After going to the Heirloom Tomato Festival in Los Gatos and purchasing a few giant heirloom tomatoes, I decided to make a tomato tart that evening. I had saved a recipe a while back from Ina Garten for a tomato tart with goat cheese, and now seemed the perfect time to try it out with my newly bought tomatoes.
I got the idea for this bleu cheese dressing when we were on holiday in Santa Barbara, California last fall. At one of the Spanish tapas restaurants called Loquita, I had an awesome salad with bleu cheese dressing. I am not a big fan of bleu cheese, I find the cheese to be too pungent and overpowering, I was dubious about the salad and wasn’t sure if I would like it. But the dressing was so delicately seasoned with bleu cheese that it gave just a hint of bleu cheese flavor. I liked the flavors so much that I decided to give the salad dressing a try at home, and it turned out pretty tasty. If you are looking for a change from the usual vinaigrettes, try this creamy bleu cheese dressing on your next salad. Continue reading Bleu Cheese Dressing
My Mom made the best grilled cheese sandwich. Growing up my Mom made grilled cheese sandwiches on a regular basis, especially on the weekends for a quick lunch. Hers was the only grilled cheese sandwich I knew. So naturally, when I started making them for my kids, I followed my Mom’s recipe. Apparently this isn’t the standard recipe that most people are used to. I didn’t know that.
When my kid’s friends would come over and I would make my Mom’s grilled cheese, I would get surprised happy reactions. They would ask me for the recipe; it’s amazingly delicious I was told. Anjali and Rani’s friends loved these grilled cheese sandwiches. Having only known my Mom’s grilled cheese sandwich I just figured that’s how it’s always made. Turns out it was my Mom’s version of a grilled cheese sandwich.
What makes my Mom’s grilled cheese so good? It’s the simple good old-fashioned ingredients that go in it. Nothing complicated. Mom never used American cheese; she took the trouble to grate a block of good cheddar cheese. She used white bread or sourdough, fresh tomatoes, and onions. She only used butter, no margarine, no olive oil and no substitutes. That’s it.
Over the years I have messed around with Mom’s grilled cheese by adding fancy cheeses, gourmet condiments, and sautéed mushrooms and peppers. But I never get the wow reaction I get when I make the original Mom’s grilled cheese. Now I just stick to her recipe. Continue reading Mom’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich
