Grilled Provolone, Egg and Pancetta Sandwiches

There are grilled cheese sandwiches, and then there are Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  Before the teenager left for college, grilled cheese meant American cheese inside two slices of white bread, fried in a little butter until golden brown.  She's a grilled cheese purist, and hey, that is a perfectly good grilled cheese sandwich.

But here in our newly empty nest we are pushing the boundaries a little, grilled cheese-wise.  The empty nest version uses provolone cheese that has been set on top of thinly sliced sourdough bread and put in a skillet with a little butter until the cheese is melted.

While this is happening, we are cooking up some pancetta (thin round Italian bacon, and if you can't find it, regular bacon will work just fine) until it is just crispy.  While it is draining on paper towels, cook up a couple of fried eggs in that same skillet until they are just set.

Now lay a couple pieces of bacon on top of the melted cheese toast, lay an egg on top, and sprinkle with some grated parmesan cheese and a little basil.  Slice off a bite, making sure to get some of every single ingredient, and chew it up nice and slowly.

Realize that while you miss your teenager like crazy, there are advantages to living in a house where you don't always have to break out the American cheese when you are making grilled cheese for lunch.

Grilled Provolone, Egg and Pancetta Sandwiches, adapted from Bon Appetit

12 slices of pancetta (Italian bacon), or 4 regular bacon slices cut into thirds
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices sourdough bread
8 thin slices provolone cheese
4 large eggs
Parmesan cheese shavings
12 fresh basil leaves 

1. Cook pancetta or bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels. Reserve skillet with drippings.
2. Melt butter in extra-large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 bread slices; top each with 2 provolone slices. Sprinkle with black pepper. Cook until cheese melts, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat skillet with drippings over medium heat. Crack eggs into skillet; cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. 

4. Set 6 pancetta slices and 2 eggs atop each of 2 cheese toasts. Top eggs with Parmesan, and basil. Cut sandwiches in half and serve.

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Turkey Hummus Sandwiches with Black Pepper Honey

Yep, this is definitely my Summer of the Sandwich.  And not just any sandwich...the open-faced sandwich. And not just any open-faced sandwich...open-faced sandwiches made with bread that has been toasted on the grill for that fabulous, just a tiny bit charred taste.  For some reason I've gotten fixated on them and they are showing up on my supper menu almost once a week. Not only is there the whole grilled bread thing going on, but there's nothing like the feeling of walking in the door at the end of the day and getting that merry Sandwiches-For-Dinner feeling...oh yes!

And in this particular case, it was another excuse to whirl up the millionth batch of that Five Minute Hummus I am also fixated on lately.  Hey, there could be worse vices to have, right?  And if you are not the hummus-whirling-up type, your favorite supermarket brand will work just fine.

So, once you have walked in the door and are all in a good mood due to it being Sandwich Night, here's the drill.  Slice up some nice thick slices of whatever hearty bread you like.  I like the sourdough bread at Panera...it's fresh and has that scrumptious sourdough tang to it.  Brush your bread with a little olive oil and pop it on the grilled just long enough to get those delicious char marks going.

Once it has cooled a little, slather on some hummus.  Don't be shy, slather it on thick.  Now drape some thin-sliced deli turkey on top...and here comes the best part, the part that takes this from regular sandwich status to Superstar Sandwich Status.  Put about 2 tablespoons of honey in a microwavable measuring cup and nuke just until it is melted - this probably won't take more than 10 seconds.  Now grind a generous amount of black pepper into it, swirl it around, and then drizzle it over your turkey sandwich.  The sweetness of the honey and the snap of the black pepper are going to make beautiful music with the rest of this sandwich.

Sandwich Night!  It makes you feel this good:



Almost, anyway!  Here's the recipe.

Turkey Hummus Sandwiches with Black Pepper Honey

• 4 slices hearty bread, your choice
• Olive oil
• 1 cup hummus
• 1/2 pound thin sliced turkey
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Fresh ground black pepper

1. Heat grill to medium high.  Brush both sides of bread with olive oil and grill until both sides are toasted to your liking.  Remove and cool slightly.

2. Spread each slice of bread with 1/4 cup hummus.  Divide turkey among sandwiches and lay on top of hummus.

3. Heat honey in microwavable measuring cup until liquid, about 10 seconds.  Grind a generous portion of black pepper into honey and swirl to mix.  Drizzle over sandwiches and serve.

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BLT Benedict!

Bacon.  Poached Eggs.  Avocado.  Fresh, sweet, summer cherry tomatoes.  Tender baby lettuce.  Sliced sourdough bread that has been brushed with olive oil and toasted outside on the grill until it is just the right amount of charred.

You're with me, right?  Yes, this is Eggs Benedict meets BLT meets Guacamole...it's the perfect mash-up of some of my favorite comfort foods, all on one lucky plate.  You want to soft cook the poached eggs so they are just the right amount of runny, because they are going to take the place of the million calorie and tricky to make hollandaise sauce that usually goes on Eggs Benedict.

Meantime, you are going to marinate those gorgeous baby tomatoes and the avocado in a little dressing of garlic, fresh chopped basil, olive oil and a teeny bit of wine vinegar.  That's where you get just a little of the guacamole taste...not exactly the real thing, but a close cousin.

Now send someone reliable out to the grill to toast up the sourdough bread...or any other substantial bread that you have on hand.  One slice per person, because this is an open-faced sandwich.  (I'm going through an open-faced sandwich phase this summer.  I love them.)

You cook up the bacon and the poached egg in the meantime.  Or do it in any order you like - one of the great things about this sandwich is that you can make the other stuff ahead of time and have it at room temperature and save cooking the egg for the very end.

