grilled steak sandwich with figs and gorgonzola

Grilled steak sandwich with figs and gorgonzola

I seem to have lost my will to cook. I stare with dull eyes at the oven, the stove, the grill. Nothing.

No spark. No warm fuzzy tingle of inspiration. Nada.

This is usually my favorite time of year in the kitchen with farm share vegetables poking out the vegetable drawers and fresh fruit ripening on the counter. But this year…I don’t know. I’m happy to eat a peach and a piece of toast and leave it at that. This would be fine if I were a bachelor, but I’ve got three children who need nourishment and structure and all that stuff. So I find myself in the kitchen rattling the pans and fiddling with appliances, looking for some kind of interest inside my distracted brain. Toaster oven? Blender? Rice cooker? Nope.

The answer to phases like this, I learned from my mother, is the sandwich. After my parents got divorced, my mother, who had been cooking gourmet meals on demand for my father for many years, went on a cooking strike. We ate sandwiches. A lot of sandwiches. Tuna on toast. Grilled cheese. And my mother’s favorite, which she prepared and ate with such obvious pleasure that I still remember wanting to sit next to her just to watch – ripe tomato and mayo on white toast.

Yes, there were budget concerns that contributed to our sandwich fests, but there was more to it than that. It was a time in our lives when my mom had to rebuild, and she needed the kind of single-minded focus that wouldn’t allow for great outpourings in the kitchen. I feel something similar now. So I make a lot of sandwiches.

steak sandwich with figs and gorgonzola

And for the most part it is pretty pedestrian fare. But this week, even though I still didn’t want to get near a pan or anything else that generated heat, I had one creative burst. I was standing in Cardona’s when I glanced at the fresh figs on the counter. My brained lurched to attention. I grabbed them, a loaf of Italian bread, and a tiny block of gorgonzola and ran home. In the fridge was some leftover grilled steak. I had so much fun making this sandwich it almost felt like cooking. Figs and gorgonzola, yes, yes, awesome, I know. And steak and gorgonzola, a natural. But figs and steak? Hmmmm, never tried it. Well, let me just say that as threesomes go, this is a new favorite. I even managed to take a picture. OK, now back to my fog.

posted August 16, 2009 | link | comments (8)

filed under: Recipes, gorgonzola, sanwiches. figs, steak

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Comments

Thank you for writing this piece. I no longer am going to apologize for sandwiches during heat waves ( or any other time I too am in a fog). Sometimes a meal is just fuel, even though my teenager said after his sandwich Saturday night "But I thought you were going to cook". AAARG!
Where is the nearest fig tree? There has to be one near Delaware Ave in someone's backyard.

- by Uncle Laurie on Aug 18, 2009 at 4:55 PM | link

A mighty fine looking sandwich, there!

Oddly enough, I look at sandwiches as treats now. I never really have all of the components for a sandwich at one time, so I tend to buy them every once in a blue moon (I’m talking, maybe 2-3 times a year). Then again, I’m not nearly as creative as you are! I think about what I’d want on a sandwich, think of how much it would cost to buy all of the components, and then usually go “eh, I’ll just eat some leftovers”, heh.

- by Albany Jane on Aug 19, 2009 at 9:29 AM | link

I love tomato w/mayo sandwiches. Or, cucumber w/mayo. Both are very refreshing. One other dish for hot summer days, cold soba noodles topped with cilantro and dried seaweed.

I've never tried figs before. Is the whole thing edible, skin and all? I assume these are the ones they make into fig newtons?

- by josie on Aug 20, 2009 at 8:41 AM | link

To date, the best lunch I ever has was crusty bread smeared with pear and fig jam, and camembert, topped with leftover garlic chicken and a glass of ice cold chardonnay... heaven. But I digress, my question was do fresh figs require any special preparation? I have only dealt with dried figs...

- by Amanda on Aug 23, 2009 at 6:52 PM | link

Love the sandwich, just happen to have a heat wave and a cold grilled london broil in the fridge. Thanks for the great ethic tips. I have a wonderful Market North Park Produce in Poway CA that is an adventure every time I go there. I don't know what to I ask sometimes I get an answer sometimes ....??? I will be checking in with you and asking questions if you will allow. Thanks being here.

- by LuckyLinda on Aug 25, 2009 at 1:16 PM | link

Fresh figs are easy, just slice them up, you can eat them as is, skins and all.

- by celinabean on Aug 25, 2009 at 5:53 PM | link

Hello Ms Celina. This is my first time commenting on your site.
My friend Mari-san who recently went back to Japan once introduced me to your site and I have been enjoying your site since! (for about two years?!)
I enjoy eating/cooking food! (cooking... always trial and errors, but!) So, I want to enjoy more restaurant food, but with two very active little boys, I don't have much chance to go out. But when I do, I try to pick the 'right place' for us to enjoy the food! And I always go with what you recommnend in your site!!
Well, I just wanted to say 'thank you!' and looking forward to your blog update!
Oh, and my Dad gradurated from Hokkaido University :)
これからも、どうかよろしくお願いします！
冬華

- by Fuyuka on Aug 29, 2009 at 11:47 AM | link

Fuyuka-san,

I am so sorry that I haven't been posting more regularly. My kids go back to school next week, and my work schedule will go back to my regular routine. I promise more good places soon.

If you find a good place, be sure to let me know so I can check it out.


- by celinabean on Sep 1, 2009 at 9:44 PM | link

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