Showing posts sorted by relevance for query sandwich. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query sandwich. Sort by date Show all posts
I haven't been really able to do a lot of cooking this week during the day, what with all of this work going on in our bathroom, and at night I'm far too tired. You wouldn't think that renovating just one room would create such chaos, but it does . . . happy to say though, things are well on the way towards being done, and there should only be a few more days of mither. It's looking great so far!! Anyways, simple food has been the rule of the day with as little cooking as possible. You can't really plan much with the power being turned on and off haphazardly . . . it would be terrible to have a cake or a roast in the oven and have the power shut down.
(A tasty salad from the archives for a delicious Bank Holiday weekend! For 56 other tasty salad offerings check out The Tumblewood Contessa Blog! http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/salads-saturday-dishes/)
I haven't been really able to do a lot of cooking this week during the day, what with all of this work going on in our bathroom, and at night I'm far too tired. You wouldn't think that renovating just one room would create such chaos, but it does . . . happy to say though, things are well on the way towards being done, and there should only be a few more days of mither. It's looking great so far!! Anyways, simple food has been the rule of the day with as little cooking as possible. You can't really plan much with the power being turned on and off haphazardly . . . it would be terrible to have a cake or a roast in the oven and have the power shut down.
Today I was really craving salad and oddly enough grilled cheese sandwiches. I got to thinking and we all know what happens then . . . my creative mojo goes into overdrive and you just never know what I am going to end up with. Most of the times it's something quite, quite delicious . . . others maybe not so delicious, but always interesting largely edible. I'm happy to say that today I ended up with something quite, QUITE delish!
Think about it . . . crisp salad greens scattered across a nicely chilled plate . . . and topped with some of your other favourite salad ingredients . . . crisp and peppery radishes . . . crunchy cucumber . . . snappy and sweet red onions . . .
Now top that with a fantastically devilishly moreish fresh Lemon Thyme and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette dressing . . . not a lot . . . just a drizzle . . . coz there's more to come. Oh sure you could use regular thyme if that's all you have . . . but the lemon thyme just adds just a teensy bit more depth to the flavours . . .
Finally . . . top all that goodness with a crisp freshly toasted Cheese Sarnie, deliberately sliced on the diagonal . . . some of the cheese oozing out . . . just laid here and there on the top . . . now a final drizzle of that scrummy dressing . . .
Presto! A deliciously easy, scrummily edible, moreishly wanton Grilled Cheese Sarnie Salad.
And you thought salads were mostly boring??? Aha!! Not in this house! This just could not get any better!
*Grilled Cheese Sarnie Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
Don't knock it til you try it. This salad rocks! Fresh salad fixings, topped with toasted cheese sarnie croutons and drizzled with a lemon thyme honey mustard vinaigrette!
4 small heads of baby gem lettuce, washed trimmed and leaves separated
(tear any larger leaves into bite sized pieces)
4 large radishes, washed trimmed and slivered
1/2 small red onion, peeled and slivered
1/4 of a medium sized English cucumber, washed, unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise and
then sliced into half moons
8 slices of fresh bread
4 ounces of good strong cheddar cheese, grated (a heaped cup)
softened butter
For the dressing:
4 1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS apple cider vinegar
1 TBS liquid honey
1 TBS Dijon mustard or to taste (grainy or smooth, it's up to you)
a few springs of lemon thyme (you may use ordinary fresh thyme if that's all you have)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
A few springs of thyme for a garnish (optional)
First make the dressing. Strip the leaves from the thyme sprigs and whisk half of them together the olive oil, vinegar, honey and mustard until thoroughly amalgamated. (Reserve the remaining thyme leaves for the sarnies.)Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
Wash and dry the lettuce. Scatter the leaves onto four plates, tearing any larger leaves into bite sized pieces. Scatter the radish, onion and cucumber over top.
