Grilled cheese sandwiches are another American staple that I've never made for myself (a fact that horrified Josh). I don't really like them but that's no excuse. Grilled Cheese Sandwich (p. 180) was my starting point. The intro says that the writers like their sandwiches with mayo on them (ick!).
First step--butter the bread (these are going to American-style, classic grilled cheese--white bread and Kraft singles).
Cheese is then put in the middle, butter-y side out. One side is browned, then it's flipped. Eventually the sandwich gets toasty and the cheese is melty and it's ready to go!
How was it? Good, although I still don't love grilled cheese. It's easy and filling, though.
I've been meaning to make another "cream of" soup for a while and I decided to make Cream of Carrot soup (p. 144) tonight. The recipe starts simply--an onion, some ginger, a little bit of homemade curry powder, and some butter were fried up in a little chicken stock. It turned this beautiful golden color. Poultry stock, orange juice, and a ton of sliced carrots are then added in...
The soup is boiled for about twenty minutes until the carrots are tender. I then blended the soup with my immersion blender.
Isn't that pretty? Heavy cream, salt, and black pepper were then mixed in and it was finished!
The recipe says that Soup Croutons (p. 151) are really good sprinkled on the top. I'm afraid that I didn't make them correctly now that I reread the paragraph--I just made croutons but now that I read the section, it seems like they are supposed to be cooked on the stove? That is not how I made them. Uh oh....
I started with bread slices:
My bread pieces were spread all over a cookie sheet and sprinkled with olive oil:
And they toasted up really well...Yum! I love croutons (and truly feel that they are the best part of salads--the croutons and the dressing).
The croutons sprinkled on the soup...perfection!
How was it? The soup was incredibly sweet. I know carrots are sweet but not usually THIS sweet. If I made it again, I would replace the orange juice with chicken stock--or maybe just leave it out. Maybe I just don't like sweet soups. I did find the soup to be extremely attractive. The croutons were terrific though.
You don't like grilled cheese!?! For shame! (I even order it in restaurants, ha). But I have to say, Kraft singles is one of the few things I go a little snob over anymore, ick. (So I guess I'm unamerican) Give me some munster! But on the mayo- if you put it on the outside it burns/melts off and makes it crispy but you can't really taste it. If you use light mayo it makes a healthier version then all butter.
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