The Pioneer Woman's Favorite Sandwich

I ran across the recipe for The Pioneer Woman's favorite sandwich a few days ago. A grilled cheese sandwich with hatch green chiles? Oh, hell yes. 

First, let me say that I adore grilled cheese sandwiches. Good grilled cheese sandwiches. A good grilled cheese sandwich should have a buttery, lacy, golden-brown exterior with a gooey, cheesy interior. Soggy bread and grainy, greasy cheese make for a sad grilled cheese sandwich. Beyond that, I'm up for just about any interesting ingredients, so long as the qualities mentioned supra are in no way compromised. I'm always interested in trying new cheeses and flavors in my grilled cheese. So when I saw her recipe that included hatch green chiles, oh baby, I just about fainted. I love hatch green chiles. 

Every August, Papa buys a bunch of hatch green chiles, roasts and then freezes them. I used the last of my share a month ago, but I was fairly certain he still had a stash in his freezer. It was my intention to pilfer some sweet hatch goodness to make this wicked, wicked sandwich. 

I attempted the recipe for lunch yesterday. I won't repeat the whole recipe since you can find it here, but in short it's a grilled sandwich with cheddar, provolone, sliced tomatoes, a whole green chile, and red onion. Before I started, I noticed several things I already liked. First, she uses two types of cheese. Cheddar provides great flavor and provolone contributes smooth, creaminess. Also, I she uses my preferred method of buttering the bread rather than the skillet. 

The only modification I made to the recipe was to let the sliced tomato rest on paper towels for a few minutes to draw out extra moisture. 

I cooked the sandwiches on an electric griddle, about twice as long as the recipe recommended since I like my cheese completely melted. 

I asked Papa for his feedback. His response was, "Cut some of the cheese - either no provolone or only one slice. Too much cheese dominated the flavor of the three veggies. Serve with olives. Perhaps thicker bread. I would like to try it with a hoagie bun cut in half so as to contain the cheese."

Too much cheese? Whaaaaa? Is that even possible for a grilled cheese sandwich? Then I realized that we were having a philosophical disagreement. To me this was a grilled cheese sandwich flavored with vegetables. For him this should have been a vegetable sandwich flavored with the cheese. To me, the cheese is the star of the sandwich. Everything else the supporting cast to enhance the flavor of the cheese. I want the flavor of the cheese to dominate. 


And in my opinion, the vegetables performed beautifully. I was worried that the raw onions would be too strong, but they were perfect. The flavors were nicely balanced and dimensional. The hatch chile was a bit too spicy for me, so I took about half out of my sandwich, but I might be a bit of a pansy ass. 

I wouldn't cut back on the cheese. No way, no how. Forget it. I would use thinner tomatoes, perhaps cut with a mandoline, and I would salt them a bit as they drained. I would try to cut all the ingredients as thinly as possible, but I'd keep the bread the same thickness. I'd also like to experiment with different cheeses. 

Will I make it again? Definitely. I've been craving all day. I'll probably make it again this weekend. 

Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes, we had a good run. In the dead of winter, when all the fresh tomatoes in the produce section tasted like wax, you were the superior product. Packed at the height of freshness, you consistently delivered vibrant color and fresh, sweet taste all year long. And, gosh, were you convenient. No peeling, seeding or dicing. Just pop open a can and get ready for action. And you were so versatile. From pasta sauces, to soups, to casseroles, to salsas, you stood in my pantry at the ready to liven up so many of our family's favorite recipes. And, wow, you were so cost effective. No fresh tomato could beat your price.

But, canned tomatoes, until you find a way to line your cans with something that doesn't contain, BPA, I have to bid you a fond farewell.

I now buy the cartons and the jars. My only complaint is that most of my recipes call for either 8, 14 or 28 ounce cans and these are 24 ounce containers. Also, they're a little pricier than the cans. Of the two, I prefer the taste of the Cento but Pomi is cheaper. I buy both and use the Cento for dishes with prominent tomato flavor, like pizza or pasta sauce and Pomi for dishes like my veggie chili where the subtle tomato flavors are overwhelmed by chili powder anyway.

On Sunday I found some organic Roma tomatoes on sale at Central Market for $1.59 a pound. I had been craving spaghetti pie, so I thought I'd try my hand at making my own version of the two 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce the recipe requires. I bought a little over three pounds and put two aside for my pimento cheese sandwiches.

I dropped the remaining tomatoes in boiling water, three to four at a time for about a minute. I like to do just a few at a time so I can watch them more carefully and so that I don't cool the water.

