but we prevailed.

Good gravy, this sandwich is huge!  I was already having visions of fries flying as I attempted to flip the sandwich in my frying pan.  This would require extreme care.

I cooked the sandwiches one at a time, covering them while they cooked on each side, and had some right tasty looking sammies in no time.  I couldn't wait to dive in.

Taste Review:

Our first observation was that the sandwich was colorful-- yellow fries, red tomatoes, greenish coleslaw, pink ham.  A feast for the eyes as well as the tummy.  The sandwich was pretty runny though-- tomatoes are watery and the coleslaw is way creamy, so those were forces to be reckoned with.  The ham and the coleslaw were both sweet and that helped to offset the saltiness of the bread and french fries.  Despite the multiple layers, the cheese wasn't really a strong flavor.  You could tell it was there because it gave a smoothness and creaminess to the sandwich, but the coleslaw was the main taste in the sandwich-- probably because it was so creamy since it was pre-made.  This is where I revisit my point that making my own coleslaw would have been a smart choice.  It was just super creamy and sweet and tended to overtake the other flavors on the sandwich.  As usual, Colin had gotten out his hot sauce, but he said he didn't actually need it-- I think there were enough different flavors and elements to the sandwich that he didn't need to add one more.

As mentioned, my only minor gripe with the original was the soft bread, so grilling the sandwich brings it to the right consistency (in my opinion), but the runniness of the coleslaw was frustrating as it attempted to counteract the nice crispiness of the bread.  So, in case you haven't caught on yet, changing the type of coleslaw is the main improvement I would make to this one.  One other minor modification would be to use bigger French fries-- just because that would be yummy.  But back to the coleslaw-- if you took that away from the sandwich it would feel like more of a grilled cheese because then the cheese would be the star of the show, but we do like this sandwich as is even if it's not, strictly speaking, a grilled cheese.

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Primanti Brothers Grilled Cheese
Gooey-ness:	5 (RUNNY, but not because of the cheese)
Aroma:	1
Appearance:	Big and colorful.
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!

Despite the need to improve the coleslaw situation, this sandwich was deeeelish.

Field Report: Cheesie's Pub & Grub

This past week I was in Chicago for work, but made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to do a field report!  My dad had suggested a restaurant he found online: Cheesie's Pub & Grub.  They advertise themselves as Chicago's first ever grilled cheese restaurant, so of course it was the perfect choice for my outing :-)  Since I was in Chicago, I was lucky enough to be able to include two new guest tasters: Caroline and Coury!

We decided to get three different sandwiches to share so as to maximize our tasting possibilities.  There were seven sandwiches on the menu and one additional "Sandwich of the Month."  I was excited to see that the sandwich of the month was a "Chicago Style Hot Dog Grilled Cheese."  Back when I was first thinking about some of the grilled cheese recipes I could make I got to thinking about cities I had been to and their signature foods; and a Chicago style hot dog was one of the culinary trademarks that came to mind.  Of course, I could never re-create it as accurately and deliciously as a true Chicagoan, so lucky for me here was my chance to try one!  We asked the cashier which her favorite was and she said it was The Mac-- a sandwich featuring mac and cheese filling, so we got one of those as well.  To round out our trio we ordered The Frenchie, which I was drawn to because it had french fries on the sandwich (another option I plan to explore later, but more in the Pittsburgh style).

Alright, so the first sandwich on the hit parade was the Chicago style hot dog.  To familiarize everyone with what a traditional Chicago style hot dog entails, it's a beef hot dog with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt.  The grilled cheese included several key elements from the traditional hot dog: the beef hot dog, relish, peppers and mustard; but also included American and cheddar cheese and was served on Texas toast instead of a hot dog bun. 

