Just Say Cheese

When restaurant cooks talk about life “on the line,” they mean the adrenaline-charged but physically exhausting work most of us experience only on those rare occasions when we bravely--or foolishly--attempt sit-down dinners that require juggling several last-minute preparations. Most cooks last only a few years on the line before they either burn out or ascend to the position of head chef, a job that typically demands more management skill than mincing.

But it’s not always easy for chefs to walk away from the line. There is the immediate satisfaction of grilling a steak exactly medium-rare and watching from the open kitchen as the diner takes that first bite and realizes: Yes, this is just what I wanted. Home cooks hope for this reaction, too--it’s the reason many of us entertain.

Among famous chefs, there are a few who are reluctant to give up the line. Alice Waters at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse often works the salad station and plans the night’s meals when one of her crew goes on vacation, or just because she feels like a night in the kitchen. At Campanile in Los Angeles, co-owner Mark Peel can be found at the grill most nights; his pastry chef/bread baker wife, Nancy Silverton, can’t stay out of the kitchen either. Though she spends many evenings at home with their three kids, she sets aside one night a week to cook at the restaurant.

The reasons are simple: She misses her friends. And she likes to feed people. But instead of taking a place on the line, Silverton came up with what she calls Grilled Cheese Night. Every Thursday, she works the sandwich press behind the bar and turns out the most amazing sandwiches using her own sourdough breads and great cheeses from around the world.

Of course, it’s hard for chefs to stick to just one dish. Lately, Silverton has come up with a series of open-faced sandwiches she calls tartines. In France, a tartine is a slice of bread with butter, jam or another spread. Actually, Silverton’s sandwiches are more like overgrown Italian crostini, wide slices of bread with, say, tapenade (black-olive puree), chopped hard-boiled egg, arugula, a drizzle of olive oil and a few shavings of Parmesan cheese. Or she’ll rub toasted bread with a garlic clove and top it with prosciutto, a few stewed white cannellini beans, a couple of anchovies and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. Among her simplest tartines is one made of toasted bread topped with both aged and fresh goat cheese, olive oil, spices and herbs.

Many other combinations are bound to come to mind. “The key,” says Silverton, “is to make sure you don’t have too many ingredients. You’re using very strong flavors and interesting textures, so you don’t want too many things going on.”

GOAT CHEESE TARTINES (Makes 2 servings)

2 slices country white bread

2 slices aged goat cheese

4 slices fresh goat cheese

Extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt

Coarse cracked pepper

Paprika

2 small sprigs thyme

Spread butter on both sides of bread slices. Toast bread in ridged sandwich press or in broiler, toaster or ungreased cast-iron grill with ridges.

Place 1 slice aged goat cheese in center of each bread slice. Place 2 slices fresh goat cheese toward end of each bread slice. Drizzle cheese with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Lightly sprinkle paprika to taste on fresh goat cheese slices. Place thyme sprig on each aged goat cheese slice.

Food stylist: Donna Deane; Daisy Hill linen from Barney’s New York, Beverly Hills