The Grill Cheese Invitational and the Inverted French Grilled Cheese

Not yet grilled cheese

The Judges!

Jocelyn and Carly

Michelle and Michelle!

Grilling begins!

Me and the Inverted French Grilled Cheese

Randoms!

I’ve heard about this event; how the peeps dress up in competition, how crowded/hectic it is and how people stand in line for hours to get in. Carly suggested I enter this year and how entertaining it would be. I thought this was a great chance for me to show off my culinary skills, meet other chefs, and enjoy grill cheese and beers with friends.

There are 3 categories; I chose the Kama Sutra where you can use any bread, any cheese, and condiment/s. I wanted a catchy name for my category hence, the Inverted French Grilled Cheese was born. I used a La Brea french baguette; flipped it over, hollowing it out slightly, stuffing it with a layer of triple cream Brie cheese, a layer of caramelized onions, and finally, a thin spread of Rhubarb compote. Of course, the tops and bottoms of the baguette were slathered with Challenge unsalted butter, making it the ultimate grilled cheese. I wanted to plan this out properly, so I pre-made all these sandwiches at home and arrived all ready to 'get my grill on.' All I’d have to do was watch the butter caramelize and reach that nice golden brown!

And watch, I did, as my 6 man crew/team of Brian, Michelle, Caroline, Carly, Jocelyn, and Michelle (Carly’s cousin) huddled behind me handing out grilled cheese sandwiches, video-taping, taking pictures, refilling my beer, and most importantly rousing the crowd and judges.

Overall, how did my grill cheese fare? Not sure with the masses but my friends sure seem to love them and that was enough for me. There were about 150 competitors and hoards of people lined up even outside of the venue, so I was ready to get out of the sun and go home. It was unique experience and cool to see how so many people came together for the love cheese and bread. It was also pretty cool to get cheered, rooted and hollered at especially from my friends!

Rhubarb Compote

2 stalks of Rhubarb, diced ½”

¼ cup Sugar

1 cup Water

1. Put all ingredients in pot and simmer until rhubarb softens and mixture starts to coagulate slightly, about 10-12 minutes.

**This is great for cheese sandwiches or even a cheese plate!!!

Weekend Eats and Beef Wellington

I had a friend visiting a few weekends and cooked up a storm. I decided to experiment with Beef Wellington with a Spring Vegetable Veloute sauce. It actually ended up like an inside out Beef Pot Pie! Oh, I love pre-made puff pastry dough, very forgiving, easy, and just as good if you made it youself.

I ended up searing the Beef which I don’t recommend if you want a rare piece of beef then using the pan to make the sauce. I threw in asparagus, peas, carrots, and mushrooms and reduced the sauce until it was a nice velvty sauce, to forget to finish with butter and fresh parsley or chives.

Beef Wellington

4 Steaks, Filet Mignon, I used Sirloin strips

4 pieaces of puff pastry, 5X5”

1 cup sauteed mushrooms

½ cup caramelized onions

1 Egg

Sauce

2 cups of beef/chicken stock

½ cup onion

½ cup carrots

½ cup peas

½ cup blanched, ½’ trimmed Asparagus

½ cup sliced mushrooms

2 T flour

Chives or Parsley


1. On high, sear steaks (salt and peppered), 1 minute on each side with oil in saute pan.

2. Set aside steaks. Lay out puff pustry, roll out with flour until the pastry is 1/8” thick, place sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and finally cooled steak. Fold the corners over so that all meet in the center.

3. Lay down folded side of puff pastry on baking sheet with parchment paper. Egg wash with brush.

4. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F, bake for 20-25 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.

Meanwhile while steaks are cooking, make the sauce:

1. Use the same pan you seared the steaks on, add onions and carrots along with a small amount of oil and saute for about 2-3 minutes.

2. Add mushrooms and wait for them to sweat out their water, then add flour.

3. Add broth, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

4. Add in peas and asparagus.

5. Finish with chives or parsley.

Plate with sauce first, then Beef Wellington on top, serve with vegetables and a nice ’05 Cabaranet Savignon!