Goat cheese, fresh basil and tomatoes grilled on sourdough (Creative Commons-licensed photo from the Flickr account of nasunto)
Last night I mentioned on Facebook the recipe I usually use for grilled cheese—lots of Jarlesberg, a few dashes of cayenne pepper, multi-grain bread and a slow cooking time following an initial braise.
An old friend of mine responded with the name of her favorite Cleveland, Ohio haunt for grilled cheese: Melt Bar & Grilled.
All I can say is, wow.
Course one // Grilled kabobs slathered in middle-eastern muhammara sauce [tofu, lemon, mushroom, red onion]
Course two // Heather’s quinoa with a twist [corn, kale, pan-seared chicken with pesto and roasted cherry tomatoes] / Big Sur Bakery rolls [flax, sesame, oat, sunflower, amaranth]
Course three //Mini buttermilk berry milkshakes / Grandma Young’s Springerlies [ageed German anise cookies]
This is three vegetarian courses, all served family style, all from 101cookbooks.com, one of my all-time favorite websites.
Course one // Thai-spiced pumpkin soup / firecracker cornbread [corn kernels, red pepper flakes]
Course two // Hazelnut and chard ravioli salad [“Plump raviolis tossed with toasted hazelnuts, sauteed ribbons of chard, and caramelized onions … finished off wit ha dusting of cheese, snipped chives and lemon zest.”]
Course three // Vanilla mashed sweet potatoes [vanilla beans and organic cream]
(P.S. – this website may be experiencing some down time in the next few days while I switch hosts. I’ll try to minimize the down time; it’ll be better for everyone in the long run.)
Course one // Dubai: Sesame seed-coated falafel with tahini yogurt dip
Course two // Thailand: Thai-spiced grilled salmon [Salmon wild, sustainable-fished, from Alaska] / complimentary literature about sustainable fishing
Course three // Grand Cayman: Griddled pineapple and mango on toasted panettone [sweet bread] with homemade Chantilly cream [organic cream]
(For those of you following this, there are only two more menus to go…)
Course one // zing: Onion tarts with goat cheese
Course two // strong: From-scratch roasted tomato soup [organic tomatoes, cream]
Course three // mild: Local, organic chicken blackened on a grill
Course four // subtle: Bread pudding and whiskey sauce
(Bet you just can’t wait to hear what this is all about… a few more days…)
Course one // Butternut squash and apple soup
Course two // Wild rices with chili powder, cayenne, green onions / minted organic quinoa / organic plain yogurt
Course three // From-scratch pumpkin pie [organic pumpkin, organic cream, organic brown sugar]
(The next several days I’ll post menus I’ve created. At the end of the series I’ll clue you in as to why.)
Brandon Smith 