CEiMB – Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

When I make grilled cheese, this is how I start:

Then I add a whole mess of shredded cheese (usually Ementhaller) to some whole wheat bread. I cook the sandwich until the bread is crisp and the cheese melts over the sides and onto the pan.

I always knew this wasn’t an optimal meal for my cholesterol, but that didn’t stop me from eating grilled cheese sandwiches a lot. And when they’re made with butter in a screaming hot cast iron pan, something magical happens.

Well, unless you have a heart attack and don’t get to savor your sandwich. Which is why, when it was my turn to pick the recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly, I jumped for this one. I LOVE grilled cheese, but I have to find a way to make it healthier so I can continue to enjoy it without feeling like I’m gambling with my health. Ellie is one step ahead of me.

Ellie’s recipe includes caramelized red onions (the sweet) and Cheddar and pepper Jack cheese (the spicy).

I learned (again) a lesson with this one. Read the recipe completely before starting. Don’t think “I’ve made a zillion (actual number) grilled cheese sandwiches and I know how they go so I’m going to bypass the instructions.” No. Ellie gives key pieces of information (turn the heat to LOW) that will keep you from burning the bread and not melting the cheese.

I like a little more sweet and spicy in mine, so I added some jalapeno jelly. You could also add spicy mustard or honey mustard. If I had any in the house, I would have tucked in a few cilantro leaves as a nod to my favorite grilled cheese sandwich at Big Sky Cafe. It’s no longer on the menu but that used to be the quintessential grilled cheese for me. Ellie’s comes close, very close. In fact, it is way better than my butter laden go-to version. Give it a try…your arteries will thank you!

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (serves 4)

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 large red onion, finely diced
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces sharp Cheddar, thinly sliced, divided
8 slices whole-wheat bread
3 ounces pepper Jack cheese, thinly sliced, divided
1 large or 2 medium beefsteak or hothouse tomatoes, sliced
Cooking spray

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium. Add onions and saute, stirring, until edges are browned, about 10-12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place 3/4 ounce Cheddar on one slice of bread. Spread 1 tablespoon caramelized onions on top of cheese and top with 3/4 ounce of pepper Jack. Top with 1 large or 2 medium tomato slices and other slice of bread. Repeat with 3 other sandwiches.

Spray a non-stick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and heat until hot. Place sandwich on griddle and weigh down with a heavy skillet or plate. Lower heat to medium-low and grill until underside is a deep brown but not burnt, and cheese is partially melted, about 5-6 minutes. Flip sandwich and grill other side an additional 4-5 minutes. Slice in half and serve hot.

Barefoot Bloggers – Birthday Sheet Cake & Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

Welcome to chocolate overload zone!

I made these cakes on the same day during my Ramadan blogging hiatus. The making of both is somewhat of a blur (which you are no doubt thankful for). I was so geared up to make these, especially the sheet cake because who wouldn’t want a humongous chocolate cake with fudgy icing (well, except Kayte). See, in my mind, I had turned this into a chocolate sheet cake and was euphoric about the Barefoot Bloggers selections for September. Two cakes! Both chocolate! That is, until I realized this wasn’t a chocolate cake at all. Ultimate bummer.

We aren’t huge fans of white or yellow cake, so I doctored the cake batter with a healthy dose of Vietnamese cinnamon. The end result was a subtly cinnamon cake with chocolate icing that was delicious. It’s a very sturdy cake, not a tender crumb but perfect for a child’s birthday party. Since there were no available children having birthdays, I took this to the mosque to serve after iftar (the meal we have after breaking our fast in the evening) and it was very popular.

But Beatty’s chocolate cake was a transcendent chocolate experience. I pulled out all the stops and used the “good” chocolate as Ina always suggests. It was moist, and oh the frosting, the frosting, the frosting. I iced the cake in record time (hence the awful appearance and specks of butter, which melted right in and didn’t affect the texture or flavor) before I had to leave for the evening, and left the kitchen looking like it had been used for a kindergarten cooking class. Since I was fasting when I made and iced the cake, I didn’t taste any of it until I got home around midnight. Oh my. I licked the offset spatula, mixing bowl, paddle from the mixer and the plate on which I set the paddle. Too much information? Sorry. So much for losing weight during Ramadan.