Now the assembly: spread a little mayo on the grilled bread, then layer on some some lettuce, then the bacon, then some of the tomato mixture.  Pop an egg on top and break it just enough for the yolk to spread over the whole thing.  Drop a few more tomatoes on top.   It's going to be the one of the best things you ever tasted, I promise.  Almost as good as a practically empty jar of peanut butter.

Almost. 

Here's the recipe!

BLT Benedict! adapted from My Recipes via Southern Living

• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 6 slices sourdough or other hearty sandwich bread, brushed with olive oil and grilled until toasted (or if you MUST, you can put them in the toaster!)
• 3 cups baby lettuce
• 12 thick bacon slices, cooked

1. Combine tomatoes and next five ingredients and 2 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar in a small bowl.
2. Add water to depth of 3 inches in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and maintain at a light simmer. Add remaining 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar. Break eggs, and slip into water, 1 at a time, as close as possible to surface. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes or to desired degree of doneness (but the runnier the better for this recipe!). Remove with a slotted spoon.
3. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each bread slice. Layer each with 1/2 cup lettuce, 2 bacon slices, some of the tomato mixture and one egg. Top with remaining tomato mixture.

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Tuna Cobb Salad Sandwiches

This quick and scrumptious recipe is an ode to three things.  Here they are, in no particular order.

1.  Cobb Salad.  I am SUCH a sucker for Cobb Salad. It's not like it is a rarity or anything - it's actually a frequent player on a lot of menus, but there is something about the combo of blue cheese, avocado, bacon (of course), chopped egg and lettuce that sings some kind of siren song to me.  I love it, and that's all there is to it.

2. Open-faced sandwiches.  I mean, for so many things, this is just such a logical thing.  Why spend your time putting the top of your sandwich over some deliciously messy filling only to have it spill out on to your plate with the first bite?  Open-faced sandwiches, people!  It's the only sensible way to go.

3. Sandwich Night.  Is there anything happier than Sandwich Night, especially on a Monday?  You walk into the kitchen at the end of the day and suddenly you feel wonderfully free!

Okay, now that I have gotten all THAT out of my system, let's get down to it.  This is a quick and different version of cobb salad with a special guest star, and that is tuna fish.  And a surprise twist, which is that that blue cheese is not actual blue cheese (which I sometimes find can take over a cobb salad with it's super-strong taste), but blue cheese salad dressing.  Splurge and use one of the nice ones you can usually find in the refrigerated section of your supermarket - it's worth it for this recipe, and you can always use the leftover as a nice dip.  The tuna and the dressing get mixed up with the usual cast of characters from cobb salad - avocado, chopped egg and (yes!) bacon.  But instead of tossing it all together with lettuce, you lightly toast a couple of English muffins, lay on some chopped lettuce and a slice or two of tomato, and then top with the tuna mixture.

A little ground pepper, and you have a Sandwich Night to be proud of.

 Tuna Cobb Salad Sandwiches, adapted from Betty Crocker's Smart Cook : The Essential Everyday Cookbook 

• 
  
• One 6.5 ounce can tuna, drained
• 4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
• 1 avocado, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1/3 cup good quality blue cheese dressing
• Shredded lettuce
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 2 English muffins, split and toasted
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Mix tuna, bacon, eggs, avocado and dressing.
2.  Place tomato and lettuce on each muffin and top with tuna mixture.  Grind some fresh pepper on top.

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Open Face Sandwiches with Avocado, Egg and Smoked Salmon

Yes, I realize that this sandwich has a ridiculously long name.  I really need to come up with something clever to call it, like the Egg McSalmon, or the Guacascramble.  Not that those are clever at all.  I just can't wrap my brain around it, so in the meantime I'm just going to have to call it that crazy name above, and tell you that regardless of what you name it, it still tastes delicious!  I made it on one of those nights where I just couldn't bear to spend more than the 3 minutes it took me to scramble the eggs standing anywhere near a hot cooking device.  Yep, it was 98 degrees outside.  98.  Degrees.  

On days like that, you are pretty much reduced to salads and sandwiches, which is pretty much fine with me, as I love an excuse for Sandwich Night.  In an ideal world, this particular sandwich is AMAZING if you grill the bread on an actual grill...it adds that slightly charred, crispy taste and texture that you can only get on, well, a grill.  But even I couldn't bring myself to send the Southern husband out to the grill, what with the 98 degrees and all.  Nope, this version went in the toaster, which is not quite as wonderful but a whole lot more humane.  When it is 98 degrees.

Anyway...while your bread is grilling or toasting, scramble up a few eggs and let them cool a little.  Mash up an avocado with a little lime juice.  Now you are about two minutes from a rocking great sandwich that goes like this: bread, spread with mashed avocado, topped with scrambled eggs, garnished with some strips of smoked salmon, with a little fresh ground pepper on top. 

Sandwich Night.  Love it!

Open Face Sandwiches with Avocado, Egg and Smoked Salmon, adapted from Bon Appetit

• 4 slices sourdough bread
• Olive oil
• 1 avocado
• Lime juice
• 2 eggs
• Smoked salmon, sliced into strips
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Brush both side of bread with olive oil, and either grill them on both sides or toast them until they are golden brown.  Toasting them is easier, but grilling them gives them an out of this world grilled taste.

2. Mash avocado with a few squeezes of lime juice.  Set aside.

3. Beat the eggs and then scramble them in a skillet over medium heat until they are just set.

4. Assemble sandwiches as follows: spread avocado over each slice of bread, top with eggs and a strip or two of salmon, and grind a little black pepper over all.

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Baked Potato with Ricotta and Tomatoes

There is just something so comforting about a baked potato, don't you think?    Add in the fact that baked potatoes are actually GOOD for you, and you are looking at one satisfying lunch or supper, all in one easy to make package.

