Here in the sunny south we’ve been experiencing some big weather swings.  Cold one day, hot the next.  Seems that kind of shift leads you straight into flu and cold season.  Yep, that’s right.  About 1/3 of my work family is or has been sick.  The only thing I could think to do was make soup.  Mushroom Soup with Cheesy Portobello Croutons hit the spot.

We had witnessed poor Ania go slowly down hill.  You could see in her face that she just didn’t feel good, but she hung in there, each day hoping that would be the day she would turn the corner and feel better.  When Friday afternoon rolled around I overheard a coworker ask her what would make her feel better.  The answer was soup.  Mushroom Soup.  Note to self, make Ania mushroom soup.

We have a Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe shared already, yet I had a feeling brothy would be better in this case.  So I sent her a text to confirm.

I wanted to do something especially for Ania.  Since she is a low-carb girl, most often when I’m passing samples around at the office, they aren’t on her plan.  I needed a soup that delivered comfort so I followed our French Onion Soup recipe but replaced the onions with mushrooms.  I had to come up with a replacement for the cheesy pumpernickel crouton.

Welcome the roasted Portobello mushroom cap loaded with Havarti cheese aka Cheesy Portobello Crouton.  If you’re a carb lover like me, feel free to melt that thick slice of Havarti over an even thicker slice of toasted pumpernickel bread.

Yes the cheesy crouton delivers complete comfort, and all those yummy mushrooms will make you smile, but the broth…..

The broth begins with cooking down the mushrooms in butter until they release all their natural juices.  Then fresh thyme, garlic, bay leaf, red wine and Worcestershire sauce build on that goodness.  Once the wine is cooked off, nice rich beef broth is added and the mushrooms simmer.  I’m telling you if layers of flavors had a picture in the dictionary this might just be it.

I delivered a big tub of Mushroom Soup {with Cheesy Portobello Crouton}.  I’m pretty certain Ania perked up after she enjoyed a bowlful for lunch.  Share the Love.  It just feels good.

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Mushroom Soup {with Cheesy Portobello Crouton}

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the soup…

• 4 Tbl. butter
• 2 pounds thick sliced fresh mushrooms I used button and baby portobello
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked pepper
• 1 cup red wine can sub white wine or omit
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbl. flour
• 48 ounces beef stock

For the cheesy Portobello croutons…

• 4 Portobello mushroom caps about 4-inch diameter
• 4 thick slices Havarti or Gruyere Cheese
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions

For the soup…

• In a large dutch oven over medium-low heat, add butter and sliced mushrooms. Stir to coat mushrooms in butter then allow to cook untouched for 10 minutes. Stir well, then allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes untouched. Stir, cook another 5 minutes, mushrooms should be releasing their liquid. Continue cooking, stirring every 5 minutes until the mushrooms are tender and have released most of their liquid.
• Add in minced garlic, bay leaf, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook for an additional minute, then add in wine and Worcestershire sauce. Allow to simmer gently until the wine has absorbed. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs, discard.
• Dust mixture with flour and cook slowly for 5-7 minutes. Then add beef broth and simmer 10 minutes.

For the cheesy Portobello croutons…

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Using a spoon, scrape to remove the gills from the stem side of each of mushroom cap. Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cut a shallow ‘X’ into the top of each cap. Place in baking pan.
• Roast for 15 minutes on one side, then turn over and roast another 15 minutes. Fill each cap with a slice of cheese, then pop under the broiler until lightly browned and bubbly.
• Fill crocks with soup, top with cheesy Portobello crouton. Enjoy!

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It’s National Sandwich Day.  Definitely couldn’t let this one get by without a proper tribute.  But I had a slight dilemma.  I am currently on grocery store restrictions aka it’s Eat Out of the Fridge/Pantry Week for us.  I have promised not to step foot into a store.  It’s killing me y’all. 

Upon discovering this sacred food holiday I began to rack my brain for what ingredients we currently had on hand.

The call in response to my first text was to say…we had exactly three slices of bread, described as a bit tired.  We also had sliced ham, even more tired.  We had precisely one egg but no sliced chicken.  None of that sounded National Sandwich Day worthy.

