Comfort food for dreary days

It has been a dreary week.

Cold and wet and windy and sunless, I've really hated the weather this week. It's amazing, though, how warm familiar food can make me warm inside and make me forget about the grayness outside.

And what's more familiar and comforting than a grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup?


Really, when my husband got home tonight, he just grinned and thanked me for making his "favorite meal".
I countered, "I thought biscuits and gravy was your favorite meal?"
"It is, too."
Sigh. Next time we need a warm comfort food, I know what to make!

Well, tonight I made grilled cheese & tomato soup. I grew up with grilled cheese using 2 slices of Kraft Singles on each sandwich. Josh grew up with sliced Velveeta. I don't think Velveeta ever entered my home as a child, but since being married and trying it "his way", I'm sold. I mean, both Velveeta and Kraft sliced cheese make a good, melty, warm, cheesy comfort food for gray days, but the Velveeta wins out.

And, this just in! Kraft cheese (they make your typical sliced cheese as well as Velveeta) are now growth hormone free, so I can feel even better about using them in my sandwiches. Because, I mean, I've tried using sliced cheddar in my grilled cheese & it's just not the same. Homemade grilled cheese demands American cheese.

GIVEAWAY!
Want to make your own grilled cheese sandwiches for your family? I'm giving away THREE coupons for a free pack of Kraft or Velveeta Singles (newly growth-hormone free!). Leave a comment here with your favorite fall/winter comfort food and you'll be entered to win.
Do leave an email address or blog address that contains contact information so I can let you know if you win.

Good luck! This post will be at the top of the blog until next Friday, November 21st, when I will announce the winners!

Lunch at work: Caprese Sandwich

Inspired by Monday's Betty Crocker Recipe of the Day, yesterday morning I decided to try an experiment while packing my lunch- a basil, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich.

Caprese Sandwich

1 small tomato, sliced thick
4-5 fresh basil leaves (I really like basil...)
Mozzarella cheese (fresh is better, but I only had shredded cheese)
2 slices of bread

How to pack the lunch:
Place tomato slices and basil leaves in a sandwich bag. Pack the bread and cheese separately. Put everything in the refrigerator when you get to work. Put your name on it, if you're afraid someone will steal it.

At work, I have access to a toaster and a toaster oven. When lunchtime came, I placed the tomato slices in the toaster oven (set to "broil") topped with basil and cheese, to melt the shredded cheese. If you're using fresh mozzarella, this would be unnecessary. Toast the bread. Pile everything into the sandwich. Enjoy a fresh, gourmet sandwich from the comfort of your office breakroom. Observe how jealous your coworkers are.

Finally, sandwich bread

I said "Finally". I've been trying various recipes for a while, and have only been moderately satisfied with the results. I mean, I love the simplicity and the results I get with no-knead bread, but the holes in it don't make it the best choice for sandwiches. I've been looking for a way to make nice, fresh sandwich bread. After trying a recipe or two online, I resorted to my Christmas present, the classic The Joy of Cooking. I started baking early- last time I made bread, I got started too late and ended up rushing the rises so I could get to bed at a reasonable hour. This time I was prepared. I started with the "white bread" recipe described as "perfect white bread", first appearing in Joy in 1931. If it's been around so long, it can't go wrong, right? Wrong. I follow the directions so carefully. I really want this to work. When I mix everything together, it seems to "seize up". No amount of kneading fixed this fact, and I was getting mad. It was dry, flaky, and I didn't know what I did wrong, that 75 years of cooks before me did right.* I set it in a bowl to rise, giving it about a 15% chance of success, and turned my attention to quickly trying to get another loaf started. I was determined to do something right.

The next recipe in the cookbook was for "Fast White Bread" (page 597) - just what I needed. It required less preparation, and I was able to throw the ingredients together fairly quickly. When it came to kneading- Oh! What a joy! Especially compared to my experience an hour before! It was relaxing and smooth and everything as it was supposed to be. I was happy. The two rises went just as well- and I was patient enough to let them finish- my problem in the past.