In this case, I rubbed my potatoes with a little olive oil and popped them in the oven while I made a batch of fresh ricotta (side note: I love making ricotta cheese.  It is SO easy, and tastes so fresh and good.  But as always, feel free to use store-bought ricotta. )  I roasted up some cherry tomatoes as well, and by the time all that was done the potatoes were nice and tender.  Then all you do is split them open, spoon on some ricotta, scatter the tomatoes on top, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle some fresh thyme on top.  That's all you need to do to be in baked potato heaven. 

And trust me, if you can't get into Bacon Heaven, Baked Potato Heaven is the next best place.

Baked Potato with Ricotta and Tomatoes, adapted from Real Simple

• 2 russet potatoes
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon and one tablespoon of olive oil plus extra for drizzling
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh thyme
• 1 cup fresh ricotta

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rub the potatoes with a teaspoon of olive oil, place on a baking sheet and bake until they are tender when pierced with a knife, about one hour or so.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and toss the tomatoes with a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of coarse salt and a grinding of black pepper.  15 minutes before the potatoes are done, pop the sheet of tomatoes in there with them and roast them until they start to split.
3. Split the potatoes (you can either cut them in half for four people or just make an X down the middle and push them open for two especially hungry people).  Top with ricotta cheese, roasted tomatoes and fresh thyme.

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Hawaiian Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

I think the only thing possible better than pulled chicken barbecue is pulled chicken barbecue that cooks by itself all day long in the slow cooker with pineapple and onion and a jar of spicy barbecue sauce that you forget about until you walk in the door at the end of the day and smell pulled chicken barbecue that is already cooked and ready to eat.

Did you get all that?

Good, because every word is true.  But don't take MY word for it...haul out that slow cooker that I know you have somewhere and try it for yourself.  As I write this I am keeping an eye on the thermometer, which is inching its way up towards 90 degrees.  And when it is THAT hot out, there is nothing and nobody who can make me turn on my stove or my oven.  But the slow cooker...that's another story.  Because it cooks low and slow, whatever you pop into it is tender and wonderful, and your kitchen stays cool.   Summer is for salads and slow cookers...and this recipe is as easy as it gets.  Toss some nice big boneless chicken breasts into the cooker, along with a can of drained chopped pineapple, some onion, and a jar of your favorite bbq sauce.  (For this recipe, I like a sauce that is more on the tangy spicy side, since you have a sweet flavor coming from the pineapple.)  Now go away and frolic in the 90 degree weather for a while.

When you come back, your chicken will be tender enough to shred into delicious bite size pieces...shred it all up, then return it to the liquid left in the slow cooker and mix it all up.  Now what I usually do next is this: put a pile of soft hamburger rolls in a basket by the slow cooker, along with a pitcher of warm bbq sauce for anyone who likes a little extra on their sandwich.  Then stand back and let the hungry crowds build their own.

Summertime!!

Hawaiian Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, from Tasty Kitchen

• 3 pounds boneless chicken breasts
• 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 bottle bbq sauce, 18-20 ounces.
• Hamburger rolls
• Extra bbq sauce for topping

1. Place chicken in slow cooker.  Top with onions, then pineapple, then pour the whole bottle of bbq sauce over the whole thing.

2. Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.  About an hour before it is done, carefully remove chicken from crockpot, shred it, and then return it to the cooker and stir so it can absorb some of the sauce as it finishes.

3. Serve on hamburger rolls with extra bbq sauce on the side.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

If there is any kitchen appliance more helpful, cooperative and just plain satisfying than the good old slow cooker, I don't know what it is.  Sure, the food processor is all dramatic with the instant chopping, and the KitchenAid mixer is the 800 pound gorilla, towering over all the other gadgets.  And every once in a while, my trusty rice cooker comes out to work on some rice or oatmeal or grits.

But my heart belongs to the slow cooker, for two reasons.  First of all, pretty much anything you throw in there comes out tasting great.  Beef barley soup.  Bolognese sauce.  Even a chocolate pudding cake that I really am going to make one day and post up here, since I talk about it and then don't share.  (Sorry!)

And second of all -- and this happens to me every time -- you toss whatever it is into the slow cooker first thing in the morning.  Then you go off about your day while whatever it is cooks in perfect slowness for eight or ten hours.  Then you slog back in the door at the end of the day, weary from the  day, working up your energy to make dinner...and HAPPINESS!!  You've forgotten that dinner is already made because you put it in the slow cooker that morning.  And not only is it MADE, but it is scrumptious, because there is nothing to bring out the flavor in a whole lot of things like cooking them at a really low temperature for hours on end.

Which brings me to this soup, which is a spicy, hearty, easy mixture of shredded chicken, corn, chopped chili peppers, chopped tomatoes, some chicken broth and a bunch of spices that will open up your sinuses, and I mean this in a good way!  The chicken should be cooked already, so this soup is a perfect thing to have on the menu for a day or two after you are making chicken for something else - just throw a few more pieces on the grill or in the oven or where you are making it.    I serve it with a little bowl of crumbled tortilla chips right at the table so people can sprinkle some crunchiness right into their bowls.

So go find those slow cookers - I know you have one somewhere - and it give it some love!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup, adapted from Allrecipes

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn, or fresh if in season
• Crumbled tortilla chips

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
2. To serve, sprinkle tortilla chips over soup...I like to have a bowl of these on the table so everyone can sprinkle their own!

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Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches

Being married to a Southern man, there are certain things that are so essential to the success of our married life that they were practically part of our wedding vows.  These include things like the proper respect for grits, cooking deep-fried okra at least 3 times per year, and always having a great recipe for pulled pork barbecue on hand.  Because inevitably there will come a point sometime early in the summer where it will be completely and totally necessary to have a pulled pork bbq sandwich for supper.

