Italian Sandwich

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet.  This is our go-to meal now.  I love it (and so do Brody and Lainee.  Charlotte will at least eat the turkey part).

8 hoagies/ larger sandwich rolls
1/2 jar of pesto sauce
1 lb deli turkey
1/2 provolone cheese

So you cut the rolls in half (like you're making a sandwich, people).
Spread about a tablespoon of pesto on one side of each roll.
Add a couple pieces of turkey.
Add a piece of cheese.

Wrap in foil and bake on 450 for about 10 minutes.  We sometimes skip the foil and broil for 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot.  We add nacho doritos and apple slices to the side.  This works great as a picnic item.  You can wrap them in foil and throw them on a grill, or heat them before hand and stick in a cooler (which, in this case, isn't so much a cooler as it is a keep-warmer).  If you use the cooler, please note that it will not keep cold things cold and hot things hot if you put cold things and hot things in the cooler at the same time.  (thanks Sven and Ole for that life lesson.  Some things are best learned through other's experiences and not your own).

These work well as leftovers too.

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French Dip

I decided to use Melissa's French Dip recipe a couple of weeks ago, in response to her challenge (2 points). I just didn't upload pictures from my camera until now.

I have never made French Dips before (5 points). And this is not a dessert (1 point). I did make a few changes to the recipe, basically because I had a roast in the freezer (from a quarter beef we bought a few months ago - food storage - 1 point) and I didn't want to buy au jus in a packet, for digestive reasons I'd prefer not to get into. For starters, I put sliced onions and chopped garlic in the crock pot,

threw the roast on top of it, added a little water, salt and pepper,

and let it go all day. So, it wasn't exactly sliced roast beef - more like shredded, but it was fabulous. I'll mention here that the onions were some transplants from Amy's Worthington house's garden that I grew in my garden this year (1 point). They are terrific in a roast. The garlic was also grown in my garden (1 point).

The second great part of this plan was that I didn't have to buy a packet of au jus. It was a natural by-product of making the roast myself.

The hoagies were store-bought. I had originally thought to make my own, but didn't get to it that day. Next time, I'll make them myself. They cost a fortune at the grocery store.

We melted mozarella on them (from our deep freezer - food storage - 1 point). They were really good. It is funny how a meal this good could have escaped my brain for so long. I think this will be at least a monthly dinner item in our household. Yum!

And if I can claim 12 points when I didn't really follow her recipe all the way, I'll take it!

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Comfort Foods: Beans and Bread

Okay, I have no good title for this one. It is an homage to Grandma and Grandpa Pratt.

Admittedly, one of the first tests of my marriage was introducing Stef to Grandma Pratt's cooking. Stef barely survived the experience. It's not that Grandma Pratt didn't know how to cook, it's that she wasn't willing to spend any money on ingredients. So if she had leftover piecrust, green beans, and canned beef, well, she'd make it work. Or at least try.

But there was one time they devised something that was truly great out of leftovers:

Grill a slice of homemade bread.
Pour baked beans (from a can, hormel or van camp's work just fine) on top.
Put a slice of fresh tomato on top of that.
Then melt a slice of mozarella cheese on top of that.

After the Whole-Wheat Griddle cakes with Santa Barbara Plum Jam, this has to be my favorite Pratt recipe. The Burnham side is another story - my mom and grandma and great-grandma have 'the gift' with cooking - but the Pratt side produced just two great recipes.

By the way, if anyone manages to perfect a recipe for the griddle cakes(it was made 'off-the-cuff'), be warned of the following:

As I understand chemistry (which is very little at all), when you combine elements, the new compound has properties that are unrelated to the properties of the original elements, e.g. flammable hydrogen plus fire-feeding oxygen = water, an extinguisher. The only exception to this rule is mass: You cannot create mass by combining elements. The mass of the new compound is the sum of the masses of the elements. Properties different. Mass same. There is only one exception to this law:

Pratt Whole-Wheat Griddle Cakes defy all of the laws of chemistry, physics, and gravity. Their atomic weight is greater than gold. If you can eat more than one, and they're good enough to make you want two, you need to be prepared for the fact that you've just swallowed fiber with a density that defies the law of physics - even light can't escape. Astronomers wondered for decades why their black hole studies consistently become erratic at 5:30 AM pacific time. It's because that's when Grandma got back from her morning walk and fired up the griddle and started mixing the Sprite and Buttermilk.

