Hot Sandwiches and Hilarious Retro Ads

Earlier on CBS Sunday Morning, I saw a segment about the Earl of Sandwich.  The 4^th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu invented the sandwich.  I give him mad props because I’m a sandwich fan.  Finally, the descents of John Montagu got wise and the 11^th Earl of Sandwich became committed to the sandwich restaurant business.  The family is making world famous hot sandwiches and they look super good.  I will obsess about these sandwiches.  Click here to look at their website.

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ll be having Thanksgiving today.  As the turkey cooks, I’ve been entertaining myself looking at retro advertisements.  These ads are unintentionally hilarious and disturbing.  I have a feeling you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.

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Well...this isn't suggestive of something else at all.

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Somehow I think she might be jacking up the coffee on purpose.

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This kid just creeps me out...plus it looks like pureed human entrails are being spread on that bread.

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Now that's a meaningful advertising campaign!

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Nothing like a tasty prison special dressing!

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I bet Bill would share his wiener with you kid.

Louisville Hot Brown

I made a mistake this morning.  I got up, had some coffee cake with coffee, cleaned the floors and bathrooms and then sat down and started looking at recipes with bacon.  Now I have a craving for a BLT.  I must have one!  The person that put the combo of toasted bread, bacon, miracle whip (just better than mayo), lettuce and a big slice of tomato was a straight up genius.

Tiffany and I are having our Thanksgiving tomorrow.  She works next week and I’m off - so I’m going to spend Thanksgiving at my brother’s house in Wichita.  We could not imagine not eating a thanksgiving meal together, so we just up and changed the national holiday.  We are going to eat, go to a movie and watch football.  Perhaps I will get some helium balloons and tie them to the dogs to create our own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I wanted to find something new and tasty for our day after “thanksgiving” breakfast.  I found this recipe and this is what I will be making on Monday!!

Louisville Hot Brown (http://www.delish.com)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup shredded mild white Cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

½ teaspoon salt

3 thick slices bacon

6 slices Italian ciabatta or other rustic bread, toasted

½ pound roast turkey breast, sliced

1 large tomato, sliced

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

Make the cheese sauce:

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour and cook mixture, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.  Add milk and continue to stir.  Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil.  Cook for 1 more minute.  Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in cheeses, mustard, Tabasco sauce and salt.  Cover and keep warm.

Cook the bacon:

In a large skillet, cook bacon over high heat until crisp and brown – 4 to 6 minutes.  Transfer bacon to a paper towel to drain.  When bacon is cool, crumble or coarsely chop.

Make the sandwiches:

Preheat oven broiler.  In a large ovenproof dish, arrange toasted bread slices and layer them with turkey and tomato slices.  Sprinkle with pepper and spoon cheese sauce on top.  Place the sandwiches under broiler and cook until sauce begins to brown lightly – 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with bacon, and serve immediately.

Freaky Friday Favorites

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I love Cream Cheese

I wasn’t quite sure what to write about today and then it dawned on me - cream cheese.  So I wrote a poem to one of my favorite food items.

A Poem to Cream Cheese

Recipes can be found for breakfast, lunch and dinner

So good it makes you feel like a gluttonous sinner

So delicious hot or cold

Even tasty in a jello mold

It is hard to imagine an appetizer with none

Please tell me you’ve tried it warm on a cinnamon bun

Paula Deen does it best

Never wear a beaded shiny Christmas vest

Cream cheese I say, thank you

And to the cows I say, cheers and moo

Cream cheese around the world today

It will make you happy not matter if you’re American or foreign; straight or gay

Try some right now

I bet you think “oh wow”

Pumpkin Bread Pudding - WTF and WOW Recipe Wednesday

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Meanwhile in China...

Bobby Flay’s Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce and Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise (http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

6 large egg yolks

½ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 cup pure canned pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons bourbon

Pumpkin Bread, toasted and cubed (make your favorite or go to bakery)

Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise, recipe follows

Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce, recipe follows

Whipped cream

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Combine the cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. 

Whisk together the yolks, sugar, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree in a large bowl.  Slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture until combined, remove the vanilla pod, and whisk in the bourbon.  Strain the custard into a clean bowl. 

Scatter the pumpkin bread cubes in a buttered 9 by 13 inch baking glass dish.  Pour the custard over the bread, pressing down on the bread to totally submerge it in the custard.  Let sit 15 minutes to allow the bread to soak up some of the custard.

