This recipe I am sharing today is one of those utterly simple ones that you are almost embarrassed to share, and yet so tasty that you find yourself  having to share because they are just too delicious not to!!!  So tasty that you want everyone to have a chance to enjoy them! 

 

You use a tin of refrigerated croissant dough for these delicious Italian Strata type of Sandwiches.  Layers of meat, roasted peppers and cheese  . . .  between layers of croissant dough . . . with a rich golden egg custard baked between the layers and gilding the top . . .

 

Dead simple to make  . . .  dead simple  . . .

 

Not the prettiest crayon in the box to be sure  . . . 

 

But the flavours  . . .  impeccably delicious . . . and yet . . .  there is nothing extraordinary about the ingredients . . .

 

Deli ham and deli turkey  . . .  I get them as thinly sliced as I possibly can  . . .  and sliced hard salami  . . .

 

A Swiss type of melty cheese . . .  I used Dutch Massam on this day, but Gruyere or any nutty flavoured almost sweet  . . . Swiss cheese would work beautifully here . . .

 

A jar of roasted red peppers  . . .  make sure you drain them well and pat them dry  . . . you don't want too much liquid to soak into the croissant dough. You want a crisp crust on the top and the bottom.

 

Beaten eggs poured over the layers.  We've been really lucky in that we have been gifted lately with some beautiful farm fresh free-range eggs at church every Sunday.  They are just beautiful. 

 

I guess this is kind of like an Italian Sandwich Pie!  Whatever it is, it is hearty and delicious and a simple bake.  You are going to love it! 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Unroll the crescent dough without separating the triangles.  Cut into two squares and press the perforations together on each square.  Press one into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish.  Top with four slices of turkey, four slices of ham, 6 slices of salami, 4 slices of Swiss cheese and half of the roasted peppers. Pour half of the beaten egg over the peppers.  Top with the remaining turkey,ham, salami, cheese and peppers.  Lay the other half of the dough over the peppers, again, pressing the perforations closed. Pour the remaining eggs over all. Cover lightly with foil.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and heated through.  Let cool for five minutes, then cut into squares to serve.

 

If its in a crust Todd loves it.  He is a pie man for sure.  This is fabulous and makes for the perfect light supper on these last of the summer days, when you want to be out and about enjoying the sunshine and not chained to the stove.  Bon Appetit! 

 

I had in mind the other day to make some Fish Finger Tacos.  I got everything ready to go and realised I didn't have any flour tortillas, and so I did what every capable cook does, I improvised.  I had some finger buns in the house and so I turned them into sandwiches instead, with most excellent results!!  We both really enjoyed these and they made a change from our regular fish finger sandwiches, The World's Best Fish Finger Buttie!

 

We liked them every bit as much which is saying a lot, as my other ones are plenty delicious, let me tell you!

 

I like to use Cod fish fingers, made from sustainable cod.  I also like to use the larger ones versus the smaller ones as you get more cod per finger and less breading/coating.  You also don't get as many in a pack, but that's okay with us. If you would rather use the smaller ones, then by all means do so! 

 

I popped them onto a baking sheet and sprinkled them with taco seasoning to give them a bit of a spark.  This works great for anything like that which you want to add extra flavour to.  Just sprinkle on your favourite seasoning mix . . .  for tacos, (and these sandwiches) I used taco seasoning. You can make your own, or use a purchased mix. 

 

I had made a spicy coleslaw for use in the tacos, so I thought, why not use it in a sandwich?  I use coleslaw in my Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, and my BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, so why not here! Coleslaw on a sandwich is a very good thing!

 

This coleslaw is flavoured with a spicy mayo . . .  this is where some of that taco seasoning comes in handy again. I also added lime juice and zest for a bit of a punch/tartness.  YUM! 

 

I also added some spicy guacamole.  You could use already made, but its very easy to make a simple one yourself by mashing together some garlic, avocado pear, chopped tomato and some more of that lime juice.

 

Once the fish fingers are done, I sprinkled them with some grated cheese and popped them back into the oven briefly to melt the cheese while I toasted the buns on the cut edges. 

 

I piled the coleslaw and guacamole onto the toasted buns and then topped them with the cheese coated spicy fish fingers.

These were fabulous!!  We both really enjoyed them a lot.  I was really happy that didn't let myself become daunted by not having any tortillas to fly with my original idea, and Todd was happy that I didn't make him go to the store to get some. (In all truth, I have pretty much given up on sending him to the store for anything but simple things like milk and bread. He always comes back with the wrong thing. No lie.)

 

We couldn't wait to tuck in and we were not disappointed in the least.  Each mouthful was more delicious than the last.  I found myself wishing I had made a few more.  (I only made two. I do that a lot because there are only two of us.)

 

I think we both could very easily have enjoyed a second helping of one of these tasty sandwiches!

 

You could of course serve some potato chips or tortilla chips on the side with dips, and you could spoon salsa on top of these sandwiches if you were so inclined.  We were happy with them just as they were, and I think you will be too!

 

 

 

Fish fingers are one of those things I always have in my freezer. They come in really handy for things like this, for last minute impromptu meals when you just can't be asked to cook, and children really love them.  We happen to love them too. (Don't judge me, lol)  Something new for Fish Friday??? Why not!  Bon Appetit! 