We did however have a beautiful hunk of roast beef that came out of the sous vide last night.  I will one day talk more about this glorious contraption that now lives on my kitchen counter.  But for now I will share that our local Sprouts Farmers Market had Beef Rump Roasts on sale for $2.99 per pound last week.  Before I was banned from the grocery store I brought one home.

We vacuum sealed it, submerged it in a 135 degree water bath and cooked it for 48 hours.  When it came out of the sous vide, we pan seared all sides, then proceeded to stand at the counter, carving off pieces, nomnom nomnom.  Thus the follow up text.  Does anyone else freeze bread?  We don’t eat much bread, unless it’s National Sandwich Day or National Grilled Cheese Month, so when I bring bread home we often freeze the leftover slices, rolls, biscuits, etc. They actually thaw quite nicely.

I apologize for the quality of the following photos, but I had no plan of sharing them until this whole French Dip Sandwich in honor of National Sandwich Day happened.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a lot of luck with rump roasts.  The sous vide method of cooking takes even the least expensive cuts of meat and turns them into mouthwatering tenderness.  So on this National Sandwich Day, we are enjoying a French Dip Sandwich.  Prepared 30 minutes ago, gone in mere minutes.  Yum!!

* The time change…changes everything for food photography.  Just a week ago it was still daylight at this time.  Daylight Savings Thyme can’t come soon enough.

** Did you know that American’s choose Turkey as their #1 sandwich ingredient.  Food for thought.

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French Dip Sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 ounces sliced roast beef
• 4 slices Havarti cheese
• 2 French sub rolls split
• 1 small onion sliced
• 2 Tbl. butter divided
• salt
• 1 cup au jus or beef consomme

Instructions

• Sauté onion in 1 Tbl. butter until golden brown, about 7-10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
• Butter sliced sub rolls and broil until lightly toasted.
• Bring au just to a boil, then remove from heat. Submerge sliced roast beef in au jus for 5 minutes.
• Layer roast beef on toasted sub rolls. Top with caramelized onions and sliced cheese.
• Serve with hot au jus for dipping.

The post French Dip Sandwich appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Have you been keeping track of the number of grilled cheese sandwiches we’ve eaten over the past 30 days?  It’s a lot.

I went into the month of April with 17 grilled cheese recipes in the archives.  Simple math said we’d need to make 13 more to accomplish my goal of sharing one-a-day for 30 days.  I started out pretty strong introducing some new favorites like Strawberry, Basil & Brie and Roasted Lobster & Corn Cake.

As we entered the 4th week and approached the finish line I began to run out of steam.  One text message to the younger generation of our foodie family and within mere minutes I had four must-make recipes that have since been published.  Yet I was still coming up one short.  “One-a-day for 29 days” didn’t have the same ring as 30 days.

I’ve been thinking about it and while all these artisan grilled cheeses have been fun, for me a grilled cheese should be all about the cheese and the bread.  So my ultimate would use Amish butter, Amish cheddar, Havarti, Muenster and Monterey Jack.  And it would be made on sour dough bread.

This was one cheesy sandwich.  I may have overloaded them slightly.  There are worse problems to have.  Personally I think The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich was the perfect way to wrap up our 30 Day Grilled Cheese Palooza.

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Ultimate Grilled Cheese

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 4 slices sour dough bread
• Amish butter
• 2 ounces Amish Cheddar cheese shredded
• 2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded
• 2 slices Muenster cheese
• 2 slices Havarti cheese

Instructions

Skillet method…

• Butter sour dough slices. Top with cheeses. Pan grill until cheese has melted.

Oven method…

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pan grill the buttered bread slices in an oven-proof skillet on the stovetop until golden. Top with cheeses. Place in oven and immediately turn off heat. Leave in oven for 10 minutes. Cheese will be melted.

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Kate’s Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Grilled Cheese.

Day #27 of National Grilled Cheese Month.  We’re building quite a collection of delectable and occasionally over the top sandwiches.  I enlisted the help of four of my favorite ladies (my nieces Maya, Kate & Jen and my kid Shelby).  Their mission was to come up with their own signature Grilled Cheese.  Here’s how Kate’s came to be.

Note to self:  make monkey bread.

