Grill Interrupted

An ongoing series: I’m paying homage to some of my favourite bloggers by creating a custom sandwich in each of their honour.

So far we’ve had the the @Avitable Dog, @Motherbumper Po’ Boy, and @Kristabella Breakfast Sandwich.

grind·er
noun /ˈgrīndər/
Regional name for a submarine sandwich in certain parts of the United States

For this week’s sandwich, we’re heading to California for an awesome girl by the name of @MeghanGWine. This of course is Meghan‘s second twitter handle, because her first one (@AMomTwoBoys) may not have been the best choice for someone who was still planning to have more kids…

Meghan’s lived on both coasts, and I thought a sub sandwich would fit the bill for a coast-to-coast gal. My wife and I got to hang out with Meghan and her husband DJ in Las Vegas last year – and it was like we were all old friends, despite having never met them before.

Meghan shares my love of food and isn’t brave enough to have a food blog yet – but she should! The @MeghanGWine Grinder starts off with a red wine vinegar marinated brisket – like its namesake it’s got some kick, some spice, some pizzazz, with a dash of sassy-frass and goes lovely with a margarita. Hope you enjoy!

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The @MeghanGWine Grinder

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients:

Marinade:

2 cups red wine vinegar
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons fennel seed
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Brisket:

1 (10 pound) brisket
1 cup tomato paste
8 seeded rolls, halved
Horseradish mayonnaise, for serving
16 slices sharp provolone (optional)
2 roasted tomatoes, recipe follows
Pepperoncini, for serving

Preparation:

1. For the marinade: Bring the vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt, oregano, fennel seed, black pepper, and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Let cool. Place the brisket in a large baking dish and cover with the marinade. Let rest, covered, overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
3. For the brisket: Smear with the tomato paste and place in a clean large baking dish. Cook, covered, for 5 hours. The meat should easily come apart. Cool.
4. Slice the brisket against the grain in 1/8-inch thick slices. Reserve the jus separately. Keep the brisket slices warm in the jus.
5. Remove the insides of the rolls and smear with horseradish mayonnaise, to taste. Put 2 slices cheese, 2 to 3 roasted tomatoes, and a handful of pepperoncini on each roll. Place in the oven to crisp the rolls and melt the cheese. Top with about 4 ounces brisket and drizzle with some jus. Wrap and slice in half.

Roasted Tomatoes:
2 tomatoes, cut into eighths
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Combine all the ingredients and roast for 1 hour on a baking sheet or shallow roasting pan.

Filed under: Recipe on May 21st, 2011 | 6 Comments »

An ongoing series: I’m paying homage to some of my favourite bloggers by creating a custom sandwich in each of their honour.

First up was The @Avitable Dog. Followed by The @Motherbumper Po’ Boy. This weekend we take a jaunt to Chicago for the best of the Midwest.

Kristin, or Kristabella, as her webpsite professes is full of snark. She has gone from being some girl my wife knew online, to a full fledged member of our family.  Kristin visits more often than most of our blood relatives, and my kids have taken to her as if she really were their Auntie.

Kristin bleeds Chicago Bear blue and orange, she’s worked for a professional NFL team, can drink me under the table, and can deliver a one-liner with the best of ’em. When Kristin went on a trip to Portland, she had this doozy of a sandwich that she wrote about. I made my own version for her when she visited us last time in Toronto.

The kicker in this sandwich is the pimento cheese. It’s cheesy, peppery, all-delicious goodness.

A breakfast sandwiches with egg, Pimento cheese, tomato and bacon… makes this so ohmygod good!

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The @Kristabella Breakfast Sandwich

Adapted from Kristin’s memory

Ingredients:

Large eggs

Pimento cheese (recipe below)

1 tomato, thinly sliced

Vegetarian bacon, prepared

Home-made English Muffins or Southern style biscuits

Preparation:

1. Fry eggs one at a time over medium heat.
2. Split rolls in half. Layer pimento cheese, tomato slice and remaining ingredients. Enjoy!

Pimento Cheese

Ingredients:
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup cream cheese
1 x 7 ounce jars pimento, drained & diced
1 x 6 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained & sliced
1/4 cup pickled jalapeño pepper slices, drained & diced
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Preparation

1. Process the cheeses in a food processor until well blended.
2. Add remaining ingredients and pulse to desired consistency.
3. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Filed under: Recipe on May 13th, 2011 | 1 Comment »

An ongoing series: I’m paying homage to some of my favourite bloggers by creating a custom sandwich in each of their honour.

First up was The @Avitable Dog. Today we follow it up with a great sandwich for another great writer.

I’ve met some really awesome bloggers over the years – many of them via my wife Ali. Generally when her blogging friends get together there’s a lot of talk about the online drama du jour, or some other topic that I feign interest in. However, when I first met Katie and found out she had worked at IBM (as I had) and was an uber-techno geek (she may deny it, but don’t buy it) who loves all things LOTR, Star Trek and all points in between – I knew we would hit it off.

Katie writes on her own personal site – but can also be found kicking ass and taking names over at the Bad Moms Club.

Katie’s daughter and my youngest Isabella are two peas from a pod. We recently got them together for a play date on a weekend where Ali and I were supposed to have been in New Orleans for a trip we had to cancel. For this reason I was really in the mood to whip together a NOLA classic.

This version of a Po’ Boy is super simple to make. I stuffed some sub rolls with pre-made coleslaw, sweet pickles, oven baked onion rings, creole sauce and grilled chicken. For the sauce I simply whipped together some mayonnaise, creole seasoning and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I put a little of the creole spice on the chicken before grilling as well.

The crunch of the onion rings, coleslaw and pickles made the whole thing just pop. So, so, good.

Filed under: Recipe on May 7th, 2011 | 4 Comments »