Grilled Cheese Trio

Cheese on cheese on cheese on cheese on cheese! On bread.

That is to me, the recipe for the best grilled cheese. Just a crap-ton of cheese. I want it gooey and melty and oozing out between the bread. 

And sometimes, I like to add a little something else, flavor-wise. I mean, cheese is awesome but it can be fun to add other flavors too, like pesto or jams or even fruit. 

Here, I've got some suggestions.

For the brave: Pesto and fontina is deliciously melted, salty, and herby, and tossing some blackberries in the middle adds an unexpected sweetness. 

For the pie lovers: Cheddar and apple are best friends, so why not add apple butter, with it's warm spices and sweetness. This may be my favorite of all.

For the travellers: Pretend your sandwich is the height of Spanish culinary sophistication, and put a little quince paste between your melted manchego. 

---

Grilled Cheese, Three Ways

• Bread, a good, crusty loaf
• Butter, a good salted variety
• Cheese, no processed singles here
• Fillings of choice: fruit, jams, sauces, go nuts

1. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Generously butter one side of your bread slices.
2. Generously layer cheese and fillings on one bread slice and top with a second slice. 
3. Lay on hot griddle and cook until golden. Flip, and cook until that side is golden, but cover the pan with a lid or dome with a metal bowl to encourage melting.
4. Eat while cheese is so hot it burns your mouth!

Homemade Potato Chips

It's Friday and I'm in the mood for some snacking! 

Have you ever made potato chips at home? It's both easier and harder than you think, but the flavor possibilities are endless! I like to give it a go every few years or so.

Ringing endorsement, I know.

I say it's easier than you think to make your own chips, because if you have a sharp knife and some patience (or even better, a mandoline), it's super easy to cut up a potato, heat some oil, and fry. And these fry up almost instantly!

It is harder than you think because even 1 potato yields kind of a lot of chips, and you do need to fry them in batches, try not to burn them, then immediately salt and drain and flavor and lay them out flat so they don't steam.

It's kind of the best way to get yourself to eat fewer chips, if that's what you want in your life. However, the chips will be hot and crispy and fresh and that's kind of the whole point.

Let's talk flavors! 

You can add a bit of pepper for some flair. Or, if you have a spice store addiction like I do, dig into your stock of horseradish and cheddar cheese powders, or your dill pickle salt, or your za'atar and sumac, whatever you are in the mood for. You can't really go wrong here, since potatoes are a neutral platform for nearly anything (not sure I'd go sweet here, though).

Even if you just go with regular old sea salt, I promise the results will be delicious. 

---

Potato Chips, 2 Flavors

• 2 medium russet potatos
• oil, for frying
• kosher salt or sea salt
• seasonings (optional)

1. Very thinly slice potatoes (on a mandoline is best). You don't want them too wispy though.
2. Heat cooking oil to 350 degrees. Fry potatoe slices in batches, about 45 seconds to one minute, until golden and crispy. Remove from hot oil with a slotted spoon or spider to drain on paper towels or paper bags. Immediately season with a bit of kosher salt or sea salt. You can stop there, or then season with whatever flavor combos you wish.

Notes:

• When frying the potatoes, try to separate the slices as much as you can. If you drop them into the oil stuck together, they will cook that way, all clumped together, and the middles will be undercooked and soggy.
• You can try any flavors you wish, adding vinegar powder to salted chips for salt and vinegar, or zaatar, or a little black pepper. Or, try combining equal parts horseradish powder and cheddar cheese powder for cheddar-horseradish chips, or my favorite, using a dill pickle seasoning mix for dill pickle chips.

Low-Effort, High-Impact Scones

Sometimes, my friends come to me with questions about what they should make when entertaining. Or maybe they aren't actually asking me but telling me their plans, and I just butt it with suggestions? In any case, it's usually eye opening for me in that what I consider to be minimal work actually seems pretty tedious or stress-inducing for others.

A couple of years ago, I had just that type of conversation with my friend Ginny about whether she should make scones for her birthday party. She deemed them too stressful, because, in her words, "anything you want to be flaky requires more attention." This is true, to achieve peak flakiness in baked goods you usually need to pay some attention to the process. But, in honor of her birthday today, I'm counter-arguing two years later that we can find ways around that, to accomplish the ideal baked good that Ginny described to me as "low-effort, high impact".

Enter cream scones! 

Also two years ago (lots of 2016 flashbacks today!), I posted a recipe here for a pretty fantastic version of everyone's favorite cheddar garlic biscuits using cream instead of butter. They came out so well, so flaky and, well, buttery, without the need to pay any attention to any butter at all, that I figured, why not do the same with scones? And, as always, the entire world got there first, but in this case so long ago that cream scones are considered a pretty traditional English baked good. 

The basic idea still applies, though. Instead of butter, we use cream, which is basically liquid butter, to fully coat the flour and sugar and incorporate into a dough that bakes up flaky, rich, and delicious, with zero effort expended to measure the size of butter pieces or check whether they are evenly dispersed in the dough. It all just happens with a simple stir of the batter. 

And, since we've spent zero energy focused on our layers, we can spend some time on our flavors! I divided the batter into two halves and mixed into one batch some savory flavorings, and more traditional sweet flavorings into the second. You can go with whatever you want!

---

Pick Your Flavor Easy Cream Scones

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

For the scone base:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/3-1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, plus more, for brushing

Lemon Blueberry Scone mix-ins:

• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup frozen wild blueberries

Pepper Gruyere Scone Mix-Ins

• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup gruyere, diced into small cubes

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the cream, just enough to form a dough (it shouldn't be very sticky, but I needed all of the cream).
3. Divide dough and transfer half to a separate small bowl. Add in black pepper and gruyere to dough in mixing bowl and stir to combine (you may need to knead in the cheese pieces my hand). Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet and pat into a 3/4 inch thick circle, cut into 6 wedges. 
4. Wipe out the mixing bowl and the paddle attachment and add the remaining dough and the blueberries. Rub the zest and sugar together and add to the dough. Stir to combine and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet and proceed as in step 3.
5. Arrange all wedges evenly across the baking sheet and brush with cream. Place the sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up the cream (so it flakes!). Bake 15-20 minutes until well-risen and browned and cooked through. Serve warm.