The Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This is my nephew Joseph. He's cool.

He's also funny.

I can't forget to say that he's tough.

He's one of those sexy life guard types.

He is also the inventor of The Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Before we start, though, here are a few things you should know about making a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

While making or eating the sandwich, you must dress, well, pretentious.

If you are going to serve it with another food, it must be a food that is high-class like lamb chops...

or ostentatious like leeks en Cocotte. 

Now here is a word from Joseph on making a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

"If you want to be extra pretentious, grill it with a lid over the top. WARNING: Silly lower-class people may mock you for making such scrumptious food." 

Here are the ingredients. I have modified it a little (as always).

INGREDIENTS:

Peppadew mild sweet piquante peppers

2 slices French bread

1-2 slices Havarti

1-2 slices smoked Gouda

thin slices of apple (Joseph prefers Pink Lady)

2 slices prosciutto

Mayo (optional)

First, grill your Peppadew mild sweet piquante peppers until slightly brown on both sides. 

Here is a photo of the jar, so you know what to look for. Most likely, you will need to order it on the Internet. Thanks to Brent and Lori for introducing me to this wonderful food.

Next, slice and butter two pieces of French bread. 

Now, put the bread, butter side down and start piling the rest of the ingredients on top...

One...

at a time..

Until...

It is all piled up like this. 

Now grill both sides until the cheeses are melted and ou ala!

 You have a Pretentious Grilled Cheese Sandwich. That is as pretentious as it gets. 

The only way to make it more pretentious is to make it with cold hard cash. Enjoy!

Say No To Two Ingredient Pancakes. Say Yes To This.

Have you seen these amazing photos of these even more amazingly healthy pancakes? The two ingredient pancakes. They have just banana and eggs. 

Here is another picture. Don't they look and sound wonderful? Well, they're NOT! They taste like scrambled eggs with banana flavoring. I was VERY disappointed, but this recipe did give me a start to a better one. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 banana

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon coconut oil (This is optional, but helps keep them from sticking to the pan. More on that later.)

2 teaspoons vanilla

That is a whole heck of a lot more ingredients than two, but it tastes 1000 times better too. 

NOTE: I double or triple this recipe if making it for more than just myself. It only makes about 3 medium sized pancakes. 

 Add 1/4 cup of oatmeal to your blender and let her rip until you have oat flour. I have a Blendtec which makes this easy. I remember the days before my Blendtec. You may have to work your pulse button a bit if you don't have a good blender. 

It will look like this, but don't dump yours out into a bowl. I just did this so you could see it. Leave yours in the blender. 

Now, dump these ingredients on top of the oat flour: 1 banana, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla. Let her rip again. I use the smoothie setting on my Blendtec.

It will make a batter like this. 

Pour the batter onto a greased skillet. I use a non-stick spray like Pam. Cook over medium high heat. I use the "sear" setting on my skillet which is about 375 degrees.  WARNING: the banana really  makes these stick to the pan. You're will to have to be certain to let the bottom side cook well and carefully work the pancake free with the spatula before you flip it. This is why I said use the coconut oil in the ingredients (you can actually use any kind of oil you want, but coconut oil is all the health rage right now.) Also, the smaller the pancake, the easier it is to turn. I make mine on the large side of small - not much wider than my spatula. 

You can use a regular pan, instead of a skillet, but it makes it more difficult to flip. It's hard to work your spatula around the pancake with the edges of a pan. The flat surface of a skillet makes that process easier. 

Here is what they look like flipped. 

I top mine with peanut butter and honey. You can top yours with whatever you want. Maple syrup, strawberries, sliced bananas, whipped cream, the list goes on and on. My kids LOVE this. They have no idea it's not our normal recipe. Enjoy!