This cake is The One. My new go-to chocolate cake recipe. As in go to this website and get the recipe. Make it tonight or this weekend. Just don’t deprive yourself (or the chocolate lover in your life) of it any longer than the weekend. I told M. I was making it for his birthday (which was last month, but he was on a business trip), and then I ate more of it than he did.

If you’d like to check out what the other Barefoot Bloggers did, you can find them all here.

TWD – Cottage Cheese Pufflets

First of all, I want to apologize for missing so many great Tuesdays with Dorie picks this month…espresso cheesecake brownies…chocolate souffle…apple turnovers…they all are things I would love and do plan to make. Just not right now.

Instead, I’m jumping back in with Jacque (of Daisy Lane Cakes–I LOVE her blog!) She chose the cottage cheese pufflets for us to make, and she proved to me that she is a much better baker and all-around more patient person than I am (although we have some of the same feelings about garage sale early birds!)

Like many of the TWD bakers, I found this dough to be like trying to roll out and cut a batter, it just didn’t cooperate for me. At a certain point, I threw up my sticky hands and decided to bake a half dozen of them, take photos and go to work. Mine are filled with Christine Ferber strawberry jam (from our trip to Paris) and/or jalapeno jelly (from Safeway; thanks to Kayte for the inspiration).

I was so frustrated with these that I was prepared to hate them. Imagine my surprise when I loved them! They were crispy and chewy at the same time. The one in which I mixed the strawberry jam and jalapeno jelly was the best…I love that sweet/spicy flavor profile. I will definitely freeze the rest and plan to make this one again. But not until it’s winter. Cooler weather can only help this one stay together better.

If you’d like the recipe, stop by and visit Jacque.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream (with bonus scrambled eggs!)

During Ramadan, I got the wild idea that I would like to make ice cream for our entire office. All 60 of them. I have the kind of ice cream maker that you freeze the core, which means I had to make batches of the flavors I chose over several days. I made Dorie’s vanilla ice cream (the very best vanilla ice cream), and her chocolate ganache ice cream (my favorite chocolate ice cream). And this recipe from The Perfect Scoop jumped out at me, mostly because I love maple and walnuts are good for you, so this is practically health food!

The recipe has you start out by making the wet walnuts, which are walnuts toasted in the oven and then boiled in maple syrup. Then you build the custard. And that is where my little world fell apart. The recipe calls for heating the custard over medium heat until it thickens. Medium heat on my cooktop is pretty hot, and against my better judgment, I didn’t reduce the heat and the custard went from thickened to scrambled eggs in the amount of time it took me to reach for the strainer. I panicked and furiously shook and stirred the congealed mass in the strainer until enough came through the strainer to stabilize and thicken the cream and maple syrup mixture.

It froze up nicely, softer than some other ice creams I’ve made recently, probably due to the high maple syrup content. Still, the maple flavor couldn’t compete with the walnut flavor, which dominated in a not so pleasant way. I like my maple walnut a little more maple-y, so if I make this one again, I’ll cut back on the walnuts.

BBA – Cornbread

I’m baa-aack.

While I was away from the blog, I made this week’s recipe from the Slow and Steady Sub-Group of the Bread Baker’s Apprentice. This week, we’re straying from yeast to cornbread, which is technically a quick bread. Just not when Peter Reinhart is making it. He has us make a soaker of coarse cornmeal and buttermilk. Instead of just letting mine sit overnight, I stuck it in the fridge the next day and kept it a couple of days before making the cornbread.

A central ingredient of this recipe is bacon, which I don’t eat. I ran through a variety of variations in my mind (caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers…) but in the end, time caught up with me and I simply omitted the bacon without substituting another flavor agent.

This was an uneventful preparation. I used a 9×13 pan (well, two of them since I doubled the recipe) and found myself wishing I made it in a cast iron skillet to get the deeply crisp crust I love on cornbread. Although this was good with the addition of fresh corn, I’m southern by birth and I prefer southern cornbread (that is, without the addition of sugar). This recipe is for northern cornbread, even though the sugar is minimal, I think it affects the flavor and interferes with the corn flavor.

Even though I appreciated the simplicity of this recipe, I found myself missing yeast and the contemplative nature of making a yeast bread. So please come back in two weeks, for we’ll be making cranberry walnut celebration bread. I’m already starting to have braiding angst…

Hitting the (Caramel) Sauce

Cathy, this one’s for you.

