Emeril's New Style Caldo Verde, #SundaySupper

Emeril's New Style Caldo Verde. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Despite slick magazine menus, or maybe in spite of them, we stick to simple fare during the holidays - soups, sandwiches and one-pot meals. For the few weeks that school is out, supper can be a leisurely event, prepared early in the afternoon and left to simmer away on the stove. Or, in the case of sandwiches, the proper ingredients purchased and prepared and ready for up-to-the-minute assembly.

Soup and sandwiches together, of course, doubles the convenience. Grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup, ham sandwiches with bean soup. Add to these great combos caldo verde and muffuletta.
I found this caldo verde recipe on Emeril's website back in October when I was gearing up for the #SeriousSandwich blogalong for "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches." And now in the bleak mid-winter, it seems even more appropriate. Caldo verde is a Portuguese soup made with sausage, greens and potatoes, real stick-to-your ribs stuff guaranteed to warm your chilled bones through and through.

And the perfect partner for the soup has to be a muffuletta, the semi-official sandwich of Emeril's adopted home, New Orleans. I love this vegetarian take on the muffuletta, using meaty eggplant slices to sub for the sandwich meat. The homemade olive salad recipe included in the cookbook , Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches, is killer.

Caldo verde and eggplant muffuletta. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Eggplant Muffuletta

4 sandwiches

This is no ordinary muffuletta. Made with oven-roasted eggplant slices instead of salami, a homemade New Orleans–style olive salad, and a fresh basil spread, this muffuletta tastes so good you’ll never even miss the meat! If you aren’t up to making the olive salad yourself, it’ll still be enjoyable with one from the store.

2 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1/2 -inch-thick rounds

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 loaf seeded Italian bread

Basil Spread (page 318)

2 cups New Orleans–Style Olive Salad (see note above, store-bought is fine)

4 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese

4 ounces sliced provolone cheese

1. Position an oven rack as close to the broiler unit as possible, and preheat the broiler.

2. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on two lightly greased baking sheets. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush both sides of the slices with the olive oil. Season both sides with the salt and pepper. Broil the eggplant, in batches, until the slices are tender and lightly browned and have released most of their moisture, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and move the oven rack to the center position.

4. When you are ready to assemble the sandwiches, slice the loaf of bread in half horizontally. Using a pastry brush, spread the bottom half with a generous amount of Basil Spread.

5. Spread the olive salad (with its olive oil—do not strain) over the top half of the loaf. Layer the sliced mozzarella and provolone on top of the olive salad, and then layer the slices of eggplant. Place the bottom half of the sandwich on top and lightly press. Quickly and carefully turn the loaf over so that the olive salad side is on top.

6. Place the muffuletta on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake until the cheese has melted, the muffuletta is heated through, and the bread is slightly crisp, about 12 minutes.

7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully transfer the loaf to a cutting board. Press lightly, and cut the loaf into 4 sections. Serve immediately.

Basil Spread

About 1/2 cup

This basil spread is multifunctional. You can add it to store-bought mayonnaise, toss it with pasta, turn it into a vinaigrette, or add it to vegetable soups. And of course, it’s fantastic on sandwiches.

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a food processor or blender, process the garlic and basil on high speed while adding the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Continue to process until well blended. Season with the salt. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

This post is part of #SundaySupper, a weekly Twitter party encouraging families to cook and eat together. Follow hashtag #SundaySupper to read more stories of family friendly fare. This week's subject is a New Year's Potluck with Emeril Lagasse. 25 bloggers will give away copies on Emeril's cookbooks, so get thee over to Twitter, hashtag #SundaySupper, and win yourself a cookbook!

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Smoked sausage sandwich with beer-braised onions, #SeriousSandwich

Smoked sausage sandwich with beer-braised onions. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

One of the delights of cooking from Emeril Lagasse's newest cookbook, "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," (Morrow, $24.99), is finding little extras along the way that will kick up sandwiches and help out around the kitchen. For example, the beer-braised onions on this Smoked Sausage Sandwich with Beer-Braised Onions. These little morsels of joy would be fantastic alongside any kind of meat or sausage, without without the bun. As for the sandwich, the Muenster cheese and stone-ground mustard in conjunction with the sausage and onions really stacks up the flavor.

Just like Emeril's Caprese Sandwich is a taste of summer, this hearty sandwich is a taste of fall, perfect for tailgating, or maybe picnics at the pumpkin patch.