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Comfort Food: Grilled Cheese

The thing about comfort food is that it is often the most ordinary, even childish food that helps life to roll along more sweetly. Like grilled cheese sandwiches. But the even more glorious thing about comfort food is that it can and should be varied to fit your mood. For example. a grilled cheese sandwich can be made to recall perhaps the only decent food the WHS cafeteria ever served. You simply take a piece of white squishy bread and a slice of cheap cheddar and put it in the oven until the bread is cruchy and the cheese gets those little beads of oil congealing on the top. Not gourmet, but certainly not bad. That is, of course, if you have and pleasant memories of the WHS commons and want them recalled to your memory.

On the other hand, if you want a truly comforting experience, I suggest you consider a more gourmet approach. Just the other day I went to lunch with some friends and experienced the greatest grilled cheese I have eaten this side of the Atlantic. (The other side of the Atlantic is fodder for a different paragraph). I call this a "Grilled ABC" in which A is Avacado, B is Bacon, and C is Cheddar. And instead of squshy white bread, you have to use some really good bread. A sourdough would bring out the flavor of the avacado, or you could use some thick slices of Mom's homemade bread. (And by thick, I mean, Nancy cutting the bread style thick, not wimpy 1/2 inch slices, but at least double that.) You have to butter the bread on the outside, with whatever butter or margarine has the flavor you prefer. I actually prefer Blue Bonnet in this case. And by all means, throw two slices of cheese in there, one on either side of the avacado and bacon, so that the meltiness gets full coverage. and when you grill it, turn the heat on the burner only 3/4 of the way up, so that it takes a few minutes longer, allowing the stuff in the middle to get melty before the bread toasts up. Flip it only when the bread gets that lacy brown toasty pattern on it. Don't anticipate going back to a side to finish it off, you get one shot at the lacy brown texture.

Now, you can always throw other ingredients into the mix, if you don't have any bacon on hand, a slice of ham works quite nicely as well. And you can always pay homage to the Grandpa Pratt way of having a sandwich and throw fresh tomato in there, at which point you are not only honoring your heritage, but you are approaching the "other side of the Atlantic" way of doing it. Of course, then you need to baste your bread with a little egg and butter and put some emmental or swiss with the ham and tomato. Add some dijon mustard (this is pretty much the only way I will eat mustard!) and some italian herbs or a spice blend called "herbes de provence" and you have magically created a glorious thing called the "Croque Monsieur". Dad and Mom experienced the Croque Monsieur in France, and Dad has willingly admitted that it was in fact the best grilled cheese he had ever tasted in his life, with the qualifier that it was also the most expensive. Well, that is easily fixed by moking one of two choices: Make them at home, or take me with you next time you go to France. I would find both to be quite comforting!

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French Dip Sandwiches

These are my favorite. Really simple, but really good.

Hoagie buns (one for each person who's gonna be eating.)
1/2 lb roast beef (this makes about 4 sandwiches, if you're stingy.)
1/2 lb of some sort of white cheese (no I'm not racist. if you're feeling really gourmet, buy the deli havarti cheese for 8 bucks a pound)
some butter
1 packet au jus (we find this in the same aisle as the taco seasoning and all of those other little packets with the strange powders. (no thats not a drug reference, although maybe those strange poweders could cure this migraine that I've had for two days.))
2 cups water

Preheat oven to 400. Slice the hoagies and butter each side. Layer roast beef and non-racist cheese on one side of each hoagie. Stick them in the oven for about 7 minutes, or until the cheese is melty and the butter is melted.

Mix the water and the au jus powder in a sauce pan. Really, just follow the directions on the packet. No reason for me to type them out here.

Serve everything hot. Cut sandwiches into smaller pieces for those with smaller hands. If I'm feeling extra healthy (and really, I always should do this to balance out the havarti cheese) I'll steam some green beans and they taste pretty good dipped in the au jus as well.

Why is it called 'french dip' anyway? Did the french invent them? Or is it a fake out, like calling my primary instrument a 'french horn.' (its originally German, after all.) What makes this sort of thing french? Is this one of those mysteries of God that will only be answered after we die?

Can you tell I'm tired?

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