Downtown Drift

Spring is here and the sun is out, so bring on the Food Trucks!

I kicked off my May Long weekend by checking out a particular food truck: Drift. A friend from work was raving one day about their Pork Belly sandwiches and when he found out I’d never eaten from a food truck before, he was thrilled that my first experience would be at the Drift Truck.

The line up moved quickly!

Seeing as how I never get to experience my lunch hour downtown, I took advantage of my holiday Friday, called another friend and braved the intense traffic and parking-spot hunt to seek out this new sandwich place.  What I found, in addition to literally a meal on wheels, was a new experience of downtown Edmonton on a weekday, when the streets come alive, bustling with people, music and the colourful and tantalizing food trucks.

Drift’s Friday location was tweeted in the morning as being between Bay Enterprise and Commerce Place. As I was making my way there, I must have passed at least eight other food trucks, most notably the bright pink Perogy Princess and the mobile burger joint Street Eats.  My friend was already there when I got to Drift’s spot and the line moved quickly. Apparently, the Pork Belly sandwich is ‘the usual’ of many others and I was eager to find out why. 

Drift's green truck is a favorite among the food truck scene.

After our sandwiches were ready and they called our names for pick-up, we headed east to Churchill Square to enjoy our food and some overdue catching up. It’s a testament to Drift that the sandwiches stayed warm during our multi-block trek to the table in the Square where took our first few bites.

Mmm…

Juicy, tangy pork belly on a crusty roll, topped with a coleslaw-type mix of pickled carrots and a truly special herb: cilantro. Some people have to work up to enjoying its powerful, punchy flavor but for others, the more cilantro, the better. I am in somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and I thought Drift’s Pork Belly Sandwich was fully enhanced by the cilantro and carroty mix. This is a great sandwich to make your ‘usual’ at Drift. 

Drift's Pork Belly Sandwich. 

Between bites of our sandwiches, my friend and I got caught up on each other’s busy lives and took in the action of Churchill Square: the outdoor salsa lesson in progress, the kids playing at the Ping-Pong tables, the bells of City Hall chiming at 1PM. I had no idea any these things took place there regularly, but now that I do, I’m going to make sure I find my way back. It’s a great space to gather, enjoy the different people and take in those rare moments of blue Edmonton sky and bright spring sunshine.

Blue sky above one of my favorite buildings:
the Edmonton Art Gallery

I sure did and I have the sunburn on my forehead to prove it; rookie mistake to forget the sunscreen but so what? Not not only did I get to try out a delicious, local food truck, I got to spend some special time with a good friend and, ultimately, with my city.

Thank you, Drift and Downtown Edmonton, for a great way to spend a holiday Friday lunch hour. I will be back!

Crunchy Apple Chicken Salad

I admit freely that I am loud apple-eater.

I like to think of it as really showing my appreciation for this beautiful and tasty fruit.  I take big bites and I relish every crunch.  

These Pink Ladies are the perfect blend of sweet and tarty.

What’s not to love about apples? They’re colourful, compact, extremely portable and completely edible, especially for those weird people who actually eat the cores. Plus they even sound delicious; one of the most satisfying sounds is the loud crunch of biting into a cold, crisp, sweet apple.

CRUNCH...yum...repeat

I snack on an apple almost every day and it’s nice to know I can at least cross off one serving of fruit from the list. I’m a fan of nearly every kind, though I find some kinds like MacIntosh and Spartan taste the best in the fall - much fresher and crunchier.  Lately, I prefer ones with a bit more tart; snacking on one feels more like a treat. Granny Smith apples are often the go-to apple to cut into super thin slices and include in sandwiches for this very reason. Their tartness pairs nicely with sharp cheeses and mellow meats, such as turkey or chicken. I had some leftover chicken breasts and plenty of apples, so I went about making a kind of sandwich I’ve enjoyed but never made myself: chicken salad.

As with any kind of salad-sandwich, there are so many different options! The more I read, the more I felt inspired to pull from whatever I had available for a basic dressing and go from there. This Crunchy Apple Chicken Salad sandwich uses a simple mayo/mustard dressing and my current favorite apple, the Pink Lady, which was more than up to the task of bringing the sweetness and crunch to this sandwich.

Chicken, apples and lettuce ready for tossing.

You will need:

Sandwich bread, like Rye or a coarse Multi-Grain

1-2 Pink Lady Apples, washed, cored and diced

2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed

1-2 handfuls of lettuce (I used a combination of romaine and mixed greens)

1 ½ Tbs mayo

1 ½ grainy Dijon mustard (or more if you want it spicier)

¼ tsp milk

1 handful of grated sharp cheddar

Fresh ground pepper

Toss with the dressing and sprinkle with cheddar.

