SuperFrico Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Recipe

The SuperFrico - a grilled cheese sandwich with a built-in cheese crisp

Every knows the best part of a grilled cheese sandwich (lasagna, gratin, mac & cheese, ...) are the bits where the cheese gets brown and crispy. So one night I says to myself, why can't there be more crispy? What happens if I just make a frico (cheese crisp) right there in the skillet and weld it to my already delicious grilled cheese? Would this not be a fine extension of an already superb late supper?

The answer was a resounding yes. My wife and I have been enjoying these SuperFricos (tm :) occasionally for months now, and I figured it was time to share. Just as I was planning to make this sandwich again and actually photograph them so I could write a post, I get this press release:

SIXTH ANNUAL SEATTLE CHEESE FESTIVAL
GRILLED CHEESE RECIPE CONTEST

SEATTLE – March 10, 2010 – The Seattle Cheese Festival is conducting a recipe search for the best grilled cheese sandwich. The contest is open to home cooks and professional chefs. The winner will be invited to demonstrate the recipe during a cooking demo at the Seattle Cheese Festival, which takes place at Pike Place Market on May 15 and 16, 2010. The winning sandwich will be featured online at www.seattlecheesefestival.com and on the menu at the café at DeLaurenti Food & Wine.

Are you kidding me? Clearly the dairy gods have spoken. So I'll give you the recipe here, and enter it in the contest too.

SuperFrico Grilled Cheese
Vegetarian; not vegan nor gluten-free (although feel free to try substitutions and comment if they are good)
Makes one sandwich

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 thin slices of artisan sourdough bread (Baker Street Sourdough from Tall Grass is a personal favorite)
• 1/2 cup grated aged provolone cheese or oak-smoked cheddar
• 3 tablespoons Beecher's Flagship Cheddar mixed with 2 teaspoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over a medium or slightly hotter flame.
2. Add the slices of bread. I like to lightly moisten them with the butter on one side, then flip them over.
3. Top one slice of bread with the provolone or oak-smoked cheddar and cover with the other slice of bread. Press down firmly. I use another, smaller skillet for that. Cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping a couple of times and pressing occasionally.
4. When the basic grilled cheese is done, remove it from the pan. Lower the heat to medium. If the pan seems very dry, melt a touch more butter in it. Sprinkle the mixed Flagship and Parmigiano Reggiano in the still-hot skillet, in a shape roughly the same as the sandwich but a little larger.
5. Now watch closely, as the cheese melts. You'll see the fat start to cook out and the cheese begin to brown and crisp. Before this process is complete, put the sandwich back on top and press down to weld the frico to the bread.
6. Let cook for one more minute, then using a thin spatula, lift out the sandwich, flip, cut in half, and serve. If there are more crispy bits left in the skillet, retrieve them and place on top of the sandwich.

Marination Mobile - Hawaiian / Korean Curb Cuisine - Restaurant Review - Seattle, WA

 

More groovy new street food in Seattle! Marination Mobile is prowling the streets, dishing up "Hawaiian and Korean curb cuisine". I'm presumably living right, because their Wednesday spot is right up the street from my work in Fremont (outside of Sound Scooters, at the same location that Skillet occupies on Thursday), so I've been able to hit them up twice in their first month of operation.

Marination's truck makes a good impression from a distance - shiny and clean, with cool graphics. Not that you eat the truck, but it makes you think that anyone who cares enough to keep the vehicle looking that good might be pouring some love into the food too. You'd be right.

There are only a few things on the menu: tacos, a kimchi rice bowl, sliders (mini hamburges, ala White Castle), and a kimchi quesadilla, plus occasional specials. I appreciate the brevity: street food is usually best when a few dishes are prepared over & over with fanatical attention to detail.

Marination's tacos and rice come with a choice of meats or tofu. Unfortunately for now at least, the tofu rice bowl isn't veg because the kimchi contains anchovy broth, but co-owner Kamala tells me that more veggie options are on the way.

This is really no tragedy though, because the tofu tacos are vegetarian and delicious. The tofu is marinated (of course), grilled, and topped with a tangy slaw and slices of jalapeno, with limes to squeeze on and Sriracha sauce available if you want to spice them up. Three tacos make a good light lunch, and will only set you back $4.50 total - can't beat that! Their slaw was so good it inspired me to make these roasted-potato and asparagus tacos.

Omnivorous friends that joined me on each visit have tried the other menu items and liked them. I can say that the kimchi rice bowl in particular looked very flavorful and delicious.

Check out their schedule and give Marination a try, I think you'll be happy!

Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

The second annual Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon is coming up again on July 12. I was a judge last year and was impressed with the wide range of chocolatiers that showed up to sample their wares, and at $20 for an adult advance ticket I thought it was a darn good deal.

I won't be able to attend this year, but somehow I still had the good fortune to receive a few advance samples from two of my favorite places: Theo Chocolates and Chocolopolis. Sometimes it is good to be a blogger!

Theo sent along a 91% Costa Rica bar that was amazingly smooth for such a high percentage, and a 45% milk chocolate that completely redefined my understanding of the light stuff. It has a complex, caramelized flavor that I could go back to over and over. Also included was a coffee & dark chocolate bar done in concert with Caffe Vita, and these incredible ghost chile & sea salt caramels.

I had the opportunity to tour Theo a couple months ago with a group organized by Keren Brown (aka the Frantic Foodie). I was amazed at what a small, committed group of people can do. How many chocolate companies do you know that have two Ph.D.'s on staff, one who specializes in the anthropology of cacao and another who is helping growers around the world improve the quality of their beans and processing? Or that have already been featured on Oprah? Or that partner with Jane Goodall? Or that uses only organic, fair trade beans? Amazing stuff. I can't even begin to tell you their whole story, you should just go visit them and take the factory tour, or if you live far away, peruse their site and buy some bars.

Chocolopolis also deserves lots of love. Chief Chocophile Lauren Adler curates ultra-high quality bars and confections from around the world, gathering them all at her small Queen Anne shop. It is a terrific place to taste, learn about chocolate, and come home with goodies you can't find anywhere else. They also make some awesome stuff on-site. The fig filled with anise ganache and dipped in 72% chocolate was one of the best bites I've put in my mouth in a long time.

Speaking of local Seattle companies, take a minute to sign up for the ChefShop.com newsletter and you have the chance to win $500 worth of their products. Their products are awesome.