Wilted Greens and Goat Cheese Sandwiches and Potato Skins

When The Husband travels, I typically don't make "Dinner." I don't know why I feel the need to make "Dinner" when he is home. It is not that he expects a gourmet, 4 course meal with candelabras and soft music (yeah right!). Tonight was sandwich and potato skins for the kids and I.

I picked up a new cookbook. Actually, Amazon delivered it to my door yesterday. A Great American Cook: Recipes from the Home Kitchen of One of Our Most Influential Chefs is a cookbook that my personal chef friends and I chose to "cook through." We are going to make as many of the recipes as we can and compare notes, tips, and photos.

I chose to make a version of Wilted Greens and Goat Cheese Sandwiches. I have a hard time making a recipe just as it is written; I use recipes more as a guide. When I adapt a recipe, it can usually lead to problems. Not that the result will be a failure. I typically never write down how I make a recipe so my family never sees it again. Hopefully my blogging will help remedy that.

The sandwiches were amazing. I was so enamored with them that I poured my wine into my daughter's glass. We had a good laugh about that. I also used the goat cheese mixture to stuff some of our potato skins. I can see this recipe as being a base for many more of my future cooking esccapades.

The notes to the recipe in the cookbook state, "Fresh goat cheese, minced onions, and cooked greens make for a quick and sophisticated sandwich." I felt really sophisticated eating my sandwich as my kids wrestled in the kitchen and the dog licked the dishes in the dishwasher.

Use this recipe as your starting point and create something magical.

Wilted Greens and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

adapted from A Great American Cook by Jonathan Waxman

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
2 large mushrooms, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup mixed greens finely chopped (I used the organic mixed greens from Costco)
1/4 pound goat cheese
butter
4 slices from a baguette
cooked, empty potato skins
cooked, crumbled bacon

Heat a saute pan to medium high. Add the olive oil, onions, and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 - 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook and additional minute. Add the greens and quickly wilt.

In a small bowl, combine onion mixture and goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a small saute pan and add a pat of butter. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture on 2 slices of the bread. Top each with another slice of bread. Cook sandwich until browned on each side.

For potato skins, preheat oven to broil. Fill each skin with a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture and top with crumbled bacon. Broil until cheese melts, about 3 - 5 minutes.