Once we narrowed Kate’s Grilled Cheese down to a version of ‘Buffalo’ I began my recipe research.  I typed “buffalo grilled cheese sandwich” in my Google browser and it delivered 2,570,000 results (in .44 seconds).  You know what?  We’re better than that!

So then I Googled “buffalo cauliflower.”  Results 2,810,000 results (in .19 seconds).  Good to know how much we LOVE our buffalo cauliflower.

Guess what I did next?  I had to know.  Could this possibly be the first recipe I’ve ever made that someone else didn’t think of first??

Me:  “OMG! the internet has never seen a Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Grilled Cheese.  Do you know what this means?”
Inner Voice:  “There might be a reason for it!”
Very true!!
Me:  “Wait until you taste it.  I may have just made the internet.”
Inner Voice:  “It’s a damn good way to sell cauliflower.  Maybe I should serve it with a side of wing sauce for dipping.”
Brilliant!!

Here’s how we put it together.

I think Kate will love the finished product.  Kate, my 1/2 marathon runner, about to move to London for 2 years, who is wondering how she’s going to tote her Dutch oven oversees.  I absolutely adore these ladies on every level.  I started this blog as a way to share family recipes.  I love sharing recipes with family just as much.  xoxo

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Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Grilled Cheese

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Libby & Kate with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cauliflower
• 1 Tbl. olive oil
• 1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
• 1/4 cup melted butter 4 Tbl.
• Blue cheese crumbles
• 8- ounces Havarti cheese sliced
• 8 slices grainy bread

Instructions

For oven roasted cauliflower…

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat shallow baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Place cauliflower core side down on a cutting board. Slice into 1-inch thick steaks, the ends will fall apart into florets. You should be able to get 4 1-inch thick steaks.
• Coat baking sheet with olive oil. Place steaks on prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
• Bake 15 minutes on one side. Turn over and cook another 10 – 15 minutes until nicely browned.
• Meanwhile, combine melted butter and hot sauce in a saucepan. Brush cauliflower liberally and bake an additional 3 minutes. Turn over cauliflower and baste again with remaining hot sauce; bake 3 minutes.

To make grilled cheese…

• Butter bread slices and pan grill, topped with Havarti cheese, roasted buffalo cauliflower steaks, blue cheese crumbles, more Havarti. Turn until golden brown on both sides.
• Serve with a side of buffalo sauce.

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Sometimes a recipe comes to me based on one single ingredient.  In this case it was a gorgeous Kimmelweck roll in the case at the bakery.  I couldn’t wait to get home and make tuna melts for lunch.  I promptly proceeded to burn the bun.  With all other ingredients gathered I turned to my freezer to find the tail end of a pack of Party Rye.  And that is how the Tuna Melt Grilled Cheese Slider was born.

Recipe Note:  By the time I got done picturing our Tuna Melt Grilled Cheese Sliders they were less than hot.  So I popped them in the oven and let them reheat for about 10 minutes.  Everything settled into happiness.  The cheese was nice and melty, the bread took shape around the other ingredients.  We decided that if we found these on a finger food buffet, we’d be very pleased indeed.  I wish I had pictured those however by this time lunch was a bit overdue.  And there was no stopping us.  Next time.

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Tuna Melt Grilled Cheese Sliders

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemon Thyme

Ingredients

For the tuna salad…

• 1 small can or pouch of tuna
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 celery stalk finely diced
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. prepared horseradish
• salt & pepper to taste

For the sliders…

• 8 slices party rye bread
• 2 slices muenster cheese cut into 4ths
• 2 slices Havarti cheese cut into 4ths
• 1 plum tomato sliced
• 1 hard boiled egg sliced
• butter for pan grilling

Instructions

For the tuna salad…

• Combine all tuna salad ingredients and blend well.

For the sliders…

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Layer the party rye with piece of muenster, piece of Havarti, scoop of tuna salad, egg slice, tomato slice, piece of muenster, piece of Havarti and top with bread slice. Repeat.
• Melt butter in a skillet and grill sliders on both sides until golden brown and cheese has melted. Remove to a baking pan. Once all sliders have been grilled, transfer to oven for 7-10 minutes.

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Avocado, Tomato & Basil Omelet.

