Rye, Turkey & Cheese Melt

A cool rainy Summer day inspired this twist on an old classic, it's like a grilled cheese on steroids. Normally we would feast on a cold sandwich on a hot Summer day. You know the old saying~~~~necessity is the mother of all inventions.

It's very important that you get yourself a good quality rye bread from a bakery. It grills up nicely to a golden brown and when you bite into it there is a nice crispy crunch on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside. I also use low fat & low sodium turkey lunch meat along with a low fat cheese. I chose Dusseldorf style mustard, but use your favorite mustard or cheese of your choice if you do not want to try my suggestions. *Be brave and experiment.*I became hooked on Dusseldorf mustard when I spotted it in the international section of my grocery store. The little mug it is in initially caught my attention, but I must admit that I am addicted to it once I tried it.

• Dusseldorf style mustard
• 3 Jarlsburg lite reduced fat cheese slices
• Deitz & Watson lite turkey slices, 40% less sodium & 99% fat free, 6 slices
• Russian or Jewish Rye bread, 4 slices
• Butter or Margarine

 I made two sandwiches at a time, one for me and one for my Stud Muffin. He raved about how good it was. He can be a little picky because he is so spoiled. The bonus to that is that he is my toughest critic and will always be honest with me. So my Feasty Fans you all know that it is Stud Muffin approved and you get to reap the rewards of his critiquing .

You will need a 12 inch nonstick skillet and two 8 inch nonstick skillets. Preheat all 3 skillets over medium heat, meanwhile butter the 4 slices of rye bread just as you would for a grilled cheese, only on one side of the bread. I fold 3 slices of the lunch meat on top of each other and place it in the 8 inch skillet (I fold it to fit the size of the rye bread), repeat with second 8 inch skillet. I do this so the the meat will be hot in the center and the cheese will melt better as well. Flipping only once to heat up both sides of the lunch meat.

Now on on bare side of the last two slices of the rye bread spread the mustard and place into the 12 inch skillet mustard side up and add about 1 1/2 cheese slices to the top, repeat for second sandwich. Now top the cheese with the hot turkey lunch meat, then spread mustard on the bare side of the last two slices of rye bread and place mustard side down on top of the turkey. Grilling until golden brown and flipping only once.

Yum, Yum, Yum!!!

Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Garlic is one of the loves of my life and when you add it to Olive Oil I'm in heaven. If you have not tried this it is a must try. It's expensive to buy, but I finally mastered a easy recipe that tastes great and will save you money as well. So get yourself some nice crusty bread and some grated Italian cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. Did you know that this hard cheese is a high calcium lower fat cheese and packed with protein? They are very healthy cheeses to eat, I just love that. Warning this could turn you into a bread, cheese & oil eating machine. It's a bit touchy to make stove top but I mastered this baby in the crockpot. WARNING! The garlic has to simmer to make sure that you do not risk botulism poisoning. So simmer away and enjoy the aroma of garlic in your home while it cooks.

•  1 1/2 cups Olive Oil
•  9 cloves of garlic

You will need to smash out the garlic cloves and crush them with a flat knife, this will now make the skin peel easily off of the clove. Slice off the little root end of the cloves and them throw away. after peeling all of the cloves smash one more time with the knife to help release the garlic goodness. I must confess that at this time I stop and smell my sticky garlic fingers, oh how I love the smell of garlic.

Now place the garlic cloves single layer in a crockpot and cover with the Olive Oil. This is where you need to know how high a heat your crockpot truly cooks at. I have 4 of them and they all seem to vary in the amount of heat that they put out. The one I used is older and cooked mine perfectly on low for 2 hours. Look at the oil and it should be hot enough to see light bubbles coming up, but you do not want to simmer long enough to turn the garlic cloves brown. The first time you make this I would start checking it after 30 minutes.

Once the oil has simmered I pour it into my little oil canister while straining it through a little wire strainer and funnel into my oil container.

Let cool on counter and then put on stopper and store in cabinet. To think that I almost donated my old oil canister to a second hand place. I always loved this little canister and never wanted to part with it. I am so glad that I saved this and have a use for it once again.

By the way I made this oil one week ago and we have already almost made all gone. Mangia!