Prep:

1-Combine the lettuce, diced apples and chicken together.

2-In a small bowl, mix the mayo and mustard together.

3-Thin the mixture with a drop of milk and mix to taste.

4-Toss the dressing with the salad until coated.

6-Top with fresh ground pepper and grated cheddar and toss again.

5-Carefully spoon out portions of the salad onto the sandwich bread.

6-Slice and serve.

This sandwich is a light change from the delicious richness of last month’s grilled cheeses and one of the quickest sandwiches I’ve made so far - under ten minutes to prep. The Mayo/Dijon dressing adds a pop of spiciness and let's face it, I would use Dijon on almost every sandwich I make, I love it so.  For even more flavor in the future, I suggest marinating the chicken in a mustard sauce before grilling. I also recommend tossing in some dried cranberries or raisins for another sweet flavor that would pair nicely with the apples. Really, think ‘salad additions’ and you’ll be set to toss this chicken salad up just the way YOU like it.

For a simple sandwich that’s crisp and sweet, like a leafy spring day itself, it’s hard to go wrong with a simple dressing, some leafy greens, some chicken chunks and apples.

This sandwich sounds tasty too.

The crunchier, the louder, the better. 

A Stack of Waffle Grilled Cheese

University: a place of discovery and learning.

It was during my first year that I discovered I hated living in res and I learned how to live away from home.

Other poignant discoveries were that I liked coffee (thank you and miss you, Java Jive!), that the U of A campus in fall is one of the most beautiful places in Edmonton, that the stairwells of the Fine Arts Building are a great place to meet people and rehearse directing projects, and that walking into the Engineering building with your Complete Works of Shakespeare will get you a lot of funny looks.

And I learned to love that campus and my time there like no other time and place.

This sandwich is one of my proudest student achievements.

Being a university student also forced me to learn how to cook for myself. It wasn’t ever fancy or all that pretty but I learned because I had to and because there was only so much Subway or Edo that I could stomach. By the time I earned both my degrees, I had also graduated from Kraft Dinner and had moved on to other meals. But the one student meal I love to bring back from time to time is the Waffle Grilled Cheese. 

I wish I could say this sandwich was born from a great stroke of culinary inspiration but it was the stack of dirty dishes marinating in the sink that forced me to find another way to make a midnight study snack. It was out of desperation, and I’d like to think a subconscious sense of courtesy towards the upstairs neighbors that I wasn’t about to tackle the dishes at that hour, that I turned to the waffle iron I got for Christmas.

That silent, reliable, quick-heating waffle iron then became one of the best gifts I had ever received. In the student days - and in some of the first-year-teacher days - I used it more for grilled cheese than for waffles. It always saved on dishes and time and it got the job done with only a little mess. Plus, the waffle ridges are perfect for holding lots and lots of ketchup, salsa or hot sauce.

About to become golden and waffle grilled.

Like any good student meal, the required ingredients are minimal (Got bread? Got cheese? Got power? Go!), but for this post-grad version, I added some bonus ingredients to tackle that other great student meal – breakfast for dinner!

You will need:

-A sturdy waffle iron

-Sandwich bread, any kind

-Mozzarella cheese

-Cheddar Cheese

-Eggs, fried sunny-side up with the yokes medium done

-Sausage patties

-Ketchup or your choice or condiment

The sizzling means it's working.

The Process:

1-Plug in the waffle iron and let it heat up.

2-While it’s heating, fry the sausage patties and the eggs.

3-Slice the cheese and arrange on the bread slices.

4-Once the eggs and sausages are cooked, layer them on top of the cheese on one slice of bread.

5-Top of the sandwiches with more cheese and the other bread slices.

6-Carefully place the sandwiches in the waffle iron and close it up as best you can.

7-As the sandwiches grill, press the waffle iron down gently to compress them more compactly.

8-Let grill until the waffle ridges are golden and the insides are melted.

9-Remove from heat, slice and serve with your favorite topping.

Definitely one of the quickest and easiest grilled cheeses I’ve made, but the real fun is in the presentation. Stacked up on each other, they resemble an ordinary pile of glistening waffles, fresh from the grill, just waiting to be drowned in butter and syrup. But these are special waffles stuffed with spicy sausages and smothered in gooey, melted cheese. Try adding your favorite spices to the eggs for a little something extra and swap out the syrup for a hearty drizzling of ketchup. Eat it with a knife and fork or get greasy with your hands, in true grilled cheese style.