With a little homemade coleslaw on top of the pork to send it completely over the edge into barbeque heaven.   (And luckily, I just posted a coleslaw recipe the other day!  Click here for that one.)   I make my pulled pork by cooking a Boston butt pork roast in a slow cooker for 10 hours...at that point it is so tender that it will practically hop out of the cooker and shred itself.

After that, the only decision you have left is which bbq sauce to use.  Now we are long-time loyal users of Stubb's sauce, and I still love it.  But I recently heard about this other variety called Blues Hog, and the description of it was too much for me to take.  I ordered a few jars, wrapped them up and gave them to the Southern husband for his birthday a couple of weeks ago.  (He also got to go to a baseball game for his birthday, before you start feeling all sorry for him.)

Note that it says it is excellent on pork.

I can now definitely vouch for that.  I won't be abandoning my spicy, delicious Stubbs sauce, but if you want a fantabulous bbq sauce that is a little on the sweeter side...Blues Hog.

That's all the pulled pork I have for you today.  (Although there is now about 5 extra pounds of it in my freezer.  I'm thinking there is some pulled pork over grits in my future sometime very, very soon.)

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches, inspired by a recipe from Taste of the South

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground red pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 five pound Boston Butt pork roast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Water
• Hamburger rolls
• Your favorite coleslaw
• Your favorite barbecue sauce, warmed

1. Combine salt, paprika and pepper in a small bowl.   Rub pork with oil, and then rub spice mixture on pork, coating it all over. 

2. Place roast in a slow cooker with garlic and onions.  Add enough water to come three-quarters up the side of the pork.

3. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.  Save about a cup of the liquid and take out the pork.  Remove any fat and bones, and then use two forks to shred it.

4. Mix sandwich-size portions with warmed bbq sauce and place on hamburger buns.  Top with coleslaw and serve.  Any extra shredded pork will freeze just fine, and there is nothing like knowing you have a bag of shredded pork bbq in your freezer.  Trust me on this.

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Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Prosciutto and Poached Egg

Oh, how I love asparagus season.  That delightful time of year when you can get the little, skinny asparagus that cook up in no time, and that are perfectly, wonderfully tender and delicious no matter how you cook 'em.  They are a thing of beauty.

It almost makes you want to take them and pop them in a vase and use them as decorations around the house.

That is, until you remember how scrumptious they are...which is why this super-speedy recipe comes in so very handy.  Take those gorgeous asparagus, brush them with a little olive oil, shake on a little salt and pepper and pop them in a hot oven to roast.  If you get the thin ones, they will be ready in less than ten minutes.   During the last couple of minutes, drop some thin sliced parmesan cheese on top of the asparagus and put them back in the oven for another minute or two for the cheese to melt.  

That is just enough time to saute some chopped prosciutto until it is nice and crispy, and to poach up a few eggs (or fry them, depending on what kind of an egg person you are.  I am a poached egg person, myself).   Then all you do is lay some of those beautifully roasted asparagus on the plate, top with an egg and scatter some of the prosciutto on top.  Garnish with a little chopped fresh thyme, and you are set. 

Asparagus heaven, right there on your own plate.  Does it get any better??

Roasted Parmesan Asparagus with Crispy Prosciutto and Poached Egg, from Epicurious

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
4 thin prosciutto slices, thinly sliced crosswise
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
20 asparagus spears, trimmed
1 2-ounce piece Parmesan cheese, shaved into strips
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; sauté until almost crisp, about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Toss asparagus on sheet with remaining oil, then arrange close together. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 12 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over; roast until melted, about 5 minutes. Divide among 4 plates. Cover to keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, pour enough water into large skillet to reach depth of 2 inches. Add 1 teaspoon salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Crack 4 eggs, 1 at a time, into simmering water. Cook until whites are set but yolks are still soft, about 3 minutes. 

4. Using slotted spoon, gently transfer 1 egg to atop asparagus on each plate. Sprinkle each serving with prosciutto and thyme. Season with salt and pepper; serve.

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Roast Beef and Brie Sandwiches, aka The Gatsby Arrow

Ok, before I start telling you about the best sandwich in the Entire World, I need to give you just a tiny bit of background, and I will start this by telling you I am a proud graduate of Georgetown University.   That's right, I am a Hoya, and while I'm not telling you exactly HOW long ago I graduated, let's just say that Patrick Ewing lived in the on-campus apartment right next door.  You do the math.

Georgetown was a fabulous place to go to college in so many ways.  The gorgeous campus, the fact that we were right in Washington DC, some of the best professors in the world, and a campus pub where I would...well, never mind.

(Note that I am showing you all these lovely pictures of the campus (not mine, I should state for the record) and none of me as an undergraduate.  Nope, those shots are not ready for prime-time.  No sirree.  Anyway, you will note that the cafeteria was NOT included in the list of Georgetown wonderfulness.  Because it was not wonderful.  At all.  Ever.  So every so often we would trundle down Prospect Street to the world's most fantastic sandwich shop, which is (thank goodness!) still there, and that is Booeymongers.

Affectionately known by the Hoya faithful as Booey's.  And there was only one thing I ever got at Booey's...the Gatsby Arrow.  I have no idea how it got that name, I just know it is the most delicious sandwich I know...a baguette stuffed with rare roast beef, Brie cheese and lettuce.  When I make my own version I use a little Dijon mustard as well.  It brings me right back to my college days, only without the blue book exams and the eight track tapes.

So here you go, the very best sandwich I know.  Go Hoyas!

