sour dough bread

Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

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While not every cheese melt deserves its own post, this one certainly does.
It is a bit more labor intensive than the usual culprit of a couple of slices of cheese slapped between two slices of wonderbread, but the extra few minutes it takes to prepare are absolutely worth it 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
Please scroll to the bottom of this page for detailed recipe and instructions
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Click here for more Sandwiches on ChefsOpinion
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Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

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: grate 10 oz swiss cheese

: Toast two slices of the bread on one side only

: Toast one slice bread on both sides

: spread mayo on the un-toasted sides of the 2 slices bread which were toasted on one side only; spread mustard on both sides of the bread with was toasted on both sides

: brush garlic oil on the two toasted sides of the bread which were toasted on one side only

: slice 1/2 medium-size cucumber and 2 small vine-ripened tomato thinly, season to taste with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: To assemble, place one slice of the bread with the mayo and garlic with the mayo-side down on the work surface, add a generous amount of grated cheese

: add the cucumber slices, sprinkle with grated cheese

: add the tomato slices, sprinkle with grated cheese

: top with the slice of bread with the mustard on both sides

: add a generous amount of grated cheese

: top with the second slice of the bread with the mayo and garlic, mayo side up

: ready to be grilled/broiled………

: grill or griddle covered very slowly on one side until golden

: turn, cover and cook on the other side until golden and all cheese has melted.

: golden……..

: cut in half, serve with condiments of your choice and a small green salad

: Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

: Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

: Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

: Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

: Swiss Melt On Sourdough Bread With Cucumber And Tomato

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Toast two slices of the bread on one side only.

Spread mayo on the un-toasted sides of the 2 slices bread which were toasted on one side only.

Brush garlic oil on the two toasted sides of the bread which were toasted on one side only.

Toast one slice bread on both sides.

Spread mustard on both sides of the bread with was toasted on both sides.

Slice the cucumber and tomato thinly, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper.

To assemble, place one slice of the bread with the mayo and garlic with the mayo-side down on the work surface.

Add a generous amount of grated cheese.

Add the cucumber slices, sprinkle with grated cheese.

Add the tomato slices, sprinkle with grated cheese.

Top with the slice of bread with the mustard on both sides.

Add a generous amount of grated cheese.

Top with the second slice of the bread with the mayo and garlic, mayo side up.

Grill or griddle very slowly on one side until golden, turn, cover and cook on the other side until golden and all cheese has melted.
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Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic bread

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Today’s early lunch was a dish I could eat on a daily basis – fresh, tasty, colorful and light.
Although it contained mayonnaise, it seemed to be healthy enough to leave me feeling as if I ate something that is actually beneficiary to my well-being 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for more Salads on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for more Shrimp on ChefsOpinion
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Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic Bread

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: shrimp, cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, hard-boiled eggs

: for the dressing, mix mayo, greek yogurt, honey, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and chopped cilantro

: add dressing to other salad-ingredients, mix carefully

: slice sour dough/jalapeno bread thinly, brush with garlic paste, grill an both sides

: Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic Bread

: Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic Bread

: Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic Bread

: Shrimp, Egg & Vegetable Salad In Yogurt/Honey Dressing With Grilled Jalapeno/Garlic Bread

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Salmon Rillette

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One of my favorite spreads are rillettes, especially pork rillette and salmon rillette. While I have not prepared pork rillette for some time, you can often find salmon rillette in my fridge.
It’s effortless to prepare, yet if properly stored, it will give you many days of enjoyment. (Pork will last for weeks or even months if properly stored). I usually spread it on a slice of rustic bread at breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack. Although perfectly delicious by itself on bread, rillette can be even more enjoyable when spruced-up with a wide range of additions, such as capers, raw or pickled onions, cornichons and even topped with eggs for breakfast. Rillette also pairs nicely with steamed or sautéed potatoes and for the adventurous, try incorporating it into a pasta dish. (I have done this with pork rillette and the result was delicious. 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !
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All about Rilettes
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Salmon Rilette

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: skin salmon filets, remove all bones

