MONDAY
Roast Beef Sandwiches with Baby Arugula, Caramelized Onions & Crumbled Bleu Cheese | Carrot & Apple Soup
Mondays…
Maddie & I left early this morning for the barn up in Petaluma. We were lucky…after days of torrential downpours of rain the sun made a welcome appearance! Today, we needed to pack up “King” {our twelve year-old thoroughbred and bring him back to Pioneer Equine Hospital for surgery on his airway}. If you follow this blog, you may recall this trip happening about a month ago. Well {on that first trip}, timing is everything and, as luck would have it, the pre-surgical blood work-up revealed that King’s white-blood cell count was low so we opted out of surgery. We brought him home and {showing no visible signs of illness} we indulged him in “super supplements”, his daily workout and, most importantly, time with his beloved Maddie. Within days, he had fought off whatever bug he was battling & upon testing, his white blood cell count was back to normal. So, here we go again…
The trip to Pioneer takes 2½ hours {one-way} so I knew this would be an all-day affair. Maddie {now seventeen & driving on her own…except for pulling the horse trailer} and I don’t spend nearly as much time together as we used to so today was…a gift. We talked, listened to Christmas music, talked some more and…well, talked more. Sometimes gifts come in the oddest packages…
We got home & it was dark already so tonight’s post will be short on photos…basically, short in general. Tonight’s dinner of sandwiches was perfect {one of the benefits of planning ahead}.
First, start the soup…I had planned on having more leftover carrots from last night’s dinner {but they were so good} so I needed to start from scratch:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 large carrots, cleaned and peeled, cut into ½ inch slices
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & diced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- salt & pepper to taste
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup unsweetened apple juice or cider
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil & then add the onion. Cook until translucent.
- Add the carrots, apples & cinnamon and sauté for 8 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste and then add the stock & apple juice. Bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes…until carrots and apples are tender.
- Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Purée soup in a blender or with a handheld immersion blender. Serve immediately. {For tonight’s soup, I added a few bleu cheese crumbles for creaminess}
The left-over roast beef from last night’s dinner was sliced thin on the deli slicer…
For the caramelized onions…I took 2 sweet maui onions and thinly sliced. In a pot, I melted 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat & then added the sliced onions. I continued to cook the onions, stirring often, until the onions became a rich golden brown.
Roast Beef Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions & Bleu Cheese
To make the sandwiches, heat rustic bread or rolls in a 350° oven for 5 minutes. On one-half of the roll spread some dijon mustard. On the other half, place a few bleu cheese crumbles…top with slices of roast beef, arugula & caramelized onions. Serve with a side of the soup.
King’s surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Please keep your fingers crossed {and, if you are so inclined, say a small prayer}…I hope to deliver good news by the end of the week.