Roast Beef and Brie Sandwiches, with love to Booeymongers

• One loaf french bread
• 1/2 pound rare roast beef, sliced very thin
• 1/2 pound Brie cheese
• Romaine lettuce leaves
• Dijon mustard

1. Split the loaf of bread down the middle and spread one or both sides with mustard, depending on how much of a mustard-lover you are

2. Layer the roast beef on the bottom of the loaf, top with lettuce and then slices of Brie.  Place top of loaf on sandwich.

3. Cut into as many sandwiches as you like - this will feed 2-4 people, depending on how hungry those people are!

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Brie Croque Monsieur Sandwiches

There are grilled cheese sandwiches, and then there are Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  I have always been helplessly enthralled with any menu that has the words Croque Monsieur on it.  Because that basically translates to a rocking great grilled cheese sandwich that involves thin-sliced ham, swiss cheese, an egg batter that the whole thing has been dipped in, and some deep-frying.  Usually with some fries on the side, to make sure your calorie intake is high enough.

So imagine this: the very same thing...except instead of the swiss cheese, you use Brie cheese.  And in  my case, I used D'Affinois, which is the cheese I would choose to take with me if I was ever banished forever to a desert island and could only choose one cheese to take with me.  (These are the things I think about, just so you know.  It never hurts to have a plan.)

Now, some Croque Monsieurs out there in the world use a much thicker batter, but I think the light (and I use that word loosely, given what we are talking about here) french toast-type egg mixture approach is actually kinda better.  It lets the whole cheese and ham end of things shine through in all their glory.  And this is one of those recipes that is, well, glorious.  You practically have to eat it with your eyes closed just to make sure nothing else in the world interferes.

Please go make this right now.  Time's a wasting.

Brie Croque Monsieur Sandwiches, adapted from Ile de France Cheeses

9 oz.  Brie or D'Affinois cheese, cut into 12 thin slices

3 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp Salt

1/8 tsp Pepper

6 slices thin sliced ham

12 slices white bread

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, divided

• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk salt and pepper. Set aside.
  
  
• Assemble six sandwiches, each with one slice of ham and two slices of cheese between two slices of bread. Cut each sandwich into quarters.
  
  
• Heat half of the melted butter in a large nonstick pan on medium heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan.
  
  
• Dip half of the sandwich quarters into the egg and milk mixture, turning to coat. Immediately place in preheated pan, and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until bread is golden brown and cheese is melting. Repeat with remaining butter and  sandwiches. Serve hot.

Click here for printable recipe

Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon

Things I love in life:

1. Bacon

2. The Southern husband

3. Brie

4. English muffins

5. Baby Spinach

6. Noisy, disobedient but lovable dogs

7. Eggs, over easy

8. Noisy, disobedient but lovable teenagers.

Five of these things are part of the sandwich we had for dinner tonight.  (And by the way, don't you love sandwiches-for-dinner night? I do.  Add that to the above list.)

I won't lie to you, this is a messy one to eat, but man, is it worth every single drip and spatter.  You toast up the muffins and while they are still warm, spread on some nice soft Brie.  Yes, on both sides.  Let them sit there while you slather some maple syrup on the bacon and cook it in the oven.  While the bacon is cooking, saute some baby spinach until it is nice and soft, and then cook up some eggs, over easy - as hard or soft as you like.  I like soft, myself.  

Now slide the egg onto the bottom half of the muffin, lay some spinach over the egg, and a couple of maple bacon pieces over the spinach.  Pop the other muffin half on top.  At this point, the heat of everything is going to start turning that cheese into a melty sauce of molten Brie, and you may start to weep a little in anticipation.  This is normal.   Now sit down and get ready to eat the best egg sandwich in the world.

The best!

Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon

• Two strips bacon, each cut in half
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups baby spinach
• One English muffin, split
• 2 large slices of Brie cheese, softened
• One egg
• 1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Cover baking sheet (use one with sides) with foil and lay bacon on top. Brush with maple syrup.  Bake for 10 minutes or until bacon is done to your liking.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet and saute spinach until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Cover with skillet cover and set aside.

3. Toast English muffin and as soon as it is toasted, spread both sides with cheese.

3. Heat butter in second small skillet over medium heat until melted.  Fry egg until yolk is soft set. Flip and cook another minute longer.

4. Lay egg on bottom of English muffin.  Top with spinach.  Cover spinach with bacon.  Cover with top of English muffin.

Click here for printable recipe

Vermont Cheddar Soup

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know a bit about my love and affection for Vermont, and if you don't and really want to know you can click here and here.  And love it I do...but I love it most of all when the wildflowers are blooming, the corn is in the meadow, and it's warm enough to dance on the top of your car.

Disclaimer: that is NOT me.  It may or may not be someone who is related to me who got bored while I was shooting pictures on the side of the road, put some Aerosmith on the car stereo and entertained herself while at the same time thoroughly confusing all the cows in the vicinity.

I promise I am getting to the point.

The point is that for much of the year in Vermont, you don't want to be anywhere near the top of the car.  You want to be inside with a fire in the woodstove and a pot of nice warm cheese soup on the table.  Made with Vermont cheddar cheese, please.  We like Cabot cheddar and have gone to buying it in big (of course) chunks at Costco.  This quick and easy soup involves sauteeing just a little bit of onion and garlic in a little butter, adding in some flour as a thickener and a mixture of chicken broth and milk as the soup base, and then a nice helping of that shredded cheddar.  Done!  Now all you have to do is think up some garnishes...I used some roasted cherry tomatoes and some croutons.  Bacon would of course be fabulous.  (Because bacon on anything is fabulous.)

I think that's all I have to say about this one, except give it a try asap!

Vermont Cheddar Soup, adapted from Simply Elegant Country Foods : Downhome Goes Uptown 

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespooons chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 cups milk
• 3 cups grated Vermont cheddar
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcerstershire sauce
• Pinch dry mustard and salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Croutons

1. Melt butter in soup pot and add onion and garlic.  Stir for 3 minutes.

2. Add flour and whisk until mixed, then slowly pour in broth and then milk, whisking until blended.  Bring to a slow boil and cook until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes.