Spread the softened butter onto one side of each slice of bread. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toss together the cheese and remaining thyme leaves. Place 4 of the bread slices, butter side down into the heated pan. Top each with an equal amount of the cheese/thyme mixture. Top the cheese with the remaining slices of bread, butter sides up. Toast over medium heat, until golden brown on the outsides and the cheese is melted. Cut each sandwich into 3 or 4 pieces diagonally.
Give the dressing a quick whisk and then drizzle some of the dressing over each salad. Top each with 1 cut sandwich, and then drizzle the sandwiches with some of the dressing. Garnish each salad with a small sprig of thyme if desired. Serve immediately!
Tuna Nicoise Salad. I confess I am a huge fan of salads in the summer months. I especially love main dish salads like this one, which is not only a feast for the eyes, but for the tummy as well.
Nicoise Salad or Salad Niçoise as it is also called is a French Salad. It is what is known as a composed salad, somewhat similar to a Cobb salad, with the main difference here being that there is no chicken involved and no bacon either!
This delicious salad comes from Nice, France, which is on the Mediterranean side of France. The side where the Riviera is. So think seafood and sunshine.
One thing which I like about it is that its a salad in which you can totally prepare all of the elements for it ahead of time. This makes it a perfect salad for entertaining as you need only whisk up a dressing and throw things together at the last minute!
The main ingredients for the salad are tuna (of course), boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans and black olives.
In France they always use tinned tuna. I use tinned tuna, but you can certainly cook fresh tuna steaks in the place of the tinned tuna if you wish. Just make sure you don't overcook them or you run the risk of them tasting like chicken.
And trust me, if you have run to the expense of buying fresh tuna steaks to use in this delicious salad, you don't want it to taste like chicken. One minute per side is all you really need as far as cook time goes.
I always just use tinned tuna myself. I do use a solid albacore tuna however. I never buy any other kind. Its just my preference when it comes to tuna.
An Italian lady stopped me in the grocery store one day while I was buying tuna and told me that I should only ever buy albacore tuna. She said the rest was garbage.
Who am I to argue with experience! I was quite young at the time and she seemed to be quite old. In all truth she was probably younger then than I am now, but hey ho! She knew what she was talking about.
I have never bought anything but Albacore tuna since that day. I know it can seem to be a bit expensive, but at the end of the day, you always get what you pay for.
I like it in water or in oil. The one in oil is infinitely better, but because I am watching my cholesterol these days, I always settle for it in water.
This is a wonderful time of year to enjoy this salad. We are being spoiled right now with an abundance of fresh summer vegetables. Green beans, tomatoes, new potatoes, salad leaves.
Everything is so fresh and local and delicious! It doesn't get much better than this!
I love the wonderful earthy flavors of fresh new potatoes. You don't need to do anything special to them, just wash them really well and pop them into a saucepan of boiling lightly salted water.
10 to 15 minutes later, depending on the size of your potatoes, they are done to perfectly. I like them with the skins on myself. More fiber and that skin is so delicious.
Green beans are in season at the moment and our local ones are beautiful. So are the golden yellow wax beans. I have been feasting on them while I can!!
You want to pick beans for this salad that are not overly large in size. The smaller ones have the best flavor.
I have chosen today to use a mix of salad greens consisting of spinach and baby rocket/agugula. I love the iron earthiness of spinach and I just adore the peppery and meaty punch of rocket leaves!
I eat a lot of rocket, truth be told. I love it in sandwiches, on burgers and all sorts. Trust me when I say a roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayo and rocket leaves is a sandwich made in heaven!
I only ever buy free range eggs. If you are lucky enough to have a farm close by where you can buy free range eggs, so much the better.
Many people are greatly intimidated at the thought of hard boiling eggs. Its really not that hard and is a matter of timing. To hard boil eggs with a firm white and yolk start with room temperature eggs.
Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or a needle; this helps to prevent the egg from cracking in the heat of the water.
Place then into a saucepan and cover them completely in water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, maximum.
At the end of that time, remove them from the heat and place them in cold water immediately. This will prevent them from over-cooking and developing that unsightly dark ring around the yolks.
They will still taste okay, should the dark ring develop, but they are not as attractive to look at and in this salad, that's quite important.
