ferry building tofu sandwich

first off, why are sandwiches so hard to photograph? hmph.

anyway! what you see above is my most favorite sandwich. perhaps i've mentioned it before but it doesn't hurt to discuss again. in san francisco i would often (as often as i could) walk to the ferry building for lunch for this sandwich from frog hollow farm. and it felt like a special treat every time. what you have is braised tofu and baby gem lettuce sandwiched between two slices of acme bread - one spread with mashed avocado and the other with frog hollow's peach chutney giving this baby the perfect balance of sweet and savory. it was also a perfectly sized sandwich which i appreciate. the $8 price certainly doesn't make this suitable for daily consumption but it's worth every penny. naturally, my last lunch in san francisco was this sandwich...as well as a bit of scream sorbet (don't even get me started...just look it up and find it if you can) since it was farmer's market day and i was saying farewell. on that last trip i also picked up a jar of the peach chutney to carry across the country so i could recreate the amazingness upon arrival. well that day finally came and i must say i was not disappointed! i could close my eyes an imagine i was sitting by the bay feasting on the real deal.


frog hollow farm braised tofu sandwich...ATL style!
ok, so it's a sandwich not a science. roughly, here's whatcha gotta do. get your hands on some peach chutney (frog hollow if you can). marinate some tofu slabs in a mixture of soy sauce, cider vinegar, olive oil and crushed garlic. let it sit for as long as you like then pan fry it. mash up an avocado. get some good looking lettuce. smack it all together and enjoy. oh you will enjoy.

a side note, we bought a stalk of brussels sprouts to grill for a side. this is fitting because i often longed to buy one of these stalks while i was at the farmers market on my sandwich outing but i never bought one. i don't know...i guess i had reservations about being the girl on the train at rush hour with a gigantic stalk of brussels sprouts. glad we finally got one though, it was pretty fun snapping them all off. plus it's pretty.


-d

for the love of grilled cheese

According to Chowhound, April is Grilled Cheese Month. While my West Coast compatriot is not a huge fan of cheese - in fairness, it doesn't love her either :) - I am fairly certain that, should I find myself stranded on a desert island, one of my five proverbial things would be some kind of cheese. So I'll take any excuse to experiment with melty cheese and bread products. It almost makes me want to have a grilled cheese party, but that would mean sharing.

The thing that is really great about grilled cheese is that it is so easy AND so versatile. The key, I think, to great grilled cheese is great bread. I prefer a crusty loaf with a soft yet chewy interior. Sourdoughs and rustic country loaves are always nice. And my favorite olive bread from Acme Bread in San Francisco also makes delicious pressed sandwiches.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

Extra sharp cheddar or brie with thinly sliced tart apples, grainy mustard on the side for spreading

Taleggio and arugula on country bread

The caprese (fresh mozarella, basil, tomato) though sometimes I like to mix it up and use pesto in place of basil leaves

And really any other soft, squishy, melty cheese, sandwiched by nice bread, thrown in a panini press/grill pan and cooked until it acheives melty, toasty goodness. Gimme.

- e