THE ALSACE pork schnitzel + apple + cabbage + grilled cheese

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH MONTH POST #2

Ok, so I've never been to Alsace. But Official International Grilled Cheese Sandwich month continues with this this awesome sandwich, what I consider to be the perfect blend of my acquired French and German food influences. I had never been the biggest pork fan, but when you're broke, and sort of living in a squat, and maybe cooking off a hot plate... you get resourceful with what you've got, and I definitely believe that I can enjoy pretty much any food, in the right context. Wait, what? Yes, it was an INTERESTING time in my life, ok? Actually, probably the best, and it reminds me of a great quote I saw on Humans of New York recently: 

"I think I’m happiest when I’m broke.""Why’s that?""Because I can always find a good meal. But when I’m broke, I can’t afford to do the things I shouldn’t be doing."

So Benji and I were sort of living in this apartment that we maybe weren't paying rent in. But we had running, hot water and electricity, so don't give me too much cred. The kitchen was a sink, a mini fridge, and an ikea tv cabinet with a single burner hotplate on top. At some point, I found a working toaster oven in the road, and we had a kettle, and a blender too. I had ended up there very much by accidental circumstances, but one of the things that drew us together was our shared love for indulging in food. And holy shit, did we actually make the best use of that kitchen. We ate incredible meals all the time. I had even thought of starting a hotplate cooking blog. It kind of limits you to cooking in one or two pans max, and we developed all sorts of one pan, stew, or stir fry type dishes. One of the major successes that we would revisit was what I found to be the perfect way to eat cheap cuts of pork: braise it with cabbage, mustard, lemon, cinnamon, and whatever else on hand. And goes without saying, we cooked everything in €3 wine. Ok, I'm totally lying, it was €2 wine.

But anyway. Enjoy this French-German-squat-living-hotplate-meal-inspired grilled cheese. It's pretty great, and reminds be of how well one can eat with very little money (because we save it all for chee$e).

What's in it:

bread (Queen St Gluten Free Bakery romano bean bread)

pork schnitzel (yes, I am aware it's not breaded, schnitzel just means cutlet)

red cabbage

     lemon

     cinnamon

apple

gouda

brie

grainy Dijon

raw creamed honey

onion

rosemary

butter

OMG GOTTA RUN, I'LL FINISH THIS POST LATER, YOU GET THE IDEA. Less instructional, more #foodporn: