Spinach and Goat Cheese Croissant

This week's sandwich was infinitely easier to make than last week's, but then I think just about anything would have been.  To set the scene, there are only a select few sandwiches whose photos were deemed worthy of inclusion in GGC, and the spinach and goat cheese croissant is one of them.  As a result, it's one I've been salivating over for awhile!  At long last, its day in the sun has come.

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:	Spinach and Goat Cheese Croissant
Gooey-ness:	2
Aroma:	4
Appearance:	Golden outside with green spinach oozing out of the sides.
Taste:	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).

Brunch Grilled Cheese

Before I dive in I'd just like to say that this is, without question, the craziest grilled cheese I've made to date.  Reading the recipe I could hardly believe my eyes, which meant I definitely needed to try it!  Once again it comes to us from the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Academy who you may remember from a certain superstar sandwich known as The Pilgrim.  That sandwich was so good that I had nothing but faith that this one would also prove to be a winner.

Let's start with the ingredients:

Milk, 2 large russet potatoes, white bread, 8 ounces brie, 8 slices of bacon, 6 eggs, vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon, canola oil, butter, salt and pepper and optional maple syrup.  Already these sound like all the necessary ingredients for a tasty breakfast, but the thought that somehow they would all end up on the same sandwich blew my mind!

First came the most labor intensive part of the whole process-- making my own hash browns.  I peeled both potatoes, put them in a pot of cold water and brought that pot to a boil.

Once the water was boiling I reduced the heat and let the potatoes simmer for 5 minutes before turning off the heat and letting them sit undisturbed for 15-20 minutes.

While this was going on I whipped up (literally) a dipping mixture that was clearly intended for making French toast.  The recipe called for 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg.  I had some heavy cream that I've been meaning to use, so I went with that instead of milk.  Also, my "pinch" of cinnamon got a little out of control, but I wasn't worried as cinnamon french toast is tasty!

Once this was mixed I put it in the fridge to hang out until I was ready for it (I also used this down time to remove the rind from the brie and cut it into slices).  Then it was back to making hash browns.  Once the potatoes had finished sitting in the water I rinsed them with cold water and was supposed to wait for them to fully cool, but I'm not the most patient person in the world, so after a cursory rinse with cold water I barrelled on to the next step-- grating the potatoes with the large side of my box grater.

Not letting the potatoes cool fully came back to haunt me here as I grated towards the center of the potatoes and found them to be increasingly hot.  No problem, I would just re-rinse with cold water when it got too hot to handle (I'll leave out any cheesy reference to playing hot potato).

I didn't end up using all of both potatoes because I deemed my pile of potato shavings to be pretty massive well before I had finished grating both potatoes (after all, there are only two of us).  So when I felt like I had a good amount I put an even layer in the bottom of my skillet (where I had been heating 4 Tbsp of oil-- I was using vegetable instead of canola).

I was instructed to let this cook for 5 minutes on one side (or until browned) and then flip the whole thing with a wide spatula.  Well, that didn't happen.  Despite explicit instructions to not disturb the potatoes while cooking I made quite a mess of flipping the potatoes and ended up with several different clumps of potatoes rather than one big potato pancake.  Oh well, as long as all the clumps were browned on both sides I felt OK.

Next came cooking the bacon.  Nothing special to note here, just fry it up and drain it on a paper towel.

This was followed by frying 4 eggs.  I opted to drain the pan of the bacon grease prior to cooking the eggs and to use a spritz of cooking spray to make sure the eggs didn't stick to the pan.  At this point I had concluded that making 2 sandwiches for each of us would be WAY too much food, so I decided to cut back to three, meaning I fried 3 eggs instead of 4.

Next up I retrieved the dipping mixture from the fridge and re-whisked it to make sure the cinnamon and nutmeg were evenly distributed.  I think we can all see where this is headed.  I dipped one slice of bread at a time in the dipping mixture and fried it up in the frying pan (that had been primed with butter prior to).  Once both sides were nicely browned I would remove the bread and move on to the next piece until I had 6 slices of fully executed French toast.

Now it was time to build the sandwiches! 

First came three slices of french toast with 1 ounce of brie spread evenly on each slice (although I think this layer really equated to more than an ounce each).

This was followed by the hash browns...

... the eggs...

... the bacon...

... the rest of the brie...

and the remaining French toast slices!  Eek!  So much food!  Into the pan each sandwich went for one more quick fry to help melt the brie (but not so long as to burn the French toast).  And so, one and a half hours of labor intensive cooking later, the sandwiches were ready for consumption!

Taste Review:

Perhaps one of my favorite kitchen aromas is that of cooking cinnamon, which is exactly the aroma given off by this sandwich.  Yum!  Biting into the sandwich the first thing I really tasted was the bacon, mostly because it's so salty, but the more I chewed the more the other flavors started to make their presence known.  I guess the best way to describe this is telling you to think of what it would taste like if you took a bite of all of your breakfast at once and added a slice of brie cheese.