At almost 10pm, I pulled the loaf out of the oven with pride. Finally, baking a kneaded bread went right. I left it to cool, and cut it for sandwiches while making lunches this morning. The texture and flavor is just right. The crust is harder than the store-bought variety, but that can be tweaked. All in all, I'm pleased. Finally.

* Upon investigation, I discovered this forum comment and this recipe correction on Joy's publisher's site. Figures. In 4,500 recipes, 0.2% have corrections, and I try one of them. So, it makes me feel better that it wasn't just me screwing up, the recipe was wrong. Very wrong. I'll have to give it another try later, with the correct amount of water.

Simple meals

Simple meals are OK.

Sometimes I just have to remind myself of that. I work a full day at the office and coming home expecting myself to be super-wife and whip up something amazing. This is sometimes too much. The last two nights, we've had easy-to-fix dinners that haven't taken very much time or effort at all to fix, but haven't sacrificed anything in the Delicious department.


Yesterday, Josh had eaten a late lunch, but we had to eat early to be at church in time for activities there. He wasn't that hungry, but I was, and there wasn't much time to figure out a good compromise. I went with a breakfast-dinner, partly because I could fix it easily, and partly because I had 3 dozen eggs I need to start using in my refrigerator.

It may be unusual, but one of my favorite comfort foods is the breakfast sandwich. Any kind of breakfast meat will do, really- ham, sausage, bacon, I like it all. Toast, croissant, English muffin- again, not picky. Last night, we had 4 pieces of bread left, 2 of them heels. I used the heels to make the sandwich, and made toast out of the other two, to go with his scrambled eggs and bacon. I had the same substance to my meal, I just stacked it all on top of each other :)

Easy Breakfast Sandwich

- Toast two pieces of bread, bagel, english muffin, or croissant.
- Break an egg into a frying pan. When the white starts to solidify, break the yolk. When the bottom of the egg is solid, flip it and let it continue to cook on the other side. This egg can't be over-easy or over-medium, it has to be cooked through, or you end up with a very drippy sandwich. Trust me.
- Fry the meat (sausage, ham, or bacon) to appropriate doneness. I used bacon, and actually got it perfect- not too crispy, not floppy. My husband was impressed.
- Stack everything together into a sandwich. Add a slice of American cheese, mayonnaise, or a tomato slice if desired.

Like I said. Simple. Josh just wanted scrambled eggs, bacon & toast which was just as easy.

Tonight, we had another simple meal because I wasn't as hungry, but he was. Dinner was quesadillas with ground turkey - plenty filling, and oh-so-quick to make. And fairly healthy! Other vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, or onions can be included in quesadillas, but we like the simple cheese-and-meat version.

Quick Quesadillas
4 tortillas
Mozzarella cheese
1/3 lb ground turkey
~2 tablespoons salsa (I was out of taco seasoning. I think the salsa actually might have given it a better flavor, anyway.)

- Brown ground turkey with the salsa in a pan. Set aside.
- Butter or spray with cooking spray one side of 2 tortillas. Place one tortilla buttered-side-down on a plate. Top with cheese, half the meat, and more cheese. Top with the other tortilla, butter-side-up.
-Transfer quesadilla to a hot George Foreman grill (This could probably be done in a pan, but I haven't tried. Wouldn't be hard, I suppose. If doing it in a pan, you'd have to make sure to flip the quesadilla). Let cook till outside is somewhat crispy and cheese is melted.
- Repeat with other two tortillas to make the second quesadilla.

Makes 2 quesadillas. If used for an appetizer, this would feed 4-6. We had it as a meal, and it fed two.

Easy easy. Yummy, too.

New Food

Everyone has to start somewhere. Grilled Peanut butter and jelly, originally posted 10/14/05

Today I tried something new for lunch- a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was a very sweet treat. I made the typical PB&J, buttered the outside, and stuck the whole thing in my handy-dandy grilled sandwich maker. Delicious.
The only downside: Melted jelly is very hot when it drips out of the sandwich. Messy, but worth it.