Thursday, August 4, 2011

Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Last week I sauteed some baby bella mushrooms with all the fixings--butter, fresh thyme, red wine, LOVE.  Anyway, as fate would have it, by the time they were done me and my pregnancy had absolutely no desire for the incredibly awesome mushrooms.  Of course I wouldn't throw away such a loved food, so I put them in a dish and popped them in the fridge. 
Fast forward through the weekend and there I was Monday facing a fridge of various leftovers and a total craving for a grilled cheese sandwich.  If I weren't pregnant I may have just gone for the classic cheddar and bread and left it at that along with leaving all those left overs in the fridge.  However, I am pregnant and need to consciously eat well.  Also, I've been challenged to not waste any food.  So, I faced my fridge and pulled out most of it's contents.  And the result was love!
This week, yes the entire week (most of this pregnancy I've been able to stomach a food at most twice within the same week), I've been eating and LOVING grilled cheese sandwiches, mind you, not the classic plain Jane bread and cheddar ones.  This week, with the help of last week's cast off mushrooms, I've cooked up some fancy schmancy sandwiches with cheese and other leftover yummy-ness.
Like I mentioned, I started by taking out anything that might sound remotely good on a sandwich.  Things like chopped artichoke hearts, watercress, hummus, provolone, sauteed mushrooms, grilled chicken, garden fresh tomatoes, peppers, roasted peppers, fresh basil, mozzarella, oh the list is never ending sometimes! 
I had a beautiful sourdough loaf and some cheese from Whole Foods, called Belletoile, a triple ream Brie.  This cheese has the consistency of cream cheese but is sold in a wedge because when cold it is fairly firm.  My first gourmet sandwich of the week was on the sourdough with the Belletoile, some watercress, and sauteed mushrooms.  Delicious!  The cheese melted beautifully and held the sandwich together well.  The mushrooms provided a lovely meaty flavor and the watercress lent the sandwich a little peppery flavor.  I was hooked and was so happy that I had plenty more of the fixings to make more sandwiches.
Another one that was yummy was the provolone, chopped artichoke, hummus, couple last sauteed mushroom pieces, and roasted peppers (I bet some prosciutto would be tasty on this one too) on sourdough.  I loved the mozzarella, tomato, basil, splash of balsamic vinegar, and chicken grilled cheese sandwich too.  Just sitting her writing this up my mind is conjuring more combinations!
Besides using up leftovers in a surprisingly delicious way, I have been enjoying lunchtime much more than usual this week and have been inspired to create more gourmet grilled cheeses.
Are you inspired or just grossed out?

2 comments:

  1. Sounds DELICIOUS! I must try. Thanks for the info! You are a wonderful food writer.

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  2. although i am not a grilled cheese fan (i used to be until i was pregnant with William and I have had an aversion to it ever since!), i am glad you are feeling so much better! Nice!

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