tomato paste, olives, bay leaves, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and 3 tablespoons adobo mixture. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Then return the chicken and any juices on the platter to the pot. Continue cooking, turning to coat the chicken in the sofrito-chorizo mixture, for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Stir in the rice. Then stir in the chicken stock and beer, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Boil, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, give the ingredients a stir, cover, and cook until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
Names: Connie and Bill Fisher
Establishment: The Pop Shop
Hometown: Collingswood, New Jersey
Website: www.thepopshopusa.com
Phone: (856) 869-0111
“Suddenly the crowd goes nuts and gets really loud. I look at Connie and give her a look like ‘What’s going on?’ And then I see him: Bobby Flay, standing inside our restaurant with a giant grin plastered on his face. At that point I think both Connie and I touched Heaven.”
—BILL FISHER
If it’s griddled and gooey, it must be…grilled cheese. It seems my spatula has some other ideas. Can I keep my team from melting down long enough to take the crown or will a guy named “Stink” be the big cheese of this Throwdown?
Connie and Bill “Stink” Fisher are on a mission to spread their love of great grilled cheese around the world. Their restaurant, The Pop Shop in Collingswood, New Jersey, offers thirty-one varieties of grilled cheese composed from a pantry stocked with eight styles of artisan bread, nine types of cheese, and countless fillings. Toasted bread and luscious melted cheese are the constants, but as the award-winning grilled cheese sandwiches at The Pop Shop prove, it doesn’t have to be ordinary to be delicious!
The Fishers were trying to polish their act for a Food Network special called “All Grown Up.” The concept of the special was one that the Fishers were definitely familiar with: highlighting favorite kids’ menus that have received a grown-up twist. Always happy to share the love, Connie and Stink had invited friends and family to The Pop Shop for a gourmet grilled cheese party featuring “The Calvert,” a grilled cheese of focaccia bread filled with turkey, Monterey Jack, bacon, and balsamic vinegar. Excellent choice—excellent sandwich.
We all grew up eating the classic grilled cheese made with American cheese—which I love to this day—but for this competition, I needed to do something a little more refined. So I was off to the test kitchen to come up with the perfect combination for my grown-up grilled cheese. My first thought was to use an aged cheddar, but while it has great flavor, cheddar doesn’t melt especially well; it tends to get a little grainy. I decided to use a combo of Brie and goat cheese—creamy Brie for its “gooey” factor and aged goat cheese for its great pungent flavor. My cheese choices weren’t winning approval from Stephanie and Miriam, but I worked hard to convince them. We’d have to leave this one up to the judges. In addition to the cheese, I added crispy bacon and tart green tomatoes.
In Collingswood and headed for The Pop Shop…Will Stink be able to smell me coming? He didn’t, but both he and Connie gladly accepted my challenge to a grilled cheese Throwdown. Sensing the crowd was firmly on the Fishers’ side, I had to work extra-hard to win them over. Both sides were flipping grilled cheeses like short-order cooks to get this hungry crew fed. They looked pleased with both offerings, but The Pop Shop’s loyal fan base seemed to lean toward theirs.
Luckily for me, food blogger Arthur Etchells and
Philadelphia City Paper
food editor Drew Lazor—not the crowd—were the ones calling this race. Their judging criteria were taste, texture, and originality. They praised the Fishers’ atypical bread choice with the focaccia, as well as their avocado
6. Stir in the rice. Then stir in the chicken stock and beer, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Boil, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, give the ingredients a stir, cover, and cook until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
Names: Connie and Bill Fisher
Establishment: The Pop Shop
Hometown: Collingswood, New Jersey
Website: www.thepopshopusa.com
Phone: (856) 869-0111
“Suddenly the crowd goes nuts and gets really loud. I look at Connie and give her a look like ‘What’s going on?’ And then I see him: Bobby Flay, standing inside our restaurant with a giant grin plastered on his face. At that point I think both Connie and I touched Heaven.”
—BILL FISHER
If it’s griddled and gooey, it must be…grilled cheese. It seems my spatula has some other ideas. Can I keep my team from melting down long enough to take the crown or will a guy named “Stink” be the big cheese of this Throwdown?
Connie and Bill “Stink” Fisher are on a mission to spread their love of great grilled cheese around the world. Their restaurant, The Pop Shop in Collingswood, New Jersey, offers thirty-one varieties of grilled cheese composed from a pantry stocked with eight styles of artisan bread, nine types of cheese, and countless fillings. Toasted bread and luscious melted cheese are the constants, but as the award-winning grilled cheese sandwiches at The Pop Shop prove, it doesn’t have to be ordinary to be delicious!
The Fishers were trying to polish their act for a Food Network special called “All Grown Up.” The concept of the special was one that the Fishers were definitely familiar with: highlighting favorite kids’ menus that have received a grown-up twist. Always happy to share the love, Connie and Stink had invited friends and family to The Pop Shop for a gourmet grilled cheese party featuring “The Calvert,” a grilled cheese of focaccia bread filled with turkey, Monterey Jack, bacon, and balsamic vinegar. Excellent choice—excellent sandwich.
We all grew up eating the classic grilled cheese made with American cheese—which I love to this day—but for this competition, I needed to do something a little more refined. So I was off to the test kitchen to come up with the perfect combination for my grown-up grilled cheese. My first thought was to use an aged cheddar, but while it has great flavor, cheddar doesn’t melt especially well; it tends to get a little grainy. I decided to use a combo of Brie and goat cheese—creamy Brie for its “gooey” factor and aged goat cheese for its great pungent flavor. My cheese choices weren’t winning approval from Stephanie and Miriam, but I worked hard to convince them. We’d have to leave this one up to the judges. In addition to the cheese, I added crispy bacon and tart green tomatoes.
In Collingswood and headed for The Pop Shop…Will Stink be able to smell me coming? He didn’t, but both he and Connie gladly accepted my challenge to a grilled cheese Throwdown. Sensing the crowd was firmly on the Fishers’ side, I had to work extra-hard to win them over. Both sides were flipping grilled cheeses like short-order cooks to get this hungry crew fed. They looked pleased with both offerings, but The Pop Shop’s loyal fan base seemed to lean toward theirs.
Luckily for me, food blogger Arthur Etchells and
Philadelphia City Paper
food editor Drew Lazor—not the crowd—were the ones calling this race. Their judging criteria were taste, texture, and originality. They praised the Fishers’ atypical bread choice with the focaccia, as well as their avocado
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