Black olives are also an important part of this salad. You should use Nicoise olives if you can find them. I can't find those here so I have used Kalamata olives, which are a wonderful substitution.
The final salad ingredient is ripe garden tomatoes. They are starting to come into their own now. Just an ordinary tomato will do . . . fresh from the vine with the warmth of the summer sun still on its skin.
That's what you want, and what is ideal. Failing that, just get the best your money can buy and leave them at room temperature to ripen for a few days. You won't be sorry!
There are a few other things you can add if you want to. Capers is one. I adore capers. Vinegary, salty, they go so very well here.
Some thinly sliced red onion also works well. I have gone for simplicity here however, so I did not include either of those two things.
The final element of course is the dressing and I say keep it simple. I have chosen to use a simple vinaigrette dressing without any bells and whistles. With all of that fresh produce, why run the risk of overwhelming them with a dressing which is overly flavored.
Simple. Simple. Simple. Oil, vinegar and seasoning. That's all you need. Let the beauty of your fresh ingredients speak for themselves. Let them sing. A good dressing will only enhance their flavors, not overwhelm them. This simple dressing does just that.
Enjoy!
Tuna Nicoise Salad
Yield: 2
A beautiful main dish salad for those days when you just can't be asked to cook. It makes a great use of the abundant produce available to us this time of year as well.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 2 TBS white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup (120ml) olive oil
- 1/4 tsp ground paprika
For the salad:
- 2 large free range eggs, hardboiled. peeled and quartered
- 4 new potatoes, scrubbed, cooked and quartered
- 12 French beans, washed, trimmed and cooked until crispy tender
- 2 heaped cups (120g) mixed salad leaves
- 2 tomatoes, washed and quartered
- 12 kalamata olives
- 1 (6 1/2 -ounce/170g) solid albacore tuna, drained
Instructions
- Mix the vinegar and the salt together for the dressing in a small bowl. Leave to stand for a few minutes. Add the pepper and then slowly whisk in the olive oil until the mixture emulsifies. Whisk in the paprika. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Set aside.
- Put the eggs and potatoes into a mixing bowl. Toss with a little bit of the dressing.
- Divide the salad leaves between two chilled plates. Top with the eggs and potatoes. Add the tomatoes and green beans. Place all of this around the edges. Divide the tuna in half and place half in the center of each plate. Scatter the olives over top.
- Drizzle the remaining dressing over everything and serve immediately.
Notes:
You can use two fresh tuna steaks in the place of the tinned tuna. Put a small amount of oil in a skillet and heat over high heat. Season the tuna steaks and sear them in the hot oil, cooking them for no longer than 1 minute per side. Place one onto each plate of salad and serve.
One thing we used to really love mom to put in our lunches when I was growing up were deviled ham sandwiches. Deviled Ham was a type of meat paste that came in a can, but it was different from other canned meat pastes in that it came wrapped in white paper with a fancy red devil printed on the outsides.
We loved it. It was a bit spicy and salty and we just thought of these sandwiches as being very tasty. I am not sure if there is anything here in the UK that is the equivalent of it. If there is I have not found it.
I usually make my own and today I used some of the leftover ham from our Easter dinner to do just that. It is a very simple thing to make if you have a food processor. I am not sure you could get the ham fine enough otherwise although you could certainly try.
I think you might could with a really sharp knife, but it would take some time, chopping and re-chopping it to get the right consistency. If you have a food processor, I would definitely use that.
Even so you need to chop the ham up into a smaller pieces anyways. I cut my ham into thin slices with a sharp knife and then slivered the slices before popping it into the food processor. I used my small processor. It worked really well.
A small amount of softened butter adds to the richness of this spread. Making it even creamier. Don't use cold butter. It won't amalgamate as well. You need it to be softened. This gets blitzed with ham just until both are well mixed together and you cannot tell where one starts and the other ends.
Once that has happened it is only a matter of scraping it into a bowl and then adding a few more ingredients to add to the pleasure of this tasty spread.
