White Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Pesto and Tomatoes

I went to the store the other day that sells this bread.  You know, Great Harvest.

It's just ridiculous in there.  I have to be very focused when I walk in the door; otherwise, I walk out with things I had no intention of buying.

So I got this loaf of wonderful white bread.  And when I got home, I had fresh pesto in the fridge, just-picked tomatoes on the counter, and a block of white cheddar cheese.

You see, this is a sandwich I used to get at Wallace Station.  Wallace Station is a restaurant in the Middle of Nowhere, Central Kentucky.  You have to really want to go there to actually go there, if you know what I mean.

But it's so worth the drive.  It's located in the middle of horse country, which means that it's surrounded by gorgeous green rolling hills, plank fences, and of course Kentucky Thoroughbreds grazing in the fields.

Wallace Station quit making Daddy Ray's Grilled Cheese, though.  They make other fabulous sandwiches, but I had to start making this sandwich at home.

So I buttered one side of the bread. 

And I laid that side face-down in this grill pan. And laid white cheddar slices all over the bread.

And then I took the other piece of bread and spread pesto all over it.

And I put very thinly sliced tomato slices on top of the cheese...

And topped it with the pesto bread.

And put this smasher-thing on top of it to grill the sandwiches.

This grill pan is new to me.  I say "new to me" because it has stories to tell.  It's been living in the back of my mom's car for about 4 years now.  She only whipped it out when I mentioned making these grilled cheese sandwiches.  Don't ask.  Because I don't know the answer.

My husband loved these.  And my dad said it was the best grilled cheese he's ever had. 

And they're so rich, I just about died after I ate one.  In a really good way.

White Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Pesto and Tomatoes

For one sandwich:

2 slices of good white bread
2 tsp butter, softened
1 T pesto
2 slices white cheddar (or enough to cover the bread)
2 thin slices of fresh ripe tomato

Spread one teaspoon of butter on each slice of bread.  Lay one slice, buttered side down, into a skillet or a grill pan on medium heat.  Lay the cheese on next and then the tomatoes. Spread the pesto on the other slice of bread and lay the pesto side down.

Grill for about 5 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt.

Turn the head to medium-low and and grill another 4 minutes or so until the cheese is completely melted and the sandwich sticks together.  Serve immediately.

Squash Casserole

I'm not going to pretend that squash is my favorite vegetable.

It's not.

It has sort of a weird texture. 

It has big seeds.

But cook it until it's super tender with some onions

and stir in some cheese and sour cream and mayo








and top with buttery crackers...

I could eat this stuff all day.

Squash Casserole

6 medium yellow squash, sliced thin

1 large or 2 medium sweet yellow onions, sliced thin
3 T butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

Heat the butter in a large skillet.  Stir in the squash and onions and cover.  Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the onions are tender and the squash is starting to fall apart.

Transfer the squash mixture to a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except for the crackers.  Stir to combine and pour into a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle the crumbled crackers on top.

Bake in a 350 degre oven for 30 minutes, until the crackers look toasted and the edges are bubbly.

Puttin' Up Corn

Is there anything better than fresh sweet corn?

And I mean fresh - like buying it like three minutes after it's been picked?

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, there is nothing better.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I put up corn.  We shucked it.  

12 dozen ears of fresh sweet corn from Gaffney Farm.

That's 144 ears.  I'm, like, a total math whiz.

Then we cut it off the cob. 

Then we blanched it.

And then we shocked it. 

And then we froze it.

Now we'll have fresh sweet corn all winter.

Are you kidding me? 

I can't wait for January, when I'll be making a pan of fresh corn sauteed in butter.

Don't be left out.  Put up some corn soon. 

It's so worth the mess you'll make in your kitchen.

Frozen Corn

Shuck desired amount of corn.  Cut the kernels off the cob.  Boil a large pot of water and add the corn to the water.  Return the water and corn to a boil and cook for 4 minutes.  Drain the corn and immediately plunge it into a large bowl of ice water.  When the corn has cooled completely, drain the ice water.  Use a one-cup measurer and place four cups into each quart freezer bag.  Remove as much air from the zipper bag as possible before closing and freezing. 

We used 144 ears of corn and ended up with 30 quart bags of corn.  This will keep for at least 6 months in the freezer.

Tomato and Blue Cheese Sandwiches

Growing up, we never ate BLTs. 


But we always ate bacon & tomato sandwiches. 

My family took the position that lettuce just got in the way.

When I married my husband, though, he looked utterly confused when I served him a bacon & tomato sandwich.

He wanted to know where the lettuce was.

Bless his heart.

So here you go.  Here's how we eat tomato sandwiches: with blue cheese dressing instead of mayo.

You're welcome.

Tomato and Blue Cheese Sandwiches

For each sandwich:

2 thin slices fresh tomato
Spread of Blue Cheese Dressing
2 slices of fresh bread

Spread the bread with the dressing.  Pile on the tomato slices.  Devour.

Blue Cheese Dressing

This is my dad's blue cheese dressing.