3. Add cheese, Worcerstershire sauce and mustard, stirring until cheese is melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Now either carefully pour into a blender and puree, or even better, puree right int the pot with an immersion blender.

4. Make roasted cherry tomatoes by tossing with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, spreading on a baking sheet lined with foil, and roasting in a 425 oven for 10 minutes.

5. Ladle into bowls (heating the bowls beforehand in a 200 degree oven is nice!) sprinkle with paprika and garnish with the roasted tomatoes and some croutons.

Click here for printable recipe

Pulled Pork Sliders with Blue Cheese Slaw

Okay, so it is a long, long, long time until summer.    My yard is covered in about two feet of snow as we speak, and my Southern-born hound dog is not happy about it.  She seems to forget from year to year that snow actually exists in the universe, and so the first time it reappears each winter she seems, well, confused.  And extremely devoted to the fireplace.

But just because the weather outside is frightful, does that mean we can't have a little hint of summertime in the form of some good old BBQ?  Of course we can, and this recipe comes from an annual cookbook tradition in my house, and that is the CHRISTMAS WITH SOUTHERN LIVING cookbook - this time the 2010 version.  This book comes out every year, full of scrumptious recipes and decorating ideas, and while I found a number of things that were perfect for the holidays, there were also a handful of ideas for meals that are pretty tempting all year long.  Because who wouldn't want a pulled pork slider pretty much any day of the year?

Now, this recipe assumes that you already have some of the fixings pre-made, such as the actual pulled pork.  And because you know I am mainly a "make it in 30 minutes or less" girl, I was perfectly happy to pick up a vat of already-prepared pulled pork, cooked and ready to be turned into sliders, at my local Costco.  (Of course, while I was there I also had to buy their awesome chocolate chip cookies.  And a 12-pack of Scotch tape.  And a few hundred other things that I absolutely needed.

The other thing you will need is some fabulous BBQ sauce.   In our house, that means one thing and one thing only and that is Stubbs.

But you feel free to be you, BBQ-sauce-wise.  That's what makes the world go round.  So once you have the bbq all warm and mixed with sauce, this recipe is all about making the slaw.  I go right for the already shredded coleslaw mix at the supermarket, although you can certainly chop up your own cabbage, and then it is just a matter of mixing that up with some ranch dressing, some crumbled blue cheese and some cooked and chopped bacon.  Grab some slider buns (I like to warm mine up first), spoon on some bbq, a little coleslaw, toss a dill pickle slice or two on top, and you are ready to rock.  Take that, never-ending winter!

Pulled Pork Sliders with Blue Cheese Slaw, from Christmas with Southern Living 2010

• 3 cups shredded coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 cups warm pulled pork BBQ (usually available in the supermarket near the bacon.  And at Costco!)
• 1 package mini slider buns (you can also use side-split hot dog rolls cut in thirds)
• 1/2 cup warmed BBQ sauce
• Dill pickle slices

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl and mix well.

2. Mix meat with BBQ sauce.  Place 1/4 cup BBQ on bottom half of bun, top with 1/4 cup slaw.  garnish with pickle slices, top with bun and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Mustard Chicken Salad

These days my house pretty much either looks like this, is about to look like this, or has just looked like this:

So you better believe that if I am going to have a SALAD for dinner, it is going to be a nice, hearty, substantial salad that gives me the strength I need to shovel the driveway again.

Okay, so I don't personally shovel the driveway.  Ever.  But you get my drift.

This scrumptious chicken salad fits the bill perfectly, and in addition the recipe has forever convinced me that if you needed pieces of cooked chicken for something, you MUST roast it in the oven.  I used to be a poach it on the stovetop girl, and all these years I never realized that roasting it makes the cooked chicken taste one million percent better.  One million, not kidding.

Anyway, after you have roasted the chicken and gotten your fabulous-tasting cooked chicken, you quickly dunk some broccoli in some boiling water, just until it is cript-tender and a lovely bright green.  After that it is just a matter of mixing up the mustard dressing and tossing the whole thing together: the chicken, the broccoli, the dressing, some cherry tomatoes and a little tarragon. 

Now THAT'S a salad that a person can eat in front of a fireplace.

Mustard Chicken Salad, from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips 

• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 5 cups small brocolli florets
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking pan lined with foil and rub with olive oil.  Sprinke liberally with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.  Cool, discard skin and tear chicken meat into bite-sized pieces.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add broccoli to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about one minute.  Drain and place the brocolli in the bowl of ice water.

3. make the dressing by whisking the mayo, mustards, vinegar 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt together.  Add enough dressing to the chicken to moisten well.  Add the tarragon, broccoli and tomatoes and mix gently to combine.  If you have time, cover and let sit in fridge for a couple of hours so the flavors can develop even more.  Serve at room temperature.

Click here for printable recipe

Butternut Cider Bisque

Okay, so this is one of my blog posts that has a long involved back-story, and since there is nobody here to tell me to cut to the chase except for the dog (who can't talk) and the Southern husband (who is WAY too smart to say anything of this nature) I'm going to go ahead and tell it.  Take comfort in the fact that it will be broken up with some entertaining pictures.  At least I think they are entertaining.

So to start at the beginning, a while back I was invited to take a series of pictures of chefs from restaurants in our area.  For a food groupie like me, this was a fabulous assignment, and I met a bunch of terrifically talented people this way (and got to sample some rocking good food along the way.)  Here's the first chef I photographed for this project:

Chef Chris Calcagno.  I know, it was a hard assignment, but someone had to do it.

