Cooking with Us - e43 - Two Grilled Cheese Paninis

Corned beef and cabbage

This time we have a treat for you!  Well, two treats, but one - in my humble opinion - just turned out way better than the other.  (Though I think I might try the first again.)

What did we make? 
First, we tackled a corned beef and cabbage grilled cheese sandwich using Irish cheddar that we 'panini'd' on the bbq pit.

Roasted carrots with havarti

Second, we successfully made a surprisingly delicious roasted carrot, pickle, and jalapeno grilled cheese with havarti.  This one was better also because after we 'panini'd' it on the pit, we popped it into the toaster to crunch-ify the bread.  I couldn't get over how good this was. And I think, when you try it, you'll have to agree!

I hope you guys try these, b/c while they were slightly time-consuming, 

they were also really fun to make, and uber-delectable.

The video is longer than usual as it contains Go-Pro, drone shots, and a little slow-mo.
Also, lots of rad music I hope you enjoy!
(Hi-res, full screen, and subscribe - you can subscribe by email on the right.)



See how much fun we were having?
Stick around for awesome pix:
ie: Drone shots and Brigly ;)

As usual, I have to plug my fun cover again.

On the left are both of our paninis, the center, Brigly and I dash for a long jump under the drone,

and on the right, I feed Theron the deliciousness that was our grilled carrot sandwich!

Since you're making these on the bbq pit, you're going to need to chop some wood.
If you're lucky, you'll have some mesquite wood from Texas!
(And your husband might be wearing his Go-Pro on his head and  rendering this in slow motion;)
We got a rock-n-roll intro for y'all in the video!
 

Light your pit and admire the fire, because fire is awesome!

Since you're being all cool and whatnot, introduce the show with rockin' text as your hubby
does a fly-by with the drone.

As you know, we made those two sandwiches on the left with the BBQ pit behind me.
Thanks again for the pit, padre!

Then, you know, safety first - Run toward the flying object with spinning blades!
Long juuuump!

First up: The Corned Beef and Cabbage with Irish Cheddar Panini
Back in the kitchen, put your brisket fat-side up in a slow cooker pressure cooker!
Did you know corned beef was brisket?!
I sure didn't!

We're using the pressure cooker because we don't want to wait two hours.
Forty-five minutes we can deal with.

Corned beef comes with a seasoning packet, so of course, put that in.

Then add just enough water to cover your brisket.

And commence cooking it.

Meanwhile, chop up about half this much cabbage!
Also: slice up one yellow onion.

Actively stir this with oil over medium heat for about five minutes.

Then add water...

And cover, stirring about every five minutes, for twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes, add in your salt...

Pepper...

And Worcestershire sauce.
Mix it all up and reduce heat.
It is basically done now.

Time to cut up your corned beef into thin pieces.

 

Don't forget to slice your Irish cheddar!

Theron put butter on the outsides of our bread, while putting stone-ground mustard on the inside.

Top your bread with three pieces of corned beef.

Then layer on a slice of Irish cheddar.

Next up, spoon on a heaping helping of the cabbage and onion mixture.

Top with yet another slice of cheddar to 'hold it all together.'

And top with another piece of bread.
See how the top has butter on it?

Then, put it on the pit using your clever panini press ;)

Looking gorgeous!

I only wish we had thought to put this in the toaster, as the bread was soggy and not crunchy.

Trying food is serious, and requires serious attention!

Theron said make it.
I said, "don't make it - just eat it as it is!"
But, I still want to try it again, with modifications ;)

Time for the: Roast Carrots, Pickles, Jalapenos, & Havarti Panini!

We used two bunches of carrots, peeled.
 Sprinkle on some olive oil...

 And top with salt and pepper, making sure they all get evenly coated.

Put them on your pit, and let them roast away!
 

Now it's time to make the sauce for your sandwich.
Start with a fair amount of Greek yoghurt (in place of mayo).

Then add a lot of chili powder.

And some chipotle chili powder as well!

Theron loves his horse radish mustard, and he added a lot to this sauce.

He also decided to roast some bell peppers.

I couldn't get over the color of these carrots!
He rolled them, poked them, and decided they were done!

We also grilled some jalapenos and serranos.
Because... they are delicious!

For this guy you'll need havarti.

Theron starts by buttering the outsides, and spooning the mustard-sauce on the inside.

He sliced his carrots length-wise.
Also, he added havarti first.

He also put fresh bell peppers on his sandwich.
None for me, thanks!

I wanted mine cut like this.
"I know what I'm doing," says Theron as he piles them on.

Next up - a layer of pickles.

 

And for me, a layer of mesquite-wood bbq'd jalapenos.

We both decided this was a fantastic addition!

"What's up, Cat?"

We put the sandwich in the toaster in the hopes our bread would get... toasted.

And boy did it!
PS: Yes, we used marble rye for both sammies, and it was good!

Before putting it in the toaster, we used the 'panini press' on the pit.

Showing you my half of the sandwich takes concentration.

 "Oh  my gosh this is so good. So good!"

He wants to make more, I want to make more.
You guys have gotta try this one!
 

As we finish our sandwiches, we tell you the sad news...
The drone, aka Batty Blanche, is moving on
to live with a nice guy in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.

So we take her out for one last joy ride, and say - Thanks for joining us, see you next time!

She peers at herself atop Theron's sunroof.
Her lights flashing green and blue.

She whirs above the heads of her first family.

And deftly navigates tiki torches.

