Pan Roasted Zucchini Sandwiches

Dear Devon,

I can’t believe a whole month has passed since I last wrote. As of late March, my life has been busy with visits from friends and family, all eager to enjoy the sunshine, fresh seafood, and explore the streets of Barcelona. And then there was all the travel: Two trips to Madrid, a weeklong stay in Andalucia, and a short daytrip to Montserrat.

Renee came out for a month long visit, took a week of Spanish classes, and was a willing traveling companion. She organized a short trip to Madrid, which included a visit to the Royal Palace, Sunday morning rambling at El Rastro (the biggest flea market in the world), and an afternoon at the Prado Museum. In between those stops, I dragged her through the streets of Madrid, scouting out churches, convents, and… restaurants. If you are vegetarian, Madrid isn’t the friendliest of cities, but if you love pork, you’ve hit the jackpot. After her departure in early May, two more guests took their turns sleeping on the inflatable mattress in the living room.


Our last guest left early Monday morning. The air mattress can finally get its much- needed rest. The process of putting the house back together began this morning, with long neglected errands penciled in for the afternoon. I am easing back into my routine and gearing up for a hot, hot summer. Thanks to one of my guests, we discovered that some of the best ice cream in Barcelona is blocks from the apartment. Our brand-new, and all-too-necessary ice cube trays are cooling in the freezer, and today, the all-important fan will be broken out of its box.

Today’s lunch will also be low key. Pan roasted zucchini, fresh tomato, and Mahon cheese between slices of grilled baguette. A cow’s milk cheese from the Balearic Islands just south of Barcelona, Mahon cheese is smooth and rich with a sharp floral note. I usually serve it with a slice of crisp apple, but have found that its strong flavor complements the butter-like taste of roasted zucchini. It’s the perfect, limited prep sandwich for maximum taste.


Pan Roasted Zucchini Sandwiches
(serves 2)

One loaf of fresh baguette (or day old works nicely too)
1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 tomato, sliced into generous ½ inch slices
Mahon cheese, sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled
Olive oil
Salt

Heat up a skillet with a drop of olive oil. Halve baguette and slice lengthwise. Lightly drizzle sliced bread with olive oil. When the skillet is nice and hot, set baguettes cut side down into the skillet. Slowly toast, until golden brown. Remove. Scrape the peeled garlic clove over the hot, toasted bread. Top with tomato. Place sliced cheese on the second half. Set aside. Add a drop more olive oil. Over medium heat, slowly cook sliced zucchini until golden brown. Set cooked zucchini over cheese and bread.

Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

Dear Devon,

Despite my attempts to stay on top of food trends and all things culinary, I have been unforgivably lazy since leaving New York. I half-heartedly blame the time difference and our temperamental internet connection, but in the end, it’s the lack of a proper lunch hour. With more thought, I realized that my do-or-die urge to read the entire NY Times in one 45 minute period has vanished, now that lunch lasts three hours. I am no longer addicted to the food section of the Times or to the twenty or so food blogs I love. So, it was with some excitement that I returned to my old surfing routine and found rejuvenating ideas from old favorites.

I love sandwiches, especially hot pressed ones. When I see a good sandwich idea, I whip out a pad of paper and a pen and quickly copy it down, inspiration for a relaxed Saturday lunch on the roof terrace. And so it was that one random Tuesday morning, I found myself on the Tartine Bakery and Café website, drooling over their delectable pastries and excited by their treasure trove of sandwiches. The grilled cheese with carmelized onions grabbed my attention. I threw on a pair of jeans, pocketed my keys, and ran out the door to the market. I had just finished breakfast, but lunch was already on my mind.


Back in the kitchen, I proudly announced my lunch plans, which led the boy to reschedule his library visit. Tartine’s sandwich does not include fried garlic or mushrooms: That inspiration came from the basket of old mushrooms chilling in the fridge. I really had no idea what I was doing. The garlic fried a bit too fast, the onions got a bit dark, the bread was a three days old, the mushrooms could’ve used a bit more fat, and I forgot to salt. But in the end, it didn’t matter. It was the epitome of an autumnal sandwich: savory and dark, complex flavors of sweet onion and melted cheese, punctuated by pungent, aromatic garlic and juicy mushrooms. The crisply toasted bread made a satisfying crunch with every enthusiastic bite. This should definitely be a $10 sandwich.



