Hot, Spicy, and Sweet Grilled Cheese with Turkey

In Seattle it has been HOT! The temperatures are closer to what we're used to having in Baltimore, without the humidity, but also without the air conditioning! There is just no escaping it. People keep assuring us that it isn't typically like this, but this heat wave has lasted over two weeks, and I am starting to wonder if this is the new normal.

Luckily, the extended forecast shows the temperature dipping at the end of the week, but I hope that doesn't change by the time we actually get there. Anyway, it is too warm to turn on the oven when we would normally cook dinner, so we've been going with alternate cooking means. We could just eat salads, but that gets boring after awhile, and I still miss the hot meal feeling, even it I'm feeling very warm myself. One of those options is to cook something quick on the stovetop, it goes on, cooks, and turns off in a few minutes, avoiding the preheating and literal box of hot air, that cooking with the oven would prescribe.  

Based on the need to use the stovetop, I declare this week, GRILLED CHEESE WEEK!

So I am sharing a sandwich today that I loooove!!!! And I'll share another on Thursday! I could eat this one almost every day; the flavors in it play off of each other so well, and they dress up a plain grilled cheese to be something pretty spectacular. There is some heat mixed with the sweetness of the jam that leaves me craving the flavors of this sandwich. I based this combo off of something I picked up at a shop in Philadelphia and changed around so that Ben would eat it (the original had ham and that isn’t Ben’s thing). 

We made this in Baltimore before we left with smoked turkey breast from Neopol, and if you live in Baltimore, or near a meat smoker—THAT IS THE WAY TO GO! For all of us living far away from that beautiful specialty market, sliced turkey or chicken breast will do just fine. You can also add some smoky flavor by choosing smoked cheese.

Let’s talk jam:

I started with fig preserves, which is what the original sandwich used, but they’re a little hard to find. My mom finally found it at Harry and David, but we left it in Baltimore. When we were trying to find a replacement I picked up aprium jam and pluot pepper jam at the farmers market, and they both seem to taste great. I think the most important thing is the sweet note, not necessarily the flavor of the jam so you can customize it. I prefer the pluot pepper jam, since it adds a little more heat to the sandwich.

The pan:

You can use whatever pan you would use for grilled cheese, just give it a go, and be careful to keep all the loose parts inside your sandwich when you flip.

We use the grill pan from Le Cruset and their panini press, I find that it holds everything together a little better and cooks a bit more evenly, but really, just use the tools that you have.

For Each Sandwich you need:

• 2 slices of crusty bread that is fairly dense, and will trap your cheese in the sandwich and not cover your grill pan in cheese (so, not ciabatta)
• Provolone Cheese
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Scant TB of jam (enough to smear on one piece of bread).
• Sliced oven roasted turkey (smoked if available)
• Room temperature butter

1. Heat your pan to medium high, and lightly grease. There is a lot of psychology that goes into how you heat up your pan. Are you a frequent grilled cheese burner? You may want to go low and slow. Are you really hungry, and you aren’t going to take your eyes off of the sandwich while it is cooking? A high temp may be just fine with you. Really, I try to find the balance so that it cooks pretty quick on the outside but not so fast that the outside of your sandwich is hot and the inside is full of cold ingredients and solid cheese. Experiment with your desired temperature and results.
2. Smear one side of each slice of bread with butter.
3. Flip the bread, butter down on your work surface, and start building your sandwich.
4. Spread jam on one face of your sandwich (I’ve tried both sides, and it’s a little heavy on the jam for me).
5. On top of that add a slice of cheese.
6. Now sprinkle the cayenne pepper.
7. Layer your turkey.
8. Top with a piece of cheese, and your other piece of bread (butter out).
9. Carefully transfer your sandwich stack from work surface to the grill pan. 
10. Cook until golden brown on one side and flip.
11. Cook until the second side is done and enjoy!

What is your favorite thing to heat during a heat wave?

Sugar Snap Peas and Greens in a Snap!

We've been in Seattle for about 3 weeks now, we're in our apartment and have started our new jobs. Everything still feels fake and vacation-like, and it's taking us a while to get settled in. That can be expected I guess, but it's jarring and uncomfortable. Ben and I are trying to get back into a normal-ish schedule, and doing things that we always do and try to establish a new normal in Seattle. 