: cover salmon filets with melted butter, add kosher salt, cayenne pepper and garlic paste, simmer on very low heat until salmon is just done

: break salmon into chunks

: add fresh dill leaves

: fill rillette into serving dish, place in refrigerator overnight

: let rilette reach room-temperature before serving

: spread a generous amount of rillette on bread of your choice

: Salmon Rilettes

: Salmon Rilettes

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Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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For most of my life I detested the very idea of pulled pork. My professional training as a cook had taught me that if something falls apart, it is overcooked and therefore non grata. In addition, the pulled pork I was introduced to during my early years in the USA was almost always smoked for many hours, then completely inundated in (most of the time crappy) “bbq sauce”.
The whole thing seemed to me to have the texture and taste of some lousy half-smoked cigars mashed-up and mixed with ketchup and vinegar, more often than not served on a limp, tasteless burger bun. As a result, for many years I stayed away from pulled pork.
This changed when I got to travel in Latin America and in Latin American-circles, where pulled pork took on a very different dimension, one which I was finally able to wholeheartedly embrace. Usually braised in the oven for hours, with lots of cilantro, lime, garlic, various citrus juices and sometimes the addition of onions and/or chilies, the pork tastes lively and fresh, not at all heavy or greasy or overly sweet. Usually, it is served with white rice and yucca or a simple salad and most of the time with some kind of spicy, vinegar based condiment.
Below find my own take on pulled pork, as I imagine I would serve it at my imaginary, popular nightspot in a Havana of long-gone times, with hot girls dancing to the Rumba, Mojitos flowing freely and eating, drinking, dancing, making love and enjoying life being the only thing on everybody’s mind……………..
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: whole porkbutt, shank removed

: cut pork butt in half, reserve one half for another recipe, score skin of porkbutt in a criss-cross pattern

: orange, lime, kosher salt, chili flakes, garlic paste

: mix the juices from the fruit, 2 tblsp salt, 1 tsp chili flakes, 2 tblsp garlic paste with 2 pints of water, pour into pan with porkbutt, lightly cover with alu-foil, cook at 350F for 4 hours or until pork falls apart when lightly squeezed

: meanwhile, make sauce by blending with a beurre-mixer or in food processor : lime juice, garlic paste, cayenne pepper, cilantro, kosher salt and olive oil

: almost……..

: cilantro, garlic and lime sauce

: season fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced radish with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: sour dough bread (use your own choice of bread)

: cut in half, remove some of the soft part (don’t throw away, this is great to dunk into the pork juices)

: after 4 hours at 350F….

: put pork into a bowl, remove chicharones (crispy skin), reserve chicharones

: chicharones

: remove bone from meat, give bone to Bella 🙂

: shredd the pork with 2 forks or tongs

: add the pork juices from the pan to the meat (make it VERY moist without drowning it)

: put some spinach on the bottom half of the bread

: top with meat, thinly sliced red onions, radish and more spinach leaves

: pile it on………

: douse with cilantro, garlic and lime sauce

: cover with top-half of bread, slice in half or quarters

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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Pa Amb TomÃ quet

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While “Tomato Bread” or “Pan de Tomate” is well know around the world, the similar dish “pa amb tomÃ quet” is less known and slightly different in its preparation.
Usually, (but not always), pan de tomate is done with pureed tomatoes, olive oil and garlic on grilled bread, while the authentic Catalan “pa amb tomÃ quet” has the tomato cut in half, then rubbed on the bread. Granted, the difference is subtle, but I personally prefer the the Catalan version to the one with the (too much for me) pureed tomatoes.
Either way, thank you Spain for another wonderful, simple dish that makes our life a better one 🙂
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Que vagi de gust ! El meu aerolliscador està ple d’anguiles ! (Just Kidding) 🙂
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sour dough bread, vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic-confit paste in olive oil

rub tomato on freshly grilled bread

drizzle with garlic and oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and basil chiffonade (optional)

“pa amb tomÃ quet”

