In thinking about what to write about for this week's GCF, I realized that for Memorial Day weekend I did a Red, White, and Blue GCF, so why not do another version for July 4th weekend -- another quintessentially summer and classically American celebration. For me, July 4th is all about fireworks, barbecues, beaches, sun, fun, food, and drinks so I thought why not do a GCF utilizing some grilled flavors. You are probably thinking, well she doesn't eat meat, so what is she going to grill?
Fret not friends, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Also, should you not have access to outdoor grill, you can always utilize a stove top grill, not ideal but it will allow you to make this sandwich indoors or out. So lets get going on our sandwich folks, don't want to take up too much of your day here.
Grab a nice ciabatta loaf, slice in half and brush either side with olive oil, grill this first. While this is grilling, grab a dozen strawberries and slice them into thin discs and then toss them with an aged balsamic vinegar (the sweet thick sort that has been aged for anywhere from eight years onward), some diced fresh basil, a little bit of salt and allow the berries to marinate until your bread is nicely charred with grill marks, nothing tooo burned, but say just crunchy and toasty. Now put your berries in some tin foil and place them on the grill, this will allow strawberries to cook with the basil balsamic flavors and a hint of grill taste as well. While your strawberries are grilling, take your ciabatta and top either side with a nice coat of Berkshire Berries Wild Blueberry Jam (either found at the Union Square Greenmarket or online at http://www.berkshireberries.com/ ) -- the wild blueberries really make the difference with this jam, it has a freshness and herbalness that makes the jam want to jump off the bread. Now in a separate bowl take 8 ounces of Salvatore Brooklyn's Ricotta and mix this with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a few fresh sprigs of rosemary and some salt and freshly ground pepper. Combine this all together with a spoon and then place this on top of your wild blueberry jam. Now, when you feel that the strawberries are cooked take them off the grill and place them on top of your cheese -- you do not want to melt them down because then you would have cheese sandwiched by jam sandwiched by bread, you want to make sure that they maintain their berry like qualities. Then on top of the strawberries add a little sprinkling of fresh basil and then you can either eat this sandwich as is with the grilled flavors or you can put it back on the grill with a weight on top of it to dial up the grilled-ness a little bit more.
Sweet, savory, and full of summer's bounty, this is a hard sandwich to go wrong with.
Enjoy your July 4th weekend folks!
No comments:
Post a Comment