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.

Grilled Caprese

Including this week's sandwich, there are 20 sandwiches remaining in "Great Grilled Cheese" that I have yet to try and, in general, there's a reason I've been saving these for the end.  While roast beef with cheddar and blue cheese butter may sound delightful to many, I don't eat beef and I don't like blue cheese and thus have been avoiding this sandwich, and others like it, all along.  Fortunately, this week's selection was one of the few remaining choices that makes my mouth water. 

In general, caprese salads/sandwiches/whatever seem to be fan favorites, so the idea of putting it on a grilled cheese is, naturally, an appealing prospect.  So let's get right down to it.

Ingredients included:
* Crusty Italian bread (in this case I opted for a Wegmans specialty item-- Garlic Tuscan Bread)
* 6 ounces fresh mozzarella (in my case 8 ounces-- you know how I love the cheese!)
* 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
* 2 Tbsp. dry jack or Parmesan cheese (in my case Parmesan & Romano)
* 2 Tbsp. chopped basil leaves (in this case pulled from our newly acquired home grown basil plants!)
* Olive oil

Step one was letting the tomatoes sit in very hot water for 15 minutes.  I still have zero idea why this step was necessary, but who am I to question GGC?  Maybe I was supposed to get dry tomatoes (the kind not packed in oil) and use the hot water to soften them up?  No idea.  Oh well!  After I had microwaved a half cup of water for 1 minute, in went the tomatoes.

I then turned on my broiler.  Yes, the broiler.  I wasn't sure where we were going with this step, but high heat makes me nervous!  Oh well, again-- I trust GGC.

YOWZA!

Next it was time to chop the basil-- I picked about 15-20 leaves and went to work.

By the time I finished this the tomatoes weren't quite done with their bath yet, so I took this opportunity to grate the mozzarella.  Once I had finished that it was time to remove the tomatoes and chop them.

After everything was chopped and grated I mixed all of the ingredients together.  Is it sad that I'm only now realizing that caprese salads have the same colors as the Italian flag?

Now we're ready to make the sandwiches.  After brushing one side of four slices of bread with olive oil I spread the cheese mixture evenly over the bread and topped them with another slice of bread, also brushed with olive oil.

After grilling each of the sandwiches it was time to brave an encounter with the broiler.  The recipe called for cooking the sandwiches in a heavy skillet that is oven safe but, since I don't have a skillet that meets that description, I opted to use a cookie sheet.  I put each sandwich on the cookie sheet and sprinkled the Parmesan on top.

Next it was into the broiler for 30 seconds to a minute or until the cheese is bubbling and starting to turn brown.  Well, before I hit that mark I heard my cookie sheet make a loud noise as it sort of buckled in the oven.  Fearing for its safety I removed the sandwiches shortly thereafter.  The cheese had melted, but not quite browned.

Once the sandwiches had cooled briefly, I plated them and was ready to chow down!

Taste Review:

Aside from an extra hint of charred bread courtesy of the broiler, there wasn't really an aroma for this one.  The sandwich looked very appealing with some nice color to the inside and the extra cheese on the outside (a step I'll need to repeat in the future).

The mozzarella is, of course, the perfect cheese for this sandwich.  It's creamy and provides the right backdrop to blend evenly with the other flavors.  That creamy inside was set off by the crispy exterior consisting of the crunchy crusty bread and the crispy bits of cheese.  I like that the cheese on the outside gave a hint of sharpness, but just enough to compliment rather than overwhelm the milder mozzarella.

I was able to pull Colin away from "Dogs in the City" for long enough to hear that he would've liked a little more tomato from a texture standpoint.  It's true, the filling is quite creamy, but I like that.  I think we've gotten used to lots of sandwiches with "stuff" in them, so although this sandwich was a little simpler I do think that was a good thing.  But in thinking about his desire for more tomatoes we pondered whether sun-dried is really the way to go and we think that it is.  If this sandwich used regular tomatoes there just wouldn't be enough flavor.  The basil would be the one and only standout ingredient.

The garlic in the bread was just a subtle hint in the crust, but it was great.  Again, just enough flavor to compliment rather than overwhelm the sandwich.  On the whole this makes me think of a panini I'd get at Corner Bakery (which, in my world, is a compliment-- I like Corner Bakery).  My only real criticism is that towards the end the sandwich starts to feel a little dry.  Perhaps because the bread is so crusty?  I'm not sure.  Maybe this could be fixed by adding a little more filling, but who knows.  I guess I'll just have to make it again and find out!

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Grilled Caprese
Gooey-ness:	3.5
Aroma:	1.5
Appearance:	Nice and colorful with a cool cheese topping.
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!

Portobello and Provolone

It's a good thing that when I was pondering the definition of a grilled cheese awhile back that I didn't specify that a grilled cheese must include bread, because that would mean this week's sandwich is not considered to be a grilled cheese.  Portobello mushrooms instead of bread?  That's crazy talk! 

This is one of the lucky few sandwiches to have its photo featured in GGC and its unique appearance led me to both anxiously anticipate and slightly dread the week when I would finally tackle this bad boy, but the time has finally come.

