Friday, October 28, 2011

The perfect toasted sandwich

If I was a photographer foody, there would be a delectable picture here of a sandwich: brown and crispy, the cheese melting and spilling out of the sides, the plate lightly sprinkled with crumbs or maybe the nut and seed mix lining the crust. I am not a foody - nor a photographer - so you will have to trust me that fall and this cold pre-wintery weather is perfect for a toasted cheese sandwich with chutney.

Chutney was made for toasted cheese sandwiches. If you're using a super wonderful fragrant cheese, like stilton or blue - of course, you may want to pass on the chutney. but for anything blander - a mild chedder, american, gouda. Chutney makes that plain-jane sandwich pop. It makes an ordinary snack into a savory treat. I know all this because I had the great fortune of smearing a piece of toast with chutney while in the UK and eating it with cheese. Soon after this, I melted the cheese. The rest was WOW and I can't really ever go back to the way a toasted cheese sandwich tasted before - that crunch of oil, salt, and gooey cheese is just . . . .. flat.

Today is a cold day and I am sitting with a bowl of soup and a toasted sandwich - bemoaning the fact that I barely had the time to make applesauce this year, let alone chutney. Maybe in 2 or 4 years, I'll find the time to pursue "hobbies" again. Until then I will dream of chutney and enjoy it on our stints out of Ukraine.


If you do want to make your own chutney - an excellent recipe one can be found here. But even in the US, you can find chutney in a supermarket.

A Return to the Blog

This blog first started after we arrived in Ukraine and set up house on the 14th storey of an apartment on the outskirts of Kiev. Since then...