He's been making it for as long as I can remember.

I was the only kid in my elementary school who liked blue cheese dressing.

Sad.  For the other kids, that is.

It's phenomenal on the Wedge Salad.




And it's totally amazing on Bacon, Tomato and Blue Cheese sandwiches.  Come back tomorrow and I'll show you how to assemble that.  Not that you need instruction on that, because it's pretty self-explanatory.

Blue Cheese Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3 shakes Worcestershire
1 1/2 cups blue cheese crumbles

Mix ingredients and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the flavors to combine.

Banana Pudding

One time, I told one of my Yankee friends that I made banana pudding.  My friend then asked me why I was so excited about a banana-flavored packet of powdered pudding that you mix with milk.

Um, no.

Once again, I was reminded that I lived in another land, one far from the South.  Where it is common knowledge that banana pudding consists of a delicious homemade, rich vanilla pudding layered with vanilla wafers and slices of fresh banana.

Real.

Nothing artificial. 

Well, except maybe for vanilla wafers.  Not sure how real they are.  But they are real good.  Does that count?

Have you ever made vanilla pudding from scratch?

Yum.

This is just flour and sugar whisked together.

Then you whisk in the milk and let it thicken over medium-low heat.






Easy stuff.

Let it thicken until it coats the back of the spoon.  See how it coated the spoon?  I ran my finger down the spoon to demonstrate.  Actually I just felt like it.  I thought it would look neat in a picture.

Now we have to separate some eggs and then temper them.  We're putting the yolks into the custard and making a meringue with the whites for the top.

Beat up the yolks and add a little bit of the hot pudding. 

This is tempering: you bring the eggs up to the temperature of the hot custard to avoid scrambling the eggs when you add the eggs back to the custard.

I mean, it would be criminal to let your eggs scramble in this nice homemade custard.

Now then.


Egg yolks aren't quite rich enough, so we need to add some butter.  Just a half a stick.

Are you ready to layer?

I am.  I love to layer it while the pudding is hot so the cookies become one with the bananas and the custard.  Yum.

Get a deep souffle dish.

Put cookies in the bottom.

And cut some bananas up.

Now pour some custard over it.

And do it all again, ending with custard.

Now top it with meringue.

Whip the egg whites together with some sugar and cream of tartar until you get stiff peaks.

Just don't take it too far or you'll be sorry.

Make some fancy peaks with your spatula.

And bake it until the peaks are browned.

And then serve it to your friends.

I like it warm.  But you can chill it first if you like sub-par dessert.

Banana Pudding

1 1/4 sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup flour

3 cups whole milk

3 yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 stick butter

1 Box vanilla wafers

6 bananas

Meringue topping:

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

6 T sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together the sugar, salt and flour in a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the milk and cook the custard until it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Stir it constantly.  This takes about 8-10 minutes.  Whisk together the three egg yolks.  Turn off the heat and whisk about a half cup of the hot custard into the eggs.  When that is incorporated, whisk the egg yolk mixture into the rest of hte custard.  Now add the vanilla and butter.  Whisk together until butter is melted and incorporated.

In a deep soufle dish, layer vanilla wafers on the bottom.  Top with half of the sliced bananas.  Pour half of the custard on top.  Repeat layers one more time. 

Now make the meringue.  In a mixer using the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they start to get frothy.  Add the cream of tartar while the mixer is running.  Add the sugar slowly, sprinkling in one tablespoon at a time.  The mixture will become white and thick and shiny.  Add the vanilla.  When the whites get to stiff peaks (the meringue should stand up when you hold the mixer beater up in the air), the meringue is done.  Spread it on top of the banana pudding. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes until the meringue peaks start to brown.  Watch it closely because this happens fast.

Serve immediately, at room temperature, or chilled.  It's delicious any way you serve it.

Basil Pesto

I went to the garden today and all I could see was a sea of basil.

Which, in my mind, equals a freezer full of pesto!

Funny how your mind can play games on you.

So I picked it.

And I washed it.

And I put it in the food processor with other delicious things.

Like pine nuts

and parmesan cheese

and a couple or twenty cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

and olive oil.

Oh, hello there.  My winter's supply of pesto.

Right there in the food processor. Sorry for the blur.  I've decided I like blurry pictures, thankyouverymuch.

So I stored it.

And I froze it.

And I felt satisifed.

For at least ten seconds, before I started contemplating what I'm going to freeze next.

Tomorrow I'll show you the corn my mom and I put up.  I'm on a roll. 

Basil Pesto

12 cups of fresh basil leaves, packed
1 1/2 cups of pine nuts, toasted
2 heads of garlic (about 20 cloves), peeled
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
2 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Pulse all ingredients in the food processor until finely chopped and mixed well.  Refrigerate immediately in an air-tight container.

If freezing, scoop pesto into plastic freezer bags and freeze.  (I used one cup of pesto per freezer bag.)  This will keep about 6-8 months in the freezer.

Makes about 7 cups of pesto.