Category Archives: Food

All food entries

BBQ, Blue Cheese, Blue Stilton, Breads, Cooking styles, Food, Italian salsa verde, Olive Oil, Open Faced Sandwiches, Pepper, Pugliese, Roquefort, Salt, Sandwich Styles, Sandwiches, Valdeon, Zucchini

Rhapsody In Green: Grilled Zucchini Sandwich

June 8, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

Many of the sandwiches on this blog are the result of a specific plan and shopping trip to realize an idea that one or both of us have. I’ll be sitting at work and have an idea that just must be pursued. More often than not, this means I have to make a trip to the grocery store to purchase one of more of the critical component for the dreamed-up sandwich. Other times, a sandwich just sort of emerges from the ingredients on hand- it’s a case of just opening the refrigerator and pantry doors and letting our creativity run wild. In Jamaica, we have a saying for that: “tun yuh han’ an mek fashion”. I won’t bother providing the literal translation, since, as with all languages, much gets lost in that endeavor. I suppose the nearest English equivalent I can find is: ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Hmm.. even that attempt seems to dilute the essence of this colloquialism.

Anyway, this sandwich was one result of us making fashion by sleight of hand. The ingredients – pugiliese bread, blue cheese and salsa verde left over from the much-mentioned recent wedding @ and zucchini left unused from recent stir fry.

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Balsamic vinegar, Basil, Carrot, Creamy garlic paste, Fish, Food, Garlic Spread, nasturtium flower petals, Salmon, Sandwiches, Stored danish smelly cheese, Swiss chard

Swiss Chard Roll With Salmon

June 6, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

I fell in love with Swiss chard at first sight. I first spied this vegetable at the local farmers market while I lived in Illinois. And there is a specificity to my infatuation – they must be of the rainbow variety. Large shiny radiant green leaves pillared by a red stalk and multiple veins throughout. What’s not to love? Two years ago, I took my infatuation to the next level and started a garden flirtation with this nutrient-dense veggie. I dedicated a 4 by 1 ft section of our tomato garden to their cultivation. Unfortunately, I waited too long to harvest and by then they had an earthy flavor that was most disappointing. Still, I just loved the way they looked in the garden and so allowed them to grow to near Jurassic proportions. Last year, in my second attempt, our nutrient depleted soil resulted in a single plant which I was loathe to cut. Enter this year and Anders’ threat that if we are giving up much-prized tomato real estate for this vegetable, then we had better have something to taste for it. Thus warned, I embarked on a mission of soil amendment research and implementation that an agronomist would approve of.

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Blue Cheese, Breads, Cheeses, Cilantro, Food, Frying, Nine grain and seed, Open Faced Sandwiches, Plantain, Sandwiches, Soft white bread, Sourdough

Fried Plantain With Blue Cheese Sandwich

June 5, 2010 Andy 1 Comment

I miss plantains. For those who don’t know, it is the larger cousin of the banana. Unlike the banana it is typically cooked before eaten. I suppose one could just peel and eat it like you would a banana, but that would just be… well, wrong. My favorite way to enjoy a plantain is to fry it and simply eat as a side dish. Unfortunately, along with my strong accent, one of the things I lost in moving to San Diego is the ready availability of plantains.

Two weeks ago, I had a meeting in a neighborhood in San Diego known for it’s “ethnic’ population. Ehem… let me pause here to continue my fight against the application of this terminology. Why is this term reserved for non-Caucasians alone? Are they by some miracle of biology without shared cultural heritage that underpins the term ‘ethnicity’? But I digress, linguistic misapplication aside, I was lucky to be in an area of town with a fair share of Vietnamese and Filipino supermarkets.

As I drove through I remembered a plantain dish I once had in a Filipino restaurant many years ago. “Dare I hope?”, I wondered. I was not disappointed, I came out of the supermarket with a huge green plaintain. It took about one week to ripen, and the cooked fruit was a key ingredient in Anders’ breakfast last week Saturday.

(The other half found its way in a plantain flambé – my take on the banana flambe, something I am unable to make because of my one-woman boycott of the US commercial banana industry).

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BBQ, Beef ribs, Breads, Cheeses, Closed sandwiches, Food, Olive Oil, Panini, Sandwich Styles, Sandwiches, Soft white bread, Sourdough, Stored danish smelly cheese, Tarragon

Phil’s BBQ Beef Rib Panini Sandwich

June 1, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

We just got married, and we were very saddened by the Icelandic cloud of ash that kept several of our Danish friends from attending our wedding. But everything can be a blessing in disguise. We didn’t tell our caterer, Phil’s BBQ, so we ended up with extra beef ribs in the freezer. While we miss our friends, at least we have ribs. And as the old saying goes, “if life gives you ribs, make rib sandwiches.” And so here we are, summer just started, and this wonderful panini (thank you Scott and Choo for that wonderful machine!!) is our first and most basic beef rib sandwich. Yum.