 

I quite like sandwiches.  I am a bit like my Aunt Freda in that respect.  She loved sandwiches also. A sandwich is like a portable meal for one. Easy to carry from one spot to another, easy to make, and oh-so-easy to eat!!  

I especially love Breakfast Sandwiches, and have been known on occasion to send my husband to the local golden arches establishment at the weekend to get me an Egg McMuffin.  The English muffins they use are always so soft and fresh.  

I have never been able to buy an English muffin that fresh from the shops.  A huge part of the appeal of those breakfast sandwiches for me has always been the English muffins!  

 

I have now fallen in love with a different breakfast sandwich . . .  the Breakfast Ciabatta.  Its a recipe I adapted from one I found on a site called Three Many Cooks.  

I have always been a huge fan of Pam Anderson.  I was introduced to her when I worked at the Manor.  Her recipes always work.  

The site is a collaboration between herself and her two daughters. Clearly those acorns have not fallen very far from the proverbial tree. 

 

This is one of those recipes which is made all the better for the quality of the ingredients you use to make it.  If you use great ingredients, and put them together simply . . .  you cannot lose. 

 

One ingredient that you may not be totally familiar with is Pimenton.  Pimenton is a type of smoked paprika which comes from Spain.  

It is one of the predominant flavourings used in a good Chorizo sausage . . . smoky, sweet, and a tiny bit spicy.   I love the stuff and it works beautifully here. A very little amount goes a very long way.

 

I like to use fresh free range, rspca approved large eggs.  The provenance of what I eat really matters to me.  I like to think that the eggs I eat are from happy hens.  

That used to mean free range, but I now understand that what I think of as free range is not always what the supplier/farmer thinks of as free range.  

That's why I have added rspca approved to my requirements for eggs.  I know that if they approve them, then I can be pretty sure of their humane production. 

 

This is the time of year that fresh tomatoes are at their very best.  You cannot beat the flavour of a fresh ripe tomato, with the warmth of the sun still on it's skin.  

Normally I would use a larger tomato for these, but today I used fresh British Tomkin tomatoes.  They are so sweet and juicy.  Really, the flavour of them is amazing.  

I have been eating them out of hand all week, like apples.

 

I stuck a couple in the oven with my hash brown nuggets during the last five minutes of baking to enjoy along side of my sandwich.  So so so  good, and I wish I had done more! 

  

A good strong cheddar cheese. You can either use it sliced or grated.  Today I grated it . . . I love adore British Cheddar.  It is usually white, unless it has been dyed . . . it has such a beautiful flavour.  

I do believe it is one of my favourite cheeses ever. I like the strong because it has a wonderful depth of flavour, but you could use a milder cheese if you prefer.  I felt a strong cheddar would hold up best next to the pimenton and the tomatoes.

 

The roll  . . .  a great, fresh store baked Ciabatta roll . . .  soft and chewy at the same time, with a bit of crunch at the edges from being grilled nicely, just on the open cut sides.  I spread it with a tiny bit of softened butter, but you don't have to if you don't want to. 

That's it . . .  that's all that is in here.  Simple ingredients, put together in a beautiful way.  That is good cuisine at its finest!

 

 

We eat a lot of chicken in our house and I am always looking for new things to do with it so that it doesn't get boring. I don't think that I, personally, could ever get bored of it, but my husband sure could!  (Men!)  I do like to please him if I can, so I am always doing different things with it to keep him happy about eating it!

 

Chicken is such a versatile ingredient.  You can do so much with it and it easily adapts itself to a large variety of different flavours and textures. Today Todd brought home a rotisserie chicken from Costco for us to have for our tea.

 

I had seen a recipe on the TABLESPOON site for Thai Chicken Salad Wraps that ticked all of my boxes and that I was very keen to try and so I decided to adapt the recipe to what I had in the house and give them a go.

 

I didn't have any full size tortilla wraps, so I made do with smaller ones and made them as cones.  This worked really well for me.  I also cut the recipe in half as there are only two of us. 

 

The original recipe used bagged coleslaw mix. I have never seen that over here, but that is not a problem because I have never minded shredding my own.  I prefer to shred by hand as grating it would make it far too fine a texture for this purpose.  I did grate my carrot.

 

The original recipe also called for using raw chicken breasts that you poach and cube, which you could certainly easily do.  I had already cooked chicken, so I skipped this step! 

 

I love chicken salad and I love Thai flavours, so this seemed like a win/win combination for me.  I also love wraps.

 

The dressing for this salad is really delicious.  It is a creamy peanut sauce, with sesame, soy, lime and coriander flavours, along with a bit of heat from some chili flakes.  It uses soft light brown sugar, but as I am a diabetic, I used  Sukrin Gold brown sugar substitute which worked fine.

 

Its actually pretty low carb, with the wraps so I would say fairly Diabetic friendly, with plenty of crunch from the vegetables and some from the peanuts, which (although high in fat) are a great source of additional protein.

 

They were really, really good, although if I make them again (and I really think I will as they are fabulously tasty) I will cut down a bit on the sauce/dressing as it was a bit too much for our liking. Overall however, I would call this a winner/winner chicken dinner!

 

 

  

These are so delicious and very easy to throw together.  I just loved them and I think you will too!!  Bon Appetit!