I was worried that using French toast as the bread would mean that the sandwich didn't have a crunch to it at all, but the fried potatoes and, more notably, the bacon both provided a crunchy element to contrast the soft eggs, cheese and bread (if the potatoes had been even crunchier that would've been great).  I also worried about the French toast being the lone sweet element to the sandwich-- would the sandwich taste too sweet despite the savory ingredients?  No.  The savory ingredients are actually really salty, so the French toast was noticeable, but was just the right level of sweet (and the hint of vanilla was just perfect).  The recipe suggests optional maple syrup on the side and I tried it on one bite, but that did make things too sweet.  Colin opted for some ketchup and was pleased with that decision.

I also wasn't sure about the decision to use a milder cheese for this sandwich.  With the number of different flavors going on I was wondering if something like Gruyere might have been more appropriate.  But really, the level of sharpness provided via the salty ingredients would've been too intense with a sharp cheese.  The brie was a good choice because it was just strong enough-- something like mozzarella would've been too weak and Gruyere would've been too strong.  The only change I might've made would've been to get a creamier brie instead of the buttery brie (but alas that was $4 more per pound and I'm cheap) because after eating the sandwich for awhile you do start to get a little overwhelmed by the brie (that could've been because I opted to take the bacon off of my sandwiches and that had been part of what balanced the brie out).

This really is everything you could want in a brunch distilled into one sandwich.  If you don't drop dead from a heart attack immediately after eating one then you'll be one happy camper!

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Brunch Grilled Cheese
Gooey-ness:	2.5
Aroma:	4
Appearance:	Over stuffed, but ultimately has very bland colors.
Taste:	A-

This would've been an A, but I took some points off for how labor intensive it was.  A good way to avoid that in the future would be to not make your own hash browns.  I could've saved some time by just using frozen.

Grilled Brie with Apricot Jam

Despite hailing from the "sweet grilled cheese" section of GGC, this week's sandwich could be enjoyed equally as an appetizer or an entree (personally I love turning appetizers into my entree, so this is win win for me)!  Most everyone loves a good brie en croute and that's basically what this sandwich is.  As such, the ingredients were easy to come by:

One fresh baguette, a wedge of brie, apricot jam (or really any jam of your choosing) and butter.  Bam!  We're ready to go.

First up: halve the baguette and cut it into four equal lengths.  Cutting the baguette underscored the importance of using fresh bread.  If the bread isn't relatively fresh it will be much more difficult to cut and won't be soft and easy to bite into/chew once you've made the actual sandwiches. 

As is the norm with rounded bread the next step was pulling out some of the inside to create wells.  You don't have to scrape every last bit out, but make sure to remove enough to allow you a place to put your brie and jam (and no, that's not a euphemism).

I had left the brie out of the fridge so it was room temperature and easy to work with.  However, removing the rind proved to be a challenge (as always).  Nonetheless with some patience and ample scraping I was good to go.

Yummm I want to eat this whole thing!

While the brie patiently waited I slathered the inside of four of the pieces of the bread with about 1 Tbsp of jam each.

Next came the brie sliced unceremoniously into pieces that I deemed the appropriate size to fit on the sandwiches.  Once that was set I placed the other four slices on top to create my sandwiches.

This is the first time that a recipe called for me brushing butter onto the exterior of the sandwiches that I actually chose to do so (turns out a small craft brush does the job just fine-- don't worry, it had never been used).  I melted about 2 Tbsp of butter and generously covered the outside of the sandwiches with it.  I grilled each sandwich in my non-stick pan until the cheese was as melted as it was going to get without me burning the bread.  That meant that covering the sandwiches while cooking was particularly important this time! 

Taste Review:

The baguette formed a pretty solid crust around the brie which meant that there was virtually no aroma.  Biting into the sandwich you notice that the crunch of the bread and the creaminess of the cheese and jam are perfect compliments to one another.  I was worried that, despite using a fresh baguette, the bread would get too hard during cooking, but this was just right.  It was crispy on the outside and had that crackery crunch, but the inside was pure softness.

Brie is just a great cheese.  Despite the less than stellar Salmon and Brie Quesadilla, there is rarely an instance where I've used brie and been disappointed (and to be fair, it wasn't the brie's fault in the case of the quesadilla).  The way the brie melts to be so smooth and creamy, thus blending with all the other flavors in the sandwich, is but one of its many virtues.

One quick note-- the brushing on of the melted butter proved to be a key to the sandwich's success.  Something about a thin even coating of butter on the outside gave just enough of a buttery taste so that it was noticeable, but wasn't overwhelming you in some places and going missing in others (as can be the case when you spread on butter).  It also made cooking a lot more even-- you can see it has a sort of golden glow over the whole top of the sandwich even though the darker center section is really where contact was made with the pan.

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Grilled Brie with Apricot Jam
Gooey-ness:	3.5
Aroma:	1
Appearance:	Looks bland and boring (but looks can be deceiving).
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!

Colin contended that he would like this as an appetizer but it didn't fill him up as a meal.  But seeing as how I eat less than him (and prefer appetizers to entrees), I was happy as a clam with this one.

Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese

This week we're going off book and featuring a non-GGC sandwich.  Recently a friend of mine asked if I had ever tried a grilled cheese made with pimento cheese.  I had not (and, shamefully, can't remember having ever actually tried pimento cheese), so I decided to give it a go.  My initial research yielded me an interesting factoid: pimento cheese sandwiches are a signature item at the Masters Tournament.  Don't believe me?  Well, check out this link.  What almost perfect timing!  Sadly I didn't learn this in time to make the sandwich for the actual Masters Tournament, but I'm only about a week and a half late and can take this opportunity to test out a recipe for use next year. 

I went ahead and used the original recipe from the above link (not the blogger's modified version).  The ingredients seemed easy enough, but I did make one mis-step.

The recipe called for wheat bread, but I couldn't help but try it on my beloved Pepperidge Farm sourdough.  Add to that some extra sharp Vermont cheddar, onion, mayonnaise and chili sauce and I was on the right track.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find pimentos in the store.  I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even know what I was looking for, so I ended up mistakenly buying pre-made pimento spread.  Well, the whole point of this recipe is to make my own pimento spread, so this would not do.  I called my grocery shopping consultant (Mom) and asked for a description of pimentos and had no trouble finding them on my second trip to the store (oddly enough, they were in the Hispanic food section).  For those of you who may also struggle as I did, here they are:

Anywho, I assumed that the recipe I found excluded some important "/" marks and that the recipe did not actually call for 14 cups of pimentos, so I started out with this big guy and finely chopped him until I had about 1/4 cup (making sure to drain the juice from him as much as possible as I worked).

Then I went ahead and grated half of my block of cheddar (approx. 4 ounces).

Next came all of the mix ins-- the diced pimentos, 2 T mayonnase and 1/2 t. hot sauce.

I mashed this together pretty thoroughly with a fork until I had the following:

It said salt to taste, but since I never salt my food I just left it as is.

Next it was time to assemble the sandwiches.  I buttered one side of two slices of sourdough and piled on the pimento.  I used almost all of the cheese on just two sandwiches (maybe because I love cheese so much), but that was fine, just note that you'd have to multiply the recipe for more people.

Next came a few thin slivers of sweet onion.  I was a little nervous about putting raw onion on the sandwich, but decided to trust the recipe.

Unfortunately, my other ingredient mis-step was an inability to locate watercress.  I took several turns about the produce section to no avail, so I decided to do without  (I mean come on, who needs more veggies? :-P).

I believe the Masters variety is served as is, but it wouldn't be a grilled cheese if I didn't grill it!  So into the pan they went and mere minutes later I was ready to devour the melty perfection.

Taste Review:

The first word that popped into my head when I tasted this sandwich was "feisty!"  I'm not sure exactly why since that's not a standard sandwich descriptor, but something about the blend of flavors makes this quite a fun sandwich.  The sandwich has a good texture to it-- that perfect blend of crunchy bread with just the right amount of creamy filling (although sometimes the filling gets a little runny and falls out of the sandwich).

The use of a roasted pepper reminds me of the Two Cheese Mediterranean, but it was improved here by the fact that the pepper had been finely diced rather than being served as one big slippery pepper (it was almost too much to handle in the other sandwich). 

Even though I was worried about what the raw onion might do to the sandwich, it proved to be a great addition!  It was the middle ground between the slightly sweet pimento and the sharp cheddar (I think the key being that this is a sweet onion).

The most shocking statement of the night came from Colin who said that he felt the level of spiciness was actually good and that he wouldn't add any condiments (or anything else) to the sandwich because it already contains everything he would add (read: Sriracha).

I can see why people like pimento cheese as a dip.  I would happily scoop this onto a cracker, veggies, or any other appropriate dipper, so including it in a grilled cheese was certainly a great move!

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese
Gooey-ness:	5
Aroma:	2
Appearance:	Very orange!
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!

Overall it's a sandwich that is truly worthy of The Masters!

National Grilled Cheese Month (and an Apology)

First off, I must start with an apology for the degree to which I have been slacking on posting as of late; an action that is particularly unforgivable given that this month is National Grilled Cheese Month!  In tribute I'm bringing you this post-- a hodge podge of grilled cheese factoids, a refresher on grilled cheese making tips and pitfalls to avoid, and how to find delicious grilled cheeses in your own home town.