The first thing I noticed was the strong taste of mustard and relish (which makes sense since those were the key elements from the original Chicago style dog that were included on the sandwich).  Although there's no ketchup on a real Chicago style dog, we all felt like the sandwich could've benefited from a little something to counter the strong mustard taste.  Maybe if the tomato slices and onions had been included they would've helped to balance it out a bit?  Hard to say for sure.  One thing we definitely liked was the bisecting and flattening of the hot dog-- it made the sandwich very manageable and easy to eat neatly, but Caroline and Coury both would've liked some more hot dog since the condiments were pretty strong (as I'm not a beef eater I had no real opinion there).  Speaking of potential additions-- we thought it could've handled a stronger cheese to compliment the strong mustard flavor.  My first thought is jack cheese instead of the American (while keeping the cheddar), but I'm sure any number of combos would be tasty.  My only other note was that I got all the pepper in one bite towards the end, so I think making sure it's spread out more evenly would be good.  Even though there's a good amount of commentary here, I was still pleased with the sandwich.  It definitely encapsulated much of what I expected and hoped for in a Chicago style hot dog sandwich, but I just needed a little something to cut the mustard (*ba dum ching!* seriously though, no pun intended, less mustard taste would've been fine by me).

Next up was the sandwich that elicited three "WOW!"'s upon first taste.  Coury further elaborated with a "This should be illegal."  The delicious concoction to which she was referring is: The Mac.  More specifically, American cheese, Merkt's cheese and homemade macaroni and cheese on Texas toast with a tomato soup dip.  I wasn't familiar with Merkt's cheese, but an internet search informs me that it's a type of spreadable cheese based out of Wisconsin.  Whatever it is, it's good!  My first bite was dipped in the tomato soup and it was a nice pairing, but the sandwich was so delicious it also stood firmly on its own. 

The macaroni helps to keep the interior of the sandwich fluffy and light even though it is smothered with cheese, so you don't feel weighted down by eating such a rich combination.  It was neat that they could find a way to keep an overall light feeling while still sticking with a basic starch/cheese combination.  Even eating just the mac and cheese would've left me satisfied, so the fact that it was on the sandwich just made it that much better!  The cheeses combined to be very creamy (almost like Velveeta), but didn't taste cheap at all like some mac and cheeses can tend to taste.  The crispiness of the Texas toast added some crunch that reminds me of homemade mac and cheese when it's covered with real bread crumbs.  This was an AWESOME combo and one that I would definitely make a trip back for the next time I find myself in Chicago.

Last, but not least, came the Frenchie.  This sandwich consisted of American cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese sauce, thick cut french fries, bacon and chives on sourdough with a side of sour cream.  In short, it was a loaded baked potato in sandwich form.  The sandwich was very rich between the cheeses, potato, bread and bacon, so the sour cream was a good accompaniment since it gave a little tang to contrast the richness.  The chives also helped to add a little kick and further cut the fattiness-- I mean, chives are a vegetable, right? ;-)  Even though there were three different types of cheese they blended together well without making it too cheesy.  I could actually taste the french fries more than the bread, so it was almost like the bread was just there to hold the sandwich together, but that was fine by me since the filling was so tasty!  A baked potato is great and a baked potato in sandwich form is even better :-)

Final Rankings (in order of preference):
1) The Mac
2) The Frenchie
3) Chicago Style Hot Dog Grilled Cheese

So while the restaurant is new (only about a month old), it's well on its way to being a major success.  In addition to enjoying the delicious sandwiches, we all split an order of sweet potato fries (which were yummy) and while we didn't have a drink there, there's a nice little bar in the back that serves a solid collection of (mostly local) microbrews.  Grilled cheese and beer is certainly a recipe for happy customers!  The staff was also super friendly (shout out!) and we briefly chatted about some fun ideas for grilled cheeses.  I will definitely make a trip back when I find myself in Chicago again.

Next Week: Time for some fresh summer flavor courtesy of fruit!  Introducing: Apple, Ham and Cheddar on Sourdough.  Until then...

Back of the official Cheesie's shirt that I bought.