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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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The question might be, was this a salad or was it a sandwich? I am not so sure, probably it was both, rolled into one blissful lunch. One thing however I am sure of – it was absolutely delicious.
While devouring it I was reminded of the old custom of soaking up the salad dressing with a good, hearty bread. Most folks don’t do this anymore because it’s not very elegant or cool.
However, it is a great custom if you put enjoying good food first and appearances second 🙂
Just make sure that you cut your bread into thick slices and toast it so it will stand up to the moisture of the salad. And if you are not a great fan of octopus, replace it with shrimp or even chicken and you will be just as happy as I was with the octopus version.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: Toast THICK CUT sour dough bread

: cut octopus into bite size pieces

: add tomatoes, onions, scallions, cucumbers, garlic paste, raspberry vinegar, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and a spritz of maggi seasoning

: plate bread on serving dish

: top with lettuce

: top with octopus salad

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Surf & Turf

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For most folks with ordinary disposable income, it used to be that “Surf & Turf ” was a “special occasion dish”, something you ordered on your anniversary or birthday at that special place you went to once or maybe twice a year. As for myself, ditto, – plus I would not normally think of cooking meat and seafood at home for one dish, it is usually Either – Or .
It just so happened tonight that I had a craving for shrimp and steak. Since I live alone with Bella, it felt okay to just serve everything at once, instead of eating it divided into three courses, as would be more traditional and “proper”.
So, instead of the menu being:

“Sautéed Shrimp In Garlic Butter”
“Hearts of Romaine Lettuce In Raspberry Vinaigrette”
“Aged Rib Eye Steak With Spicy Herb Butter And Toasted Sour Dough Bread”

It was rather simply :

“Surf & Turf”

What a feast, all prepared quickly, served quickly and devoured even more quickly 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for Garlic/Herb Butter Recipe
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Surf & Turf

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over picture
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: season rib eye and shrimp with kosher salt and fresh grated black pepper, saute in garlic oil, meanwhile dress romaine with raspberry vinaigrette

: meanwhile, grill sour dough bread

: arrange steak on top of toasted bread

: top steak with shrimp and garlic / herb butter

: Surf & Turf

: Surf & Turf

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Metzelsuppe Mit Grießklößchen

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Of the thousands of readers and followers of ChefsOpinion, I am sure only a small handful will be familiar with this dish. To all others, I highly recommend this if you are a lover of hearty fare, especially now during the winter months.
Metzelsuppe, Schlachtsuppe, Metzel Supp, Kesselsuppe – the proper translation would be Slaughter Soup or Butcher Soup, which does not exactly sound politically correct these days. Sausage soup would be a more palatable name, although it would not give you the proper idea what this dish is all about.
When I was a kid, I grew up in Gechingen, a small village in the Black Forrest in Southern Germany (Baden Wuerttemberg). Most of our neighbors were farmers. Once or twice a year, they slaughtered one of the pigs which most of them raised at the back of the house in the Schweinestall ( Pigsty). It was a time honored tradition to bring the friends and neighbors which had no pigs of their own, each a pair of liver wurst, a pair of blood wurst, a small piece of boiled belly and a small amount of Metzelsupp. This soup was the stock which resulted by cooking all the sausages, belly, head, feet and tail of the pig in one large Cauldron. Some of the sausages burst during the cooking. This, together with all the flavor from the meat and fat, as well as from the herbs and seasoning used in all the sausages, made for the most flavorful soup you can imagine. My Mom usually served it either with Spaetzle or Grießklößchen as Einlage (garnish).
Later, when I was an cook apprentice, we also raised pigs at the back of the hotel (as did many other hotels and restaurants at the time who were lucky enough to have the space to do so).
As a price, everybody who helped with the slaughtering got to share the head as soon as it was boiled, served sprinkled with coarse salt and accompanied by sour dough bread and a cup of Metzelsupp. Life sure was good then……..