The tomatoes went directly from the boiling water into ice water to halt the cooking.

After they cooled, I peeled, cored, (mostly) seeded and chopped the tomatoes.

Then I took a little snack break.  My hands down favorite way to use exceptionally good tomatoes (homegrown or from the farmers market) is pan con tomate.  I am of the opinion that one should always have on hand at least two types of olive oil. The first type can be used for cooking but the second should be reserved exclusively for drizzling and dipping. I like to use Whole Foods 365 brand extra virgin olive oil for cooking. My current favorite for dipping and drizzling is Columela Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Pan con tomate is an excellent example of when to pull out the good stuff. The sweet tomatoes and fruity olive oil complement each other perfectly. Toast some rustic bread, lightly rub with a garlic clove, top with chopped, peeled, seeded tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with your best olive oil. It's one of my favorite things to eat.

Once my snack break was over, I warmed a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pan and sauteed a few teaspoons of minced garlic until fragrant. I added the chopped tomatoes and simmered for about 25 minutes until reduced and thickened. Here's the end result:

Just a little over two ounces short of the 16 ounces I needed for my recipe. More money and considerably more time than opening a couple cans of tomato sauce, but with these early summer tomatoes, it was delicious enough to motivate me to make it again. Seriously, it was so good I could have eaten it with a spoon.

Cooking

I love food. My enthusiasm for eating informs many major decisions in my life. I choose where to live based on proximity to quality grocery shopping and restaurants. I've taken vacations based entirely on the local food. In fact, when I'm traveling I abandon my mostly vegetarian diet because I feel that eating the local cuisine is essential to experiencing the culture.

I consider how one eats to be a major quality of life indicator. However, until recently, I didn't actually cook food unless it was a holiday and I was helping my mom. I watched cooking shows and read cooking magazines but performed no actual cooking. In my single life, I existed primarily on prepared foods, take out and pizza.

When I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom, the first thing that had to go was eating out at restaurants. Also, cooking our meals just seemed like the right thing to do if my new job was to take care of our family. It seemed like part of the job description.

In the past year I've learned to plan meals, create a grocery list and shop under a tight budget. I've become a grocery shopping ninja. I shop at several different grocery stores to get the best deal.

I'm learning how to cook and entertain my kids at the same time. Yesterday, while making pizza, I gave both girls a little hunk of dough and rolling pins while I rolled out the family's pizza. Mia did a fantastic job making her own pizza. Eevy had great fun using her rolling pin to pound the dough like a mallet. When I can't distract the kids,  I've learned to cook quickly by either putting a meal into the slow cooker before my husband heads in to work or throwing it together when he gets home.

I've found that I get a lot of satisfaction from cooking. I sometimes miss the sense of accomplishment I experienced when I worked out of the home. Turning out delicious food isn't quite the same as a win in court, but it comes close. I can't help but smile just thinking about Mia saying, "Mama, this tastes good!"

I also like having complete control over what my family eats. I know exactly how my girls' food was prepared and exactly what went into it.  I try to avoid BPA, pesticides, rBST, hfcs, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated fats and other bad things I'm forgetting about at the moment. If make our pizza, I know that it doesn't have canned tomatoes or hfcs in the sauce or rBST in the cheese.

Not everything my family eats is homemade or from scratch - not that those terms have clear definitions anyway - but I do my best to cook for my family using the most basic ingredients as practical. For example, I'm not planning on milling my own flour anytime soon, but I would like to stop buying commercial bread except for the occasional artisan loaf. I like to say that if I can make it, why buy it?

I try to buy local when I can afford to do so. We love boggy creek farm and would shop there all the time if money wasn't an issue. We grow many of the vegetables that we eat thanks in large part to help from my father, Papa. Also, thanks to help from Papa, construction of our chicken coop is underway. Hopefully by mid-summer we will no longer buy commercial chicken eggs. I'd like to expand our growing efforts in the Fall to include some raised beds in our front yard for a cole crop. Fall and Winter are great seasons for gardening in Texas.

Here are some of my current food goals:

Grow more of our own food
Raise chickens for eggs
Bake our own bread
Learn to make our girls' much loved cheese crackers
Learn to decorate a layer cake (improve piping skills and learn to use fondant)
Learn to can my own tomatoes for BPA-free convenience in the winter
Buy a freezer for the back porch and make a bunch of casseroles for times when I'm tempted to order a delivery pizza
Improve food photography skills

I'll conclude with a recent baking effort - my second attempt at a layer cake. I made it for Mia's third birthday last month. She loves Hello Kitty. I used the white cake recipe from Baking Illustrated and Martha Stewart's recipe for swiss meringue buttercream. The edible decal was a huge pain in the butt. I won't use that again. My goal is to improve my decorating skills before they are old enough to care.

