By Eli Farrington
They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and according to the world-wide-web, Humboldt County is the furthest point from New York City in the entire state of California. Well, the heart wants what it wants, and my heart wants New York’s most notorious bodega sandwich; a chopped cheese. But not just any chopped cheese — a crunchy, hippie-dippie, locally-sourced organic one with ingredients procured from the one-of-a-kind Arcata Farmer’s Market.
Here’s the list of ingredients that I used for this original recipe. Almost all of them were purchased from the farmer’s market, but some items were out of season, and thus I had to bust a quick mission to the NorthCoast Co-Op to fetch the rest.
- 1lb ground beef from Crazy River Ranch
- 1/2lb mushroom of your choice from Mycality Mushrooms, chopped
- 1lb of onions from I and I Farms, chopped
- 1 bag of Spicy Mix greens from Little River Farm
- 1 container of Mexican Cheddar Goat Milk Cheese from Spring Hill Farmstead Goat Cheese
- 1 tomato from the Co-Op, sliced
- 1 lemon from the Co-Op
- 1 green bell pepper from the Co-Op, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper from the Co-Op, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic from the Co-Op, finely diced
- Bread of your choice, I used a Dutch Crunch roll
- Salt, pepper, and seasonings of your choice
- Olive oil
My first stop was Mycality Mushrooms, where I copped a bag of chestnut mushrooms from owner Michael Egan. I try to buy from him every weekend, and he always hooks it up with the freshest mushrooms in town. He stuffed a few heaping handfuls into a brown paper bag, and sent me on my way with a smile on my face.
I continued to meander down the sidewalk in search of my next ingredient, until my gaze eventually settled on a sign for fresh ground beef. It was then that I was happily greeted by Jessica Lovelady of Crazy River Ranch. When I told her that I was making a chopped cheese recipe for LJ, she immediately offered me the beef free of charge. I politely declined, but her kindness stuck with me for the rest of my little shopping spree. Jessica, if you’re reading this, you’re dope as hell and your beef is straight bussin’.
A few booths down the block, I found myself at Little River Farms’ tent, where I purchased a bag of Spicy Mix salad greens from father-son duo John and Mathias Severn. I used the greens to make a simple, but delicious, salad to top off the sandwich.
My next stop was Spring Hill Farmstead Goat Cheese, owned and operated by Cheesemaker Karen Eide. Karen sold me a container of her incredible Diablo flavored Mexican Cheddar Goat Milk Cheese — you can really tell this stuff is made with love.
My final destination was I and I Farms, where I bought some organic onions from Omar Aviles. I and I Farms is fully organic, and always has a huge variety of beautiful fruits and vegetables every weekend.
I got the rest of my ingredients from the North Coast Co-Op, including a lemon, some bell peppers, a garlic clove, a tomato and the bread.
Now that we’ve gathered all our ingredients, let’s fire up the grill and do the damn thing!
Sureeee, sureeee!
- First, we put the ground beef on the grilllll.
- Next, we slap the chopped up onions, peppers, garlic and mushrooms on the grilllll.
- Now, we chop it upppp.
- After we chop it up, we’re gonna go ahead and season the beef. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, rosemary and creole seasoning.
- Once the beef is seasoned, we’re gonna go ahead and add the cheese — CHOPPED CHEEEEESE!
- Next, we toast the Dutch Crunch roll face-side down.
- Now that the cheese is melted, we scoop the chop onto the Dutch Crunch roll.
- Next we top the chop with some thinly sliced tomatoes. Don’t forget to season them with salt and pepper now, y’all!
- Finally, we top with a salad made from the greens, using salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil for the dressing.
- And now, we stack it upppp — And the result isss…
I hope y’all enjoyed my rendition of this classic New York bodega sandwich with an eccentric, tree-hugger flower child twist. Make it, eat it, and let me know what you think — and for the love of God, don’t forget the bev!
Eli is a highly intelligent human life form working as the Managing Editor for The Lumberjack. In his free time, he enjoys getting busy in the kitchen. He keeps one finger on the spatula, and the other on the pulse. Email him at eaf62@humboldt.edu