Valentines Day Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!  I try to spend every day like it is Valentine’s Day, telling Michael how much I love him, loving my family, my friends, my dogs, and always being kind to others. What are your Valentine’s Day plans this year?

When I think of what makes me happy when it comes to food, it isn’t something incredibly fancy or highly intricate, it is the simple comfort food that melts in your mouth and makes you feel good. We have created an elevated grilled cheese and tomato soup combo for you, a more decadent version of a loved classic. So enjoy our heirloom creamed tomato soup with a Swiss Gruyere Emmentaler grilled cheese sandwich!

*It helps to have a blender, sieve, and food brush handy, and if you cannot find a bag of grated cheese, just buy blocks and grate equal amounts.

Ingredients: serves 4

Soup:

6 large heirloom tomatoes
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
¼ cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Yellow onion
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic
Parmesan rind
3 sprigs fresh thyme
Pinch of salt

Grilled Cheese Sandwich:
Block of soft baby Swiss cheese
Grated bag of Emmentaler and Gruyere cheese (they will be under fondue cheeses)
Sliced sourdough bread
1 Tablespoon melted butter

Start by assembling your mise en place by dicing the onion and garlic and setting aside, and then chopping the heirloom tomatoes and canned tomatoes. In a large sauce pan heat oil, then add onion and garlic and cook about 5 minutes until translucent.

Add tomatoes, then parmesan rind, thyme sprigs. When you add the rind make sure that there is no paper stuck to it. Put to medium heat and let cook 25 minutes. Remove the rind and the thyme.  

In small batches (if it is too large you may burn yourself), puree the tomato soup. Pour the mix into a sieve over a bowl, and using a spoon push through the sieve until you are only left with the fiber and no liquid. Discard of the fiber. Do this until all of the soup has been strained.

Pour the soup back into the sauce pan, turn to medium heat. Add butter, pinch of salt, and cream. Stir. Return to medium low to keep warm.

To make the sandwich melt a Tablespoon of butter in a bowl, then brush both sides of bread with butter, not so much that the bread will be soggy. Heat a pan to medium high heat.

Place first piece of bread in the pan. Let heat for 3 minutes, then add Emmentaler and Gruyere, then Baby Swiss. Let cook for 2 more minutes. Add next slice of bread then flip, cooking the next side for about 3-4 minutes. You just want the bread to brown and crisp, but not burn.

To serve, slice sandwiches in half, and serve with small bowl of soup and a kiss!

Bonne Fete Nationale!

La Fête Nationale ou, le quatorze juillet! In English known as Bastille Day or the 14^th of July. I suppose we could say that it is the French Independence day, it is a day symbolizing the rise of the modern nation of France.

All history aside, what we miss so much about France, specifically Paris, is not only the art, the life, the people, it is the food, specifically French bistro food. The croque monsieur is the king of French bistro food, first appearing on menus in 1910 as a quick bar snack. This sandwich goes beyond your mother’s ham and cheese sandwich and elevates it with gooey gruyere, Dijon, and a slathering of béchamel.

Make this sandwich, drink some rose, and watch some firework, and Bonne Fête Nationale!

Ingredients: makes 2 or 4 small ones
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ½ Tablespoons flour
1 cup hot milk
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ Lb ham (any sweet smokey ham) not too thin
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Pinch nutmeg
6 oz grated gruyere
¼ grated parmesan
4 slices sourdough bread
Whole grain mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.



Toast the bread by placing the slices down on a baking sheet and put in oven. Toast 5 minutes, then flip the slices and toast another 3.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter on low heat. Once melted, add flour and stir for about 2 minutes.

Next slowly add hot milk while constantly whisking, until it has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Take off the heat and add the salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg, ¼ cup of gruyere, and all of the parmesan. Mix and let sit.

To assemble the sandwich spread whole grain mustard on two slices of bread, next lay the ham and sprinkle with half of the left over gruyere. Lay another piece of bread, and smother with cheese sauce and top with remaining cheese.

Bake in oven for 5 minutes, and then turn the broiler on and broil for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese has browned.

Voila! Eat alone, or you can serve with some Dijon on the side, and some cornichon pickles to balance out the rich creamy cheese!