The Beast

This week's challenge was to create a sandwich with Jarlsberg Swiss (or as the Wik's like to say Norweign Cheese).  Knowing that the challenger was a vegetarian, I tried to stick to that.  Don't get me wrong, I love meat but sometimes it's nice to take a little break.  With that said here are the ingredients:

2 Slices of bread (we experimented with Rye and Wegmens' Wheat Bread)
A couple slices of Swiss Cheese (enough to cover one side of the bread)
1 Potato chopped after baking
1 Portobello Mushroom, sliced
2 Slices of onion chopped
Pam cooking spray
A little Thyme crushed in your palm
A little Rosemary crushed in your palm
A small amount of Olive Oil for cooking your onion
A dash of Salt and Pepper

Begin by cooking your potato.  If you haven't baked a potato before it is super easy and can be very healthy.  Pre - heat your oven to 350°, scrub, and prick your potato with a fork.  Rub a small amount of olive oil on the outside and sprinkle a little salt.  Wrap potato in tin foil and cook for about an hour.

Once your potato is cooked chop it into small pieces, along with your onion.  Slice up your mushroom and your are ready to move onto the next step.  In a frying pan heat your oil, once the oil is heated cook your onion and mushrooms.  Add your potato, and season all with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.  It will look like this:

You are now ready to assemble "The Beast."  I suggest assembling on a cutting board, because it is a nice flat surface.  Put your sliced cheese on the bread and have your wonderful assistant put the filling on:

Your sandwich will now look like this:

Now the choice is yours, you can go all old school and use a frying pan, or you can use a George Foreman Grill.  I like both methods, but in the interest of time we went with the George Foreman as it gives you some nice grill marks.  Spray your pan with the Pam and put your sandwiches on to cook:

It only takes about 2 minutes a side, or until you start to see the cheese coming out.  Time to cut into the sandwich:

Repeat if making multiple sandwiches like us:

So, now our notes on the sandwich.  We liked the sandwich, but would add Dijon Mustard to the sandwich before grilling, as it tasted like we needed a little something more.  Seasoning on the sandwich was good, but we probably needed to add a bit more to get some more flavor.  About that potato, even though my lovely assistant was unsure about this ingredient, he said that it actually tasted good on here.  Our final thought was that while tasty, the sandwich lacked visual appeal.  In the future we would add a little roasted red pepper, to give some color and a little added flavor.

On next weeks addition we'll be celebrating a special birthday in our household.  With that, time permitting i'll be doing a double feature here.  The always delicious and requested Ruben Sandwich, and my third try at Grandma Miller's Pittsburgh Brisket (I think I have the recipe figured out now).  See you all next week!!

The Beginning

Many people tell me, "oh you are such a good cook."  I'll let you in on a little secret, i'm not a good cook, i'm a cook who likes to try new recipes and see how I can change them.

I grew up in Rochester, NY close enough to Buffalo, NY to feel it's food influences.  Well maybe not the cities food culture, but I definitely was getting  food culture.  Here is a little background so you get to understand where I started my food adventure.

My Oma (Grandmother) came here from Germany with her family's recipes and the ability to make massive amounts of food from very few ingredients.  Most of her dishes were prepared with butter. When I would journey to Oma's house there was always food, and if I was lucky sometimes I was roped into helping.  I have to say this is where my love affair with food began, and definitely my drive to cook.  I will, from time to time share with you techniques from Oma's kitchen, but will not be sharing the recipes.  Now I hear your moans of sadness, but these recipes are old and not mine to share.  I will however share with you other recipes that I have come up with and come across.

 I will also be taking challenges from time to time.  Feel free to give me a food item that I must use in a dish.  Challenge could include Vegetarian, Vegan, or any other cooking paradigm.

My next post will be next weekend, with a challenge from http://forkandbrush.blogspot.com/  her post was about a sandwich she made.  This intrigued me, a challenge to make a sandwich with Norwegian Cheese (Jarlsberg Swiss) was put forth and I accepted.  Until next time...