Did you know that Americans make, on average, 2.2 billion grilled cheeses at home each year? (Although I'm single-handedly working to push this number higher.)  And while I recently crowned my favorite sandwiches and ingredients, I recently discovered that the most popular cheeses for grilled cheese are cheddar and American.  I totally understand why.  Cheddar is one of my favorites for making a wide variety of grilled cheeses whereas American is the ingredient in the beloved classic grilled cheese. 

It's great to think about what the majority of Americans prefer, but let's talk about a few tips to ensure success when making your own grilled cheeses at home.  I know I've touched on many of these throughout the past year, but it never hurts to have a handy all encompassing reference point.

* Use a non-stick pan.  While my grandma may have relied on her cast iron skillet, the best way to ensure an evenly cooked, easy to flip sandwich is to cook it in a non-stick pan.  End of story.

* Put the butter on the bread, not in the pan.  You want the butter to end up on the bread anyway, right?  Why not just take care of that up front?

* Don't be afraid to alter the cooking process.  From smushing the sandwich together to make sure the ingredients are trapped inside to covering the sandwich to ensure the cheese melts, a variety of tactics can be employed once the sandwich is inside the pan to help assure it is cooked to perfection.  While everyone may experiment and come up with their own tactics, I've found smushing and covering to be two of the most useful.

And the number one most useful tip that I tell everyone who asks me about how to make a good grilled cheese?

GRATE THE CHEESE! 

It's as simple as that.  Grated cheese allows for even coverage, more volume, and, most importantly, perfect melting.  Slices of cheese that are too thick tend to not melt thoroughly and slices that are too thin tend to just hold their square shape and not really cover the sandwich up to the very edge.

This brings me to the most common pitfalls associated with grilled cheesing.  Let me start this off with a story.  Last week I was traveling for work and found myself in Atlanta on National Grilled Cheese Day (April 13).  Since I couldn't celebrate by making one of my favorites I opted to order a grilled cheese for lunch.  Unfortunately for me this Friday the 13th lived up to its unlucky reputation and the sandwich I got was quite the disappointment.  The sliced cheese sat smack in the middle of the sandwich leaving a solid inch of crust around it and the thick tomato slices and overcooked bacon did little to make up for the lack of sufficient cheese.

Looks innocent enough, right?  Don't be fooled!

I felt bad as I had persuaded some of my fellow diners to order grilled cheeses as well in honor of the day, but was dismayed to hear that they all thought the sandwich was good!  This showed me that the average person doesn't necessarily know what to look for in a top notch grilled cheese.  So in addition to adhering to the above principles when possible, here are some tips on avoiding grilled cheese disaster.

* When cooking at home, be patient.  Better to cook the sandwich on a lower heat for longer than try to get the sandwich made quickly and burn the outside.  If you don't cook low and slow you'll end up with burned bread and cheese that has not melted.  This is something I struggle with both because of my gas stove and because I'm impatient, but it's advice to be heeded whenever possible.

* More cheese doesn't ALWAYS mean it's better (just most of the time, hehe).  But for real, be mindful of the balance of ingredients-- are you using something strong like garlic?  Then maybe keep that under control so as to not drown everything else out (a lesson learned from the Green Goddess).  Conversely, are you going for the gooiest sandwich possible?  Then don't be afraid to pile on the cheese (even if it oozes out into the pan-- crispy cheese bits are duh-lic-ious).  Basically, find the recipe that works for you and run with it.

And, most importantly: don't order the "gourmet grilled cheese" at a non-grilled cheese restaurant unless there is actually something special about it.  Nine times out of ten I have found that these alleged "ultimate grilled cheeses" are just some variation of cheese, tomato, and bacon.  A delightful combination but, as related above, one that is often poorly handled.  That's not to say never order a grilled cheese at a restaurant, just be wise in doing so.  For instance, look to see if they've gotten innovative with their ingredients.  This probably means they've put some thought into it and thus it's potentially worth your time.

The addition of avocado and extra gooey cheese took this otherwise standard grilled cheese to a higher level.

But what to do when you really want a great restaurant-made grilled cheese?  Well, lucky for us all, grilled cheese fever is rapidly spreading.  Before I travel I make a point of researching potential grilled cheese deliciousness and so far have always found a restaurant that offers a famous grilled cheese (see: Field Reports).  Food and Wine even compiled this useful list of some of their favorite sandwiches from across the country.  And while the majority of the sandwiches are located in major metropolitan areas, there are enough small town spots to make me optimistic that there's a quality grilled cheese lurking virtually anywhere!  (Five Guys even gets a shoutout for theirs, and we know those are easy to find.)  And even after searching high and low you still can't find a good grilled cheese near you, perhaps it's time to try your hands as a grilled cheese restaurateur?  I'll be happy to pay you a visit!  Until then I'll continue to try and find my way to the Grilled Cheese Invitational.