Category Archives: Smears

Balsamic vinegar reduction, Breads, Cheeses, Ciabatta Roll, Closed sandwiches, Cress, Dressings, Food, Horseradish mayonnaise, McCormick steak seasoning, Mustard, Rib eye steak, Roasted garlic, Roquefort, Sandwiches, Watercress

Steak Sandwich with Blue Cheese, Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

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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
Steak Sandwich with Blue Cheese, Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise and Balsalmic Vinegar Reduction

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Appetizer, Breads, Cracker, Food, Muffaletta, Pecorino romano, Roquefort

Torched Roquefort Appetizer with Muffaletta Spread and Pecorino Romano Cheese

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For Christmas 2007, Wendie bought me a torch – one of those you use in making desserts such as creme brulee.  I had seen one on TV and I wanted it desperately. When I got it, I started manically torching everything, hoping to discover new uses and develop new dishes. As it turned out, most things don’t do well being torched. Roast beef… not so good. Vegetables…nope. Cornflakes… wouldn’t recommend it. The one thing that actually has its moments is cheese.

With the torch I can melt the surface of the cheese, and when biting into it you get a a feeling of warmth on your upper lip, while the rest of the bite is cold. Not entirely unpleasant. For a cheese sandwich, this requires a huge amount of torching action, due to the surface that needs to be melted, but for appetizers it works. After two years I still haven’t made creme brulee, but I’ve managed to construct this appetizer, which in my opinion is perfect for all those torches out there collecting dust. Enjoy.

Torched Roquefort Cracker with Muffaletta Spread and Pecorino Romano Cheese
Torched Roquefort Cracker with Muffaletta Spread and Pecorino Romano Cheese

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Bagel, Breads, Closed sandwiches, Creamy garlic paste, Food, Liver pâté, Meats, Onion, Sandwiches, Smears, Vegetables

Liver Pate Sandwich with Onion and Garlic Spread on Sesame Bagel

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Sometimes a simple sandwich is the best; this one has Maria’s liver pâté, onion, creamy garlic paste and a little onion. A perfect combo, so despite an urge add more, we stuck to ‘simple’. After being sick with the cold for 5 days, this was also pretty much what we could handle, as we were both exhausted. It’s nice to recover with a great sandwich, and we hope to get back to creating some great new ones this upcoming weekend. Thanksgiving is also approaching, so if anyone has great turkey sandwiches, let us know and we just might give them a try!

Liver Pate Sandwich with Onion and Garlic Spread on Sesame Bagel
Liver Pate Sandwich with Onion and Garlic Spread on Sesame Bagel

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Avocado, Bell Pepper, Breads, Creamy garlic paste, Food, Fruits, Lingonberry, Meats, Onion, Open Faced Sandwiches, Sandwiches, Turkey, Vegetables

Turkey Sandwich with Creamy Garlic Paste, Avocado, Red Bell Pepper and Onion on Lingonberry Bread

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Lingonberries are small red slightly sour berries that are famous throughout Scandinavia. Lingonberry bread, as the one we have here, is a mix we got at the local Ikea. It is a dark bread, almost rye, with a minimal amount of lingonberries (We found 3), and decent if you’re in a rush (and for just a couple bucks, it’s very well priced). However, we won’t be trying it again, at least not without some augmentation. This sandwich was made on our first lingonberry bread ever, fresh out of the oven (and that’s always good). Sliced turkey from the local deli, creamy garlic paste from the local farmer’s market and fresh avocado and red bell peppers makes up this little adventure. The creamy garlic paste we found is amazing on sandwiches, and we highly recommend it. It’s from ‘The Majestic Garlic”.

Turkey Sandwich with Creamy Garlic Paste, Avocado, Red Bell Pepper and Onion.
Turkey Sandwich with Creamy Garlic Paste, Avocado, Red Bell Pepper and Onion.

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Baguette, Bell Pepper, Breads, Cheeses, Cilantro, Closed sandwiches, Eggplant, Food, Fruits, Garlic, Herbs, Meatball, Meats, Mozzarella, Roasted garlic, Roasted Tomatoes, Salsa, Sandwiches, Smears, Tomato, Vegetables

Meatball Sandwich with Grilled Veggies, Fire Roasted Salsa, Mozzarella Cheese, Roasted Garlic, Cilantro, Green Pepper, Roasted Tomatoes

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Living in San Diego means being influenced by Mexican cooking. Each street corner seems to sport a Mexican fast-food joint. Our cooking regularly employs cilantro and salsa, bothView Post of which can be tasty new ingredients to familiar meals. In this sandwich, we use both, and with the French bread, this becomes an international affair. Danish meatballs (frikadeller), Italian mozzarella, cilantro and salsa, made by a Dane and a Jamaican living in the US. It is a small world these days.