Mayonnaise and mustard. I use real mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. The Dijon provides lots of flavour and heat and the mayo adds to the creaminess.
Sweet pickle relish. Now that is not something which is readily available here in the UK.
The closest thing I have found to it is this.
This is what I normally use however. I buy it from an American supply shop and it lasts for quite a while in the refrigerator. We enjoy it on hotdogs and burgers, etc.
If you can't get that then I suggest you get some sweet pickles (Mrs Elwood makes good ones) and chop them really fine. Or just leave them out entirely. Its your choice.
It goes without saying that you will not need any salt in this spread, the ham is salty enough, but you will need a few other things. I like to use plenty of ground black pepper, and then I add a touch of ground allspice for authenticity, and some cayenne pepper for heat.
There is not enough of any of them to be truly discernable, just enough to give you a hint of flavour and to be honest it wouldn't taste truly authentic without them.
While I am very happy to enjoy my Deviled Ham on crackers or crisp breads, Todd enjoys his in a sandwhich. This goes very well in a sandwich. Nothing else needed, just lightly buttered white bread and then a nice layer of Deviled Ham. Scrumdiddlyumptious!
Deviled Ham Spread
Yield: 16
This is rich, tangy, a touch sweet with a bit of heat. In short, delicious. Ready to spread on crackers or crisp breads or to fill a sandwich. This is perfect.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 pound of roast ham, thinly sliced and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 TBS unsalted butter, softened
- 5 TBS real mayonnaise
- 3 TBS Dijon mustard
- 2 TBS sweet pickle relish
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
Instructions:
How to cook Deviled Ham Spread
- Put your ham into the bowl of a food processor and blitz several pulses until coarsely chopped. Drop in the butter and blitz again, pulsing until the ham is finely chopped and the butter has been thoroughly mixed in.
- Scoop the ham into a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients, combining all well together. Cover and chill for at least half an hour before serving.
- This will keep up to three days, covered and refrigerated.
This makes about 2 cups of deviled ham. I don't recommend freezing it, but you can quite successfully cut the recipe in half. I have done so myself without any problems. It will keep a few days in the refrigerator however. I have never had to throw any of it away as it always gets used up quickly. Very moreish.
Quintessentially British, these recipes will help Wimbleton tennis fans across the UK to celebrate the grand slam in style, with some indulgent sweet treats. Who needs strawberries and cream when you have cake and pavlova?
Here we are, another Sunday, another Meals of the Week post. The one where I share with you all the main meals I have cooked and enjoyed over the past 7 days. If I eat out for one or two of them, I also always share a homemade alternative.
I really like doing these meals of the week posts. It helps to keep me accountable and helps me to see what I am eating, if I may need to make improvements in my diet, and keeping track also helps to keep me fresh. Being able to share these things with you keeps me excited about the things I am eating because I want to inspire you as well! Since I started doing this my cooking has never been boring!
At least not to me anyways! I cannot speak for you. Maybe you find my cooking very boring! But I hope not!
I have had my oldest daughter staying with me for half of this week and she will be with me all of next week. This has also been fun. I like having someone around to cook for and I know she enjoys eating the things I cook! She has helped me out a bit as well! And we get to do it together for one more week!
Its a bit sad when your kids all grow up and move out of the house, you lose your spouse, and you find yourself living all on . It can be very tempting when you live on your own to want to take the easy way out and eat frozen dinners or other convenience foods.
My goal is to not do that. I want to cook for myself fresh and delicious meals every day of the week. This makes for a healthier and happier me. So for as long as I can, this is what I will be doing, and hopefully you don't mind me sharing my meals with you.
Perhaps we can both be inspired! And so, here are my meals for the last 7 days. My daughter was with me for half of them, which made a nice change!
SUNDAY, July 23rd - Crock Pot Mongolian Beef
Family Dinner Day and this week it was a meal with a bit of an Oriental slant to it, Crock Pot Mongolian Beef. I love Crock Pot Meals on a Sunday. Everything just gets popped into the slow cooker early in the day and it cooks all by itself until supper time. The smell of this is amazing. Ginger, soy, garlic and brown sugar, with a bit of heat from crushed red chilies.