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Baking, Breads, Butter, Food, Garlic, Goat cheese, Mascarpone, Meats, Mushrooms, Pesto, Pizza, Pizza dough, Prosciutto, Roasted garlic, Sandwich Styles

Pizza: Prosciutto, Sauteed Garlic Mushrooms, Mascarpone/Pesto Cheese, Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese

May 27, 2010 Andy 1 Comment

A great tasting pizza for every occasion. This is fairly simple to make except for the dough, but places like Trader Joe’s now sell pizza dough which should make this super easy. We made this pizza as part of a giant birthday party involving 8 other pizzas which you can find elsewhere on amazing sandwiches.

Pizza: Prosciutto, Sauteed Garlic Mushrooms, Rembrandt Gouda Cheese, Mascarpone/Pesto Cheese, Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese

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Food, Sandwiches, Stored danish smelly cheese, Thebirkes

Thebirkes With Helge Cheese

May 27, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

This is almost as simple as you can get. A Danish “thebirkes” with cheese. The cheese is called “Helge”, and that’s all there is to it. Very good, very easy, great for breakfast.

Note: A thebirkes is like a very flaky croissant, with poppy seeds on top, and with a marzipan mix inside. Read more about danish pastries.

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Appetizer, Basil, Crispbread, Fish, Food, Herbs, Italian salsa verde, Open Faced Sandwiches, Salmon, Salsa Verde, Sandwich Styles, Sandwiches

Recipe: Grilled Salmon Crispbread Appetizer

May 24, 2010 Andy 1 Comment

Ahh, the joy of simplicity. A crispbread with italian salsa verde, a slice of leftover grilled salmon, and a leaf of fresh basil. Works extremely well with with a glass of chilled white wine when taking a break from doing yardwork.

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Bell Pepper, Breads, Bresaola, Cucumber, Food, Garlic, Iceberg, Meats, Olive Oil, Onion, Pesto, Pizza-sandwich roll, Reviews, Sandwiches, Tomato, Vegetables

Review: Cavallino Bresaola Pizza Sandwich

May 23, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

When I grew up in Denmark, being a student, one of my favorite meals was take-out pizzas. Each block seemed to have a pizzeria back then, each making essentially the exact same pizzas. They were delivered in cardboard boxes, and inevitably took on the taste of the box. Thus, they were named among students “cardboard-box pizzas,” for their taste, not for their delivery method. On my last trip home, I got a craving for a cardboard pizza. I’ve had the craving before, got the pizza, and regretted it. I guess my taste buds have evolved. This time, I decided to go for a pizza-sandwich from a local shop on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen; Cavallino.

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Chervil, Crayfish, Food, Horn Roll, Lovage

Danish ‘Horn’ Sandwich With Crayfish Tail Salad And Lovage

May 16, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

The loveliness of Denmark is much reduced by the frequent rains, but infinitely improved by the bakery on every block. This sandwich revolves around the ‘horn’, a roll shaped a little like a horn, and covered in puppy seeds (‘birkes’ we call them in Denmark). The crayfish tail salad is from the local fish-monger, and tasted delicious.

Danish 'Horn' Sandwich With Crayfish Tail Salad And Chervil — Danish 'Horn' Sandwich With Crayfish Tail Salad And Lovage

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Breads, Butter, Chervil, Chorizo, Corned Beef, Food, Herbs, Liver pâté, Meats, Open Faced Sandwiches, Roll, Salami, Sandwich Styles, Sandwiches, Smears

Sandwich Roll With Jalapeno Chorizo, Corned Beef, Liver Pate and Chervil

May 12, 2010 Andy Leave a comment

Sometimes little things can really show the differences in culture. I was visiting Denmark recently, buying the roll below at the local baker. As I was about to leave the bakery, I saw a woman coming to the door through the glass window. I opened the door to hold it for her, but instead of coming inside, she looked at me and stepped aside to let me out. In Denmark, chivalry is dead if it ever existed, and this woman realized that I got to the door first, and so I should use it first. She did not for one second consider I was holding the door for her. Being Danish, and hungry, I left the baker letting the door fall shut behind me. Perhaps this is the price of equality between the sexes, 50 years of hard struggle in Denmark. No man should hold the door for a woman, because “Don’t they think we can do it ourselves?” Danish women often think that men being chivalrous are a sign from the men that they feel superior. I guess you can argue both ways, but a glimpse into my old culture that could perhaps use an upgrade. My sister loves it when I hold the doors, so there is still hope.

Sandwich Roll With Jalapeno Chorizo, Saltkød, Liver Pate and Chervil — Sandwich Roll With Jalapeno Chorizo, Corned Beef, Liver Pate and Chervil

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