Meatball Sandwich with Grilled Veggies, Fire Roasted Salsa, Mozzarella Cheese, Roasted Garlic, Cilantro, Green Pepper, Roasted Tomatoes
Meatball sandwich with grilled veggies, fire-roasted salsa, mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic, cilantro, green pepper, roasted tomatoes

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Closed sandwiches, Creamy garlic paste, Food, Lettuce, Potato bread, Roquefort, Sandwiches, Smears, Tomato

Roquefort Cheese Sandwich with Creamy Tarragon Garlic Spread, Lettuce, Tomato, and Roasted Tomatoes on Potato Bread

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Blame it on my Danish upbringing, but I can’t walk away from a good cheese, and this sandwich sports one of our favorites: Roquefort.  For those not in the know (but care to be), it’s like a mild blue cheese, soft and tangy, and usually crumbles easily (although this one didn’t). We bought it at Costco (which means we have a family sized block for the two off us). Since it is a ‘Product of France’, European law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may be called Roquefort. Similarly, Feta cheese may rightfully be called Feta if and only if  it’s from Greece. We always find it interesting to know where our foods really come from, and this is one of those rare occasions where we have a clue.

The sandwich itself is simple, lettuce, tomato, roasted tomatoes, Roquefort and a wonderful creamy garlic paste with tarragon from Majestic Garlic which we got at the Temecula’s farmers market. You need to get this spread it’s fantastic on sandwiches, eggs, pasta and so much more!

Roquefort Cheese Sandwich with Garlic Spread, Lettuce, Tomato, and Roasted Tomatoes
Roquefort cheese sandwich with garlic spread, lettuce, tomato, and roasted tomatoes

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Breads, Closed sandwiches, Creamy garlic paste, Dukkah, Egg, English muffin, Food, Garlic, Green Onion, Sandwiches, Tomato, Vegetables

Egg Sandwich with Tarragon Infused Creamy Garlic Paste and Tomatoes

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I love eggs. I know there are people who can only enjoy eggs if it is combined with mulitiple other ingredients that camouflage the taste of the eggs themselves. Anders is one of those and for him, omelets is the solution. But for me there are those evenings when all I want for dinner is a meal of well-scrambled eggs. This was one of those times. This little delight was paired with a creamy garlic paste and served with tomatoes on lighty toasted English muffin.

Egg Sandwich with Tarragon Infused Creamy Garlic Paste and Tomatoes
Egg Sandwich with Tarragon Infused Creamy Garlic Paste and Tomatoes

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Baguette, Black bean chili sauce, Breads, Cheeses, Closed sandwiches, Food, Meats, Olive tapenade, Onion, Salami, Sandwiches, Smears, Stored danish smelly cheese, Vegetables

Salami and Cheese Sandwich with Black Bean Chili Sauce, Onion Rings, Olive Tapenade and Tarragon Mustard

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The story of this sandwich is as much a tale of the bread as it is the sandwich. Although we are somewhat ‘accomplished novices’ in making sourdough breads, this was our  first attempt at making a baguette. This deceptively simple bread was anything but. Several things went wrong: after the final rise the baguettes looked amazing, big and puffy and we were congratulating ourselves on being such good students of Peter Reinhart.   However, we had not done the final proofing on the baking sheet and, in transferring them, ended up loosing about 30 percent of their size.  As a result, they are very solid inside, and not soft and airy like real baguettes. We also managed to somehow get the crust too crunchy.  It should be mentioned that our oven is terribly old and very unreliable, which turns all our baking into exercises in patience and surprises. The taste was decent however, and although not the stuff of  Boulangerie Pierre & Patisserie legend, the baguettes performed creditably in a number of sandwiches, such as this one with  salami and cheese.

Salami and Cheese Sandwich with Black Bean Chili Sauce, Olive Tapenade and Tarragon Mustard
Salami and Cheese Sandwich with Black Bean Chili Sauce, Olive Tapenade and Tarragon Mustard

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Basil, Breads, Cheeses, Closed sandwiches, Dressings, Food, Herbs, Kafta Patty, Lettuce, Meats, Mozzarella, Paprika, Paprika yogurt dressing, Roasted garlic, Sandwiches, Sourdough, Spices, Tomato, Vegetables, Yogurt

Cheese Kafta Burger with Grape Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil, Thai Basil, Grape Tomatoes and Spicy Light Yogurt Dressing

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A Kafta (or Kofta or kūfta, is Persian in origin. کوفتن (Kuftan) means “to beat” or “to grind”, according to WikiPedia. One could say that a Kafta patty is like a spicy meatball. In any case, it’s delicious, and since we recently made some, a wonderful Kafta Burger (ok, maybe more of a sandwich, given the bread) is in order. We made our own version of the traditional yogurt dressing, because we can. We love this Middle Eastern food so in the future expect to see more recipes like this. We think Middle Eastern food should be a food group!

Cheese Kafta Burger with Grape Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil, Thai Basil, Grape Tomatoes and Spicy Light Yogurt Dressing
Cheese Kafta Burger with Grape Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil, Thai Basil, Grape Tomatoes and Spicy Light Yogurt Dressing

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