Pumpkins. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Look for more great stories and recipes from "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches" right here on A Cook and Her Books, or follow #SeriousSandwich on Twitter. You may also want to visit my fellow #SeriousSandwich bloggers, all 21 of them:

• 30A EATS
• Farmgirl Gourmet
• Food Hunter’s Guide
• Between Slices
• Big Dew the Firehouse Chef
• Chef R3llik
• Cooking in Stilettos
• Culicurious
• Family Foodie
• Kwistin’s Favorites
• Mangoes and Chutney
• Mario Cooks
• Maroc Mama
• My Cup of Creativitea
• My Royal Kitchen
• Pages Stuck Together
• Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Poet in the Pantry
• Rhubarb and Honey
• Solid Gold Eats

It's been an absolute pleasure reading these new-to-me blogs and cooking through Emeril's new cookbook!

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books,
marking the publication of

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer,

with the exception of the book cover; that belongs to Morrow Books.

Minner Cheese, #SeriousSandwich

Smoky pimento cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Pimento cheese is the red velvet of the savory world - it's everywhere. And that's for good reason,the pâté of the South is simply flat-out deliciousness. Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, the diced red peppers known as pimentos, stirred together and spread on crackers or between cottony slices of Bunny Bread, that's what we call Minner Cheese in my household.

Well, leave it to Emeril Lagasse to knock boilerplate pimento cheese spread out of the ballpark. In his newest book, "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches" (Morrow, $24.99), the chef starts with extra-sharp Cheddar and adds smoky pimenton. Hits of cayenne and hot sauce make this minner cheese a grown-up affair. 

Emeril also knows about the best way to eat pimento cheese - grilled; so it gets all ooey-gooey drippy good. 

Smoky grilled pimento cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Smoky grilled pimento cheese is just one of 120 (give or take) recipes in "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches." The book is on sale now online and in bookstores. Check it out.

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books marking the publication of 

 

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

Stay tuned for more #SeriousSandwich stories...

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer, 

with the exception of the book cover; that belongs to Morrow Books.

The Elvis, #SeriousSandwich

The Elvis: peanut butter, banana & honey on multigrain. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books.

The year was 1961 and, as my mama tells the story, she touched Elvis. Yes, that would be the real Elvis. Not only the real Elvis, but the young, hip-ripping, teen idol Elvis. As she tells the story, she was a young woman in her early 20's, working in a bank in downtown Nashville, when Elvis Presley, fresh from his stint in the Army, was honored by the Tennessee Legislature.

Mama and "the girls" from the bank went down to the Capitol at lunchtime in hopes of catching a glimpse of The King. She was in the crowd as it surged forward around him, and she swears she touched Elvis. Her hand touched his hand. She's sure of it.

And what does this story have to do with sandwiches, you ask? Well, I like to tell my Mom's Elvis story, but I also wanted to deepen the connection between the King of Rock and Roll and the Baron of Bam. That's right, as I'm cooking my way through Emeril Lagasse's new cookbook (on sale now!), "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," I found a recipe for Emeril's version of The Elvis. The classic Elvis sandwich is a peanut butter and banana sandwich that's fried in butter. The recipe, in many variations (some variations add crispy bacon) appears in many books. Nigella Lawson writes about it in "Nigella Bites," in the chapter (ironically, I hope) titled "Trashy." I don't think the Elvis is trashy. I think it's the kind of food that mamas, maybe in particular Southern mamas, will make their baby boys. (And I think we can all agree that the King was a classic Mama's Boy.)

Back to sandwiches: Emeril does the Elvis right, swapping out the white bread for some blood-sugar-diffusing multi-grain and adding a drizzle of honey to the pb and banana. If you're a choosy Mom, go with a pb that's noticeably salty for that sweet-salty vibe that's so 2011.

The recipe is officially titled the Peanut Butter-Honey-Banana and it's grilled to ooey-gooey drippiness. My peanut butter-loving daughter and husband inhaled them.

Here's my mom about the time she met Elvis, in her favorite car, and no, her daddy gave it to her, not Elvis.

Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books marking the publication of

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

Stay tuned for more #SeriousSandwich stories...

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Sandwiches I have known & written about...

Pound cake dessert sandwich with strawberries. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The pages of A Cook and Her Books will be filled with mucho sandwiches this month, as part of the #SeriousSandwich blogalong marking the publication of “Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches.” As I started cooking from this very engaging book, I realized that I’ve written about a lot of sandwiches and that in one form or another, my family and I eat sandwiches at least once a day, every day, all week long.

Whether it’s a  grilled cheese or Peanut butter and jelly for my kids, or my husband’s favorite minner cheese, we’re usually squishing something between two slices of bread and calling it a meal. In the past year, I’ve even reviewed two other cookbooks about sandwiches ~ Susan Russo’s excellent “Encyclopedia of Sandwiches” and Allison Lewis’ must-have “400 Sandwich Recipes.” 