I am fantasizing about making this for you and Jeff when I come back to New York. All the elements can be prepared in advance and assembled upon your arrival. Throw the sandwiches into the oven at a low temperature to allow them to crisp up. Serve alongside a hearty butternut squash soup, and you’ll have the perfect autumnal lunch.


Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms
(makes 2 small sandwiches)

Swiss cheese (Emmental)
1/3 cup onions, thinly sliced
5 large button mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced on a bias
4 tbsp butter
4 slices of bread
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, gently fry the sliced garlic. After 3 minutes or so, remove the garlic. Be careful not to burn, the edges should be light golden brown and the garlic should remain crisp. Set aside to cool. Turn down the heat and add the sliced onions. Slowly cook for 15 minutes, adding a tablespoon of water, if needed, to prevent the onions from burning. Remove carmelized onions and reserve with fried garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet, add sliced mushrooms. Cook over low heat until both sides are nicely browned, 7 to 10 minutes.

Using a large serrated knife, cut four slices from a fresh loaf of bread. Spread each side with a generous amount of butter. Lay carmelized onions over two slices, top with garlic slices and mushrooms. Set a generous slice of cheese over onion-mushroom mixture and top with remaining slice of bread. Heat skillet to medium high temperature. Grill sandwiches until the cheese is nicely melted and the bread is golden brown. A bacon press would work very nicely here.

Pear Tartine

Dear Devon,

I subtly lobbied for an apartment located near one of Barcelona’s many vibrant markets. Within its various and colorful streets, Barcelona houses forty green markets, selling an abundance of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs, sun dried fruits, cured meats and cheeses, and rich meats, fish, and poultry. My local market, situated a mere 3 blocks away, is a deep well of inspiration. Saturdays are the major market days. The crowds and rush are incredibly dense. At the moment, I don’t have the nerve to slide up to the counter. I do my shopping on the much slower paced Tuesday afternoon.

I am slowly making friends with the local vendors, who are starting to show a glint of recognition as I walk pass. For their part, they are very patient with my faltering Spanish and American indecisiveness. The practice of browsing does not exist. Spanish shoppers know exactly what they want, how much of it, and from whom. They don’t ogle and oh-and-ah the crates of pungent spring onions or wonder at yellow plums and mint green skinned citrus fruits. Like a lion, I pace in circles in front of each stall, carefully selecting my purchases and double-checking my conversions from metric to English measurements.

A friendly smile and a cheerful “Hola, buenas tardes” will take you a long way in building relations with vendors. My first week shopping, the fruit lady suspiciously eyed me in that small town way. Though I asked for four pears, she gave me eight and refused to be corrected, even after I persisted. Somewhat defeated, I slunked home with double my order, vowing not to return to her the following week. Midway through the week, I had a major change of heart. Enjoying one of those delectable pears, my resolve failed and I found myself in her debt. The pears were so good that four is not enough to get you through the week, eight was a much more suitable number. The following week, her stall was the first one I visited. I asked for eight pears and hoped I wouldn’t end up with dozen (though I wouldn’t complain too loudly).

Though relatively petite, the pears pack some major flavor. The flavor is clean and distinct, like spring water with undertones of honey and a soft citrus flavor. The pears are wonderfully aromatic, like freshly bloomed blossoms. The rounded shapes fit snugly in the palm of my hand. The soft, yellow skin wonderfully blushed with speckled rose tinted flecks on their smooth bellies. Each bite contains the perfect balance of crunchiness to juiciness. None of that mealy, coarse skinned fruit back home, but napkin worthy, juice dribbling down my chin fruit.

The pears are so tasty that improvement or embellishment is really not necessary. In the end, spreading chocolate-hazelnut butter on freshly baked baguette and topping with pears is not really cooking. It could be considered cheating. But this combination is so good that if you consider this cheating, you can call me a cheater with a capital “C.”

Pear Tartine

Baguette
Ripe pears
Nutella or some similar hazelnut chocolate spread

Using a serrated knife, divide and halve the baguette into six-inch segments. Generously spread each half with a thin layer of nutella. Thinly slice pears lengthwise. Arrange sliced pears on prepared baguette.

Good for a quick dessert or at breakfast with tea or even as a midnight snack. Good anytime.

