Category: sandwiches

Seafood Club at Cafe Brazil

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

I’ve been busy with freelance work over the past week and I haven’t been able to post as many entries as I’d like. In any case, after heading home from the office on Saturday evening, I suggested to Mike that we could head off to Cafe Brazil for some cake or ice cream (what better way to end the workday?).

My initial plan was to go for some cake, though I hadn’t quite decided on chocolate cake or cheesecake at the time. However, after looking at the menu their Brownie Espresso Sundae caught my eye as a dessert encompassing both chocolate and ice cream. Mike wisely noted that the espresso could keep me up at night and so I ordered the sundae sans espresso.

Mike was much less hungry than I was and he was initially going to order just a cheese potato from the side-orders section. However, I suggested to him that he needn't limit himself to just smaller dishes as I could always split a larger entree with him (in addition to the sundae, natch).

So, Mike decided on the Seafood Club from the Sandwiches side of the menu. They describe it as a club sandwich with salmon, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo. I was concerned a bit about how a fish-based club sandwich would turn out, but we decided to give it a try.

It wasn’t much of a “club sandwich” in the traditional sense — it only had two slices of bread (not three), it was cut in half (not quarters) and there was only single layer of meat (not interleaved with bacon and tomato). Delusions on club-sandwichness aside, it was actually a delicious sandwich. Really, the salmon made the sandwich — the flaky pink filet would have been suitable as part of any salmon entree.

After enjoying half of Mike’s Seafood Club, I moved on to my Brownie Sundae. Though the salmon was stupendous, the sundae was a bit less than I expected. For one thing, the menu boasted that the sundae was drizzled with Hershey’s chocolate sauce — and it was — but Hershey’s corn syrup chocolate sauce doesn’t exactly raise the bar of chocolate excellence.

And though the ice cream was mostly fine, the brownie had room for improvement. Now, maybe it was just me — Mike actually really liked the brownie. My brownie of choice tends towards a dense and fudgey brownie. On the other hand, this brownie was more crumbly and almost crunchy. It was the type of brownie that, when heated, would probably just become brittle rather than melting into a pleasant chocolate ooze.

In the end, I was still pleased with my meal. Sure, the brownie sundae didn’t quite turn out as I had expected, but the salmon club more than made up for it. Dessert-wise, I’ll probably stick to cakes at Cafe Brazil. And I won’t hesitate to order that Seafood Club again sometime.

Dijon, You’re All Right With Me

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

Back when I learned of Good Eats’ grilled cheese recipe, I wasn’t terribly enthused about the Dijon mustard called for in the recipe. Really, I haven’t liked Dijon mustard for some time. But, after thinking it over, I realized that maybe it was just me — maybe it was just the particular Dijon that I had been exposed to over the years.

Growing up, my parents enjoyed Grey Poupon with various dishes. And, I tried it several times over the years but didn’t quite like it. But, after seeing Dijon mustard used by so many television chefs, I got to thinking that maybe I should give Dijon another chance. And, I also came to realize that Grey Poupon isn’t the “gourmet French mustard” that it pretended to be — it’s made by Kraft!

So, the next time the grilled cheese episode of Good Eats aired, I paid special attention to the mustard that Alton used (I trust his views on food, after all). I didn’t get that good a look, but I noticed its black label and made a mental note of the jar’s approximate size.

Next time I visited Target, I strolled down their mustard aisle to see what I could find. Sure enough, I found a couple likely candidates from Maille. Their labels are black and their jars looked about right size. There were two varieties: original Dijon and wholegrain. Figuring that the wholegrain version might have more Dijon essence, I decided to go for that one. And, besides, at $2.50, it wasn’t a big investment in case it turned out that I didn’t like it.

That evening, I prepared my tuna sandwiches for the following day (typically, I would have a tuna sandwich for breakfast and lunch, though I’ve been having omelettes for breakfast recently). And, I decided to give the new Maille Wholegrain Dijon a try. So, I slathered on a layer to each of the sandwiches. I prepared the tuna and completed the sandwiches.

Though I made the Dijon-tuna sandwiches last night, I only had a chance to try one today. And, to my pleasant surprise, it was rather tasty. There wasn’t any of that weird Grey Poupon-esque aftertaste and the Maille Dijon was also more flavorful (yet somehow more subtle) than the brown mustards I was used to. As an unexpected bonus, the wholegrain nature of the mustard also created little “flavor pockets” of mustard that burst in each bite.

I’m guessing that Grey Poupon may still not be my cup of tea, but I’m satisfied with my $2.50 investment into Maille. Perhaps I’ll even try the original Dijon next time, just to see how its flavor profile compares to the wholegrain.

Grilled Cheese Recipe from Good Eats

Ashley Bischoff12 Comments

I enjoy watching Good Eats on Food Network — it’s a cooking show hosted by Alton Brown. Each episode, he goes over recipes around a common theme along with the science behind why things cook the way they do (not to worry, this isn’t a science show).

Just last night, I saw the episode “For Whom the Cheese Melts”. The episode was about melting cheese and, ostensibly, fondue. I had a small hope that maybe he’d sneak in a Metallica reference during the show, but he didn’t go for that. And, for the most part, the fondue recipes didn’t interest me much since I have no plans to make fondue on my own.

However, the episode did conclude with what Alton calls “the best grilled cheese sandwich you have ever had”. Well, I looked forward to that segment since I not only enjoy grilled cheese, but I expected that the recipe wouldn’t be terribly difficult either.