Anyway.

Part of the assignment was to photograph each chef holding a copy of their favorite cookbook, which worked out to be double bonus points for me, because what better recommendation can a cookbook have then to be a chef's favorite?  So of course, I followed the directions and asked Chef Calcagno to please bring a copy of his favorite cookbook to be photographed with.  He selected THE NEW RED LION INN COOKBOOK.

Now on this particular shoot the Southern husband was helping me.  Which he is great at, and which has the added benefit of me being able to order him around and not get any back-talk.  Anyway, he was browsing through this book while I was doing the rest of the shoot, and he must have liked what he saw because lo and behold, I came home to find my very own copy sitting on my desk a couple of weeks later.  (Which made me feel a little tiny bit guilty about the whole ordering-around thing.)

I promise there is a point to all of this and here it is: this fabulous butternut soup is taken from this great cookbook.  It's a thick, delicious soup that involves cooking up chopped onion, carrots, celery, fresh thyme and a whole lot of butternut squash in a mixture of chicken broth and cider, and then pureeing the whole thing.  When you have it all nice and smooth and pureed, the recipe gives you the choice of thinning it down with either more broth, more cider or heavy cream.  I had about 1/4 cup of heavy cream in my fridge and it seemed like destiny to  me, but honestly, it would have been pretty much close to perfect even without that.  I swirled a teeny bit of cinnamon on the top and got this:

But I couldn't leave well enough alone.  No, I knew in my heart of hearts that there was one more thing that could push this soup over the edge to true greatness.

Yep.  Popcorn.  (Red Lion Inn people, if you are out there, I hope I didn't just horrify you.)  But it brought just the right amount of salty crunch to this sweet and scrumptious soup.  I put the popcorn in a bowl right there on the table and we scattered it on top as we ate...the popcorn will sink pretty quickly as it absorbs the soup, but trust me when I say this is a GOOD thing.

I will be quiet now and give you the recipe already.

Butternut Cider Bisque, adapted from the New Red Lion Inn Cookbook

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional but great)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cinnamon sugar for garnish
• Popcorn for garnish (also optional and also great)

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat and saute onions, carrot and celery for about 5 minutes.  Add squash and thyme and saute, stirring, for another two minutes.

2. Add stock and cider and simmer until squash until very soft, about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat.

3. Puree with immersion blender or in blender until smooth.  Return soup to pot and add cream if using, and salt and pepper to taste.  Reheat over low heat.

4. Serve, garnished with cinnamon sugar.  Put popcorn on table for diners to add as desired.

Click here for printable recipe 

The Best, Easiest, Quickest Chicken Noodle Soup Ever

There are few things I love as much in the cold heart of winter as a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  I'm most definitely not talking about the one in the can.  I'm talking about soup in a rich, flavorful broth with chunks of roasted chicken, freshly chopped tender pieces of carrot and celery, bow-tie noodles soaking up the chicken taste and fresh parsley and thyme floating throughout the whole thing.

Sounds long and involved and exhausting, right?  Well, usually that is right.  What usually happens is that you start out with all great intentions and energy and a nice whole chicken.  You toss it in the soup pot with some water and a prayer or two, and hours and days and weeks later you have a cooked chicken and some "broth."  But the chicken is a little rubbery from having boiled away for ages and I'm sorry, all the onion and carrots in the world have not been able to produce a nice rich broth  -- for me, anyway.  It ends up watery and sad and you have to skim the top of it, and on and on and on.  

It was time for something to be done.  It's our right to have a fantastic chicken soup that doesn't require a nap and a degree from the Culinary Institute of America.  So here's what needs to happen.  First of all, the foundation is the broth, and while pre-made chicken broth used to be a sad state of affairs, things have gotten a whole lot better lately.  There are two brands that are actually EXCELLENT, and they both come in boxes that are stacked in the supermarket right next to those nasty cans of chicken broth.  My fave is this one:

Although this one is pretty good as well:

 

Don't be tempted by the canned broth - go for one of these guys.

Next, you need a bone-in split chicken breast.  Put in in a baking pan, brush that baby with a little olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and pepper and roast it for about 50 minutes.  Meantime, chop up some carrots, some celery, an onion and some fresh parsley and thyme.  If I have a leek on hand I'll chop that up too.  Once your chicken is roasted and cooled a little, the chicken soup is about 20 minutes away.  Bring the broth to a nice simmer and drop in the veggies and some bow-tie pasta and simmer it covered until the veggies are tender and the pasta is cooked.  While this is going on, take a fork (or your fingers, if you are me) and pull the roasted chicken off the bone into bite-sized pieces.  Now toss the chicken pieces and the herbs into the soup and simmer for another few minutes until everything is all warm and perfect.  Taste to see if you need to add in any salt or pepper...and that's it, folks.  You have now made the perfect chicken noodle soup.  It will keep for several days and get better and better.  If it gets too thick, pour in a little more broth and it will be just fine.

Doesn't everything seem right with the world now?

Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

• 1 split bone-in chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Two 32 ounce boxes of chicken broth
• Two large carrots, sliced
• Two stalks celery, sliced
• One leek, sliced or one onion, chopped
• 1 cup bow tie pasta
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken skin side up on baking sheet lined with foil.  Rub olive oil onto chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 50 minutes and then cool until chicken is cool enough to shred with your fingers.  Discard bones and skin.

2. Heat broth until simmering.  Add carrots, celery, leek or onion and pasta and cook until pasta is done, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in parsley and chicken and season to taste.  Ladle into bowls and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Kentucky Hot Brown!

I think this MAY be the most delicious thing I have ever made, eaten, seen, smelled or otherwise come in any contact with over the course of my entire life.  This, my friends, is called a Kentucky Hot Brown, and my only regret is that I have gotten to the ripe old age of...well, never mind...and this is the first time I have eaten one.  I have a lot of catching up to do.

