Part of what made this last weekend so phenomenal was eating one of my favorite sandwiches, the egg-in-a-grilled-cheese basket. It all starts by building a grilled cheese to your own specs. In my case it was two slices of wheat bread, one slice of muenster and one slice of swiss. Acceptable add-ons include but are not limited to: tomato, onions, smoked salmon, salsa, and damn near anything else that goes with bread, cheese, and eggs.

This next step is critical. Locate a cup around your house that will cut a hole in the sandwich large enough to allow a nice egg layer, but small enough that there is still cheese involved–you don’t want to eat eggs wrapped in crust. In my case I use a tasting glass from the Great American Beer Festival.

Next butter up your pan (mmmmm, real butter) and throw in the sandwiches. Notice the cut-outs are still used as baby grilled cheeses.

Crack 1 or 2 eggs in the middle of each sandwich and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. If you use 2 eggs, might I suggest you crack one, sprinkle some shredded cheese on it, and then add the second egg.

Next up, flip ‘em.

I’ve found that if I follow my normal grilled cheese cooking times I get a nice easy/medium egg. If you want it super runny turn the heat up a bit to cook the bread faster (and thus a faster flip) while leaving the insides pretty mushy. I’ve also pulled the sandwiches off and wrapped them in tin foil to take for a breakfast on the run, although the eggs will normally cook the rest of the way through.

In this case, however, I pulled these straight outta the pan and dove right in. A damn good meal if you ask me.

Eggtacular

Eggceptional

Egg-a-rific

The other night, however, brought about rumblings in my stomach that wouldn’t be quelled by any ordinary breakfast sandwich. No, after a grueling circuit workout of body and free weight exercises I needed something more substantial. Raiding my bare cupboard turned up the usual; bread, cans of soups, pasta and peanut butter. The fridge wasn’t any better, not holding much more than eggs, bread, cheese, and OJ. Like a word problem on the SAT’s I was left trying to figure out the best combination of pieces, knowing not every foodstuff was going to be thrown into the mix (if all those cooking shows taught me one thing it was KISS!–keep it simple stupid!).

Ok, tomato-basil soup, cheese, and bread–that’s an easy option. But I didn’t want to make three grilled cheeses, requiring my continued attention at the stove, eating one sandwich as a made another. No, I was looking to cook, eat, and be done.

Thus I bring you the smothered and covered (I don’t think waffle house has that trademarked) over-medium triple decker, served bloody.

Don’t be fooled, there is no meat in this.

It all starts with four pieces of bread and cheese (I’m going muenster and swiss) in the toaster oven. Crisping bread and melting cheese, keys to a good start.

While that’s toasting it’s time to turn our attention to the eggs. Fried eggs aren’t that difficult. Normally I like mine over-easy, and for me that means cooking them on one side, flipping them over for about 30 seconds and then pulling them off the stove for that phenomenal runny yoke. But for this adventure I wanted over-medium, with a gooey center that stayed in place upon dissection. Instead of pulling my eggs off at the over-easy phase, I just kill the heat and let them finish up while the toast/cheese is in it’s final stages of toastymeltification.

At this point it’s time I turn to my friends at Progresso, heating up their tomato-basil soup in the microwave.

Now, for the construction (click on the pic below to see the GIF, sometimes it doesn’t load on this page).

I call it the stack n’ smash, because the next step is….

Now, for the awesome inside reveal shot:

So that’s the triple decker over-medium, but where’s the blood? Remember the tomato soup that is still sitting in the microwave…lay it on…thick.

Truth be told I ladled some soup on so I could take that picture, but then I just dumped the rest of the bowl over it.

The final step, clean your plate, as best you can.

That took about 5 minutes, then I was in the shower. Fast forward 15 minutes, I’m out of the shower and the rice is almost done. Then I started cooking the eggs–6 six scrambled eggs minimum, although 8 leaves you with egg to the last bite. By the time those are done the rice is about there as well. I pile the eggs onto the rice, add some sriracha sauce, and mix it all together.

Shitty iPhone photo, but you get the idea

You can add any shredded cheese you like to the mix, although I didn’t have any. Instead, I went for some of the best sour cream around, from Gibb’s at Findlay Market. Made fresh on Thursdays, delivered on Friday mornings, this stuff is incredible, and it stays good for about a month!

I took some of the egg/rice mix and threw it on some Frito’s Scoops, and topped that with a little sour cream.

I’m normally left with a nice one pound container to use for any of the three meals today. I can wrap it up in a tortilla or fork it right from the container. I also like to throw it on toast with cheese–a rice and egg melt.

