Phrodaux and the Fairy Queen: Now is the Thursday of our discontent and cheese.

so....

Many of my posts start off with...

so...

why is that? time to form a thought? I'm not an "um" or "ah" guy when speaking (please don't do that, just stop). Maybe I need a bit to get going, but once going, then you have to feign some sort of seizure or hear your mother calling to escape with some remains of sanity...

so..

It's Thursday (notice I didn't say "Its Thursday", in that case I would have had to explain what actually possesses Thursday that I was speaking/typing of (and really Thursday belongs to everyone, now that NBC has forsaken us). Bugs me almost as much as "moot" vs. "mute", by the way, mimes are both, and the all time bug Phrodaux word, "biweekly" which means both/either every other week or twice a week. Close enough, that every f-ing time someone uses that f-ing word they need to explain which f-ing meaning, they f-ing mean that defeats the whole f-ing point of having an f-ing word in the f-ing first f-ing place. f-ing.)

so.

It is Thursday (no contraction/possessive to worry about here), that means that it is one of my designated nights to cook (two nights a week are preordained).

(double, double, toil and trouble, be it salmon burgers or cheesy sammiches? and please, please hold the baboon's blood, think of my cholesterol)

{FQ Sidebar: Except it's not. Thursday, that is. It's Sunday. This post took a while. So I'm up here fiddling with it while Phrodaux is downstairs making pizza (I did make the crust! And remember to buy cheese...I'm not a total slacker.) Anyway, maybe you read this now, maybe you wait until Thursday. For the effect and all. Or not. Up to you. Rebel.}

The other night is Sunday, but we shall not speak of Sunday today, as today is the day of Thor, and be the day/eve of cheese sandwiches or salmon burgers and the fries of the potato that be sweet and yammy that is what doth occur on Thor's day, not the day of the Sun, that would would be pizza, but I say too much... verily.

forsooth.

Have I mentioned salmon burgers and/or cheesy sammiches?

Now we are entering a "food portion" of our bloggy postings.

Thursdays are one of my fixed point days of cooking, it isn't like if something comes up, I'm still compelled to make the food, but it all started long ago, back when the FQ and I were busy people who did things like take yoga classes and bettering ourselves, as a note we are still busy people just less flexible busy people, and maybe some less bettering, but that would be judgmental, you morally bad, bad person. On yoga day, we would come home and be our indecisive selves and spin and spin and spin about what we wanted for dinner. At some point we were past the "we should have eaten something" but not yet to the "oh screw it, we'll have canola oil and couch stuffing."

or...

one thing I learned when I used to travel to Europe for work (another long story) is that at some point, you need to have pre-made some decisions, so first night was always seafood pizza and two wit beers at "La Fontana" otherwise it was "wander about Eindhoven until all the restaurants close and go to bed crazy (well, either way that was likely to happen, but maybe crazy and fed is better).

so..

on Thursday it is one of the nites that Phrodaux regularly cooks (have I mentioned this?)

Cheese sammiches.

there are two-ish versions. This is about "regular cheese sammiches" both come with potatoes (both sweet and potatoe-ee)

(this would be the beginning of starchy portion of the dinner)

The starchy part.

Starts by cutting up a sweet potato (garnet "yam", though I think yam mostly occur in Africa, but another story) and a yellow potato, then boiling in as much water as you can fit in your largest pot, with a tablespoon (ish, I don't measure) of baking soda for ~one to two minutes. The soda breaks down the cell of the tubers, and releases starches to the surface that makes for a nice crust.

once boiled, then drained, then back to the pot with olive oil, some butter (for the "flavor", quotes, more "quotes") and spices.

those would be, turmeric (which while may be good for being an anti-cancer, help with arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and stomach ulcers thing, is also yummy), smokey paprika, salt (which has been reported to drive demons from the good, but also maybe makes blood pressure higher), pepper, curry, cumin, etc., etc., etc (which may, blah, blah, blah, but also might boogidy, boogidy, boo)...

Then dumped onto the cookie sheet that you have been pre-heating in the oven for 450f the whole time that the water was pre-heating and starchies boiling. (did I forget to mention that, oops)

spread the fries out so they are not touching each other which makes them come out more crispy... (is "crispy" an absolute? like "wrong", "dead", "pregnant", or "republican", as a side, all things that should be avoided).

15 minutes in the oven at 450f (I have nothing "funny" to say about that, as long as "funny" is not absolute, like "republican")

(this is the beginning of the cheesy portion of the dinner)

while the potatoes are ovenning...

cheese. About 4.5 to 5.5 oz of mozzarella (not the fresh kind, but the pizza kind), and sharp cheddar, grated together. (really, any combination of mozzarella and some more flavorful cheese, sometimes hard cheeses, some other combination. The mozzarella is for the rubber sandwich factor, a childhood reference)

Mix with an egg (stay with me), and sweet chili sauce (a tablespoon or two, yes, ish).

(this is not a crime scene)

(did I mention the guacamole? I make some version of guac, but blah, blah)

...so the bread. We use just store bought sourdough, though the Fairy Queen makes very very nice bread, the store version is taller and given that it is abused by Phrodaux's "cooking" (note the quotes, used "properly") is just fine, back up.

so the bread. Pan is oiled and buttered (oh baby) the bread is toasted on one side, then flipped. guac with green chilies added, and the cheese. Pre-toasted inside, then the other piece with the pre-toasted in.

I added some butter, because butter is love, and cardio pulmonary disease, and love.

Toast all four slices of bread side one in oil/butter, then flip two pieces, add goo and cheese, put the remaining pre-toasted with toasted in, on top.

grill until cheese is goo, and the bread down is starting to golden, flip.
(there is a potato step here from above, but you already know that)
toast some more, until bread down is golden and cheese is starting to make a mess.

(here is a cute dog, who monitors the prep'ing of dinner and letting us know that the Costco chewies are not up to his high standards, you cheap bastages)

(this would be the potatoe-ee part of dinner, fresh out of the oven, note the spacing, makes for more crispy, or just "crispy" if "crispy" is an absolute, unlike "zaftig")

The potatoes, they are in for about 20mins, about 15min in the sandwiches go on the fire. When the timer goes off, you flip the sands. you also take the fries out and shuffle them. Mostly to piss them off, but also to try to get more even toastieness (is toasty absolute?)

Turn off the oven, the residual heat be enough, verily. Once the sandwiches are done, the fries are good. Now dish. I can't believe she is wearing that, mee-yow.

(the sammich stands alone, like "the cheese" which... stands... alone... I'm batman)

(looks like dinner)

(home made catsup, katchup, katsup, whatevers, though yummy, is not that different than that you can buy for much less than you can make it for, just sayin', like vasectomies, yes, you can do it at home, but better to leave it to those with better tools.)

{FQ Sidebar: For the longest time, I've wanted to make ketchup, condiment of choice in Fairy Queen world, along with peanut butter and Dijon mustard. Note to all: BUY YOUR KETCHUP. Pay the $3 with a smile on your face because otherwise, this is what awaits you: 7 pounds of tomatoes, 4 hot, steamy (not the sexy kind of steamy) hours, endless straining - marry well, ladies, Phrodaux did ALL the straining - and at the end of it all, when you're sick of everything and just want to go swimming already, you have 5 half pint jars. Buy your ketchup and be grateful.}