Hey so I have no pictures of this because I made it the day before yesterday during hour one of my 30 plus hour haul to study for this latest exam... needless to say it was my salvation in the hell of my own creation. So yes, the reason I needed to spend the weekend with a grand total of 5 hours of sleep over the course of 3 days was my fault. I choose to procrastinate. I chose to volunteer at Mamoday. Now I am choosing to complain...so deal. Thankfully my sleepless weekend did not go to waste I survived the exam and I did well enough. I know at this point you are wondering "When is she going to tell me about this bloody grilled cheese and stop talking about school?"...so I will now take the time to remind you that though this is mainly about food, because food is one of the big things that bring me joy in this world, I am also using this as a venue to chronicle my experiences through school and hopefully my fruitful and prosperous medical career. I am going to continue to stay off the grilled cheese topic for a bit so I suggest you skip ahead if that is all you wish to read about just that. So a part of why I got very little sleep was because I volunteered at Mamoday here at HUH. During Mamoday the cancer center here at the hospital gives free screening mammograms and clinical breast exams to women of the community. They invite some female medical students to go and volunteer and learn how to do a clinical breast exam and then actually DO them with the physicians. This is why I came to this school the clinical exposure, the patient interaction, the accessibility of all the residents. fellows, attendings. ect. at the hospital. So needless to say I had a blast at Mamoday, the doctors were super approachable and willing to teach and let me get involved, it reminded me of why I chose medical school because though in the back of my head it is always there it sometimes get buried behind the stress of learning the biochemical pathway for the digestion of alcohol. In the end Mamaoday was worth the time it took away from studying because it reaffirmed my desire to be here and moreover excel here. That was on saturday, it was that night that I first made the grilled cheese and it was so good I made it again for brunch on sun morning. The ingrediants were simply what I had lying around but they made for a delectable culinary experience, even though I dined with my most near and dear dining companions- my laptops and my notes:)
For each you will need:
2 slices of a sourdough baguette each sliced about 1/2cm thick at a bias so it is about 11cm long.
1/2 oz of reduced fat pepper jack cheese
3 thick slices of a plum tomatoe
1 slice of turkey bacon
6 pinches freshly ground black pepper, cumin, and coriander seeds
chili powder to taste
So first you heat a large nonstick pan and cook the bacon (no extra fat needed). Once the bacon is crispy remove from pan and blot with paper towel. On the same pan place the tomatoes where the bacon was on each tomatoe add a pinch each of freshly ground black pepper, cumin and coriander seeds, cook for about 45 sec and turn and do the same thing on the other side, place on the side. Put the bread in the same pan toast one side lightly then flip and pile on the cheese the bacon and the grilled tomatoes fold the slices and apply pressure with a spatula until the cheese is melted and the bread is nice and toasty.
I know it sounds like a long and drawn out process, but it really doesn't take more than 10 mins. They are not very large so for me one is about snack sized and two for a meal. I have also made it without the bacon they are amazing either way, though you will need to add a spritz of olive oil to your pan if you skip the bacon because otherwise the tomatoes will stick. I hope you enjoy them because I sure do :)
So I know I said no pics but it looks so empty so here's a pic of some sourdough:
Happy Eating!
