cheesy sandwiches & pancakes, again

since we ate ever so light lunch yesterday, i thought dinner could be on heavier side. we had some day old rustic baguette at the shack, some cheese, cherry tomatoes and olives.

i started by halving the baguette, poured 1 tbsp of olive oil on the cut sides, topped one bread with cherry tomatoes, basil, black pepper and grated emmental







lots of grated emmental (almost took half of it off...)







the other half with roughly chopped green and black olives and grated appenzeller cheese







lots of appenzeller







while i was preparing these, i remembered that we used to make sandwiches like these when i was a kid. we had one of those table-top grills that look like little ovens. (i'm sure mom still has that hidden somewhere). yes, for a second i thought that there was too much cheese on top







but look how pretty they look after 5 mins under the broiler in oven!







so simple to make, so tasty. green salad might have made a nice companion, and perhaps a glass of red wine. will definitely not make these any time soon, not because i didn't like them but because the amount of cheese... the amount of fat... right now i'm repeating to myself "it's not what you eat, it's how much and often you eat it" yeah, right. the march session of rehab is approaching, slowly but surely, i should be loosing fat, not eating it!







today i only made spinach-nettle pancakes as there was some soup enough for lunch. this batter is easy to make, just mix 5 dl milk, 1 egg, 2,5 dl all-purpose flour, ½ tsp salt (you might want to use more if you're used to salt in your food), white pepper and grated nutmeg (to your taste) into a smooth batter, and let sit for 20 mins. then add 1 package (= 1 dl) defrosted spinach and 2 tbsp melted butter, mix well again. i found some frozen nettles in the freezer so i used those with spinach. the batter looks like this








i happen to have a very good old cast iron pancake pan, i used it, but a non-stick pan works equally well (and you don't need as much butter). i like my pancakes only lightly colored







i made a double patch and got approx 70 pancakes out of it. plenty for certain someone to nibble while i'm gone... i eat mine with lingonberry jam







this is persimmon and castello white with balsamic glaze on top. i first tasted this combination at my aunt's house years ago, it's so good! if you want to hitch it up a notch, place first some arugula on a plate, top it with chunks of really nice brie, persimmon slices, then pour just a tiny bit of good olive oil and balsamic glaze on top, salt and black pepper are optional. makes a nice starter, or a side salad for dinner







i picked up mom from bus earlier in the evening, tomorrow i'm taking her across the sea to estonia for a few days of pampering and good food. see you on dec 3rd!