13 August 2009

Crab Bisque and Apple Brie Panini with Homemade Bread



Thrift stores are a wonderful thing. While the current fashion is to think of them as places where one can "upcycle" materials such as clothes, housewares and appliances, I have always relied on thrift stores since I am a perpetual student with no money. I've been in college for literally a decade this year, so I'm no stranger to the 50 cent cardigan. As I wandered around the Palouse Treasures thrift store a few days ago, I ended up in the kitchen section, where I inevitably find all kinds of interesting gadgets and drink/serveware that have seen better days. I was amazed to find a bread machine, still wrapped and in the box, for only ten dollars! Of course, I bought it. I've used a bread machine before, but at nearly a hundred dollars, buying one of my own has just never been an expense I could muster.


After playing around with it for hours, I ended up with a loaf of whole wheat bread that just begged to be panini'd (not a word, you say? bah!). After arranging Fuji apple slices and some brie on the freshly baked bread, I spread on a honey mustard mayonnaise and went to town.


Honey Mustard Mayonnaise

1 tbl. mayo (I used my Vegenaise)
1 tsp. stone ground mustard
1 tsp. honey

Directions
1. Mix the ingredients in a small bowl until ready for use. Serves 1.






After wandering around Tastespotting for awhile last week, I fell in love with the Tomato-Crab Bisque from Eating Well, Living Thin's blog. While I didn't have tomato juice on hand, I did have a big bottle of R.W. Knudsen's Organic Very Veggie juice that was a wonderful replacement. Lower in sodium than most juices (or even low sodium tomato juice), the veggie juice was already wonderfully complex in flavor, so mild, tender crab meat was its match made in heaven.





In other news, Zander the Howlin Wolf made it onto ihasahotdog (the sister site to icanhascheeseburger)! He was thrilled to hear the news, and would like to thank the academy. See Zander in all his glory here: http://tinyurl.com/pz2bsf Or just look below....



3 comments:

Jessica@FoodMayhem said...

$10 for bread machine. Holy Yummies!
Meanwhile, Zander steals the show!

Jackie said...

Yuur apple brie sandwich sounds delicious. I love vegenaise and it's especially good for the vegetarians in my house. We usually make our own. It's so easy. Check out the recipe at http://www.phamfatale.com/id_457/title_Grilled-Polenta-with-a-Creamy-Lemon-Caper-Goat-Ricotta-Cheese-Sauce/

EMC said...

@Jessica, Zander has been requesting his own trailer for lounging around "on set." Not sure what this means...

@talat Thanks! I've been looking for a good vegan mayo recipe, and I'm definitely giving this a try. So much cheaper than store bought, and I have all the ingredients on hand already!