Parenting Rant Deleted

I woke up at 4 a.m. mad. How dare she tell me how I should be raising my child? I couldn't fall back asleep. The degree of anger I felt disproportionate to the imagined insult, I lay in bed and fumed. I woke up and wrote a rant which I immediately deleted because it failed my two part test: 1) would I want this used against me in a court of law and 2) would I want this published in the newspaper (or contemporary online equivalent). More importantly, I deleted it because I realized after writing it that my acquaintance hardly knows me or my kids so her comments had nothing to do with me. 


So instead, I'll begin with one of my father's favorite sayings: You just missed an excellent opportunity to keep your mouth shut. That sums up my opinion on telling other people how they ought to be raising their kids. 


Back when I only had one child and knew far more about children than I do now, I was full of opinions and advice. Now, unless directly asked, I tend to keep my mouth shut. Why? Firstly, I keep quiet because I realize that experience with one child is not sufficient experience to predict the behaviors of other children. My second baby has been surprisingly different than my first. Secondly, I don't advertise my parenting philosophies because it's so easy to inadvertently piss someone off. We parents can be a rather sensitive bunch. 


I do have ideas and opinions about child rearing, but I am happy to keep them to myself. Expressing them would likely piss off and alienate parents whose beliefs differ from mine. I tend to not advertise the choices I make regarding my children and the decision making process behind them. It seems that just by making different choices than other parents, they automatically assume that I disapprove of their choices. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "I know you're probably going to disapprove, but we've decided to..."


In truth, I don't believe in a a one-size-fits-all approach to child rearing. If the family is happy and the kid is thriving, then it's working. 


If you put your baby in childcare at 6 weeks to return to work, I have no problem with that. A previous manager of mine told me that she was dying to get back to work 8 weeks postpartum. She was going crazy at home with the baby and wanted to get back to the courtroom. She wouldn't have served herself or her baby by staying home longer if doing so made her unhappy. 


If you forgo all outside childcare, stay home and unschool your kids, I have no problem with that either. I have nothing but respect for Soule Mama and others who take on the awesome responsibility to educate their children at home. 


And thank goodness we have an almost infinite number of possibilities in between. Thank goodness that we as parents have so many options that we can make the choice that we feel is truly best for our children and our families. Lets just not mistakenly assume that because a particular choice seems to be working well for some children that it is the universal best choice. In other words, just because it's working for you and your kid, doesn't necessarily mean that it  would work for me and mine. 


I'm not trying to be all kumbaya yoga blog when I say that I can respect all kinds of parenting. Maybe after seeing enough CPS cases, it's hard for me to muster disapproval for anything that is clearly not abuse or neglect. Really, I can respect any decision you make if it is in the best interest of your family and your child. However, if you need me to make the same decisions to validate yours, I simply cannot do that. 


Since this is a yoga blog, I'll end with a little ahimsa. The next time a well meaning friend of family member gives me advice on how I ought to be raising my children, I will assume that it comes from well-meaning concern and love for my children. I will try to respond with gratitude and compassion and perhaps even sympathy for the parent who may be doubting their own parenting decisions. And if I do start to feel a little angry or defensive, I'll remind myself that my husband and I are happy with our decisions and that our children are thriving. When I think about my beautiful, creative, brilliant children, it's hard to stay focused on anyone's disapproval. When I imagine my girls' smiling faces, I'm filled with a gratitude that eclipses everything else. 

Rebirth

My husband and I just bought our first house. We closed on February 19, 2010. All the trees on the lot, except for a lone pine, were without leaves. They could have all been dead for all I knew. I've never paid any attention to trees, but since that they were mine, I had a sudden interest in knowing everything about them - what type, how old and most importantly, were they alive?

Every day I would examine the stems for signs of life. I was thrilled and relieved when leaf buds began to appear. I worried over those that seemed lifeless. I was ecstatic when one, then two, then six began to bloom. I would lie on the ground and gaze up at the branches as I watched the skeletal branches transform themselves.

For the first time I felt like I understood why myths involving rebirth or resurrection have such widespread appeal this time of the year. All around us life is springing from that which is seemingly devoid of life. After watching the rebirth of trees all around us, is it such a stretch to wonder if we, too, could be reborn, at least in a metaphorical sense?

