While we do enjoy making falafels from scratch, it is a lot easier to buy them pre-made. So after an on-the-spur-of-the-moment shopping spree in the local grocery store, we found ourselves with a packet of falafels. They are quite acceptable in taste, a little wet in consistency (it’s not easy to preserve crunchiness after freezing), and overall a good experience. If you have fresh ones, by all means do use them, but for a Thursday sandwich without too much work involved, just get something like these. We find that falafel can be quite a nice change to a lot of dishes, such as salads or on sandwiches (like here).
Falafel Sandwich with Garlic-Yogurt Dressing, Lime, Pesto, Spinach and Grape Tomatoes on Ciabatta Bread
Christmas Day we made Alton Brown’s Mighty Duck, since duck is a tradition in our family. Truth be said, we’re not sure if Alton’s recipe counts as a roasted or steamed duck, but we’re calling it roasted for now. This resulted in a delicious box of leftovers, which of course is perfect for sandwiches. So yesterday we baked ciabatta breads to celebrate the Mighty Duck.
Duck Sandwich With Ciabatta Bread, Alton Brown's Mighty Duck, Olives, Chili Sauce, Pecorino Romano Cheese
‘Twas the eve before Christmas and all through the house, the smell of Jamaican Christmas ham was tempting my nose. Okay.. a poor attempt at a rhyme, but you get the message. We were starving and still had a few hours before the traditional Scandinavian Christmas (Eve) dinner. Scandinavian countries celebrate Christmas on the 24th while Jamaicans (like Americans) reserve our celebration for the 25th. To satisfy each of our cultural programming, we have two celebrations in our home- in effect, two Christmases. We spend Scandinavian Christmas with some dear friends with whom Anders is able to reconnect with his childhood memories and reserve Jamaican Christmas for the two of us. A necessary component of any Jamaican Christmas dinner is a slowly baked ham infused with the combined flavors of cloves, pineapple and brown sugar. It was a hit at last years Scandinavian dinner (go figure) so this year we decided to make it a staple. Yeah to cultural crossovers!
In the midst of the baking of the ham, we got hungry. So to satisfy the empty stomach, but not sacrifice too much space for the barrage of food that is Christmas dinner, we created this sandwich. A fresh ciabatta from Bread and Cie in Hillcrest forms the base, and is lightly warmed until the Spanish Valdeon cheese starts melting. We are always stacked up on smoked salmon from Costco. The sandwich turned truly international when we decided to add a hint of sweetness with a spoonful of tomato relish from Meyer’s (in Denmark). The combination of ingredients may seem surprising, but it was absolutely sublime. Hunger abated, we could now wait until dinner time.
Ciabatta Sandwich With Smoked Salmon, Valdeon Cheese, Sesame Seeds And Tomato Relish
The day before we made this sandwich, Wendie cooked an amazing pork tenderloin based on an Alton Brown recipe. It is perhaps the best tenderloin I’ve ever had. Having also recently visited a Chinese grocery store, we had a few king mushrooms in our refrigerator, so we thought they would go brilliantly with the pork. We chose the pecorino romano cheese to add a little saltiness, the vinaigrette dressing to make it a bit more moist. And so, one thing led to another, and we ended up with this fantastic sandwich. It’s messy to eat, but it really brings out the best in the leftover pork. Enjoy.
Pork Sandwich with Muffaletta, Pecorino Romano Cheese, Paprika, Yellow Bell Pepper and Sautéed King Mushroom and Vidala Onion Dressing
Wanting desperately to create something fantastic, our recent endeavors into the world of pasta-making inspired these two sandwiches. Well actually, it was perhaps one part inspiration and two parts madness (at least, according to Wendie). She thinks that this was a waste of perfectly good ravioli but I was not to be deterred on this quest. The sandwiches were both reasonably tolerable, but they were neither great nor amazing. However, in the interest of full disclosure, they do warrant a cautionary mention on the blog.
Perhaps some of you have ideas for improvements, or just need a extreme discouragement from taking this culinary road less travelled. In either case, I present the result of two days of making homemade pasta (an otherwise fantastic butternut squash reduction inside our own ravioli) that resulted in these two extra extra large raviolis on sandwiches.
Butternut squash ravioli sandwich with fried sage and paprikaButternut squash ravioli sandwich with Asian pear and balsamic vinegar reduction
Another day.. another sandwich. I’ve been dreaming of making a salmon patty ever since we started this blog. Today, desire rendezvoused with opportunity. I used Paula Deen’s recipe (of Food Network fame) for the salmon burger and improvised on the cilantro mayonnaise. Actually used miracle whip in place of the mayonnaise. It resulted in a tangier taste than mayonnaise would provide and had the added benefit that it was much healthier (a built in justification for eating that extra sandwich).
Bear in mind that the brevity of the recipe is actually a bit deceptive. All told, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to make this sandwich. It’s probably not an ideal mid week meal but made for a wonderful Friday evening dinner.
Salmon burger on ciabatta with cilantro mayonnaise
About two weeks ago I promised Anders that I would make him the perfect steak sandwich. His raised disbelieving eyebrows might have been because I am frankly not a fan of beef. I mean, I don’t get it – what is the fascination? Still, a promise is a promise so I determined that this would be the day.
I left work with the plan in mind: rush to Trader Joe’s to buy ciabatta bread, watercress and the requisite rib-eye steak and get home and get down to business. Alas, the steaks at Trader Joes were disappointingly thin – a setback that resulted in a trip to two more supermarkets before I found the perfect steak. Two hours later, I finally made it home, tired and with some of the wind gone from my sail. Still, the look on Anders’ face when he bit into this sandwich made the evenings’ frustrations well worth it.
Steak Sandwich with Blue Cheese, Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise and Balsalmic Vinegar Reduction
What do you do when life gives you fried chicken? Well, our answer is to make fried chicken sandwiches of course (What else would you expect from this blog). This is a great ‘leftover’ sandwich for the day after, and as you can see we added a little bit of everything (including pasta, which we can consider optional, but we had to try). If you wonder why the cheese is melting up, it’s because we toasted the bread opened, and then put the top on :-). This is also one of those sandwiches that require an extra hour on the treadmill afterwards, so proceed at your own risk.
Fried Chicken Sandwich with Mozzarella Cheese, Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Mustard, Roasted Eggplant, Sweet-Dill-Pickles, Pasta, and Salad Dressing
This spicy roast beef cheese sandwich has hot (but sweet) chili sauce inside, and is made with a strong pungent cheese as well, both adding to the spicy flavor. It’s made on a toasted ciabatta roll, and has plenty of crunch from the sprouts. Adding a few fresh basil leaves brings it to a whole new level.
Spicy toasted roast beef cheese sandwich with sprouts and fresh basil
It was Tuesday, and I want to write it was raining cats and dogs, but I live in San Diego so the weather was really very nice, just like the last 6 months or so. In any case, I got a crazy craving for Danish meatballs, and on my way home from work I had to stop to get some ground beef and pork. Danish Meatballs are called “Frikadeller” (singular form is frikadelle), and they can be made from many types and blends of meats, but this is a classic.
The sandwich itself is a ciabatta roll with ducks fat and roasted garlic smear. Two meatballs are heated and cut in half, and topped with stone ground mustard. A bit of sea-salt is sprinkled on, and it’s decorated with blueberries and a pickle. Fantastic sandwich. The blueberries jumped out of my pantry at me, and I thought I would give it a go.
Danish Meatball (Frikadelle) Sandwich on Ciabatta Roll with roasted garlic, mustard and blueberries
