Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I missed yesterday due to competing in a triathlon in the morning, and celebrating Father's Day in the afternoon.  But never fear, for here is the final sandwich in the Seven Sandwiches Project!  There were many I could have chosen from, but I decided to do a little twist on a classic.  The grilled cheese.  Instead of American Cheese on white, which is great, I used cream cheese on sourdough!
First I assembled the ingredients, a very short list indeed...

Then I grilled them on the stove in the same way I would have using traditional ingredients.  And... viola!  Grilled Cream Cheese on Sourdough!

After I had eaten one half, it occurred to me that my mom used to put stuff in her grilled cheese.  Mustard or pickles or sometimes jelly.  I happened to have some Red Raspberry Jelly, which my family loves.  So I put a schmear of that in the second half.

I'll need to do a few more triathlons to work the calories off, but it was totally worth it!

Thus concludes the Seven Sandwiches Project!  Thanks for reading.  Stay tuned for the next project.  Sign up to follow this blog and you'll know when it happens!

The JT Special

Now admittedly, this sandwich isn't for everyone.  It's probably going to be the least favorite of everyone but me.  It is a sandwich that I made growing up from time to time when I couldn't decide what sort of sandwich I wanted.

First a simple PBJ...

In this case peanut butter and Miracle Whip.  I ran out of jelly making PBJ's for the kiddos.  But I'll suffer, I'll suffer... because I love those kids so.

Next up a fried egg sandwich...

Then a turkey and cheese sandwich...

And they all go together into one big sandwich I named the JT Special!

Before you judge, you should at least try it out.  I usually add some lettuce and bacon to these as well, but was a little rushed today by hungry children.  The beauty of this sandwich is that you can throw anything onto it.  It's sort of a "clean out the fridge" sandwich that can be totally tailored to your specific tastes!

But to have a true blue JT Special, it must be made with the following layers.

Bread
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Fried Egg
Cheese
Turkey (or some other meat)
Lettuce
Miracle Whip
Bread

Don't knock it 'till you try it!

Roast Beef and Turkey on Sourdough

Today was so sunny and nice that we made a family decision to go on a picnic.  Rather than stop and pick up food someplace, we opted for hitting the grocery store and picking up the fixin's and making sandwiches!

An excellent opportunity for Day 5 of the Seven Sandwiches project.

The sandwich today started off with a generous layer of thinly sliced, hickory smoked turkey and thinly sliced, medium rare roast beef.

Followed by a layer of shredded lettuce, because you can get that pre-washed at the store, and some Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Mustard sauce.

Then a couple of slices of smoked sharp cheddar cheese.

A very thin schmear of Miracle Whip on the top slice of sourdough to keep it from slipping off of the cheese and viola!

Roast Beef and Turkey on Sourdough!

It's a very tasty picnic sandwich.  The sharp cheddar has a good bite to it, and pairs well with the roast beef.  I like adding lettuce to my sandwiches to give it some crunch and make me feel like I am making a small effort at eating healthy!

Turkey Bacon Bolillo

Some time ago, I went to a cooking class, where I made an excellent pan seared turkey breast with spinach and bacon sauce.  I modified that recipe a little for today's sandwich.  I didn't have spinach, and I was planning on grilling the turkey tenderloins, but the grill is out of gas and the kiddos and I were hungry!  So I gathered up what I had...

and began by putting the garlic head in foil with a little olive oil and roasting it for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.  It sounds like a long time, but it really isn't if you throw it in first thing.  Then I cooked the bacon in my searing pan.  The secret to good, perfectly crisp bacon is to cook it on medium heat.  It takes a little time, but prevents burning it to blackened briquettes.    While the bacon was draining on a paper towel covered plate, I patted the turkey tenderloins dry and seared them in the bacon grease until they were nicely browned and put them in the oven to cook.  I removed the garlic, which by now was nice and soft, and peeled it and pressed it into a couple of tablespoons of butter.  Then I drained the grease from the pan and added a cup of chicken broth and a little milk to it and reduced that until it was nice and soupy.  I added some of the bacon all crumbled up and slowly stirred in the garlic butter until I had a delightful sauce.

Out of the oven came the turkey, which I sliced lengthwise, as such...

All that was left to do was build the sandwich, which I did on a whole wheat bolillo (pronounced bowl-ee-oh).  We found these a while back, and they have quickly become my favorite bread.  Lettuce on the bottom, turkey, provolone, bacon and sauce, and...Viola!  The Turkey Bacon Bolillo!

The whole sandwich is quite savory, and not at all healthy.  Well, maybe the turkey and the lettuce... and I get a few points for the whole wheat bolillo.  But the sauce is pure artery choker, and should be used very occasionally.  It is so tasty though, and makes an excellent spread on toast if there is leftovers.  This sandwich requires a bit of time to prepare, but will be a smash hit.  Even the kiddos cleaned their plates.