Here are a few sandwiches and fillings that you can find throughout A Cook and Her Books. Click on the caption for a link to the recipe.

Susan Russo's Chicken Salad Sandwich. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

My chicken salad with boiled dressing. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Lunchbox sushi from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" by Allison Lewis. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Vegetable sushi made with sandwich bread. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The Jucy (sic) Lucy. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Bison sliders with pickle and cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Ukrainian sausage, tomato & cucumber sandwich. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books.

Pimento cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Pear, pecan and gorgonzola crostini. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Egg salad on radish. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Search #SeriousSandwich in the search box for all Serious Sandwich posts on A Cook and Her Books and stay tuned for more great sandwiches!

Soup & Sandwich from Emeril

Emeril's Caldo Verde and Eggplant Muffuletta. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I'm cooking from Emeril Lagasse's newest cookbook, "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches" (Morrow, $24.99) in October, and with the cooler days, decided that soup should go on the menu with the sandwich du jour.

Like peas and carrots, salt and pepper, and oh, hmmm, Captain and Tennille, a sandwich needs a cup of soup to accompany, and the perfect partner for this Eggplant Muffuletta is a steamy bowl of caldo verde, Portuguese sausage and kale soup.

The soup is from Emeril’s blog, and is called New Style Caldo Verde because it cooks quickly, in under an hour, with the strips of kale still crisp-tender, not cooked into submission, bubbling away on the stovetop for several hours. Emeril calls it the one dish that represents his childhood, growing up in a Portuguese family in Fall River, Mass.

Emeril's New Style Caldo Verde. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The muffuletta is vegetarian version of a New Orleans classic. I made the muffuletta twice this week, and each time it was crave-worthy, with its garlicky goodness and briny olives. The first go-round, I used the large globe eggplants from the supermarket, and they turned out fine. My neighbor brought by some Asian eggplants from the CSA, and I think they're just a bit better. A little smaller, less propensity to bitterness, and no worries about peeling, they're so much easier to work with. I coated them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for the same amount of time as the larger eggplants, about 10 minutes.

Asian eggplants, ready for roasting. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Olive salad is key to a good muffuletta and Emeril includes a stupendous recipe in the book. Store-bought is a fine substitute, just look in the deli or pickle section of the supermarket.

Olive salad. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Eggplant Muffuletta

4 sandwiches

This is no ordinary muffuletta. Made with oven-roasted eggplant slices instead of salami, a homemade New Orleans–style olive salad, and a fresh basil spread, this muffuletta tastes so good you’ll never even miss the meat! If you aren’t up to making the olive salad yourself, it’ll still be enjoyable with one from the store.

2 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1/2 -inch-thick rounds

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 loaf seeded Italian bread

Basil Spread (page 318)

2 cups New Orleans–Style Olive Salad (see note above, store-bought is fine)

4 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese

4 ounces sliced provolone cheese

1. Position an oven rack as close to the broiler unit as possible, and preheat the broiler.

2. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on two lightly greased baking sheets. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush both sides of the slices with the olive oil. Season both sides with the salt and pepper. Broil the eggplant, in batches, until the slices are tender and lightly browned and have released most of their moisture, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and move the oven rack to the center position.

4. When you are ready to assemble the sandwiches, slice the loaf of bread in half horizontally. Using a pastry brush, spread the bottom half with a generous amount of Basil Spread.

5. Spread the olive salad (with its olive oil—do not strain) over the top half of the loaf. Layer the sliced mozzarella and provolone on top of the olive salad, and then layer the slices of eggplant. Place the bottom half of the sandwich on top and lightly press. Quickly and carefully turn the loaf over so that the olive salad side is on top.

6. Place the muffuletta on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake until the cheese has melted, the muffuletta is heated through, and the bread is slightly crisp, about 12 minutes.

7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully transfer the loaf to a cutting board. Press lightly, and cut the loaf into 4 sections. Serve immediately.

Basil Spread

About 1/2 cup

This basil spread is multifunctional. You can add it to store-bought mayonnaise, toss it with pasta, turn it into a vinaigrette, or add it to vegetable soups. And of course, it’s fantastic on sandwiches.

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a food processor or blender, process the garlic and basil on high speed while adding the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Continue to process until well blended. Season with the salt. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer. With the exception of the recipe, 

reprinted with permission from Morrow Cookbooks. 

 

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

Recipe reprinted with permission from Morrow Books.

