Adventures in cooking
I had THE BEST sandwich ever, from the health food store: baked cheese and avocado. It was on rustic whole grain bread and had tomatoes, sprouts, and Veganaise (I hate mayonnaise and Miracle Whip but love Veganaise, is that weird? but I digress). The yumminess of this sandwich came from the baked cheese layer. It was thin, but not too thin; crisp yet chewy; caramelized and delicious. I had to figure out how to duplicate it. The label said it was provolone so I tried that first.
Looked around the web for recipes. I figured out that what this baked cheese really was is akin to something called a frico in Italian. There seem to be multiple ways to do it. I saw one recipe using thin slices of cheese, others used grated cheese. Some were oven baked and others were done in a skillet. None of them looked quite like the baked cheese in this sandwich, but close enough to experiment with.
My first try was with thin provolone slices in the oven. Verdict: not good. It spread out too much, and got too crisp on the edges while the middle wasn't baked yet. Also, I think provolone has too high of a moisture content. It might work better grated though.
Second try was with asiago cheese, grated. I made six little heaps of it on my baking sheet, flattened out to a uniform height, and baked at 350 F for about six minutes (would have been less if I had left the oven door closed, but I kept checking them and letting the heat out...) I basically used this recipe. The only major differences being asiago instead of parm, and I didn't bother with greasing the baking sheet, or with the liner. (I'd have used a liner if I had them, though. They are great for easy cleanup.) Oh, I grated my cheese on the small holes not the big ones.
Mine turned out more golden than what the pictures there show, and more dense, less lacy (maybe from using the smaller holes on the grater). Still far less dense than the baked cheese in my inspiring sandwich, but the flavor and texture were close otherwise. I took them out at the point where they were beginning to dry out on the edges but the middle was still shiny. Cooled on a wire rack instead of the baking sheet in the recipe.
They were YUMMY. :D
So then I needed avocado for my sandwiches. Tragically, the store had zero actual avocados, so I ended up with something that billed itself a Slimcado. I don't know how this thing was bred, but they didn't do a good job. The pit didn't come loose easily, but broke apart when I tried to remove it; the skin clung to the flesh as well. And the flavor... or lack thereof. It was beyond bland, kind of like someone's very faded memory of what an avocado tastes like. If someone tries to tell you these are as good as real avocados, you have my permission to laugh scornfully in their faces. This food reviewer describes it well.
Still, the sandwiches weren't bad. I just need to try again with real avocado. Next time I will try making my flattened heaps of grated cheese a little thicker, and see if the baked cheese comes out closer to the way the health food store made it. That was a seriously delicious sandwich. I'm thinking about getting another one today.
Looked around the web for recipes. I figured out that what this baked cheese really was is akin to something called a frico in Italian. There seem to be multiple ways to do it. I saw one recipe using thin slices of cheese, others used grated cheese. Some were oven baked and others were done in a skillet. None of them looked quite like the baked cheese in this sandwich, but close enough to experiment with.
My first try was with thin provolone slices in the oven. Verdict: not good. It spread out too much, and got too crisp on the edges while the middle wasn't baked yet. Also, I think provolone has too high of a moisture content. It might work better grated though.
Second try was with asiago cheese, grated. I made six little heaps of it on my baking sheet, flattened out to a uniform height, and baked at 350 F for about six minutes (would have been less if I had left the oven door closed, but I kept checking them and letting the heat out...) I basically used this recipe. The only major differences being asiago instead of parm, and I didn't bother with greasing the baking sheet, or with the liner. (I'd have used a liner if I had them, though. They are great for easy cleanup.) Oh, I grated my cheese on the small holes not the big ones.
Mine turned out more golden than what the pictures there show, and more dense, less lacy (maybe from using the smaller holes on the grater). Still far less dense than the baked cheese in my inspiring sandwich, but the flavor and texture were close otherwise. I took them out at the point where they were beginning to dry out on the edges but the middle was still shiny. Cooled on a wire rack instead of the baking sheet in the recipe.
They were YUMMY. :D
So then I needed avocado for my sandwiches. Tragically, the store had zero actual avocados, so I ended up with something that billed itself a Slimcado. I don't know how this thing was bred, but they didn't do a good job. The pit didn't come loose easily, but broke apart when I tried to remove it; the skin clung to the flesh as well. And the flavor... or lack thereof. It was beyond bland, kind of like someone's very faded memory of what an avocado tastes like. If someone tries to tell you these are as good as real avocados, you have my permission to laugh scornfully in their faces. This food reviewer describes it well.
Still, the sandwiches weren't bad. I just need to try again with real avocado. Next time I will try making my flattened heaps of grated cheese a little thicker, and see if the baked cheese comes out closer to the way the health food store made it. That was a seriously delicious sandwich. I'm thinking about getting another one today.