Featured recipes from the American Harvest Workshop
article by Katheryn Freeberg
Appetizer by Chef Tom Wolfe
Red Hawk Cheese Grilled-Cheese Sandwich with Pickled Red Cabbage and Lavender Butter Served with 2000 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon BlancThis sandwich recipe is a modern take on a comfortable classic. Chef Wolf, Wolfe’s of New Orleans, used the washed-rind Red Hawk cheese from Sonoma’s Cowgirl Creamery, but you can substitute another washed-rind or medium-soft cheese like the aged Epoisses of Burgundy or a milder Havarti. Serves 8. Toss the slivered cabbage with the salt and then set aside in a colander to wilt and drain for 1 hour. Rinse the cabbage thoroughly in ice water to remove salt, then squeeze to remove excess moisture.
In a non-reactive bowl, combine the rice vinegar, wilted cabbage, olive oil, celery salt, and mustards. Stir to combine well. Set aside in the refrigerator.
In a saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat to clarify. Simmer for about 1 hour — the solids should separate and drop to the bottom, but not brown. Pour off the clarified butter — leaving the solids behind — and strain through a fine sieve or chinois. Stir the dried lavender into the warm clar-ified butter and set aside to cool. Strain again be-fore using.
To assemble the sandwiches, spread Dijon mustard over one side of each slice of bread. Lay a slice of bread, mustard-side down, on the work surface. Top with a slice of cheese and a heaping spoonful of pickled cabbage. Top with a second slice of bread, mustard-side up, and press lightly.
In a 12-inch, non-stick sauté pan, heat 2-3 tablespoons of lavender butter over medium heat. Add the sandwiches to the pan and brown on one side. Drizzle with a little more lavender butter, turn and brown the second side. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels, and cut each sandwich in half on the diagonal. Serve warm.
