ICYMI, I so bravely shared earlier this week that I unapologetically love Grape Nuts. While the general consensus on this cereal is that no one’s ever heard of it and therefore have not tried it, there were a few courageous souls who were willing to stand in solidarity with my take that this cereal is, in fact, really good. There were also plenty of folks in strong opposition. Can’t please ‘em all, can you?!
For the uninitiated, my favorite way to enjoy this cereal is swimming in an ice cold bowl of milk with a very generous pinch of salt. I prefer to let the cereal sit for a couple minutes so that the milk steeps in it’s malted, wheaty goodness. This also softens the Grape Nuts, which are admittedly, very tough without this soaking method (there’s a BYU joke in here somewhere).
When I was in high school, I used to come downstairs in the morning and pour myself a bowl, then go back upstairs and get ready for school, before finally returning to my luxuriuosly bathing cereal. I can acknowledge that, in hindsight, this is a truly psychotic morning ritual, but it got me fueled and ready for another rigorous day of geometry and STUFF.
Speaking of stuff, here are some other things I’ve been into lately.
Fishwife Tuna
Hopefully, it’s no secret that Fishwife has relaunched their tuna (there’s a regular and spicy version), and I am here to confirm that Tuna 2.0 is so damn good. This week’s recipe is a great way to use it up, or you can eat it straight out of the tin (I am no stranger to this approach).
For real tuna enthusiasts, you might as well pick up this hat. I wore my Anchovy Club hat to McCall’s Meat & Fish the other day, and one of the various hot butchers that works there told me that he liked it. I was too stunned to speak and was immediately taken out of the storefront on a stretcher.
If you live in LA, Canyon Coffee (past feature on my LA hit list!!!) is running a spicy tuna sandwich special that is simple and divine.
Kacey Musgraves Deeper Well Candle
I got this for my birthday a couple months ago and it’s so good. I haven’t stopped listening to this album nor have I stopped burning this candle!!!
East Fork Breakfast Bowl
I have featured East Fork in a previous sending, and I simply must feature them again because I love the petite size of this bowl. Perfect for a little dessert moment or a tiny bowl of, Grape Nuts, perhaps. These ceramics seriously have me by my NECK. I aspire to have my shelves looking like this one day. I use their Everyday bowls, as the name implies, every day.
They’re running a ‘seconds sale,’ which are aesthetically flawed pieces (I picked up a few items when they had a pop up in LA and couldn’t discern any visible blemishes) on super markdown. I love their Daylily orange and Lamb’s ear green colors.
Tuna-Broccoli Reuben Melt
Makes 2 Sandwiches
Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
For this week’s recipe, I found myself with a head of broccoli that needed to be used, a couple tins of Fishwife tuna (of course), and a dream. If you’ve ever had the broccoli reuben at Court Street Grocers in NYC, you’ll know that it is one of the most unsuspecting veggie delights. I wondered what it would look like if that iconic sandwich and a tuna melt had a beautiful little baby. Behold, the TUNA-BROCCOLI REUBEN MELT.
I must say, this is quite the union of quintessential sammies. From the reuben side of things, I’ve included a classic Russian dressing, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese. I don’t love rye bread, so I decided to stick with a wheaty sourdough, but if rye is your guy, then don’t let me get in your way.
From the classique tuna melt, I’m incorporating the greatest tinned tuna of them all (code SARATANE for 10% off!!!), red onion, and dill. Instead of mayo, I’m obviously going to douse it all in the ridiculous Russian dressing that we just made. You could add chopped pickles and celery, but I felt we were set on pickle-y ingredients (sauerkraut) and vegetal ingredients (roasted broccoli). I don’t want to OVERWHELM my precious reuben-melt crossover.
This is a great way to use up the whole broccoli stalk. Why are we tossing the stems? Give ‘em a quick peel and they’re just as tasty as the florets. Make sure to drain the Fishwife tuna to avoid sogging out our precious melt. Reserve that oil for future tuna pastas, toasts, bowls, or salads.
For the sandwiches:
1 head broccoli, florets cut into small pieces and stalks peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 (3 ounce) tins tuna, drained (preferably Fishwife)
½ cup sauerkraut, drained
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
4 slices sourdough bread
4 slices Swiss cheese
For the Russian dressing:
½ cup mayonnaise, plus more for spreading
3 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (or ketchup)
2 tablespoon minced shallot
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (omit if using ketchup)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 425F. Toss broccoli in oil, salt, and pepper. Bake until deeply golden brown and lightly charred, 15-20 minutes, tossing half way through.
In a medium bowl, combine all dressing ingredients and season to taste with salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix tuna, roasted broccoli, sauerkraut, red onion, dill, and ¼ cup of Russian dressing. Toss and season with salt, if needed.
Spread mayo on one side of all 4 slices of bread. Place two slices, mayo side down, on a cutting board and spread about 1 tablespoon of Russian dressing on each. Divide tuna mixture between slices. Top each with 2 slices of swiss. Spread Russian dressing on the non-mayo sides of the remaining slices of bread, then place on the sandwich, mayo side up.
Heat a cast iron skillet over low heat. Add sandwiches and cook, covered, until bread is deeply golden brown and cheese is melted, 8-10 minutes per side. If the bread is getting too dark, lower your heat.
Remove from heat and slice in half. Serve immediately with remaining Russian dressing.
yum
wooooow