Now, I did not slaughter a pig on my patio yesterday so I had to resort to some other methods and ingredients to come as close as possible to the Metzelsupp of my youth.
To be sure it was not as rich and mind-blowing good as the real deal, but it came darn close and made me real happy 🙂
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An Guata Wönsch I Eich Älle !
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Click here for Semolina Dumpling Recipe

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Metzelsuppe Mit Grießklößchen

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Preparation :
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liverwurst, blood wurst, pork wurst - remove casing, crumble

liver sausage, blood sausage, pork sausage – remove casing, crumble

add sausages, onions and plenty of italian parsley to a strong pork stock, simmer for one hour, season with kosher salt and black pepper, check / adjust seasoning

add sausages, thyme, oregano, sage, majoram, onions and plenty of italian parsley to a strong pork stock, simmer for one hour, season with kosher salt and black pepper, check / adjust seasoning

semolina dumpling massa

simmer dumplings in salted water until done, about 40 minutes, depending on size

almost……..

plate dumplings

add soup, sprinkle with chopped parsley

Metzelsuppe Mit Grießklößchen

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Gravlax Dinner

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Tonight I finally got to eat the gravlax I prepared last week. What a great tasting piece of fish. Of course, what makes it perfect is the accompanying dill/mustard sauce, without which a gravlax is not complete. Many restaurants nowadays serve gravlax with all kind of fancy sauces and condiments, which might seem right if you never been to Scandinavia and had the real deal. But please believe me, making the dill / mustard sauce will take you less then five minutes and only “it” will make the dish perfect.
The ingredients for dill / mustard sauce are few and in everybody’s cup board:
Good quality mustard, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, neutral tasting oil (I used grape seed oil), sugar, fresh dill leaves only, pepper(optional), I used cayenne pepper and replaced the sugar with weisswurst senf (sweet, brown, Bavarian mustard)

Smaklig måltid! Livet är bra !
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Click here for Gravlax recipe
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Gravlax, Sour Dough Bread, Dill / Mustard Sauce

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Gravlax, Sour Dough Bread, Dill / Mustard Sauce

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Preparation :
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dijon mustard, sweet mustard, dill leaves

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mix mustards, dill, kosher salt and cayenne pepper

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slowly drizzle grapeseed oil into mustard and dill mixture until a emulsion has formed, check / adjust taste

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dill / mustard sauce

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toast bread until golden

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toasted sour dough bread

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smear bread with garlic / herb butter

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top with thinly sliced gravlax, serve with dill/ mustard sauce, lemon slices and chilled white wine

top with thinly sliced gravlax, serve with dill/ mustard sauce, lemon wedges and chilled white wine

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Gravlax, Sour Dough Bread, Dill / Mustard Sauce

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Gravlax, Sour Dough Bread, Dill / Mustard Sauce

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Gravlax, Sour Dough Bread, Dill / Mustard Sauce

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Sauteed Veal Breast

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I hate to use the moniker “deconstructed” when it comes to food.
Specifically, in order to de-construct something, wouldn’t you have to construct it first?
(Another term I hate is to “de-nature” food. I just hate these stilted monikers 😦
However, If I would use the term deconstructed, last nights dinner would qualify for the term.
For years I have been longing for “Gefüllte Kalbsbrust”, or stuffed veal breast. This is a common dish in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. You take the whole veal,breast, cut a pocket from end to end, then stuff it with bread stuffing similar to what you use for bread knödel or servietten knödel ( bread or napkin dumplings). Some folks use ground meat stuffing – but please – dont. 😦
I was craving this dish for years but the problem was multy faceted: Not the right veal available around here and the price for the proper veal prohibitive. What”s more, what will I do with a whole veal breast? I do eat a lot, but…….
So, When I went to my butcher on Friday, much to my surprise he had thick-sliced Canadian milk veal available, for the astounding price of $ 2.49 a pound. Obviously I was not able to make a “Gefüllte Kalbsbrust” with sliced veal breast, but I could prepare the second best thing – combine all the traditional ingredients into one dish 🙂
So there I went:
Veal breast, sour dough bread (the stuffing part), mushroom sauce and a red beet salad. What a wonderful meal, almost like the real thing.