There a few things right off the bat that we love about where we're living, and the first of those is how close we are to the University Farmer's Market. We can see the Saturday morning market from our bedroom! That makes it pretty hard to skip, so a lot of our food has been inspired by the things we've found at the market.

This recipe is particularly easy to throw together for a quick dinner, and uses 2 things we have at the market right now, sugar snap peas, and pea greens. Pea greens seem pretty cost effective, I got a bunch for $3; snap peas are less cost effective, but they're some of my favorites, so I splurged. I hope to grow some on my balcony for the fall harvest (this idea is minimally researched, so don't take that as gardening advice) not only for food, but also as a sort of privacy screen.

Sugar Snap Peas and Greens

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken breast
1 inch of fresh ginger (skin peeled off)
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 pound of sugar snap peas
A few handfuls of pea greens
A squeeze of lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Spray a pan with non stick spray, then heat a pan on medium high heat.
2. Chop the chicken into bit sized pieces, season with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides.
3. While the chicken is browning mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic chili sauce, and cider vinegar.
4. Prepare the snap peas by breaking off any leafy ends and rinsing them.
5. Mince the garlic and ginger.
6. Once the chicken is browned, put it to the side to rest.
7. In the same pan add the snap peas, ginger, and garlic, add in 1/4 cup of water and toss all for a few minutes until the peas are lightly steamed and bright green.
8. Add in the soy sauce mixture and toss for 20 seconds, remove from heat and combine with the chicken.
9. Plate the peas and chicken, top with a handful of pea greens and squeeze lime over the dish and serve.

What are your favorite finds at the farmers market at this time of year? I'm looking forward to garlic scapes!

Using the Meyer Lemon Tree Harvest

You know that citrus is a winter fruit, right? For all the press that lemons and lemonade get in the summer, the zesty fare isn't even in season! Take a look around the grocery store at this time of year and you'll see an impressive array of citrus in every size and color.

We have a Meyer lemon tree with a very small harvest, I recently picked my one lemon and had to decide what special way I would use it. A few months ago, Ben and I talked about candied lemon peel and I've had browser windows open on my phone with recipes ever since (because I'm all about the tabs). I supplemented my supply with store bought Meyer lemons and started re reading those recipes. 

I'm going to be honest, the motivation for making the candied lemon peel was purely visual. Ben and I were eating his mom's lemon cake and we somehow started talking about garnishes for the top. I've never eaten candied lemon peel, so I have no reference. Making it was completely experimental; overall I think it's good with a hint of strange. I can certainly still taste the bitterness of the peel but that element has been minimized. Next time I think I would add some salt (like a quarter teaspoon) into the final sugaring because that will balance out the bitter and bring out the sweetness (as taught by Alton Brown. )

Let's get to the process. 52 Kitchen Adventures was my main source for this recipe.

---

Ingredients

4-5 Lemons (I used Meyer lemons)
3 cups sugar
Water

Directions

1. First, peel your lemons. I've read instructions that tell you to use a paring knife to separate the flesh from the peel. I tried some like this, and then also used a vegetable peeler with a heavy hand to peel the lemons and include some of the pith. I couldn't tell the difference in the final product so I would use a vegetable peeler when I do this again.
2. Slice the peel into thin strips.
3. Put the peel into a saucepan and cover with water
4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes; drain.
5. Repeat two more times.
6. Drain and set peels aside.
7. Fill the saucepan with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Place over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
8. Place the peel in the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the skin is translucent. 
9. Drain and store the liquid for another use (lemon simple syrup can be used to sweeten and flavor drinks).
10. Dredge the peels through the last cup of sugar and dry overnight.
11. Store in an airtight container packed in sugar.

Uses

I used this as a cupcake topper and you could use it similarly on other baked goods.  You could also cut it up and include inside cookies or muffins. It would also make a good garnish for drinks, or you could just eat it as a candy. We're thinking of using it as a topping on a spicy entree. 

Have an idea for how to use it? Let us know!