OK, let’s get started. Start with a cup of sugar (or two cups or 3/4 of a cup, or ten cups). Totally up to you how much you want to make. Smaller quantities burn easily, so don’t take it below 1/2 cup of sugar.

This is your tool of choice

Heat the cup of sugar in a medium saucepan (I used a small one, here, but as you will see later, that makes it a little exciting). If you’re going with ten cups, size up on the pan. Before you begin, have an equal amount of heavy cream near the stove.

Melting oh-so-slightly around the edges

Can you tell what I’m making?

Use medium-low heat at first, and as the sugar starts melting around the edges, stir it up. You don’t need to stir constantly at first, but definitely don’t leave the kitchen. After all, you’re cooking sugar. It demands respect.

The sugar will get chunky, then melt into a light caramel chunky liquid.

Stir more frequently as the melting is progressing (which will happen quickly depending on how hot your stove is).

The chunks will melt away. Keep stirring, and wait until the sugar gets deep brown.

It may foam on the surface, but use your stirring to peek into the caramel to determine its color.

Once it’s deep brown, remove the pan from the heat and CAREFULLY pour in the whipping cream.

The mixture will fiercely bubble up and may seize.

This boiled up dangerously close to the top of the (too small) pan, so I put the camera down to make sure I didn’t need to grab the fire extinguisher.

No worries! Return it to the heat, and stir (with your fork or with a heat proof spatula) until the caramel is completely smooth.

Pour into a heatproof container (like a measuring cup or this milk bottle). Cool on the counter for a bit before refrigerating.

That’s it, you’ve made caramel! It’s an aggressive, bitter caramel, so if you like a mellower caramel, don’t take the sugar to the edge of burning like I do. When you’re trying it for the first time, don’t worry if you don’t let it get brown enough. With time, your sugar confidence will grow and you’ll learn how to take it to the edge to get that wonderful bitter flavor. This is an easy recipe, and doesn’t require brushing the sides of the pan with water as sugar crystals don’t form. The possibilities are endless, but we love it on vanilla ice cream. It’s equally good served with cheesecake, profiteroles, or if put in a squeeze bottle, you can use it to decorate dessert plates (not that I do that).

And clean up? A breeze. Let your screaming hot pan cool off, then let it sit with water in it for an hour or more. The caramel melts away and the pan is easily cleaned with no sticky mess.

BBA – Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

I am not a raisin lover, but I love them in cinnamon raisin walnut bread. I also love them in curried tuna salad, but that’s a recipe for another day.

Today we’re here to pay tribute to Peter Reinhart’s masterpiece, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. Up until now, I’ve only been able to buy this bread for $5 a loaf (it’s “artisan” bread, so I reason it’s worth it.)

I guess I’m an artisan now, because this bread was a ringer for my favorite loaf. It was easy to make, easy to shape, easy to love. It has just enough cinnamon to give it subtle flavor but not too much so you can make a darned good sandwich with it. I passed on the optional cinnamon swirl and brushing with butter and rolling it in cinnamon sugar since this one was served with dinner. But next time, and there will be a next time, we’ll definitely go for the full cinnamon experience.

And I’ll have it toasted with a touch of butter. Or maybe french toast. Or toasted brie and apple sandwiches. Or open faced with melted sharp cheddar. Or spread with cream cheese. Sigh. I can hardly wait.

I’m blessed to be a part of the Slow and Steady subgroup of the Bread Baker’s Apprentice event. I came to the book and the love of baking bread too late to participate in the main group, but Nancy very kindly invited me to join Slow & Steady. Thanks, Nancy! She’ll post a round up of the Slow & Steady bakers’ experiences on her bread blog, Corner Loaf.

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I will be responding to comments but not keeping up with my Google Reader or visiting bloggers other than those who leave comments. I’ll be back around Sept. 22nd with a spirit refreshed by this blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.

Dorie’s Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

This week, my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers are making the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, selected by Melissa at Life in a Peanut Shell. She makes the most amazing creations! I tried to get these done before taking a blogging break for Ramadan, but the days and hours evaporated. I do plan to make these and will post about them after Ramadan is over.

