Sandwich Heaven

Okay, okay up front let me say that this is not turning into a blog about Oprah. I swear it. HOWEVER, Joel got home from work yesterday and I remembered it was Oprah hour and I flip the T.V. on to see if it is worth recording and it is about Sandwiches. Come on! Tell me you wouldn’t be intrigued. It was family time so I didn’t watch the whole thing but did watch about 5 minutes while Joel got the kids shoes on (yeah hubby!). The segment is about a lobster and Havarti grilled sandwich ( I KNOW!). That said, it got me thinking a bit about how havarti is an underrated cheese and I suspect it would make a rocking old sandwich.

So today when we were at the grocery store, I had to get some havarti. As it turns out the deli had a special on Turkey and by shear serendipity I had an avocado about ready to go to its great reward in the fridge…coincidence? I think not!


This is again not really a recipe but here is what I did….

Avocado Mayo

½ avocado
2 tbs mayo
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbs salsa
Salt and pepper

Mash all together to form a chucky paste, and smear on bread (I just smeared on one piece of bread, but heavily).

On the other piece of bread I laid my turkey out, about 1//8 a pound. I topped the avocado mayo side of with two slices of center cut bacon. I then laid about 4 pieces of havarti on top of the bacon. I threw a little party so that the mayo side and the meat side could meet and then put them in a skillet and grilled it….the result…the best sandwich I have had in ages. Mind you, nothing healthy about it. Also, worth every bite!

Got me thinking to…do you think if you used indirect heat you could grill a sandwich????

Bacon and Swiss Mac and Cheese

The Gourmet Gastronomer is having a Mac and Cheese off and I just had to get in on the action. Please go by the site and vote for my mac and cheese!!! http://www.gourmetgastronomer.com/ .



5 pieces of lean bacon chopped(I use one marketed as low fat, normal bacon just a lean cut)
3 tbs shallot
2 tbs flour
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. dry white wine or vermouth
2 c. swiss
1 cup (dry) macaroni cooked
½ tsp salt

Topping
2 hamburger buns
1 small clove of garlic
3 tbs parsely
2 tbs butter
Pinch of salt and pepper



Cook your one cup of dry macaroni according to package. Drain and set aside.
Heat over to 350 and put in hamburger bun and cook 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook chopped bacon until done.
Add shallots into pan with bacon. Sautee for 3 minutes.
Add flour and stir to coat.
Add wine and cook over low heat until sauce thickens.
Add heavy whipping cream. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add Swiss cheese and salt. Cook until melted and sauce smooth.
Remove from heat.


In food processor add clove of garlic and 2 tbs of parsley and pulse about 10 times. Add butter and pulse another 5 times. Add toasted buns and pulse until mixture looks fine. Add last tablespoon of parsley and pulse 3 times.

Mix together macaroni and sauce and pour into a baking dish. Top with bread mixture and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.