I arrived at Wegmans and immediately rolled right past the bakery section (a very strange feeling) and headed straight for the produce (another strange feeling-- I definitely don't buy fruits and veggies as often as I should).  The recipe called for EIGHT portobello mushrooms (since they would be serving as the bread).  Portobello mushrooms are pretty huge, so my taking eight of them immediately depleted a good part of the mushrooms display in the produce area.  Luckily everything else was standard grilled cheese fare:

Beefsteak tomato, 8 ounces sharp provolone, 2 ounces asiago, salt, pepper, oregano, 1/4 cup olive oil and 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.

The most involved process where this sandwich is concerned was preparing the mushrooms.  Step one was wiping some of the dirt off the cap of the mushroom and removing the stem and gills.  Ew.  I didn't know that mushrooms have "gills," let alone that they felt all weird and velvety.  I didn't really know the best way to go about removing all of this, so I sort of improvised.

Step 1: Cut out the stem.

Step 2: Scrape off the gills with a small knife.

Step 3: WASH YOUR HANDS!! These gills are gross and just made my hands all dirty.  Taking the dirt factor into account, I tasked sous chef with giving the mushroom caps a bit of a wipe down before we proceeded.  The finished products looked a little something like this:

While I was working on the mushrooms, sous chef was mixing up a little marinade for them comprised of the oil and vinegar (and salt and pepper to taste).

I think we can all see where this is going.  Once the mushrooms were all ready, on went the marinade:

I erroneously poured the marinade on the underside of the mushrooms.  Upon realizing my mistake, I just flipped them over and rubbed some on the tops as well.  Turns out this was actually a better approach as this allowed both sides get a little piece of the marinade action.  I let those sit for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cookie sheet for 10 minutes in the oven (that had been pre-heated to 400 degrees).

Once the first 10 minutes were up I flipped all the mushrooms over and put them back in for another 10 minutes.  Here's what they looked like when they were all finished:

Whew!  I could literally see the steam rising off of them.  While the mushrooms were in the oven, I took the liberty of grating the provolone and asiago.  I took a taste test of each and was NOT a fan of the provolone.  I guess the added sharpness gives it too pungent of an after taste for me, but this was just not good.  I crossed my fingers that the asiago would balance drown the provolone out and proceeded.

Since I wasn't entirely confident in the taste of just the provolone I decided to make two sandwiches according to the recipe (with both provolone and asiago) and two according to my recipe (just asiago).  That way I'd have something to fall back on if the provolone was really too much.  So I put 2 ounces of provolone and 1 of asiago (per sandwich) on two of the sandwiches and 3 ounces of asiago (per sandwich) on the other two.

I then topped every sandwich off with a slice of the beefsteak tomato and sprinkled some oregano on each for flavor.

At long last, these boys were ready for the frying pan.  I'm not sure if it's because the mushrooms had already been cooked, because of the natural brown color or just because of their unique texture, but they didn't seem to burn at all in the pan!  I could hear them sizzling and see the cheese starting to ooze, so I knew they were cooking, but I was fortunate to not have to worry too much about potentially charring them.  I appreciated the ease of grilling considering the involved process I had endured to get the mushrooms ready for cooking.  Once they were all grilled up I was ready to dig in.

Taste Review:

The VERY first thing anyone would notice about this sandwich is the pungent smell.  Something about the combination of the strong cheeses and the mushrooms creates an aroma that is unmistakable (although it's up to you whether it's a good or bad smell).  First we tried the provolone and asiago variety-- Colin took about 1.5 bites before determining that he couldn't eat anymore.  Admittedly the texture is VERY weird.  GGC describes this sandwich as "as beefy as a non-meat sandwich can get-- it's hearty, mushroomy and definitely toothsome."  Well, I would agree and would venture to say that this isn't a good thing.  The mushrooms are so dense that when combined with a tomato and cheese it's too much to take in all at once.  You need some softer bread to break up the heartiness of the ingredients.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much the tomato slice actually helped to balance out the sharp cheese-- after tasting the provolone and asiago

I finished about 1/3 of the asiago/provolone before opting to switch over to the all asiago variety.  There was definitely a noticeable difference between the two.  In this case the tomato is less obvious and the cheese is stronger, but since it's the cheese I liked better I didn't mind.  However, this wasn't enough to make it a clear favorite of the two choices.  I can't actually decide which I thought was better-- both are just slightly different but are ultimately on par in terms of taste.  If I were forced to choose I would pick the all asiago variety because even though the cheese was more pronounced, the taste on the whole was milder.  But ideally, given the choice, I would choose to not eat either.

They're just messy and pungent and full of flavors that I don't particularly like.  You have to LOVE portobello mushrooms to like this sandwich and neither Colin nor I feel that way about them.

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Portobello and Provolone
Gooey-ness:	6 - by FAR the messiest yet
Aroma:	5
Appearance:	Crazy looking!  Runny and brown-- where's the bread?!
Taste:	D+

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!

Yuck-- not a successful week for us.  Let's hope that next week we'll get back on track.