Thursday 20 August 2015

Pan-Grilled Tomato Basil Cheddar Sourdough Rye Sandwich

Plenty of tomatoes along with basil are still making their way from the potager into our kitchen. Cheddar, since it has to compete for the Gallic palate with so many venerable French cheeses, is usually sold in small, pale-golden bricks, that is, when you can find one. One such beauty was gracefully residing in the fridge thanks to the shopping skills of The Calm One.


Meaty and with few seeds, 'Liguria' variety is wonderful for grilled sandwiches. These gorgeous, lobed, pear-shaped, pink toms slice cleanly.


Since they are more fleshy than juicy, a substantial amount can go into the filling without defeating the purpose of grilling a sandwich, that is, to flaunt its resplendent, permeated-with-butter crunchiness.


General instructions for making grilled cheese is found here. Main points are to grate the cheese, butter the sides of the bread slices touching the pan, and press down with a potato masher while grilling.


The basil leaves are an excellent addition and made this sandwich taste super fresh.


In the potager, beds are being prepared for late fall/early winter crops like broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and spinach.

Cantaloupes are nearly ripe

Ivy covering a wall received vigourous attention from my secateurs. Arriving at fencing unadorned with ivy, I was coaxing some long branches to weave themselves into that new substrate when I noticed...


...a lizard shielding its body from the sun by chilling-out in a hollow fence post.  Its tiny head resembled an ancient stone carving which ignored my rustling the ivy around it.

The way of lizard sunning:  body, no, head, yes.

Late summer is perfect for harvesting and processing herbs for the winter by chopping them, adding a bit of water or oil, and then freezing in ice cube trays. They also can be dried by spreading them on wire racks or a flat plate. Then crumble and store in containers.

Rosemary

À la prochaine!

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