Day 13: i really do need to be alone with this sandwich
If you’re not one for grilled cheese sandwiches, or any form of cheese-laden bread indulgently fried in butter, then this one is not for you. For me, however, the very idea is pure bliss. I am unlikely to turn down fried bread, especially if done so in butter, and I am even less likely to turn away any form of melted cheese.
I often need a mid-week pick-me-up - and I can tell you right now, with great accuracy and conviction, that I won’t be finding that in a bowl of superfood salad. And so, with great delight, I present you Nigella’s Toasted Brie, Parma Ham and Fig Sandwich.
Now, this may seem like an effortless attempt at picking a recipe for the 365-day Nigella cookalong (one that brings variety and diversification into the kitchen anyway, as per the challenge brief), but I assure you; I am still very much a novice when it comes fruit and savoury combinations. I have a very good friend of mine to thank for sharing her love of fruit with cheeses and meats, and for evoking feelings of jealousy in me particularly when ordering goats cheese with figs. Also, I have never made any kind of fried sandwich, let alone one filled with such blissful goodness.
Nigella’s Toasted Brie, Parma Ham and Fig Sandwich
The time that passed while waiting for each side to brown in the lightly sizzling butter, and for the gooey centre to ooze its molten enchantment, seemed to take what felt like half an hour. But this was simply my impatience at play, and as tempting as it was to turn up the heat, I refrained. Next time, and I couldn’t be more sure of anything in this world that there will be a next time, I will be bolder with the brie and thickness I slice the bread.
A pure pleasure to make; from assembly, through to cooking, and very much into the eating and beyond.
Flavour musings
If this were a screenplay, I would cue the dreamy sigh right about now.
My dabbling into fruit with meat, although new, did bear fruit (pardon the pun) a few years ago I when started making my own cranberry sauce for friends and family around Christmas time. To begin, I never partook in the enjoyment, but now, it is a personal challenge every festive season that I consume as many cranberry, turkey, bacon and stuffing combos as I possibly can. I would not have a December without it.
Therefore, considering my passion for cranberry sauce, and my homemade one too might I add, meant that I had to spread just a thin layer on one side before frying, along with a delicate scrape of Dijon mustard on the other. I also used a thinly-sliced Black Forest wood-smoked ham in place of the Parma ham, simply because it was in the fridge, and I do in fact prefer its smokiness.
I don’t mean to over-indulge here but all bets are off when it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, and this one is indeed ‘food for the gods’.
The recipe for this is in At My Table, but there is also a short clip below from the accompanying TV show on BBC Two of Nigella making this very sandwich (TV gold in itself).
