"Classic With A Twist!"

First off, I want to apologize for the title. Every cooking show or food blog ever made has at least 1 show or post with that title. I didn't want to go down that road myself, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else that might seem close to relevant. Titles are really a side-note for me. I guess I should care more for "search" purposes so I can get more hits, but it's not that big of a deal to me. Oh well.

What you see above is a grilled cheese sandwich with sauteed chicken and caramelized onions, and tomato soup with chives. It is also something I wasn't even going to do a post on. At first, I made all this with the clear intention of this making the blog. But after I made it, I didn't like the idea of doing something so many have done a million times over. So, I just saved the pictures and put it on the back burner.

When I was trying to figure out what to write about this last weekend, I came across the pics and almost felt a little bad for not posting this sooner. It actually turned out to be a very tasty and satisfying meal. So, with all that thought of, I said "Fuck it". This could be my "Pluto Nash" of blog posts. For those of you that don't know, the movie Pluto Nash was filmed and then shelved for a year or two before being released because movie executives new it sucked balls and didn't want to release it. Somehow it hit the theaters and became one of the biggest flops of all time. So here it is, my shelved and now released blog post. If 10 people read this, that will be twice as many people that paid to see Pluto Nash in the theater.

And for the record, Eddie Murphy should cut off his right pinky finger to atone for that crime against humanity.

The real reason I ended up making this was because I wanted to caramelize onions. Up to that point, I had never made it before. I've enjoyed them on burgers at restaurants. I've seen them done on TV more times than I can count. I knew eventually I was gonna have to get in the kitchen and give it a go.

I did this a while back, so I may be a little sketchy on a few details here. Please bear with me on this. :)

I think I used a white onion for this. Could have been yellow. I'm not sure at this point. I tried to slice them as evenly as possible so they can cook evenly. I sliced two whole onions and dropped them into a pan with about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil and at medium-high heat. I sprinkled some salt on top and sauteed the onions for about 2 or 3 minutes with constant agitation. Then I turned it down to a very low simmer and just stirred every so often. Here is the progression of the color change for the onion.

As you can see, what starts off as a lot turns into a little. This whole process took around 45 minutes or so. And that's ok. Some things are going to take time. Try and remember that you are not in a race. Just relax and let the food and heat do what it has to do.

When I finally shut the heat off, I had gotten the onions a tad darker. I've seen some caramelized onions that were almost as black as the skillet I cooked the onions in. The truth is, you don't need to get them that dark. Just as long as you get the sweetness out of them, you will be in good shape.

When it came time for the grilled cheese sandwich, I used a 7 grain bread with cheddar and provolone cheese. I had some left over chicken thighs and put those on there as well as the caramelized onions.

As far as the soup goes, I have Campbell's to thank for that.

When I finally sat down and took a bite of the sandwich, I realized I should have used a sharper cheese in it. Both cheeses were mild. And mild plus mild just equals really mild. It wasn't bad, it just needed something with a little more kick to really stand against the sweetness of the onions. All in all it still was a good sandwich.

Wait a minute, aren't I supposed to go nuts and rant about how good my food is? Ok, fine. YES, I loved it. It was the best sandwich ever. I hugged it. I kissed it. I contemplated sticking my dick in it. Happy now?

All in all, I'm glad I made the onions. They go great with just about anything and it was a learning experience.

Hope you enjoyed this little episode. I'll be back sooner than you know it, so don't go too far and check back often.

Take Care,

J. Miller

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