Place the pan in a larger roasting pan and pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until it comes half way up the sides of the glass dish.  Bake until the sides are slightly puffed and the center jiggles slightly, about 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and water bath and cool on a baking rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Spoon some of the Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise into a shallow bowl, top with some of the bread pudding and drizzle with Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce.  Top with whipped cream.  Bread pudding is best served warm.

Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise

Ingredients

2 cups half and half

½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped

5 large egg yolks

1/3 cup pure cane sugar

Preparation

Bring the half and half and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer in a medium saucepan.  Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until a the pale ribbon stage (pale and thick, when you lift the whisk out batter falls back in bowl in a ribbon-like pattern).  Slowly whisk  in the hot half and half, return the mixture to the pot, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.  Strain into a bowl and set over an ice bath.  Stir until chilled.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup apple juice

1 star anise (can find this in seasonings from China)

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

4 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup water

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon apple schnapps

Preparation

Combine the cream, apple juice, star anise, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and let steep for at least 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture into a clean, small saucepan and place back over low heat while you make the caramel. Combine the sugar, water and vinegar in a medium saucepan over high heat and cook without stirring, until it’s a deep amber color, about 8 minutes.  Slowly whisk in the warm cream mixture a little at a time, and continue whisking until smooth.  Add the apple schnapps and cook for 30 seconds longer.  Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.  The sauce can be made 2 days in advance and refrigerated.  Reheat over low heat before serving.

Jerry Sandusky - "True" History Tuesday

It would be a dream come true to report on “True” History Tuesday that people accused of doing what Jerry Sandusky is accused of doing don’t exist.   Sadly, they do.  Reading the Grand Jury’s Report on Sandusky is a horrifying endeavor.  The report demonstrates classic pedophilic behavior; an adult who gravitates toward troubled kids, gains their trust, gives them gifts and then makes them their victims.  The denial and complacency of some of the people around Sandusky is disturbing at best.  I feel no remorse for Joe Paterno getting fired.  If his legacy is a warning to others who do nothing, than that is a something way more important than football.  He did some amazing and generous things during his long tenure at Penn State, but not taking decisive action when presented with information about the rape of a 10 year old boy is morally wrong.  There was a small chance that this boy could have regained some trust in society, but it was just a case of another adult who let him down by doing nothing to protect him. I wish this “true” history report could have been that Sandusky had been stopped earlier, or that these terrible events never happened, or that the circle of molestation had not started with Sandusky probably being molested himself, but sadly this history will likely prove to be an awful truth.

Being Sick and Skewer Through a Balloon

I’m sick.  I have sore throat and my head feels 12 pounds heavier with snot.  Ugh.  Not that anyone likes to be sick, but it just annoys me.  I do like the part of a sore throat and congestion that give you that deep husky Demi Moore voice though.  I don’t much like the phone, but I’ll make calls during that stage just to hear myself talk.  I’d like to have that voice and not be sick.  Is that too much to ask?

I discovered the existence of this yesterday.   Nutliquor.  Want.

Easy At Home Science

Skewer Through A Balloon (http://www.coolscience.org)

What You Need

What You Do

Soak the skewer in the oil for a few minutes.  Blow the balloon up, but not too full, the softer it is, the easier to skewer it.  Starting with the top of the balloon where the color is darkest, slowly start to spin the skewer as you gently press on the balloon.  Keep spinning until the skewer goes into the balloon.  Next, slowly push the skewer to the opposite side, where the balloon is tied off, and as you contact the balloon, start to spin the skewer again, applying gentle pressure as before.  Remember – practice makes perfect.

What is Happening

Balloons are made of a thin sheet of a rubber called latex, a polymer made of long chain-like molecules, or strands, that are all tangled together. There are also bonds between the strands, call cross-links. This tangled, cross-linked network of molecules can be stretched, but when you let go, it returns to its original shape. Such a material is called an elastomer.

When a very sharp skewer is slowly pushed, with twisting, into the balloon, the polymer chains are pushed aside, but remain bonded, so the balloon does not break. (It helps, too, if the skewer is coated with an oil, such as mineral oil or vegetable oil. It slides in more easily, and the oil helps seal the hole.) When a balloon is blown up, the polymer strands are more tightly stretched around the sides than they are at the tied end or the nipple end. It's easier to push the skewer in at the ends, where the strands have more "give." Around the side of the balloon, where the strands are stretched more tightly,  they are more likely to break. Once a tear begins, it continues to enlarge, the air rushes out of the balloon, and it pops.

When you give the balloon a sharp poke with the skewer, the strands are broken, and the balloon pops.