Return of the Melt!

I love sandwiches, don't you? I've been on a recent bent to attempt to cut back on my carbs to about once a day, and in addition to increasing my intake of such goodies as cheese, I've been finding that sandwiches and especially melts make an awesome and quick dinner.

My first was a roast beef on rye with smoked swiss and spicy Ingelhoffer mustard, a nice sort of smokey, earthy flavored melt:

Sadly this smoked swiss is from a now closed dairy, got it at the Great American Cheese Collection during the tasting I want to. I know there are a few other good brands floating around somewhere, thankfully.

Then this Cuban-inspired sandwich with leftover pork loin, ham, Trader Joes fontina, pickles and Trader Joes Dijon on ciabatta:

This pre-sliced fontina is really wonderful, nice and buttery. It's not a traditional selection for Cubans and it could have been left to melt a bit longer in the oven or maybe done in a pan next time, but it was a great pairing with the ham and that salty pop of the pickles.

Then tonight's dinner, something a little different. I had picked up cans of Taku salmon in Alaska this past summer, and there's really no comparison to the canned salmon you normally find in the grocery store. I just mixed it up with some mayo, laid it on the leftover ciabatta and topped it with some dijon and Great American Cheese Collection's Cowda, or cow milk gouda:

A salmon melt!  The smokey goodness of the salmon was so perfect with the aged, almost sweet, almost crunchy rich flavor of the melted gouda.

So far now I've worked my way through two of the four cheeses I've bought at the tasting, and everything was delicious. That Cowda is totally amazing though, definitely a favorite. What are your favorite melty sandwiches?

St. Patrick's Day Cheese Recipes

I'm not Irish, but if there's one national pride holiday that never fails to bring lascivious delights to everyone that is or isn't from the Emerald Isle, it's definitely St. Patrick's Day. People are usually all about the beer, corned beef, cabbage and potatoes on this holiday, but it's also a great day to partake of Ireland's celebrated cheese tradition. Check out the recipe roundup below:

- This beer and cheese spread combines the awesome earthy and sharp goodness of stout and cheddar, and it's great on crusty bread and crackers alike.

- Green mac and cheese isn't exactly Irish, but the fresh herbs and crusty topping on this recipe would make a great accompaniment to any Irish-style sausage you might choose to use instead of Italian.

- Serious Eats provides a whole St. Patrick's Day menu, including suggestions on how to put together your own Irish cheese plate.

- The voice on this video is hilarious but I rather like this idea for a St. Patrick's Day grilled cheese with cheddar and corned beef from Cabot Cheddar.

And as we all know, if all else fails I am a tremendous fan of Kerrygold Irish Cheddar, and the Dubliner cheese is a wonderfully sharp, crumbly and almost crunchy aged variety that I think would be great with the heady stouts that are so popular on St. Patrick's Day. Cahills also makes a really interesting-looking porter cheddar (the limericks in the comments are hilarious, by the way) so if anyone tries that be sure to let me know how it is. So feel free to try some either straight up, with crackers or just toasted on some soda bread. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Great American Cheese Collection Tasting

What an embarrassingly long time since I've updated! Well, my thesis got the better of me for a few weeks but thankfully I managed to hit the Great American Cheese Collection a few weeks back for a tasting to stock up on cheese to last me through finals. They're one of the main artisan local cheese distributors here in Chicago and I couldn't have been more excited to drive out just a few minutes to their warehouse for a tasting and the chance to buy discounted goods.

You enter in through the side doors and my first thought was seriously, please, someone pinch me:

There are so many to choose from, it's a little overwhelming. I liked how they just broke it up by groupings of types of cheeses rather than by different dairies, like these cheddars:

 

The experience really was wonderful, with Giles the Cheese Guy and Certified Master Fromager Coleen Graham leading you through the selections with recommendations, and cutting as much as for you to try as you like: 

And while I was sampling that beautifully marbled bleu that Coleen cut, Giles had my friends sample some peppercorn parmesean:

I thought briefly of doing a writeup of every cheese I sampled that day, but I think I'd much rather do them one at at time as I purchase and use them. I got 4 different kinds this time, a little over a pound of artisan cheeses for around $20, which is phenomenal for such quality selections. I'll definitely be back often, and this location with its prices and unique experience is a hidden gem in Chicago for anyone who likes cheese. I'll be posting what I did with my first cheese shortly, but for more information about the tastings please check out GACC's website!