There are two cheeses on this sammich, the usual American, plus sharp cheddar. The American helps the cheddar melt better than it would without it.
Soup & Sammy
grilled cheese
Tidbits
Chicken noodle soup doesn’t need grilled cheese sammiches to make it lunch but I made some anyway.
These are chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I like to process the oats a tad before mixing them into the cookie dough. I was showing Mrs J how a new blender gadget works and it absolutely pulverized the oats before she could stop. I’ll have to do a gadget post on it.
I love the sous vide setup. We have settled on 138° as the preferred setting – pink enough for me and done enough for Mrs J.
I sauteed sprouts with fresh sweet corn, cut off the cob, in olive oil and butter to accompany the ribeyes and it worked out just OK. Didn’t look right, tasted great.
This is the result of my first go at a shepherd’s pie. This one has pork and green gravy with corn and carrots and peas. I didn’t make quite enough mashed potatoes for a proper top, my pan was a bit too big. I think I’ll make them as individual pies the next time.
This was a quick lunch, a couple of chicken thighs braised in bbq sauce, some potato salad, and kimchi. Since MrsJ won’t eat the kimchi I’ll have to double up. We still have a ton of that cabbage and cucumber summer salad.
Those cookies make good ice cream sammiches. I don’t remember what Kroger ice cream flavor is in this but it has crunchy bits and caramel. 
Moar kimchi! Told you I was going to double up. I didn’t make that big of a batch (one head of Napa cabbage) and the smallest daikon radish was still too much so I match sticked it and put it back in a simple pickle of seasoned rice vinegar, salt, and water. Crunchy and sweet from the rice vinegar!
Lunch Time
Leftover Soup, New Sammich
That’s One*!
*Grilled cheese, that is. An inside out grilled cheese, just because…
Mmm… Fresh Tomato Soup From Scratch
Mrs J picked some tomatoes the other day, enough that it was worth the trouble to bring out the juicer:
This is a Breville unit, and it makes juicing a snap – separates the skins and seeds and fills the little container with juice and foam. Dump the juice into a big pot and start boiling. It will can foam over at first so you have to watch it
We started with about 5-1/2 quarts, added a pureed sweet onion, a dash of ground cloves, allspice, some chicken base, salt and pepper, and reduced that to about 2 quarts. Don’t go overboard on the spices, it is going to concentrate the flavors as it reduces. They do add a great aroma to the kitchen! You can always add more when it’s thick enough. I suppose you could add thickeners to it and not reduce it all the way, I may test that with the leftover soup to stretch it out some. 
Add a grilled cheese sammich and you have the classic lunch. I had some odds and ends of cheese so I used them in these, a bit of Swiss, provolone, cheddar, Monterey jack, and American. Olive oil is a tasty substitute for butter when you grill.
Lunchtime!
Made the tomato soup from a big can of those San Marzano tomatoes. I found a couple of 280z. cans in the bargain basket at Kroger a while back and this last one sat in the cupboard till I had this flash of inspiration.
Mince a carrot and half an onion and sweat them down in butter in a sauce pan. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the veggies and stir for a minute, then add chicken stock and a can of tomatoes. Season with celery salt, a pinch each of nutmeg, ground cloves, and black pepper and bring to a simmer for half an hour or so. Let cool a bit, then puree in a blender or with a stick blender. I like the stick blender because it’s easier to clean up. Add more chicken stock if it looks too thick. Some folks like to add cream right before serving but I never did eat it that way.
Soup ‘n Sammy
Bog standard chicken noodle soup, kicked up a notch with a wee drip of sesame oil, a scant teaspoon of fish sauce, and a dash of Chinese Five Spice. I mentioned yesterday in the lasagna post that I had leftover cheese sauce with spinach – I smeared a bit inside the grilled cheese sammies to go along with the provolone and American.
What's 4 Dinner Solutions 