There’s nothing complicated or new to learn from this post.  It’s just a reminder to use your fresh herbs every chance you get.  They can take a ho hum omelet and give it a bright pop of flavor.  That’s just what fresh basil and scallions did to our tomato and avocado omelet.  Havarti cheese came along and gave it a big group hug.

These were some of the fresh ingredients we had on hand.  Omelets are the perfect chance to get creative and incorporate a serving or two of veggies into your day.  Make it a good one.

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Avocado, Tomato & Basil Omelet

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 -2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

Per omelet…

• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbl. milk or cream
• 1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash garlic & herb seasoning
• pinch of salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• 2 Tbl. fresh ‘soft’ herbs like basil, parsley, tarragon, cilantro
• 1 small plum tomato sliced
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• 1 slice Havarti cheese
• butter for pan

Instructions

• Whisk together eggs, cream and seasonings.
• Melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour in egg mixture and gently swirl the pan to spread evenly. Using a rubber spatula carefully lift edges of omelet, allowing uncooked egg to run under. Continue until no runny egg remains on top. Flip omelet (I remove from heat, lay a paper plate over pan and turn over; then slide back into pan).
• Lay tomato, avocado, scallions, herbs and cheese down the middle of the omelet. Fold over one side, then slide out of pan onto plate, folding over other side.

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Steak & Cheese Subs {with Onion, Mushrooms & Jalapeno} are the perfect week night meal. I held back from calling these Philly Cheesesteaks.  I’ve never actually had an authentic Philly Cheesesteak but am sure they are worthy of more effort than it took to make these subs.  These were super fast and so easy. I also held back from calling these Steak & Cheese Grinders, which is what I grew up loving.  Wasn’t sure that the regional term ‘grinder’ would resonate with a wider audience :)  For almost as far back as I can remember my friends and I would get on our bikes and ride into town to eat at the Pizza Barn.  It’s where we hung out after Friday night basketball games and what we ordered for every sleepover.  They made (and still do in my opinion) the best grinders.  I especially loved the Steak & Cheese, but the Italian ooo and the Crabmeat were also favorites.

The ‘steak’ in our Steak & Cheese Sub is London Broil.  No worries, I know I said this was a quick & easy meal.  London Broil is available precooked at your local deli counter.  In our case it’s Boars Head brand and is full of fresh grilled steak flavor.  Have it sliced as you would for sandwiches, about 1/4 lb. per sub.

Next comes the cheese.  Remember ‘cheese’ is a signature ingredient.  Make it something good.  I chose Havarti with Jalapeno.  Wow what a fabulous choice.  It’s uber creamy with a little kick.

We loaded our subs rolls with sautéed onions, mushrooms and diced jalapeno pepper.  And gave them a schmear of Horseradish Sauce (mayo, sour cream, prepared horseradish, lemon juice, fresh cracked pepper). I can’t begin, in words, to give these sandwiches justice.  I will say that being able to swing by the deli counter on the way home, pick up a 1/2 lb. of sliced London Broil, a 1/4 lb. of sliced cheese, and two sub rolls, then arrive home and have dinner on the table in the time it takes to heat the broiler……is pretty stinking amazing.  And our Steak & Cheese Subs were fantabulous.

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Steak & Cheese Sub {with Onion, Mushrooms & Peppers}

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. Boars Head London Broil sliced for sandwiches
• 1/4 lb. Boars Head Havarti with Jalapeno sliced
• 2 sub rolls center sliced but not all the way through
• 1 Tbl. olive oil
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 4- ounces fresh mushrooms sliced
• 1 jalapeno or green bell pepper finely diced

For the Horseradish Sauce…

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbl. sour cream
• 1 Tbl. prepared horseradish
• 1 squeeze of lemon juice
• a good grind of fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to broil.
• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, add sliced onion and sauté until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add in sliced mushroom and diced jalapeno, continue cooking until mushrooms have released most of their liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove mixture and reserve.
• Add sliced steak to skillet and sauté until heated through.
• Combine Horseradish Sauce ingredients.
• Schmear sub rolls with Horseradish Sauce, load with half of sautéed steak, top with half of mushroom/onion mixture, and 2-3 slices of cheese. Place subs in a shallow baking pan and put under broiler until cheese has melted.

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