Here's how this all happened.   Back around Thanksgiving, I found a recipe in the New York Times for a very unusual way of cooking turkey.  I finally got around to making it, and let's just say that it involved a lot of Saran Wrap, a meat thermometer and a steam bath for the turkey,  and the stress of it all took about five years off my life.  But it resulted in some outstanding tasting turkey.  Because of the stress part I am not going to do one of my usual blog posts about it, but if you want to live life on the edge, turkey-wise, you can find the recipe by clicking here. The rest of you can either make your turkey the normal way, or even get some from your friendly neighborhood deli counter - just make sure they slice it thick, about 1/4 inch or so.

Anyhow, as is usually the case with any turkey-cooking, I ended up with a whole lot of leftovers, and I dimly remembered that I had heard of something called a Hot Brown that called for sliced cooked turkey.  Googling ensued.  Soon I found the original recipe for it, which dates back to a dish from the 1920's at the Brown Hotel in Kentucky.  This recipe called for a QUART of heavy cream, and that was enough to stop even me in my tracks.  So I moved on to Bobby Flay's version of it, which is not slenderizing by any means, but at least uses milk instead of the cream.

To cut to the chase, what you are putting together here is this: a piece of french toast that is topped with sliced turkey, sliced tomato and a succulent cheddar cheese sauce.  You run the whole thing under the broiler, lay a couple slices of bacon on top, sprinkle with some chopped parsley, and there you have it.  A Kentucky Hot Brown.

Do not let one more second go by without having this yourself.  It's worth roasting a turkey just to have leftovers to make this baby.  Kentucky Hot Brown...you heard it here first!

Kentucky Hot Brown, adapted from Bobby Flay's recipe

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the egg bread:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt
• 8 (1/2-inch) thick slices good day old white bread
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For assembly:

• Roasted turkey breast, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices and griddled until slightly charred and just cooked through
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 thick slices slab bacon, cooked until crisp
• Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

For the sauce:

Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the flour has cooked out, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cheese and cook until the cheese has melted. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.

For the egg bread:

Whisk together the eggs, milk and salt in a medium bowl. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture and let sit about 30 seconds, or until completely soaked through.  Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook 4 slices of the bread at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bread.

For assembly:

Preheat broiler. Place the egg bread on a baking sheet.  Top each slice of bread with 2 to 3 slices of turkey and 2 slices of tomato, ladle sauce over the top and divide the cheddar cheese and Parmesan over the top of each slice. Place under the broiler and cook until bubbly and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven, top each slice with 1-2 slices of bacon and sprinkle each slice with parsley.

Click here for printable recipe

Cauliflower Soup with Lobster Dumplings

I am head over heels in love with this recipe, because it looks and tastes so incredibly fancy and elegant and complicated.  And it definitely IS fancy and elegant, but it definitely ISN'T complicated.  I just love it when that happens.  The soup itself is a simple puree of cauliflower and shallots and chicken broth with just a teeny hit of cream.  The dumplings are a quick mixture of bread crumbs, a little egg, some chopped fresh tarragon, a hint of soft butter and (here comes the beauty part), just a little bit of chopped up cooked lobster.

The rest of the lobster (and you only need one lobster for every two people in this recipe, so you don't have to take out a second mortgage to make this) you chop up and divide among the soup bowls.

After you puree the cauliflower and chicken broth into a nice smooth soup, you drop in your teeny little dumplings and cook them for about 5 minutes, just enough to make them hold together.  Then you ladle out the fabulous soup and dumpling mixture over that lobster in the soup bowls.

Then you stand back and let the love and adoration and amazement wash over you.  Even though the whole thing took 30 minutes from start to finish.

Important note: I used one steamed lobster to make this recipe for the Southern husband and myself for dinner, and because I am a girl who gives credit where credit is due, I need to tell you that the Southern husband went out in a pretty good-sized snowstorm to fetch the aforementioned steamed lobster.  Evidence of the good-sized snowstorm below.  This footage was taken about an hour before I started making the soup.

Names have NOT been changed to protect the innocent.

Anyway, if you are looking for a show-stopper of a soup that is pretty dang easy, you have come to the right place.  Or if you just like lobster.  Or cauliflower.  Or badly-filmed videos of crazy hound dogs.

Cauliflower Soup with Lobster Dumplings, adapted from Michael Symon's Food Network recipe

• 4 ounces butter
• 4 tablespoons shallots, minced
• 1 head cauliflower, greens removed, head cut into small pieces
• Salt
• 6 cups chicken stock
• Lobster dumplings, recipe follows
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 3 (1 1/2 pound) whole lobsters, cooked, meat removed from shell, 1/2 cup tail meat reserved for dumplings, tail meat sliced into rounds

1. Heat butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add shallots and cauliflower and season with salt. Saute the cauliflower until it begins to lightly caramelize and become tender. Add stock and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are completely soft.  Meanwhile make the dumplings (directions below).

2. Puree mixture until smooth in a blender, or right in the pot with an immersion blender. Add the heavy cream and nutmeg and bring the soup to a simmer.

3. Add the dumplings and poach them in soup for 3 to 5 minutes. Check your seasoning and remove from heat.

4. In a soup bowl place the lobster meat and 1 claw in center and pour 8 ounces of soup and dumplings on top.

Lobster Dumplings:

• 1 1/2 cups white bread crumbs
• 1/2 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 teaspoons chopped tarragon
• 1/2 cup chopped cooked lobster meat
• Milk, to bind if needed
• Salt and ground white pepper

 

Mix all ingredients together and roll into small firm balls about 1/2-inch in diameter.

Click here for printable recipe