The full recipe is below, but these are the key points:

  • Grate the cheese first, as it apparently melts more evenly [I didn’t know this.]
  • In addition to the cheese, Alton also adds a spoonful of Dijon mustard and fresh ground pepper to the sandwich [Sounds good to me!]
  • Use a spritzing of olive oil on the outside, instead of butter [I suppose it makes sense that olive oil may impart a more delicate flavor to the sandwich.]
  • Use two heated skillets, stacked, to cook the sandwich from both sides [This hadn’t occurred to me either.]

And, here’s the recipe itself:

Big Cheese Squeeze

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats
Episode: For Whom the Cheese Melts

Ingredients:

  • 2 slices of bread, cut thin (as far as bread selection goes, all I’ll say is the bigger the loaf the bigger the sandwich)
  • 1 teaspoon (or more) smooth Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup Grated cheese (This is the soul of the thing, so use the good stuff. We like a semi-hard, semi-soft combo like smoked gouda and Gruyere or Fontina with a young Asiago. If you’re a purist, go for the Cheddar, but make it sharp and aged if possible.)
  • Good quality olive oil for spritzing.

Preparation:

Find 2 heavy skillets that will nest together. Two (10-inch) cast iron skillets are ideal. Heat them over high heat.

Meanwhile, spread mustard on one slice of bread. Distribute the cheese evenly over the mustard, season with fresh black pepper and top with second piece of bread.

Spritz the bread surface that’s staring up at you with olive oil using either a Misto or a pump sprayer. A light coat will do, don’t soak.

When the pans are hot enough to vigorously sizzle a drop of water, remove them from the heat and place the sandwich, top-side down in the middle of one pan. (if your pans are a different size, this would be the smaller one.) Spritz the slice now facing you, as well as the bottom of the other skillet. Lay the skillet right on top of the sandwich. If the top pan isn't cast iron, weigh it down with a brick, can, or something of similar heft.

Wait patiently, crack a beer. When you hear the first bit of cheese run out and sizzle on the pan, it’s done. This will take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes.

Carefully remove the top skillet, (you may need to coax it off with a spatula, but I doubt it). Just look at it. It’s perfect…better than mom’s. (no reason to tell her)

Remove to a plate, count to 10 and slice it in half. Take a bite. Take another. So they lost… there’s always next year.

I look forward to trying one of these sandwiches. I prefer other mustards to Dijon, so perhaps I’ll substitute another mustard. And, since all my skillets are aluminum (or some other non-iron metal), I’ll have to find a heavy object to place on top of the skillets.

Mike Makes an Elvis

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

After reading about the deliciousness that I encountered, Mike writes about his adventures in creating an Elvis sandwich (yeah, the peanut butter / banana / bacon one), complete with pictures of the event. In particular, he cleverly solved the butter-on-the-cutting-board problem by buttering one side of each slice of bread, and then placing the buttered-sides inwards before adding the peanut butter.

In other news, my former employer called me in today for a freelance job for the week. It’s one of these where the project became delayed (for various reasons) but the deadline stayed the same. So, I’ll be putting in a lot of hours this week and I may not have a chance to write many entries.

The Elvis: Peanut Butter, Bacon, and Banana

Ashley Bischoff11 Comments

I have my TiVo setup to auto-record shows with various keywords, such as “brownies” and “sandwich*” (no kidding). So, it auto-recorded the All About Peanut Butter episode of Sara’s Secrets that aired recently. Among the recipes — and the one that triggered the recording — was The Elvis, which is a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

According to The Presley Family Cookbook, the sandwich eaten by Elvis contained only peanut butter and bananas (which was then pan-fried, of course). However, the chef from Peanut Butter & Co (the guest on Sara’s Secrets) spoke of a variety with bacon as well. And that sounded mighty tasty.

So, during my trip to Super Target on Friday, I picked up some bacon and bananas (we already have peanut butter and Mike has some honey). The bananas were a bit green around the edges, at the time, but they were just perfect by today (small brown speckles here and there). So, Mike and I decided to embark on the Elvis adventure.

We started by frying the bacon and, as a non-bacon-connoisseur, I was surprised by how much the bacon shrank during cooking (some 10-inch pieces shrank to about half that size). The bacon happened to be low sodium, but I’d be kidding myself if I were to say that it made a difference to the overall healthiness of the dish ;).

As Mike kept watch of the bacon, I prepared the bread — which was just a matter of buttering the outside of each slice and spreading peanut butter on the other side of one slice (so, invariably, some slices end up butter-side down on the cutting board). I then sliced a banana length-wise and placed those pieces onto the peanut-buttered sides.

Once the bacon was ready, I placed the bacon on top of the banana (which, of course, was on top of the peanut butter). Each sandwich was about to hold about four slices of bacon. And, I drizzled some honey on top of the bacon to finish it off. After that, we grilled them grilled-cheese style in the pan.

Sure, Velvet Elvises are good, but the bacon is a really nice touch. In particular, its oily saltiness goes very well with the peanut butter. And, the honey gives balance to the sandwich’s sweet-vs-savory nature.

Believe it or not, Mike and I each had two of these artery-busting monsters. And, man, they were fantastic. We both agreed that we’d have to make them more often :). Though the recipe is fairly straightforward, here's also the official version from the show:

The Elvis

Recipe courtesy Peanut Butter & Co.
Show: Sara’s Secrets
Episode: All About Peanut Butter

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 8 slices white bread
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 large, ripe banana, sliced
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 12 slices bacon, Sauteed until crispy (optional)

Preparation:

Spread the butter on 1 side of each slice of bread. On the other side of half of the slices spread peanut butter. Place banana slices on top of peanut butter. Drizzle honey over bananas. Place 3 bacon slices on top of the banana, then place the remaining buttered bread slices on top, butter-side-out.

Place sandwiches on a preheated grill pan or griddle. Flip them over when they become golden brown and crispy. When the sandwiches are browned on both sides, remove to plates. Slice in half and serve immediately.