Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Midnight Snack

Trust me - never, never turn on the food network late at night because it’ll make you crave all kinds of amazing sweet or savory, succulent stuff and most stores are closed by then.  However, if you are very lucky, you might have the ingredients on hand to throw something together that will at least keep body and soul together until the markets re-open in the morning.

Such was the situation last night as we watched Rachael Ray traipse through Las Vegas, attempting to eat well for $40/day.  We got past the paella and the buffet just fine but when she got to the garlic-cheese bread with tomato sauce, we looked at each other and groaned and off into the kitchen we went.

We talked about how to do this and, interestingly enough, we each had come up with a different method.  Myria’s idea was to butter and garlic powder several thick slices of bread and put them under the broiler to brown, removing them part way through to add cheese.  Mine was to grill the bread - as though you were making a grilled cheese sandwich.  We went with my method only because it was so hot and humid that we didn’t want to turn on the stove.

Ingredients

4 thick slices (3/4” - 1") of Italian bread
1/4 c soft butter or margarine
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 slices cheese of choice
1 c spaghetti or pizza sauce - whatever you have on hand.

Pour your spaghetti sauce into a microwave-proof bowl and lay a paper towel over the top.  This is critical with spaghetti sauce because it travels.  It bubbles and pops and will get all over the inside of your microwave if it isn’t contained somehow.  A paper towel is enough; it absorbs whatever the sauce tries to throw off and keeps things nicely under control.  Now, put your paper towel covered bowl into the microwave.  Don’t do anything to it yet, just set it inside, ready to go.





Now, in a small bowl, mix the butter and the garlic powder together.  Spread on one side of your bread slices.  Place slices, butter side down, in a pan over medium heat.  Once the slices are in the pan, butter the other side - the side facing up.  Do this carefully :) Keep an eye on things because when the bread starts browning it can go from golden to charcoal in a very short amount of time.

When the bottom of the bread is golden and crisp, flip it over.  Now place your cheese on top of the slice to get nice and melty while the bottom browns.

Just before you put your last batch of bread into the frying pan, set the microwave for a minute and a half at full power (this may vary depending on the size and strength of your nuker).  Be careful when you move this from the nuker to the table - the bowl will be very hot.





And there you have it :) Dip bread into sauce and scarf!

As a spur-of-the-moment experiment, this worked out pretty well.  It satisfied the craving using ingredients we already had on hand, was quick and relatively easy and didn’t heat up the kitchen.  Next time, we’ll probably try the broiler method and see how that shapes up!

Enjoy :)

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1. Boo Hoo! It’s 15 miuntes to closing and I’m starving to death. Decide to stop by your blog for a visit and am greeted by that delish looking cheezy bread. You’re killin’ me <lol>.

   Posted by Roxi  on  08/31  at  08:50 PM
   Location :



2. Roxi - Years ago when I was living in Missouri, the local TV station used to run ads for Perkins restaurant chain at around two in the morning - splendid sandwiches and gorgeous desserts.  LOL - drove me nuts!

   Posted by Robbyn  on  08/31  at  10:50 PM
   Location : The green hills of Earth...



3. Oh good grief Robbyn, like YOU’RE much better! Dang it.  Now I’m hungry and I’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel.  I cleaned out the fridge today and grocery shopping isn’t til tomorrow.  Looks like it’ll have to be the PEANUT BUTTER after all.

   Posted by  on  09/01  at  12:30 AM
   Location : Louisiana, we are still here ;-P



4. Not looking… not looking… dinner was hours ago (it’s 11:52 p.m.) and it was fish and green beans. FISH AND BEANS, DO YOU HEAR ME? Jeff had the last of our bread loaf with a bottle of beer while watching the news… I wonder how tomato sauce on saltines would be? ;)

   Have a GREAT Thursday! This smilie is very appropriate for my new podcast!

   Posted by Stasia  on  09/01  at  12:55 AM
   Location : Wisconsin



5. Aarlene - What can I say?  Peanut butter’s good for you, full of protein and such.  I love it myself (the natural kind) but I admit it doesn’t really fill the bill when you’ve got your mouth set for melty cheese :)

   Posted by Robbyn  on  09/01  at  08:49 AM
   Location : The green hills of Earth...



6. Stasia - LOL!  Fish and beans, eh?  Well, that’s not so bad :) I love the sauce on saltines idea :)

   I’m guessing, from your choice of .gif, that your podcast has to do with those neat mushrooms you’ve been growing?

   Posted by Robbyn  on  09/01  at  08:52 AM
   Location : The green hills of Earth...

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