Bleu Cheese Burger

Inspired by the Boyo's success with his Frueat Burger, I tinkered with his recipe only a little to create a Bleu Cheese Burger.

I kept the basic meat/cheese/bread crumbs mix (1 lb./1 Cup/1 slice crumbled fine) and made a thin patty out of it.  Into this I pressed a handful of crumbled blue cheese.

I briefly considered making another patty to top it, but instead just took clumps of the meat mix and patted it down over the blue cheese.

Five minutes on the grill at medium high heat, then flip and grill for another five.

I topped mine with a slice of beefsteak tomato and some lettuce, ketchup, mustard and home made pickles.

It tasted a whole lot like one of my favorite burgers from a restaurant back in my hometown.  So juicy.  I love the bite of the gooey blue cheese contrasting with the savory cheddar/beef patty.  Very tasty and well worth repeating!

Boyo's Frueat Burger

From the creative genius that is my seven year old boy comes this next one.  I asked him what he wanted for dinner tonight, and he raced to his chalkboard with a very stern warning not to look until he had finished.  After about ten minutes, he stepped away to reveal this...

I asked him a few questions.  Like, do the pear and apple slices go on the burger?

Yes.  Yes they do.

And the cheese?  Is that a slice on top?

No.  The cheese should be IN the burger.

Like a burger wrapped piece of cheese?

No.  Like all through the burger.

Seriously?  This is what you want for dinner?

YES!

So I went about making it.  I mixed about a cup of shredded cheddar into a pound of beef, along with a single slice of bread crumbled into fine crumbs.  I fashioned the meat mixture into patties with my freshlly and thouroughly washed hands.  Those went onto the grill while I sliced up the apple and the pear... The patties, not my hands.

Hey Boyo, do the slices go on the burger fresh or should I grill them?

GRILL 'EM!!!

I left the burgers on 5 minutes on medium high heat, then turned them and slid the fruit next to them for another 5 minutes.  The cheddar melted nicely and oozed slowly from the patty while the fruit warmed and browned.

Then I asked him one more time if he was sure he wanted to eat it.  After another excited affirmative, I put it all together for him.  Behold, the very first
 Boyo's Frueat Burger!

( It's dilishis!)


He wanted ketchup and mustard on it as well.  I admit, I cringed a little as I topped it and served it to him.  Then I made one for myself, too.

First bite - the warm, gooey, savory grilled beef blended effortlessly with the sweet punch of the pear and the slightly crisp, refreshing apple!  It was really good!  Even the ketchup and mustard were well complimented somehow.  It was easy to take another bite with my jaw on the floor.

The Boyo wolfed his down and half of another, and even the Sweet Pea ate her burger and fruit, albeit separately.  A very successful first sandwich from the Boyo!  When asked what gave him the idea for topping it with fruit, he answered,

I really wanted a cheeseburger, but I wanted to make it healthy, too.  And a pear and an apple are healthy!

I would highly recommend grilling all of the apple and pear slices as the leftovers make a yummy dessert topped with a scoop of natural vanilla ice cream.

Lime Grilled Chicken BLT

Today I wanted something filling, but not too heavy.  The Wife suggested a Chicken sandwich of some sort, and I was thinking maybe a BLT.  So we combined our ideas and came up with this...

Lime Grilled Chicken BLT on a multigrain Cibatta roll with Guacamole spread.
After my father had his heart attack, our whole family changed eating habits a bit.  So in gathering the fixins' for this sandwich, I chose low sodium turkey bacon, and low sodium Provolone cheese.  The guacamole has avacado, lime and garlic in it.  It really enhances the fresh flavor of the sandwich more than plain mayo would.

I am certain that this sandwich would be even more phenomenal with smoked maple pork bacon instead of the turkey bacon, but for a little healthier alternative the turkey wasn't bad!  I also used pre-grilled chicken, because we don't have a grill yet. When we do get our grill, I'm going to make this again, and marinade the chicken in a lemon/lime and garlic mixture.  Fresh chicken breasts will have less sodium than the frozen as well.  Another bonus.  This sandwich as prepared scored just above 700 mg of sodium.  Mostly from the frozen chicken, and surprisingly, the cibatta.  Replace the frozen chicken with fresh, and the sodium drops to around 500mg.  Calorie-wise, it came in at 450 Calories!  Low enough for calorie counters to enjoy and have a tasty sandwich!

As for taste, in this configuration it was quite good.  It had a good, fresh flavor, especially with the guacamole spread.  It also did not sit heavy in my gut after the meal.  I felt like after an hour or so, I could go for a swim or bike or run without fear of seeing the meal again.  But it was filling and kept me satisfied until supper!

Please Stand By

It all begins this Monday, June 13th.  Seven Days of Sandwiches!

Are you ready?