I traded-in the student-poverty and exam angst when I finished degree #2 in 2009 and finally moved above ground. To quote the teacher that I've now become, "the learning never ends" and although I’ve moved on in so many ways, that waffle iron has always come with me. Even now when I own a small sandwich grill, it’s still fun to haul it out for some Waffle Grilled Cheese so I can appreciate where I was and how much I still discover and learn each day.

Grilled Brie, Raspberries and Chocolate Chips

It’s the week after Easter and I still have a hankering for chocolate.

This year's haul from the Easter Bunny. 

 Chocolate kisses, Kinder-Surprises, chocolate cupcakes - this was a chocolate-filled weekend! I’m usually more of  a salty than sweet snacker but I do love a chunk of  chocolate bunny with a tall, cold glass of milk. 

 I’m not quite ready to put it away yet, so I consulted the  Internet orbs and found a way have my chocolate and eat  it too – in a whole new kind of grilled cheese sandwich,  combined  with some silky, creamy brie and sweet  raspberry jam.

 Chocolate and Grilled Cheese?!

 The only thing crazier than the idea of this sandwich would  be not to try it.

 So try it I did.  A delicate balance between the sweet  chocolate and creamy cheese needs to be struck in order  to make this sandwich work and it took me two tries to get  it right. I know...life is rough when I have to eat this sandwich twice. Sigh.

I had never made such a sweet sandwich before and I went big with my first attempt. Very big and very, very sweet. It was basically a chocolate fondue sandwich, and that may not be an issue for you, but for this sandwich to really shine, the brie deserves equal time in the spotlight. I toned it down for Version 2 and the result was nothing short of grilled cheese and chocolate miracle.

It's hard to go wrong with good brie.

You will need: 

Sourdough or rye bread

Triple Crème Brie, sliced thickly

Raspberry Jam

Chipits’ Baking Chocolate, broken into pieces or Milk Chocolate Chips (or you could sacrifice bits of your Chocolate Bunny to this delicious cause)

Butter (2-3 Tbsp)

How to:

1-Spread one slice of bread with a thick layer of raspberry jam. Cover the entire piece of bread, right up to the crust.

2-Add your chosen chocolate to the jam side: either the shards of baking chocolate or the chips. For best results, use just one kind of chocolate.

3-Arrange the slices of brie on the other piece of bread and combine the two.

4-Pre-heat your skillet on low and melt the butter before grilling the sandwich 3-4 minutes per side.

5-Flip and grill until the outsides are golden brown and the insides are melted. Some oozing of chocolate or brie is to be expected.

6-Slice and enjoy!

Don't go crazy with the chocolate! Less really is more.

The result: rich, sweet, velvety and ridiculously decadent!

The chocolate and brie melt so well, they are barely contained within the bread. The raspberry jam adds a pinch of tartness and I love brie with anything.  When I just used the chocolate chips, I could actually taste all the flavours of all the ingredients instead of just tasting melted chocolate and grilled buttery bread.  The toned-down version is still plenty sweet but doesn’t overdo it.  It’s still a grilled cheese sandwich at heart.

A grilled cheese and chocolate miracle.

That said, this grilled cheese gives you permission to skip the dinner sandwich and go straight for desert. Just add a tall, cold glass of milk.

Trust me, you’ll need it. 

Marghertia Pizza Grilled Cheese

I love pizza almost as much as I love sandwiches.

The combination of melted cheese, chewy crust and meaty toppings get me every time. Note that I said meaty toppings.  As a reformed picky-eater, I have come a long way in trying and liking many new foods but try as I may, I can’t quite seem to like vegetables on my pizza.

I know it’s weird. People swear I’m missing out on so much.  If I judged pizza on looks alone, I would be all for the beautifully topped Hawaiian or Vegetarian pizzas, but they just don’t do it for me taste-wise. Give me a classic pepperoni, or one topped with multiple kinds of meat (like ham, salami and bacon), a cold beer and a stack of napkins and I’m all set for pizza night.

Who knew Scotland would have the best Margherita pizza?

The one exception to my meat-only pizza preference is the Margherita Pizza.  It’s the simplest pizza out there: basic tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and sometimes chopped cherry or grape tomatoes. Nothing that fancy  but when it’s baked fresh on a thin crust, with the cheese hot and bubbling, mixed in with the invigorating scent of basil, Margherita Pizza has the power to trump my cherished pepperoni any day.

Week Two of National Grilled Cheese Month inspired me to forge a bond between two of my great loves - pizza and sandwiches – in trying out a Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese. The result was molto bello!

As for any good pizza, use simple, sweet, fresh ingredients.

