Grilled Cheese +

Greetings Y'All!

It has been far too long.  I have over 400 photos of foods I've made since my last post over six months ago.  I've been so busy and tired, that even though I took loads of pics, I didn't have the time to write and post stuff.  I'm still busy with school and various other courses, plus gardening--I finally have a proper veg garden, not just a patch any more--and just day-to-day stuff.

Anyway, I should be doing homework, but I decided that today is the day I get back to this blog.  Maybe it was this amazing sandwich I made for a late lunch.

Here it is, so easy, quick, filling, and delicious.  And you know I don't make unhealthy stuff.

Cut up some onion--I used half for this one sandwich--and sauté in butter with s&p, and maple syrup.  You want enough maple syrup to make sure all the onion bits are in it.  

Let it all simmer until it gets thick, like a jam.  BTW, you could use this as a condiment on all kinds of stuff.

In another pan make your grilled cheese sandwich.  I used 2 small buttered sourdough rye slices with old cheddar.  Once it's done, put it on a plate and use the same pan to fry an egg.  

Top the ready grilled cheese sandwich with the onion jam, add a slice of ham or bacon, or sausage (which is what I used), or some other tasty pork meat, and add the egg.  

You could just leave it with the onions, but I had a late lunch, so I was hungry.  I'm not hungry any more, but if I had another one of these sandwiches in front of me, I'd eat it.  The maple syrup with the onions was amazing, and its sweetness was yummy enough that I didn't crave dessert.  If you know me, you know that I always want dessert.  Pair this gem with a tasty beer and you're good to take on the world.  I had a glass of Hacker-Pschorr (German).

Cheers!

Soup

I love soup.  Make a basic stock and the possibilities are endless.

I like meat based stocks, but you can make an all veg stock as well.  If using meat, boil the meat on it's own first.  Dump out the water, clean the pot, and rinse the meat if necessary; meat gets frothy, so this keeps your stock clean.  In a clean pot, add water, parsley, carrots, celery, peppercorns, sea salt, bay leaf.  You can add other vegetables and spices, this is just a basic stock.  If you're making a sour soup, add the cooked meat closer to the end of the soup being done, just to heat it up, otherwise the meat will get too hard from the acidity.

I used pork riblets for this soup base.  A package for about $4 is enough for 3 stocks, could've been 4, but this way there was enough meat to be part of the meal.  Here are some soup ideas:

Cream of mushroom, goes great with a sandwich, like porchetta on rye with butter and mustard.

Or with egg noodles, I left the carrots and meat in this one.

Pickle soup with star noodles.

I left the celery in for James, with carrots and pork.

Beet soup with flat noodles, using veal stock.

Pumpkin soup, specifically Rouge vid D'Etampes, my fave.  Great with any sandwich.

Tomato soup, which is tasty with noodles, rice, or even mashed potatoes, or on its own in a mug with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tripe soup.  Try it before you decide you don't like it.

Smacznego!  (Polish)