Naturally you can add meat to this, but again, I was working with what I had. Overall the version above costs about $10, and I’m including the sour cream, the entire bag of Fritos, the other half dozen eggs, and the bottle of sriracha sauce in that.

My basic sushi set up

5chw4r7z‘s post on sushi inspired me to finish/publish a post about making sushi. I love the stuff, and it’s an integral part of my diet. Plus it has it all, carbs from the rice, protein from the fish, and all the benefits of whatever veggies you throw in the mix.

However there is one downside to going out and eating sushi, as evidenced by 5chw4r7′s photos…it can get a bit pricey.

Fear the tab no more, I am going to show you that making sushi is easy, delicious, and wayyyyyy cheaper.

Let’s start with the basics:

Step one is go to the asian market on the south side of Findlay Market and pick up the following: Sushi rice, Nori (seaweed), and the powdered vinegar/salt/sugar mix you need for the rice. You will also want to get a sushi rolling mat, and perhaps some chopsticks. There are other great accoutrements you will find there as well, but the basics will get you started and shouldn’t cost more than about $15-$20.

Next walk through the market and find the innards of your rolls. This includes you fish, veggies, fruit, cream cheese, or whatever your heart desires. You begin to realize that making sushi is just like making a sandwich, the possibilities are endless.

The hardest part is cooking the rice. If you have a rice cooker, sweet, you’re cooler than I am. If you don’t follow these simple instructions:

1. Rinse the rice. I put the rice in muslin bags that I have for homebrewing, but cheesecloth works as well. I generally soak the rice for 10 minutes, after which time the water is a murky white. I then remove the bag and run water through it until it comes out clear.

2. I then put the rice in a pot on the stove with 1 1/2 cups of water for every cup of rice. 1 cup of rice should make about 3-4 rolls depending on how big/thick you make them.

3. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to simmer. Stir occasionally for the next 15 minutes to ensure it doesn’t stick. Then kill the heat and let sit covered for another 10-15 minutes.

4. At this point you will want to mix in your vinegar/sugar/salt mix. I buy the powdered stuff from the store, but you can also mix rice vinegar, sugar and salt and add that. The powder makes things easy. You will add about a tablespoon per cup of rice directly after the rice is done cooking. Be sure to fold in the mixture with a rubber spatula, too much stirring and your delicate rice kernals will turn to mush.

5. I then take my rice and spread it out on a tray to allow it to cool to room temp. Do NOT put it in the fridge, it will cool in 30-40 minutes.

Ok, the hard part is over. Now it’s as easy as putting rice onto seaweed, adding your fillings, and rolling with the bamboo roller (techniques can be found on youtube). Oh, and remember to cover your roller in saran wrap, it makes cleanup so much easier.

You can add rice to the inside, outside, or both sides of your roll, depending on what you like. Then start throwing in the fillings. Note that sticky rice is, as the name implies, sticky! Keep a bowl of cold water to dip your fingers in before you handle the rice to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

Get creative!

Then get your roll on!

When your roll comes out, be sure to use a sharp knife to cut it. Again, this is sticky rice. Take a cloth and dampen it with cold water, then wipe down your knife. Doing this before each cut will prevent the knife from sticking (and make cleaning it that much easier).

That may seem like a long process, but I promise it is easy. Plus it is a great activity to get everyone you are eating with involved in the kitchen. It’s a very difficult dish to mess up (except for the rice, and even that isn’t so bad).

Advanced Technique: Tempura Fried Sushi

Pick up real peanut oil, tempura batter mix, and japanese bread crumbs (optional) and you can make your own tempura rolls, or tempura pieces to go into your rolls.

Finally, grab a good beer and enjoy on your roof deck.

Oh, and the spicy mayo is just mayo with sriracha sauce. Add wasabi for some extra flavor.

Boiling

One of my favorite things to eat (not just for breakfast) is a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. When you have the right ingredients it’s a hard meal to beat. Finding a good cream cheese is a plus, but frankly regular old philly will work for me. No, for me it is about the salmon, and the bagels. Ever since Michael at Just Cured stopped making his salmon, I have been struggling to find something to satisfy that part of the equation. Thus, I focused my attention on the last part of the trio, the bagel itself.

Fresh out of the oven

I thought about heading up to Marx Hot in Blue ash, but I wanted something different. I decided to get adventurous and make my own from scratch.

After making the dough and forming the basic bagel shape, I let them proof overnight. The next day it was as simple as boil, egg baste, and bake.

The result is like no other bagel I’ve ever eaten. It requires no toasting, which I am normally adamant about. But the process yields a deliciously warm bagel that is crispy on the outside, while being soft and chewy on the inside. It was spectacular to say the least.

Mmmmm...tasty