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Pear and Gorgonzola Crostini from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes"

Pear, gorgonzola and walnut crostini from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" by Alison Lewis.
Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The versatile sandwich can be elegant or casual, like a little black dress. It is also a perfect expression of seasonal ingredients. This snappy little number from Alison Lewis’ "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" (Robert Rose, 2011) speaks of late summer to early fall, when the harvest is rolling in and the evenings are cool. A crostini with a shmear of gorgonzola-spiked cream cheese, topped with a slice of ripe pear. A drizzle of honey adds sweetness to offset the pungent blue cheese.

Lewis’ book catalogs 400 recipes from casual wraps to elegant appetizers, all with an eye for nutrition and tastiness. Give the book and this smart little app a try.

Pears. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Pear, Pecan and Gorgonzola Crostini

Serves 8 to 10

8 to 10 baguette slices about ½ inch thick

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1 ½ cups thinly sliced pear (about 2 medium)

4 tablespoons honey

½ cup chopped pecans, toasted (I used walnuts and it was delicious!)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Arrange baguette slices on a large baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes or until lightly toasted.

2. Preheat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and Gorgonzola. Spread bread slices evenly with 1 tablespoon of the Gorgonzola mixture. Top with epar slices. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with pecans.

Broil crostini for 1 to 2 minutes or until pears are tender and cheese is slightly melted. Serve immediately

“400 Best Sandwich Recipes” by Alison Lewis (Robert Rose, 2011), 360 pages with index and 24 color photographs. Paperback, $24.95 list price. A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Pimento Cheese is the new gravy

Pimento cheese and crackers by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

As we approach the real dog days of summer, I can confess that it's been so long since I've really cooked! We eat so simply in the summer; I've come to the conclusion that my perfect summer meal is homemade pimento cheese on crackers; crispy, sweet watermelon slices, and iced tea. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and another confession: I have).

Have you seen all the buzz about pimento cheese (or, as it's known in my house, minner cheese)?  Wanda at The Teacher Cooks blog features a minner cheese biscuits recipe that I can't wait to try. There's even a tweet-bot on @pimentocheese, professing a love of the cheese spread all through the Twitter-verse. I never had homemade pimento cheese until I married; my family knew only the occasional plastic container of gloppy fluorescent orange spread. I had to ask my mother-in-law to make minner, and naturally, it's the easiest thing in the world: coarsely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, diced pimentos, mayonnaise, and a pinch of salt (depending on the sodium in the mayo and cheese, you may leave this out).

Pimento Cheese


8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup mayonnaise, approximately, (I've never bothered to measure)

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos

1. Shred Cheddar cheese on the coarse side of a hand grater or in a food processor.

2. In a bowl, stir together cheese and enough mayonnaise to bind. Add salt and pimentos. Serve with crackers or on squishy white bread.

Pound Cake Dessert Sandwiches



Pound Cake Dessert Sandwich with Strawberries by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

We all know about sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and supper, now meet a dessert sandwich - juicy strawberries dripping over whole milk ricotta, between two slices of buttery pound cake. This inspired and summery dessert comes from Susan Russo's delightful new cookbook, "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches: Recipes, History and Trivia for Everything Between Two Slices of Bread." (Quirk, 2011).


The recipe is a terrific use for stale or leftover pound cake. It reminds me a little bit of the treat my husband's grandmother would fry up for him - mayonnaise-coated pound cake slices. Macerate some sliced strawberries in orange juice and zest, griddle the pound cake slices, spread with rich ricotta, and assemble all for a tasty dessert.

Begin with a loaf of my home-baked cream cheese pound cake, the only pound cake recipe you will ever need. Gather some berries and ricotta and you're in business.

Pound Cake Sandwich: The Ultimate Dessert Sandwich
from "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" by Susan Russo (Quirk, 2011)

Macerated Strawberries

2 to 2 1/2 cups fresh ripe strawberries, thinly sliced *see note
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
3 tablespoons orange juice
Zest of 1 small orange
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

About 2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pound cake, sliced thin
1 (8-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta or mascarpone

1. A few hours beforehand, prepare strawberries: In a glass bowl, combine all ingredients for macerated strawberries. Toss well. Let rest at room temperature at least two hours.

2. Butter both sides of cake slices. Place on a hot buttered griddle and cook 2 minutes per side, or until golden. Remove from heat. For each sandwich, spread 2 tablespoons ricotta on one slice of grilled cake, top with a spoonful of berries, and close sandwich. Serve warm. Makes 4 to six, depending on the thickness of the cake.

* Frozen strawberries can be substituted for fresh; just reduce the amount of orange juice since frozen berries will release more liquid.

Check out more sandwich recipes from "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches":

• Chicken salad from the Loveless Cafe
• The Jucy Lucy cheese-stuffed burger.