I started to clear the flower beds of dead leaves and found infant ferns just beginning to unfurl. I sowed seeds and waited anxiously for them to sprout. I bought seedlings from the Sunshine Gardens plant sale and planted an herb garden.

I've always been fascinated by rebirth mythology - my youngest daughter's middle name is Phoenix - but working in the garden made me feel connected to the birth/life/death/rebirth cycle in a way I haven't felt since I was pregnant. But when I was pregnant, I think I was too involved, too close to the matter, to stand back and experience the miracle with true awe.

I've culled the dead branches from trees. I've pruned the dead wood from the rose bushes. I've cleared away the dead matter that did not survive the winter. I've cleared way for new life to flourish and expand.

I was going to write about how I intend to cull, prune and clear the dead and useless from my life, but instead, I'm just going to end this with one of my favorite meditations. I think it's a great way to sit in awe with the cycle of birth-life-death-rebirth. Sa Ta Na Ma. Try it.

Cupcakes

Since I have nothing to report on the yoga front, I'll write about one of my other favorite subjects: FOOD! On Saturday, Tom and I went to a pre-Thanksgiving potluck. I spent all morning making two batches of cupcakes.

The first batch was a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. I found a recipe for this at the cake mix doctor's website, but my new motto is "why buy it if I can make it." I didn't want to use a cake mix, so I used a Martha Stewart recipe for the cupcake batter. I also didn't want to use the store bought cookie dough the cake mix doctor recommended so I used a Cook's Illustrated recipe for thick and chewy chocolate chop cookies for the cookie dough. I made 1 inch balls with the dough and froze them overnight. After cooking the cupcakes with the frozen dough I wouldn't say that the cookie dough tasted raw, but half-baked and still nicely gooey.

For the frosting, I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I splurged on a real vanilla bean so the frosting had a great vanilla flavor and beautiful little black vanilla seeds throughout. (Click on the picture to see them)

For my second recipe, I wanted to tackle the bacon cupcake. I'd read a lot about the bacon cupcake meme on the cupcake blogs, and while I don't eat meat, my husband LOVES bacon. Some of the bacon cupcake recipes combined chocolate and bacon for a Mo's Bacon Bar inspired experience. Other's preferred breakfasty flavors like french toast or maple.  I thought that a maple bacon cupcake would be most accessible; like eating waffles with maple syrup and a side of bacon. For these I used Martha Stewart's maple cupcake with maple buttercream recipe. I fried thick cut maple bacon until it was extra crispy. I portioned the cupcake batter into the liners, crumbled a piece of bacon into each cupcake and swirled it into the batter.

I'd already read that most people either love bacon cupcakes or hate them. No one told me that they hated the cupcakes. In fact the only negative feedback I got was from a friend who said she didn't like maple syrup. But the people who loved them seemed to REALLY love them.

I wish I'd taken a picture of these on Saturday. This is one that sat out all night and the icing didn't stand up quite as well as the icing for the cupcake above. You can still see the bacon-y goodness inside.

If I make these again, I'll probably try a brown sugar cupcake instead of the maple. Between the cake and the buttercream, Martha Stewart's recipes called for 32 ounces of Maple Syrup so this wasn't an economical recipe. I left the bacon out of a couple so that I could try the cupcake and it was very, very tasty. It might just be a special occasion cupcake.

I volunteered to bring cupcakes to a my friend Lissa's baby shower. The shower was supposed to happen already, but her baby boy just didn't want to wait any longer and was born the day before Lissa's scheduled shower. I did the same thing to my mom, only I was born the day of my mother's shower. My aunt and mother's friends had the shower without her and even opened all of her gifts. We didn't do this, ahem, for Lissa.  When she and baby are feeling up to attending, we'll have her shower. This gives me some time to think about what I'm going to make and experiment with tinting icing. I'd really like to make chocolate cupcakes with blue icing because I love that color combination, but of course I'll make whatever she wants me to make!

Prana (hack hack) yama

OK, allergies are kicking my ass. Is it just me or is practicing when you're coughing and sneezing the worst? I managed to get both girls to nap at the same time today and made it all the way through primary, sounding like I was coughing up a lung. I coughed so hard I gagged.

No progress on the jumping back to report. Typical for me. I tend to have rapid improvement followed by weeks or months of no improvement at all. I'll write if anything changes.

Almost Thanksgiving week. Tom will be home from work. He'll be able to watch the girls. I'm anticipating a week of consistent practicing.