All is not lost because one thing I did fit is was Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream. I can truly say (and report from others) that this was the most chocolaty ice cream I have ever had. It starts out with making the eponymous ganache, a mixture of cream and chocolate (I used Valrhona Guanaja 70%). Then you make the custard, fold it all together, and chill it in the refrigerator until it’s cool enough to churn in your ice cream maker. Since it’s practically solid after chilling in the fridge, it doesn’t take a long time to turn it into ice cream.

Make sure you leave a little in the bowl for sampling!

If you love chocolate, you need to make this. It’s easy, incredibly delicious, and since it’s so rich, a little goes a long way. Because of its high chocolate content, it needs to sit out on the counter to soften up before serving. Although it’s tempting to sneak a taste, the flavor will be better if it isn’t frozen solid. I mostly served mine unadorned, because topping it with hot fudge was, yes, way over the top.

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I won’t be actively blogging, but if you leave a comment, I will visit you. I’ll return around Sept. 22nd, refreshed after the blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.

Barefoot Bloggers – White Pizza with Arugula

I heart pizza. A lot. I could eat it every day, twice a day, and never get tired of it. But I have never made it at home. Until now. It took Andrea of Nummy Kitchen to pick Ina Garten’s White Pizza with Arugula for this week’s Barefoot Bloggers recipe for me to realize that pizza, like most everything, is better when you make it yourself. I bought a pizza stone for my Bread Baker’s Apprentice baking, so I baked our pizzas directly on the stone. It made the crust nice and crisp.

Ina’s crust is super easy. I substituted about 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour, and it gave the dough a wonderful flavor and texture. Ina calls for fontina, fresh mozzarella and goat cheese, but I skipped the fontina. Even though we love garlic, I left it out of the oil this time as we were going out for the evening.

This pizza was incredible. It was good with the arugula salad, but I could be just as happy leaving it off.

Give this one a try, you won’t be disappointed! You’ll find the recipe here.

******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. While I have a couple of posts that I completed in advance (like this one), I will be staying away from active blogging. If you leave me a comment, I will try to stop by and visit you. I’ll be back around Sept. 20th, reenergized and ready to make bigger and better messes in the kitchen. Peace.

TWD – Creamiest Lime & Mango Cream Pie

This seems to be a recurring refrain here, but when will I learn?

I was lazing around before work, enjoying my coffee, and a thought snuck into my reverie:

“Why don’t I make a teeny little lime cream pie. It will be fun. And easy. Let’s just check the recipe and see if it’s doable.”

And we’re off…

I have these cute mini pie pans that I’ve been dying to use, so I figured I’d make 1/4 of the recipe (the math was easy enough for 6 AM). It all went well until the blending part. Putting a full recipe of the lemon cream in the blender was enough of an adventure. Putting 1/4 of the lime cream…I don’t think so. My brilliant (I thought) work around was to use my smoothie blender. Uh, no. The lime cream nestled at the bottom below the blade. So I went to the smallest tool in the blending arsenal, the mini chopper. I used my smallest spatula to get it all in there, and it worked! A benefit of the mini chopper was the motor is on top so it didn’t heat up the cream while I blended it. The downside is you can’t push a button and walk away.

1/4 of the recipe produced a lot less lime cream than I needed, so I went with Dorie’s playing around suggestion of incorporating mango, but I just put it on the top. I hadn’t added enough butter to my crust, so I was getting crumbs sticking to everything that touched them. Mango just jumps out of my hands and this was no exception. I had carefully measured eyeballed how much I would need to artfully cover the lime cream, but forgetting to use my knife to transfer it to the pie, it all slithered out of my hand and landed all over the board. So now you have the less than artful arrangement of mango on top of this poor little pie.

Even so, this was a huge hit. The tartness of the lime with the sweetness of the mango was perfect. M. loved it, and he requested I make the full recipe next time. I don’t think I’d change a thing since it was so perfect with the mango.

This week’s recipe was selected by Linda at Tender Crumb. If you’d like the recipe, she’ll have it posted today.

******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. While I have a couple of posts that I completed in advance (like this one), I will be staying away from active blogging. If you leave me a comment, I will try to stop by and visit you. I’ll be back around Sept. 20th, reenergized and ready to make bigger and better messes in the kitchen. Peace.