Monsieur and Madame Croque

Dear Devon,

Rick Steves, on a recent episode, comfortably biked through the Cote D'Or vineyards, basket filled with snails and a bottle of wine. He made it look so easy. Dijon advertises itself as a bike friendly town. The central tourist office conveniently distributes maps of bike paths that should lead easily and safely from tasting room to tasting room, and even rents bikes for full and half days. As the sky was clear for the first time in days, I decided it would be fun to fill my lungs with country air and get some sun...


WHAT WAS I THINKING? I don't bike from the Upper West Side to Staten Island on a whim. In fact, I hadn't been on a bike, mobile or stationary, in more than 10 years. Suddenly, I was in the middle of nowhere, caught up in a twenty mile bike ride. Taxis? Not on this stretch of vineyard. Buses? I saw plenty of stops and shelters, but not a single bus. Bike lanes? Stay to the right of the cars on the highway. Huffing and puffing under a cloudless sky, I imagined composing an urgent email to Rick Steves:

Dear Mr. Steves,

When suggesting bike rides through the Cote D'Or to your foolhardy readers, don't forget the two miles of white-knuckle riding in narrow one-way streets on the way out of Dijon, or the imperceptible bike lanes and five-way intersections, and most importantly, please stress the physical exertion required to ride several miles, especially for those who do not engage in regular exercise.

Your faithful reader,
Michelle

We rolled into Gevrey-Chambertin, a good 8 miles outside of Dijon, at about 1:15. If you're not familiar, 1:15 can mean to a Frenchman that he's missed lunch. I shuffled stiffly into a busy cafe, filled with sun burnt locals, and found a table by the window. The waitress, who turned out to be our chef, as well, announced loudly that she was out of bread, and asked us what we thought of croque monsieur and green salad with tomatoes. We nodded our approval, and she disappeared into a loud kitchen. During her absence, we tried to figure out what had just happened. Had we inadvertently ordered, in our exhaustion, and our lousy french? When she appeared with two green salads and two croque monsieurs made with square slices of white bread, we asked her where the bread came from. With a surprised look on her face, she answered "This isn't bread. This stuff is ONLY used for croque monsieur. It's too heavy- we couldn't just eat this every day."

The Croque Monsieur and his feminine counterpart, Croque Madame (served with an egg on top), is the grilled cheese sandwich of France. Every kid knows how to make it. It's probably the default dinner for many newly graduated 20-somethings. At its most basic, it consists of cheese, ham, mustard, and sliced bread. Larousse Gastronomique writes: "the first croque monsieur was served in 1910 in a Parisian cafe on the Boulevard des Capucines" (p. 375). I've always eaten croque monsieur topped with a cheesy bechemal sauce. To me, the sauce always seemed a bit fussy for a simple sandwich. I was pleased to see that in the French version, the sandwich is topped with lightly broiled shredded cheese. The edges are blackened, almost burnt, and the inside was warm and gooey with melted cheese and salty ham. Our audible crunching was a good advertisement for the "croque." (Croquer is french for to crunch.)

Back in New York, while telling a friend about our French adventures, I tried to recreate the croque monsieur. Emmental is the cheese that is typically used in this sandwich. When the thin strands of burned cheese stick to the bread, it creates an amazing savory flavor and satisfying crunch. The melted Emmental contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the sliced ham. It is gooey and warm, stretching into long strands with each bite. The monsier and madame that resulted from my experiments were delicious. The sandwiches were a real treat and a great reminder of that marvelous day in the vineyards, without the muscle fatigue.

Don't think my biking adventure was a complete waste. Once I had eaten dinner, relaxed, and was sitting in my bed, I admit that I felt fulfilled.


Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame
serves 2

4 slices white bread (I used Italian rustic bread)
2 tbsp butter
4 thin slices of ham
mustard
2 slices Emmental cheese
1/2 cup Emmental cheese, shredded
1 egg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Heat a frying pan on a medium flame. Butter four slices of bread on one side. Butter side facing outwards, top each slice with 2 slices of ham, 1 slice of cheese, and a generous layer of mustard. Finish with the second slice of bread, butter side out. Place on the frying pan at medium heat. Cook on both sides until nicely golden brown. Remove to reserved baking sheet. Top with shredded cheese. Repeat with second sandwich.

Croque Madame: follow the directions above. Fry an egg, sunny side up. Place the fried egg on top of the shredded cheese.

Bake both sandwiches in the oven at 500 degrees until cheese is slightly burned and bread is nicely toasted. Serve with a fresh green salad.