Grilled Cheese #1

Today's grilled cheese is a pesto and goat cheese sandwich. This sandwich came to our attention at a great restaurant in Knoxville, Tomato Head. The restaurant serves outstanding pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads. I have never had anything less that terrific there.

Pesto and Goat Cheese Sandwich

For each sandwich you will need:

Ciabetta bread (Ingles Grocery Stores sell this in their bakery)

1 tbsp of pesto

2-3 tbsp goat cheese

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

Cut ciabetta in half. Spread pesto on one side of cut bread. Add cheese and tomatoes on top. Bake in a 400 degree oven until bread crisps and cheese melts. I love to dip this sandwich in tomato basil soup. A great Chianti goes especially well with this sandwich and the soup.

Tomato Basil Soup

My favorite lunch as a child was Campbell's Tomato Soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Of course, the soup was concentrated and the cheese was yellow American. As an adult, I still love tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Now however, I prefer tomato basil soup and a more sophisticated cheese. Today I will share an easy, but great recipe for tomato basil soup. Be looking this week for some lovely grilled cheese recipes.

Tomato Basil Soup

In a large soup pot heat:

1tbsp olive oil

Add 1/2 onion chopped and cooked until soft

Add the following and cook until thickened:

1 large can of crushed tomatoes (if you can your own like I do use 1 quart of tomatoes)

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 6oz can of tomato paste

1/8 tsp black pepper

3 cups of chicken broth

I use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. You can use a blender for this if you prefer. Blend half of soup at a time.

Top with sour cream. This is great served with a glass of red wine.

Crab Cakes

I love crab cakes! To me they are quite the gift. Husband and I make these for dinner and are delighted to have crab cake sandwiches the next day. This recipe has been a trial and error experiment. We liked and disliked things about every recipe we tried. Finally, I combined the things we loved and tossed out the things we didn't. We think what's left is yummy!

I don't use lots of bread crumbs. I like to taste the crab. For the crunch we like on the outside, we roll the cakes in panko after forming them. Therefore, make the crab cakes early enough to give them time to firm up in the fridge before cooking them or they will fall apart.

Crab Cakes

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely minced

1 lb lump crab

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 large egg white

about 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (you will use 1/2 cup in crab cakes and 1/2 cup outside the crab cake)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic and red pepper until they begin to caramelize. Dump that into a large bowl and fold in crab meat, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lime juice,cayenne, salt, pepper and cilantro. Mix just until well blended. Shape the mixture into 8 fat crab cakes. Roll cakes in extra breadcrumbs. Put on a plate, cover and refrigerate until chilled. Heat a skillet with about 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Cook crab cakes about 4 minutes on each side, or until they are nice and crisp.

We usually serve them with a Chile Mayonnaise. In a small bowl, combine the following:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 of a chipotle chili in adobe sauce, chopped

zest and juice of 1/2 of a lime

a few chopped cilantro leaves

Pumpkin Muffins

Since Fall began, I've had nothing but pumpkin on my mind. I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of pumpkin coffee creamer, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin beer. The good news is that last week I found the beer (Blue Moon) and today I (finally) found the coffee creamer, thanks to my friend Deanna. Still awaiting pumpkin ice cream, but the stock boy assures me it will arrive soon. If you are like me and love this season of pumpkin, try this recipe for pumpkin muffins.

They are moist and easy to make. Your house will smell amazing while they are in the oven.

Pumpkin Muffins

Mix the following dry ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

Add these wet ingredients:

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs beaten

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup pumpkin

Mix until moistened. Don't over mix or the muffins will be tough. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. Makes 12.

To Meat or not to Meat....

My family loves pasta, we generally eat it twice a week. Our only argument comes to the meat. Husband and I prefer our pasta meatless. Our daughter, however, loves meatballs. These recipes help to please everyone.

Spaghetti Sauce

Saute the following in a large dutch oven:

1 onion

5 cloves of garlic

8 ounces of fresh mushrooms

1/2 chopped green pepper

Add the following:

1 quart of crushed tomatoes (or 1 large can of crushed tomatoes)

1 small can of tomato paste

1 cup red wine

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp marjarom

1 tbsp honey

Let cook on low heat, uncovered until sauce reaches desired thickness. I like to cook for a minimum of 1 hour.

Meatballs

When it comes to meatballs, I refuse to buy hamburger. I have read too many articles about the number of cows found in one pound of ground meat. The practice of putting hundreds of cows in a large vat before packaging increases the risk of e.coli. This bothers me a great deal. Why in the world would this practice continue? For a long time I refused to make any dish with ground meat in it. Protests from my daughter convinced me to find an alternative. I get a steak from the meat department and have the butcher grind it. I use a round steak or a sirloin (a chuck roast will also work). The butcher is more than happy to do this for you. It takes only a few minutes of your time and you know what the steak looks like before it is ground. No strange parts are added. You can serve your family a product that makes you feel safe.

Okay, enough about the horrors of hamburger. Here's my recipe.

1 pound of ground beef

1 small minced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

salt

pepper

Gently combine ingredients and shape into meatballs. Don't overwork the meat. Brown the meatballs in a skillet on medium heat. When meat has browned, add 1 cup of the sauce from the recipe above. Turn down to a simmer and let cook until cooked through.

When the sauce is ready, boil the pasta. My preference for this dish is thin spaghetti. Be sure to add plenty of salt to the water, your pasta will be flavorless if you don't. Cook for the shortest amount of time on box (al dente).

Lots of chefs tell us to add the pasta to the sauce before serving. I find this makes the pasta even better. The pasta soaks up the sauce and adds extra flavor. Be sure to top the pasta with lots of freshly grated parmesan. Now add the meatballs, or not!