A couple of months ago I was really jonesing for some grilled cheese, as recently-discovered slightly lactose intolerant people are prone to do. Matt had the idea to make ultimate grilled cheese sandwiches--I suggested we make it into a competition.
The following ensued:
[what's grilled cheese without a good tomato soup?]
[check my fancy technique]
[my sandwich, the "deconstructed" loaded baked potato: sweet potato chips, caramelized onions, maple turkey bacon, scallion mayo, Australian cheddar, and waaaaay too much Asiago, on some kind of roll of goodness]
[Matt's sandwich: smoked gouda, monterrey Jack, sharp white cheddar, fried cilantro, anaheim peppers, and "real" bacon, on a loaf of Brooklyn's finest]
I had taken one picture of his sandwich, but Matt made me take this one to be sure I adequately captured the gooeyness. What a goof.
When we tasted our finished products, Matt ended up with one of these...
[why you so smug?]
And I was left with this:
[boo! a boo-boo!]
Not to be outdone in my primary domain (because of course my main job is cooking, and not, ya know, going to school or getting degrees or anything silly like that), I swore that I would redeem myself--and tonight I had my chance! The challenge: 40 minutes to make one appetizer and one dessert, with only items in our pantry (even though we love you, Garden Gourmet!).
Matt's appetizer used some rosemary thyme-ish biscuits that we got for free from Clinton Street Baking Company for waiting a long time (for the best pancakes you or I will ever have, seriously), griddled with the bacon grease. He also smeared on this cranberry apple chutney we picked up at the Inwood Farmers Market--pretty amazing stuff, if you can get your hands on it.
The end result: Open-faced Bacon Cranberry Muffin (such a creative name, really)
[only three ingredients whaaaaat]
My appetizer was pretty snazzy if I do say so myself: Acorn squash stuffing with turkey bacon (just can't get rid of the stuff fast enough) and apples, topped with wilted spinach and a poached egg. I haven't died yet, so I must have cooked the egg pretty well.
[oooh nice]
Matt called his dessert a healthy version of a sundae because it had yogurt in it--but I don't know how healthy it is when it also has marshmallows, white chocolate, strawberries, and these AWESOME Fig Newton Thins which you must try if you haven't already...
My dessert was a "flash-fried" cheesecake bite with orange marmalade and aforementioned chutney, with graham cracker crust--with red pepper chocolate sauce!
[it was better than it looks, trust]
So who won this time? The objective judges thought that the appetizers were neck and neck, although one smart Southern judge felt like the stuffing had the edge...
[judge two
and judge one]
The judges loved both desserts, but the "healthy" sundae was a little lighter than the cheesecake ball.
And the winner is...
[the cursed victory dance]
Matt is seriously holding out on his cooking skills. Why isn't he making my food everyday?
If anyone has ideas for cooking challenges so I can BEAT THIS MAN, I am open to them. Save my title? Please?
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