Portabello Sandwich

Who said John's birthday wasn't brimming with excitement? The day included a visit with a blackhawk helicopter pilot, a picnic in the city, an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, and a trip to the local emergency room.
And a delicious portabello mushroom sandwich.

To enjoy, combine:
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1 t dried, crushed basil
1 t garlic
1 t sea salt
dash of freshly ground pepper
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other ingredients include:
3 portabello mushroom caps
1/4 C (several slices) red onion
4 T mayonnaise
1 t orange juice
fresh, sliced tomato
havarti cheese*
thickly sliced artisan bread or other crusty bread, toasted

Combine the first set of ingredients in a large pan (and a bit more olive oil, if necessary). Saute 3 sliced portabello mushroom caps and a few slices of red onion on low heat. The saute will take about 10 minutes, until the onions and mushrooms are tender and plump.

Meanwhile, combine about 4 T mayonnaise with 1 t orange juice. Set aside.
Now, here comes the tricky part.

Ideally, you should toast the bread so it's quite crusty. There is a lot of moisture in this sandwich. I used a toaster to mediocre results. Perhaps it would be best to carefully broil the bread with a havarti cheese slice on 2 pieces of the bread.

Then, assemble the sandwiches. Each should have
2 slices bread
1 well-melted slice of havarti
generous heap of portabello mushroom slices and onions
1-2 T citrus mayonnaise
several slices tomato

Eat hot. Yum!!

*Havarti cheese is one of my favorites, but I'd bet that goat cheese would be a fabulous addition to this sandwich. I think we'll try that next time.