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Last April my favorite American-style seasonal food breakfast-and-lunch place, Clementine, held a raffle during its annual Grilled Cheese Month, during which the chef made a different grilled cheese sandwich every day. The raffle was for a free grilled cheese sandwich every day of next year's Grilled Cheese Month, and I won. Imagine my disappointment when I realized I would be gone for most of it. I loaned my certificate to Mel, but made her swore to drop it in my mailbox the day I returned.
This has turned out to be a boon, because I've felt semi-ill all week and haven't been up to cooking, so at least I've been assured a minimum of one decent hot meal per day-- free-- at a pleasant location. Here's the rundown:
Last Saturday: Breakfast panino with bacon, cheddar, and scrambled eggs. This one was uninspired-- generally I prefer their lunch to their breakfast.
Sunday they're closed.
Monday I was trying to extract my X-Rays across town, so I missed the grilled cheese of the day. Since it was a quesadilla with cilantro, I didn't try too hard to make it back in time. I hate cilantro.
Tuesday was Dutch Leyden with sauteed red onions on rye. Leyden (I learned from the handy Grilled Cheese Passport, which had a glossary) is made from a combination of regular cow's milk and buttermilk, and is flavored with caraway seeds. I loathe caraway seeds. I still gave it try, because a) broaden your horizons, b) free. The cheese was mildly flavored and the onions were soft and sweet. Very nice. Unfortunately, rye bread also has caraway seeds, which I was forced to pick out as much as I could. Verdict: OK as is; would have preferred it on any other bread.
Wednesday was the Siciliana, with provolone, artichokes, garlic, capers, and olives. On panino, I think, or something similar. This was my favorite. In fact, if this was on the regular menu, I would order it all the time. Savory and tangy, with a lot of contrasting-but-complementary flavors, so each bite was slightly different from the last and the flavors didn't dull. Also, I am very fond of provolone.
Thursday was a tuna melt with cheddar on organic wheat bread. This was quite good, though I'm not convinced that a tuna sandwich is really improved by the addition of melted cheese. In my mind, the two don't really go together.
Friday was another winner, with queso mahon (cow's milk cheese aged in the caves of Menorca (an island off the coast of Spain) for two months, with an orange rind from being rubbed in paprika and olive oil) with roast red peppers and pimentos. I love roast bell peppers, and these went nicely with the gently spiced cheese.
Today, sadly the last, was a melty muffeleta with salami, ham, olives, sweet tomatoes, and it doesn't say what kind of cheese. This was so rich that I had the other half for dinner. It was very good but a bit too hot for my taste.
Ranking:
1. Siciliana
2. Queso Mahon
3. Tuna melt
4. Muffeleta
5. Dutch leyden
6. Breakfast panino
I tunred in a suggestion slip suggesting that they add the Siciliana to their regular menu.
This has turned out to be a boon, because I've felt semi-ill all week and haven't been up to cooking, so at least I've been assured a minimum of one decent hot meal per day-- free-- at a pleasant location. Here's the rundown:
Last Saturday: Breakfast panino with bacon, cheddar, and scrambled eggs. This one was uninspired-- generally I prefer their lunch to their breakfast.
Sunday they're closed.
Monday I was trying to extract my X-Rays across town, so I missed the grilled cheese of the day. Since it was a quesadilla with cilantro, I didn't try too hard to make it back in time. I hate cilantro.
Tuesday was Dutch Leyden with sauteed red onions on rye. Leyden (I learned from the handy Grilled Cheese Passport, which had a glossary) is made from a combination of regular cow's milk and buttermilk, and is flavored with caraway seeds. I loathe caraway seeds. I still gave it try, because a) broaden your horizons, b) free. The cheese was mildly flavored and the onions were soft and sweet. Very nice. Unfortunately, rye bread also has caraway seeds, which I was forced to pick out as much as I could. Verdict: OK as is; would have preferred it on any other bread.
Wednesday was the Siciliana, with provolone, artichokes, garlic, capers, and olives. On panino, I think, or something similar. This was my favorite. In fact, if this was on the regular menu, I would order it all the time. Savory and tangy, with a lot of contrasting-but-complementary flavors, so each bite was slightly different from the last and the flavors didn't dull. Also, I am very fond of provolone.
Thursday was a tuna melt with cheddar on organic wheat bread. This was quite good, though I'm not convinced that a tuna sandwich is really improved by the addition of melted cheese. In my mind, the two don't really go together.
Friday was another winner, with queso mahon (cow's milk cheese aged in the caves of Menorca (an island off the coast of Spain) for two months, with an orange rind from being rubbed in paprika and olive oil) with roast red peppers and pimentos. I love roast bell peppers, and these went nicely with the gently spiced cheese.
Today, sadly the last, was a melty muffeleta with salami, ham, olives, sweet tomatoes, and it doesn't say what kind of cheese. This was so rich that I had the other half for dinner. It was very good but a bit too hot for my taste.
Ranking:
1. Siciliana
2. Queso Mahon
3. Tuna melt
4. Muffeleta
5. Dutch leyden
6. Breakfast panino
I tunred in a suggestion slip suggesting that they add the Siciliana to their regular menu.