Introducing…

If you’re reading this post outside of Google Reader, you’ll see some obvious changes. I decided it was time for a new look, and this is what happens when I make decisions like that. I hope you like the new design, but please know it’s still a work in progress and will continue to change in small ways. I’ve shifted gears in my life and I wanted my site to mirror those changes — even if it’s only a style and color change. If you have any suggestions or notice any obvious issues, please let me know so I can address them.

In the essence of not overwhelming you with a new design and deep reading, allow me to share a simple recipe I created last week. I’ve been dying to share it because it was so stinking delicious! If you make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I haven’t had much opportunity to enjoy my new kitchen yet. In a rush to fix something for dinner one night last week, I grabbed an armful of things from the fridge in hopes of creating a delicious sandwich. Trying something like this can be hit or miss and usually, it’s a miss for me. But this time, it was a total hit and I needed to share it with you! For starters, I found the best gluten-free bread I’ve tasted yet. The slices aren’t large, but the texture and taste were fantastic. (You can find it here). I had a small amount of freshly sliced roast beef from a semi-local butcher shop. (Porter Road Butcher: And by semi-local, I mean Nashville).

I added the roast beef and fresh spinach leaves on one side of the bread. Since I’m trying to avoid processed sauces as best I can, I decided to make my own. I grabbed a fresh jalapeño, two cooked pieces of turkey bacon, crumbled sheep cheese (more on the cheese at the bottom of the post) and added olive oil to bind it together. (Full disclosure: since I’m writing this a week after the fact, I feel like there was something else in this mixture I’m leaving off, but then again maybe not. See also: scatterbrained). I also added a salt and seasoning mix designed for roast beef dishes (also purchased from the butcher shop, but a standard seasoning or salt mix would work). I can’t tell you how much cheese or olive oil I added because I added the two ingredients based on texture and consistency because I wanted to spread it on the bread. This will vary depending on the size of your sandwich and what other ingredients you add.

I added the mixture to the opposite slice of bread, folded sandwich together and heated it in my panini maker. Voila! Delicousness by way of a sandwich:

Cheese info: The cheese came from the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative and it was a form of Dante cheese. It was my first time trying this cheese, and it was magnificent. It was crumbly, but the texture was tougher than that of bleu cheese. It had a strong flavor that lingered after eating it. While it didn’t replace my love of Brie, it was splendid. I also bought this cheese from the same Nashville location where I bought the roast beef. There’s an artisan cheese shop in-house called the Bloomy Rind. I passed the shop twice during my last visit and decided to stop in and check it out. After returning home, I did some googling. Turns out, this slice of carnivorous heaven is getting some nice press. The prices were a little high, but then again, sometimes you pay for what you get. I have plans to stop by each time I’m in town.