You can totally adapt the heat to your taste. This is delicious served with steamed rice and some vegetables on the side. The leftovers make a fabulous Fried Rice.
MONDAY, July 24th - Curried Beef Fried Rice
I used the leftovers from the roast to make myself some curried beef fried rice. It actually worked out very well. I love fried rice. You can make it from just about anything. Some cooked vegetables, or raw carrots, frozen corn, peas, onions, cabbage, cauliflower. You name it, it goes!
A bit of scrambled egg, a bit of meat and Bob's Your Uncle! Dinner is done! I like a bit of sauce on mine sometimes. Usually I like to pour a bit of Ketjap Manis on mine, which is a thickened sweet soy sauce. I make my own from scratch.
TUESDAY, July 25th - Cold Ham and Sweet & Crunchy Corn Chip Salad
We have had a hot and sticky week weatherwise. I wasn't feeling overly hungry on Tuesday so I had myself some cold sliced ham and enjoyed it along with a salad. Sweet & Crunchy Corn Chip Salad. I love this salad which is the perfect mix of crunchy, sweet, creamy, smoky. Bacon, Cheese, lettuce, dried cranberries, corn ships and a poppyseed dressing. What's not to love!
WEDNESDAY, July 26th - Dinner out with Dad, Hazel and Eileen
On Wednesday nights I go out to dinner with my dad and his friend Hazel. Eileen (my oldest daughter) was with us this week. I had the special, which was a club sandwich panini. It was not near as tasty as my own homemade Ultimate Turkey Club Sandwich, but someone else was cooking it so it made a nice change!
Dad and Hazel had Fish and Chips. Eileen had Spaghetti with meat Sauce. We were all happy. I had a slice of raisin pie for dessert (very naughty), Eileen and Dad had Coconut Cream Pie and Hazel had a slice of carrot cake!
THURSDAY, July 27th - Grilled Chicken with a Summer Berry Salsa
Still hot so we enjoyed some grilled chicken with a delicious berry salsa. This salsa is filled with plenty of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, a bit of zip from a red chili, some chopped coriander leaf, red onion, ripe avocado, and lime juice. Nice and zesty and goes beautifully with the mild flavor of the chicken! The chicken is just seasoned with some salt and black pepper and brushed with some oil prior to grilling.
This is a simple supper with lovely fresh tastes. If you wanted a heartier supper you could add some cooked rice or even a baked potato.
FRIDAY, July 28th - Crispy Chicken with Creamy Garlic Pasta
I know, chicken two days in a row, but my daughter and I both like chicken and this was a completely different way of cooking it than the day before. Plus we were out and about and wanted something really quick and easy. This is all that and more. Frozen crispy coated chicken breasts are cooked and while they are cooking you make a delicious creamy garlic sauce to toss with freshly cooked penne.
The two together are really delicious. Tender and juicy pieces of chicken and that creamy pasta. So good, and done in less than half an hour. You can't beat it for a quick meal. We enjoyed a salad on the side.
SATURDAY, July 29th - Quick Naan Bread Pizzas
We both love these Quick Naan Bread Pizzas. They use a simple Naan Bread base. You can use a garlic one, or a plain one. They are brushed with some of the oil from a jar of marinated artichoke halves and then topped with a variety of cheeses and the artichokes and plenty of green olives, and some fresh thyme leaves.
These are really delicious. You could go the traditional route and use pizza sauce and regular pizza toppings, but these make a tasty change from the regular.
Again we had some salad on the side. We didn't want to eat too much because we were going to have a movie night with some crisp vegetable dippers and homemade Garden Herb dip and some hummus. We also had some grapes and cheese. Yummy!
And that was the week that was! My daughter and I ate very well and enjoyed a nice fresh variety of things. Today we are going to my sister's for supper and we have a whole new week of things to enjoy together coming up! She goes home on Saturday.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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