You will need:

Sourdough bread or Italian baguette

Slices of mozzarella cheese

A handful of grape tomatoes, sliced

2-3 medium leaves of fresh basil

Butter (Garlic butter would be excellent for this sandwich)

A skillet, lid and spatula

Spicy pizza oil for dipping

1-Spread the butter on the outsides of the bread.

2-Place the cheese slices, tomatoes and basil on the non-buttered side of one bread slice.

3-Cover with another layer of cheese (this ensures the sandwich and all the fillings will melt together). 

Layering the cheese is key for maximum melting.

4-Assemble the sandwich with the other piece of bread, buttered-side out.

5-Place the sandwich carefully in the middle of the skillet on medium heat.

6-Cover with a lid and let it grill 4-5 minutes (remember: low and slow) before carefully flipping it over. Try not to lose any tomatoes in the flipping process!

7-Press down on the sandwich with the spatula as the second side grills and the cheese begins to melt everything together.

8-Remove from heat, slice and serve with some spicy pizza oil for dipping.

Spicy pizza dipping oil and a herb garden view!

What I enjoyed most about turning one of my favorite pizzas into a sandwich was how each bite was a different surprise: a juicy mouthful of grilled tomato, a sweet nibble of basil leaf, slightly crunchy from the heat, or a warm bit of melted mozzarella. No ketchup for this sandwich; spicy pizza oil is the appropriate condiment for this pizza-turned grilled cheese creation.

Any kind of pizza would make a tantalizing grilled cheese incarnation, so I challenge you to forego the pizza delivery one night and get creative with the pizza-sandwich possibilities instead. Just as I was pleasantly surprised to find the best Margherita Pizza in Scotland, of all places, you may surprise yourself with what you create right at home.

Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese

Pizza Postscript:

The best Margherita Pizza I’ve ever had was at Di Maggio’s, in Glasgow, Scotland.  Sit on the patio outside and admire the view of the Modern Art Gallery across the street while you eat.

My Top 3 Pizza Places in Edmonton are:

1-Millcreek Pizza – Just south of the Whitemud, this is a little gem of a neighborhood pizza place. Their menu has all the classics, plus some India-spirations, like Butter Chicken, Shahi Paneer and the Trucker (pepperoni, ham, salami, Italian sausage and jalapeños!). The pizza is exceptional and the service is lovely; we order from them so often, they recognize us and treat us like family.

2-Parkallen Restaurant – The Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine of this place is hard to beat but the pizza is truly legendary.

3-Royal Pizza – I’ve included this place mostly for sentimental reasons as it’s where my husband and I had our first official date. We met halfway between our places at the Calgary Trail location and split a large pepperoni pizza. True love at first pizza slice!

Classic Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

The world of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is an exciting place to delve into.  On one hand, it’s filled with passionate experimentation and a fearless sense of ‘what-else-can-we-try?’ and on the other hand, there is a fierce loyalty to keeping it simple and classic. 

So again I ask you, where do I begin? 

And I find myself answering with a yet another question: why not start at the modest and humble beginning?

The Grilled Cheese Sandwich can be traced back to the 1920s, but it wasn’t until the Great Depression that it really took off in popularity. When cheap bread, processed cheese and a little heat were combined, people found they could enjoy a tasty, filling meal when good food was often very hard to come by. The military soon discovered that grilled cheese was one of the easiest and least expensive meals to mass-produce and when it was served along with tomato soup, it allowed them to get in the recommended Vitamin C in-take.  And that’s how it all began.

Simple and delightful grilled cheese and tomato soup.

It’s pretty amazing how a simple meal meant to provide the bare minimum in taste and nutritional value has really stood the test of time. To kick off National Grilled Cheese Month, I will pay homage to this great sandwich in its most simple, definitive form – grilled straight up on a skillet and served fresh with a side of hot, homemade tomato soup. 

I’ve spent a lot of time researching tomato soup recipes and there are as many different versions as the various kinds of grilled cheese, which makes perfect sense.  I made a tweaked version of a Jamie Oliver recipe and it paired beautifully with the sandwich.  Since timing is important when you’re preparing more than one dish, I recommend getting the soup started first, then making the sandwich. 

Tomatoes, carrots, onions and celery make a great soup.

Classic Tomato Soup:

1-2 onions, coarsely chopped

1 handful of chopped baby carrots (no peeling required!)

2-3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 carton of vegetable stock (chicken stock works well too)

1 19 oz can of stewed tomatoes

1 container of grape tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Fresh basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1-In a large soup pot on medium heat, combine the oil, garlic, onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 10-15 minutes, until the veggies have softened.

