Here I am dusting of the old blogging fingers...
For about 5 days I have been craving Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. My sudden desire was sparked when I watched Gordon Ramsay save a Parisian vegetarian bistro single handedly by serving the same.
Inspired by Ramsay and remembering a
favorite Alton Brown recipe I set forth last night with a box of the best tomato soup you can buy in a store.
Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Tomato Soup.
I heated up my Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan and my Pampered Chef Rectangular Pan in the oven while I sliced a loaf of rustic bread. Then I buttered one side of each piece and grated the cheddar cheese and sliced the Brie.
I made all different sandwiches because I wanted everyone to have a chance of liking something. I made Brie with apricot jam, cheddar with nothing else, cheddar with Dijon mustard, cheddar with brown spicy mustard and one Croque Monsieur (that means grilled cheese with ham) with brown mustard.
When the stoneware pans were piping hot I took out the bar pan and laid all of the sandwiches on the pan then I put it back in the oven, took out the rectangular pan flipped it upside down and laid it on top of all the sandwiches in the pan. This allowed the sandwiches to cook on both sides and the weight of . the pan kept them flat and delicious.
I don't remember how long I cooked them, I just checked every once in a while by lifting up the top pan to see how the cheese was melting. When the cheese was melted the bread was pleasantly browned. Perfect! I cut the sandwiches in half so that everyone could try them and served up the soup,
This was a hit. EVERYONE in our family loved it. Eddy liked it so much he said it was the best dinner ever. This never happens. all of the sandwiches were eaten, though I was the only one who tried the Brie and apricot (so sad, I had to eat it all by myself.)