Theron's go pro catches her catching him as they circle each other, one last dance of love.

And I limbo below her, showing my affection for the fun we've had.

She flies high overhead, capturing her last Sheboygan sunset,
as now she is off to the land of the midnight sun.

Finally, Theron feels the need to discuss all the food Brigly has had during our episode.

Theron said, "That's it!  You're cut off!"
Brigly's tongue disagrees ;)

Gracias for checking this out, y'all!

Love & Hugs,

-Val!

PS: Sorry this update is a day late :)

Recipes:
1. Corned Beef and Cabbage with Irish Cheddar
- cook your brisket, fat side up, in a pressure cooker with water just above the brisket
Don't forget to add your seasoning packet, and cook for about an hour.

Saute 1/2 large cabbage, chopped, with 1 large yellow onion, sliced, in oil for five minutes.
Add water and cover for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Coat each side of your marble rye with butter.
Coat the other side with stone-ground mustard.

Layer on slices of corned beef, Irish cheddar, and spoon on your cabbage and onion mixture.

Panini this sandwich, butter-side down!

2. Roasted Carrots with Pickles, Jalapenos, and Havarti
- on a piece of tin foil, roll your peeled carrots in olive oil, salt and pepper
- roast this on your pit till they are soft
Meanwhile, also feel free to roast jalapenos.

Again, butter the outside of this bread.

For the sauce on the inside you can use:
- non-fat Greek yogurt
- cayenne pepper seasoning
- chipotle pepper seasoning
- horse radish mustard
(to your taste)

Use this on the inside of your bread.

Now layer on your sliced carrots, havarti, pickles, and roasted jalapenos (sliced).

Panini this sandwich, butter-side down!

And, you know, you're welcome ;D

Transcript:
Hi, welcome to KumoCafe's Cooking with Us!

Today we're gonna make two different kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches...

On the grill.

The first one is going to be corned beef, so we take our brisket, and we put

it fat-side up, into our slow cooker. (Woops - Pressure Cooker)

We don't want to boil for two hours so we'll boil for like forty-five

minutes.

Apparently it comes with a packet of seasoning you're supposed to put in.

We just cover this with water.

That's the perfect amount of water, as I was saying.

Mhm.

We're gonna saute cabbage with an onion in olive oil.

Alright, now we add our cabbage and onions to the oil.

Stir this on medium heat for like, five minutes...

Or until everything starts becoming wilted and brown.

All this stuff is getting soft so I'm gonna add some water.

Ok, so this has been cooking for about twenty minutes.

I'm gonna add in some salt.... pepper...

And some worcestershire sauce.

Our corn beef and cabbage is done.

That's our Irish cheddar.

Unnecessary butter.

That's stone-ground mustard right, so yeah.

Corned beef, on.

I'm gonna put this slice of cheddar.

Cabbage, with onion.

I'm gonna put this guy one, keep it all together.

That is quite a sandwich.

That's your panini press?

Mhm.

Oh my goodness.

This is our panini masterpiece.

Looks really good.

K, corned beef and cabbage grilled cheese, with Irish cheddar.

Mmmm.

I'd make it.

The bread was too soggy, and you couldn't taste the cabbage, so...

Don't make it.

It's our first one.

In my opinion don't make it.

You don't need to make a sandwich, just eat it as it is, cause it's good.

Meanwhile Theron's peeling some carrots for our other sandwich.

That was olive oil.

Roast them until tinder and slightly blistered.

It's a Greek yogurt!

Chili powder.

Chipotle chili pepper.

Horse radish...

I'm gonna grill half, and keep the other half raw.

Look at the color on those guys!  Theron just rolled them.

We bought lots of peppers.

Oh, they're done.

That's our havarti.

Do you want your mu- the mustard on yours?

Yeah, just a little.

I'm gonna put some havarti...

You top carrots with pickles...

I'm adding... these guys.

I know what I'm doing.

What's up, cat?

Putting peppers on my part of the sandwich, but I'm putting them on this

side.

So we'll go check on our other guy?

Yeah.

Ok now we're gonna try our carrot and havarti, with pickles and jalapenos,

one.

Which has been in the toaster and is much more crunchy for that reason.

What we did was take it from the panini ...grill...

and put it into the toaster ...oven... and...

Actually that is a toaster oven so...

Toaster oven.

It's not, is it an oven? Really?

Yeah.

That's why it has convection and bake and all the settings, it's an oven.

I like this one better, actually.

Mm.

'Cause all the - yeah.

I love the smell of the jalapenos.

I like this one better.

I can really smell the -

putting it in the toaster oven was a good idea.

Well, now you know.

I wouldn't change anything about it.

Yeah it's great.

The that are jalapenos are roasted on the barbecue pit are amazing.

This is really good! You should make this one.

Ok make it!

So good!

Make it!   Ohm!

Make it.

Really good.

Make this one. I really wasn't expecting this one to be that great, but it's

so good.

It's good.

This is the last time you're gonna see this drone, 'cause it's goin' away.

Yeah..

Tomorrow or..

We're upgrading her.

Yeah.

Make it, make it.

Bye!

He's had so much food, I don't know why he wants more.

Because, Hello!  He's a dog!

You had brisket, you had bread, -

 Cheese -

You had cheese, corona...

He's like yeah, what's your point.

Did he have any veggies?

Yes, he had carrots -

I don't think he, oh yeah he did.

He had cabbage...

You're done, you're cut off.

Huh!