2-Add the stock and all the tomatoes.

3-Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

4-Add some fresh basil during the last few minutes of simmering.

5-Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to your desired texture (smooth vs. chunky).

6-Simmer on low until ready to serve topped with fresh basil leaves and the grilled cheese sandwich.

Dijon mustard really enhances this sandwich.

While the soup is simmering during Step 3, start making the Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich using:

Sliced sourdough bread

Slices of cheddar and mozzarella cheese

Dijon mustard (optional but I highly recommend it!)

Butter

Preparation:

1-Pile the cheese on one half of the bread.

2-Spread a thin layer of mustard on top of the cheese.

3-Spread the butter on the outsides of the bread and carefully place the sandwich on the pre-heated skillet.

4-Cover with a lid and let it grill.

5-Be patient! The trick to stove-top grilling is low and slow to ensure the cheese melts inside and the bread doesn’t burn outside.

6-When you start to hear the bread and cheese sizzle (about 3-4 minutes), it’s time to carefully flip it over. The grilled side should be a nice golden colour.

This sandwich needs low heat and lots of grilling time.

7-Press down on the sandwich with a spatula to ensure maximum cohesion of the cheese and bread.

8-Keep flipping and grilling the sandwich until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown.

9-Remove from heat, slice and serve with the tomato soup.

There’s a reason why this soup/sandwich combination is so timeless: it’s warm, savory, and so delectable!

I’ve sometimes found tomato soup to be bland and one-dimensional but this recipe really delivers on the flavor. I like the slightly chunky texture of the pureed vegetables and its gorgeous orange colour.  Using fresh herbs in any recipe really adds an extra-special element and the fresh basil (literally) tops this one; it makes it so crisp and sweet. Really lovely. 

Golden delicious: grilled cheddar and mozza cheese.

As for the sandwich, the Dijon mustard was a great addition to the gooey, delicious, melty inside. It gave it a bit of sweetness and tang, plus it’s basically impossible to go wrong with cheddar and mozza. Sourdough bread grills so well and I love that audible crunch when I bite into it.  Definitely don’t scrimp on the butter since it adds that special sheen and eliminates stickage during the grilling process.

This meal sticks to the basics - good bread, good cheese and hot soup - and it’s a great way to dive into the Grilled Cheese realm. There will be lots of experimentation this month, I guarantee it.  

But right here and now, somethings are just too good to mess with.

If it's not broke, don't fix it!

Grilled Cheese Links:

The Food Timeline

The History of Grilled Cheese

National Grilled Cheese Month - A Teaser

Grilled Cheese is sheer sandwich excellence.

The concept of cheese – any cheese – on beautiful bread, grilled to buttery, golden, melted, oozing perfection is simple and brilliant.  It’s messy, melted goodness is appealing to even the most picky of eaters, like I was as a kid.  It’s still a favorite among grown-ups – especially when fancy grown-up cheeses like Brie or Gruyere are the ones to be grilled.

A grilled cheese sandwich comforts, satisfies,  delights and inspires creativity like no other kind of sandwich. In my research, I've  bookmarked countless pages of grilled  cheese recipes, utterly mesmerized by  beautiful images of the melted cheese spilling  forth from the crispy, golden bread, like a  welcome banner, each more mouth-watering  than the last. It’s exciting,
overwhelming and  absolutely impossible to do justice to this  idolized sandwich in one or two
blog posts.

A good skillet is a must for stove-top grilled cheese.

A great tool to invest in is a small panini grill.

Seriously – it’s hard to even know where to begin!

So I’m beginning at the start of the month, which is fitting since April has actually been declared National Grilled Cheese Month. No, it’s not an April Fools thing, it’s true! There’s even a Grilled Cheese Invitational in Los Angeles on April 12, also known as National Grilled Cheese Day, where amateur and professional chefs come together to battle it out for bragging rights and Grilled Cheese Supremacy. Who knew this little sandwich could evoke so much in so many?

Throughout the next few weeks, I will be sharing my favorite grilled cheese finds - some old, some new, some weird but all wonderful.  I have lots of ideas but I’m also extremely open to hearing from you, my fellow Grilled-Cheese Connoisseurs.  Feel free to comment or message me any of your ideas, tips or feedback and we will celebrate this amazing sandwich together!

Here’s a tease of some of what’s to come:

Brie...Cheddar...Bacon...Sourdough...Apples...Mozzarella...Potatoes...Jalapenos...Gouda...Tomatoes...Baguette...Raspberries...Onions...Classic...

April is shaping up to be a great month.

Grilled Cheddar, Turkey and Apples.