Grilled Brie & Pear Sandwich and a Great Excuse to Make One

This grilled brie and pear sandwich is dedicated to National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, which happens every April 12, thanks mostly to bored food bloggers, and cheese industry marketing cartels…I’m looking at you, Wisconsin. 

No matter its origins, this cheesy, savory/sweet, flavor bomb is probably my favorite non-traditional grilled cheese sandwich.

If you’re going to do this, don’t get scared and omit the pepper and thyme. This is required to tip the sweet/savory scale toward the later. Just add a tiny bit your first time, and work up from there. By the way, this grilled cheese was inspired by a cold pear and brie sandwich I had at a café many years ago, and I’ve been doing it hot ever since.

Butter is kind of a key here. It looks like a lot, but you want a seriously crispy crust to fully enjoy the soft, warm cheese and sweet pear. So, if you’re celebrating National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, like any normal person who spends any time on Twitter is, then I hope you consider giving this buttery beauty a try. Enjoy! 

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Next Up: Getting Ready for National Grilled Cheese Day

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City Chicken – Hey, Nice Legs!

This fascinating pork on a stick recipe is American cuisine in a nutshell. City cooks, who couldn’t get chicken, would take scraps from much-cheaper-at-the-time pork, and build something similar to what you see here; but that’s not what makes this delicious mock drumstick so American.

Why this represents the true spirit of American food, is that long after chicken became cheap and plentiful, people kept making and eating this anyway. Yes, in cities across the Rust Belt, people decided that the only thing better than one kind of fried chicken leg, was two kinds of fried chicken leg. It’s hard to argue.

As you’ll see in the video, I like to lay out my pork slices so that the larger slices will be in the middle of the skewer, and smaller pieces at the bottom, to maximize the drumstick effect.  Of course, I guess you could poke the pork in any old order, but there just won’t be as many oohs and ahs.

I used pork tenderloin, which is fantastic for this procedure, but traditionally pork shoulder trimmings are used. Regardless of what you make this with (just please don’t use chicken), I hope you give this American classic a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 City Chicken drumsticks:

1 whole trimmed pork tenderloin (not loin), sliced as shown

6 bamboo skewers (6-inch are best)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

dried thyme to taste

flour, beaten eggs, and panko breadcrumbs as needed

vegetable oil for frying

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Next Up: City Chicken

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The Ol’ I-Want-to-Watch-Food-Porn-Instead-of-Going-to-the-Gym Workout

A viewer named Julie has invented a brilliant workout routine based on which familiar catchphrases she might hear during a video. I figured I'd share this with the rest of you since bikini season, or in my case Speedo season, is right around the corner. That’s right, the more you watch, the more you lose! Thanks, Julie!

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Miso-Glazed Black Cod – Nobu for You

This is my take on the oft requested miso-glazed, black cod, made famous by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, although I will be improving on the master’s world-famous preparation. 

Okay, that was a joke, but my version does have a major difference; I only like to marinate the fish for a short time, as opposed to the more traditional one or two days.

I’ve had it both ways, and both are fantastic, but black cod is so sweet and succulent, that I prefer the less-marinated approach. The glaze is so flavorful that waiting two days to eat seems unnecessary. This will work on any similarly sized chunk of fish, but seriously, try to find some black cod. It’s also known as butterfish, and for very good reason. It’s like butter.

In addition to a taste and texture to die for, this is one of the easiest fish recipes of all time. A couple minutes to make the sauce, some brushing, a short wait, and you’re broiling. By the way, I don’t like to cook both sides. I like the heat to only penetrate from the top down. This makes for a lovely caramelized top, and a super juicy interior. Cooking times will vary, but simply broil the fish until the bones pull out with no effort, and the meat flakes. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions:
2 black cod filet (about 7 oz each)

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sake

1 tbsp brown sugar

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The Great Flank Steak Roulade Experiment

I don’t remember exactly why, but for the longest time I’ve wanted to try stuffing and braising a beef flank steak, and this very brociale-like roulade was the result. And while the outside was an unsightly mess of frayed meat fiber, the overall dish was a delicious success.

Braising a flank steak seems counterintuitive since it’s almost always cooked briefly and served medium-rare, but so is top-sirloin, and I’ve used that cut for beef roulade before, and it worked fine. Flank steak is also one of the “beefiest” cuts on a cow, and has a decent amount of fat, so I felt pretty confident going in.

The only thing I hadn’t considered was the appearance, and that ended up being my only real complaint. Because flank steak has such large, pronounced meat fibers, after a few hours of simmering, my roulade had a bad case of split ends. As I mention in the video, we may try and wrap the meat with some type of protective layer, and by protective, I mean fatty.

Other than that, it was a fairly straightforward procedure. Feel free to stuff with anything you like (just not too much), and the same goes for the braising liquid. No matter what you decide to simmer this in, once you’re done, simply reduce it, and use it as a sauce. That means be careful with the salt. I generously salted the roulade, so I didn’t need to heavily season the braising liquid as well. Best to adjust that later.

Anyway, whether you use my specific ingredients or not, I hope you give this technique a try soon. All you need is a flank steak, a sharp, thin knife, and you’re ready to roll. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 trimmed beef flank steak, butterflied, and pounded flat (please note: you must cut and roll the meat in the exact way shown, so the grain is going the right way for slicing!)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp black currants

1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 ounce pancetta, slice into thin strips

2 tbsp finely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

For the braising liquid, I used:

3/4 cup white wine

3 cups tomato sauce

2 cups chicken broth

1 bay leaf

enough water to just cover

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