Episode 2: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.
Welcome, once again, to the Game-Night Kitchen!
First of all, I want to thank you all for all of the
awesome recipes that have been posted over the past week.
Keep them coming!
This week's selection is more of a lunch-time dish, and, therefore, best suited to feed your gamers during a break from the action in the midst of a day-time game.
It is, in fact, the good, ol'
Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Soup.
Now, everybody knows how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I'm going to provide the easiest instructions for such that I know, but, if you all make one you like better, by all means,
go with it!
What many of you may
not realize is just how easy--and cheap--it is to make your own tomato soup. So...let's get started, shall we?
What you will need:
- Tomato Sauce
- Sliced Bread
- Butter or Margarine
- Milk
- Cheese
- Sugar
- Salt
- Oregano
- Basil
- Garlic
First, let's get the soup cooking:
Put your tomato sauce in a sauce pan, and place it on a burner at medium heat. One can of tomato sauce will probably produce enough soup for 2-4 bowls of soup (depending on the size). If you're feeding four or more people, you may want to start with 2 cans of sauce. At this point, if you have any left-over pizza sauce from last week's recipe, you can add that in, as well.
Add some milk, until the desired consistency (that is, soupy) is attained. Add sugar and a pinch of salt to cut the acidity of the tomato. Add your garlic, basil, and oregano, as well, to taste. If you want to experiment with some other herbs or spices (or other ingredients), this is a great recipe to do so with, but remember, add such things in small amounts--you can't take them back out! (I like a
hint of lemon or lime juice in tomato-based foods.)
Now, just like we did with the pizza sauce, you'll want to add some butter or margarine to make the soup nice and rich (if you have any, by the way, using cream instead of milk will go a long way for making a rich soup!). While you're at it, leave the margarine or butter out on the counter if it is not soft-spread, because it's going to need to be plenty soft by the time we start the sandwiches.
Once the soup tastes the way you want it to, turn the burner down to a low heat and let the soup simmer.
You already know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, right?
Well, just in case, here's one way: First of all, if you have a rectangular skillet, instead of a circular one, you'll be able to do more sandwiches at once. That's a good thing if your cooking for a group of people, but this will work out, either way.
First place the skillet on a burner on medium heat. Let it heat up, but do not turn the burner up any higher. It is
very important that you do not get your skillet too hot!
Spread butter or margarine on one side of each piece of bread you will be grilling and place that bread in the skillet, buttered-side down. Spreading the butter or margarine directly onto the bread will help your sandwiches to toast evenly and consistently, and will keep you from having to clean out your pan from scorched residue in between batches (assuming your skillet is not too hot--you haven't got your burner on too high, have you?).
If you want to be
really lazy, you can spray an oil-based pan-spray generously over the bread, instead--but I promise you, they
won't taste as good!
Place your cheese on top of each slice of bread as quickly as you can. The thinner the cheese, the quicker it will melt. Additionally, processed cheese (such as American) tends to melt very well, while harder cheeses do less well. Your preference should definitely dictate what type of cheese you use, but, again, thinner cheese melts quicker. You
do not want your cheese to be so thick that you over-toast the bread before the cheese even melts!
Once the cheese is tacky on top, close up your sandwiches and gently press them together. Let them cook a moment longer to seal the two halves together.
Cut 'em, plate 'em, and serve them with the soup!
Until next week, have fun cooking, eating, and gaming!