Cuban Sandwich Cheat

Is it the summer heat? Blog burn out? Stray radio waves frying my brain? Who knows, but in the continuing saga of lazy cooking I bring you my new favorite sandwich. Recently I found myself with a strong and impossible to ignore craving for a Cuban panini. One just like what I had at a restaurant on the Upper West Side on our NYC vacation. The prospect of cooking a pork tenderloin in order to make sandwiches? Not promising in the big picture sense. But I did remember that there had been a single page in the back of one of my Everyday Food issues about a quick version of the Cuban. Just eliminate the pork, and that's just what I did. Good golly, this is so easy and fast. And I so love it. Right now I'm making a mental note to buy more ham on my next grocery store trip. And the next time I want to make a pork tenderloin I will remember to save some for some real sandwiches.

Cuban Sandwich
Recipe from Everyday Food












Good sandwich roll, baguette, whatever your bread preference really
Sliced ham
Swiss cheese
Dill pickle, sliced lengthwise
Dijon mustard

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice your bread in half horizontally. Spread each slice with Dijon mustard. Layer bottom slice with ham, swiss cheese and pickle slices. Top with other bread slice and press down. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, top with another baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

My notes: We had our sandwiches with some salt and cracked black pepper potato chips, mmm. But of course this sandwich could be enjoyed with a variety of sides. So good. Really, I wish I had everything so I could make one as soon as I get home. :)

Picnic Eats

We certainly didn't sustain ourselves on cookies alone, so here's some info on the rest of our picnic dinner from last weekend. I tried to make things nice and summery, but also not too difficult or messy. The best idea for planning a meal away from your kitchen, or any meal for entertaining really, is to combine ready-to-eat items with homemade recipes. And ready-to-eat doesn't have to mean anything heavily processed. Our meal consisted of Caprese sandwiches, roasted corn on the cob, garlic-rosemary baked chips and fresh fruit. Fruit didn't need anything other than a good rinse and it was ready to go. The chips came in a resealable bag making them great for outdoor eating and travel. There's half our meal taken care of in no time flat, leaving me time to make those delicious cookies we had for dessert. Roasting the corn was also pretty quick and easy. The Caprese sandwiches are my current favorite- so good. Might want to put this recipe off until the tomato scare is over, but when it is I'll be making more for sure. Overall it was picnic perfect!

Caprese Sandwiches
Serves 4












1 fresh baguette
1 bunch fresh basil
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Slice the baguette crosswise into 4 pieces as evenly as possible. Slice each piece in half lengthwise. Brush each slice lightly with olive oil; season lightly with salt and pepper.
• Starting with the bottom slice of baguette, layer fresh basil leaves, tomato slices, and mozzarella. Top with additional basil leaves and second baguette slice.
• To pack for picnic: press sandwich together and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or wax paper. Secure with twine or tape. Store in cooler, in freezer bag if necessary to protect from too much moisture.
  

Roasted Corn























As many ears of corn as you'd like to prepare
Butter
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pull back corn husks and remove silks from the ears. Brush corn with butter and season with salt and pepper. Pull husks back up over corn and secure with kitchen twine.
• Roast corn on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, turning over once.
• To pack for picnic: allow to cool some before wrapping with wax paper and securing with twine. Pack in picnic basket.

I went the simple route so as not to compete with the basil in the sandwiches, but you could also try a flavored butter with the corn- Corn with Cheesy Butter, Herb Butter, Grilled Corn with Seasoned Butter

Chicken Sammiches

Recently I made one of Josh's favorite foods for dinner- a chicken sandwich. I know, is it weird that that is his favorite thing? That a chicken sandwich is what he will almost unfailingly order if it's on the menu? That it is his best and most ordered meal at our favorite seafood restaurant? Just give him some chicken on a bun and he's probably pretty happy. That said though, since he likes it so much I had always hesitated to make it. It's so simple, but I was sure that I could find a way to mess it up. But I went ahead and took a stab at it a week or two ago (don't even get me started on how little I've had to post lately). I used Kelly's Honey Mustard Chicken recipe to bake two chicken breasts. I spread a little bit of the extra sauce on the wheat buns (p.s. I found some awesome Orowheat buns with, like, 5 grams of fiber!), top with some tomato and greens, and there ya go! I made some more oven frites, cutting them a little thicker this time. They still came out great. Since I needed the oven at different temperatures for each recipe I cooked the chicken first, and covered it with foil while I cooked the fries and that worked great. Next time I will just split a chicken breast, or look a little harder for chicken cutlets, because it can be quite a mouthful with a whole breast.

My Monsieur

This pleasant sandwich is something that I love to make on the weekends. It's sort of a variation on the basic croque-monsieur idea. I use quality sourdough (I get mine from the Central Market bakery), smoked ham, and mozzarella. Add to that a little fresh ground black pepper and dried rosemary and it sends me over the moon. I generously butter my sourdough slices, top slice with mozzarella, sprinkle with pepper and rosemary, layer several slices of ham, and top with the second slice of bread. Toast over medium-high heat on each side, let set just a moment once it's done so that you can slice it without the cheese sliding too much, and then just enjoy.

Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches with Oven Frites

Josh and I both stayed home on Friday- me because it's my day off, he because it was his "snow day", despite the fact most of the snow we got had melted by sun up. Anyway, I usually don't cook Friday nights, but we had decided to go to Chipotle Thursday night instead. That left me holding the bag for Friday's dinner. I got the idea for these sandwiches from Jane at This Week For Dinner. She uses chicken sausage and mustard. I had some Italian pork sausages in the freezer, so I went in a slightly different direction. And these frites helped me keep up with one of my cooking resolutions as it comes from one of my cookbooks, The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: Original Classics. I got this for Christmas from my mother-in-law and it's chocked full of great recipes which I looked forward to trying, especially if they come out as nice as these frites did.

Sausage, Peppers, and Onion Sandwiches with Oven Frites
Recipes adapted from This Week For Dinner and Martha Stewart Original Classics












Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches
2 links Italian Pork Sausage
1 bell pepper (I prefer green), ribbed and seeded, sliced lengthwise
1/2 white onion, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup jarred spaghetti sauce
Olive oil
2 wheat buns
Butter

• Butter the cut sides of your buns and toast in skillet over medium-high heat. Once toasted, wipe out frying pan carefully, to remove crumbs, and add olive oil. Add sausage to pan and cook till sides are well browned. Remove from pan.
  
• Add more oil if necessary and add peppers and onions to pan. Season with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, till softened. Meanwhile, cut your sausages in half crosswise, then each half in half again lengthwise. Add sausage back to skillet, cut side down to make sure cooked through.
• Once peppers and onions have softened and sausages are cooked through, add sauce and stir to combine. Divide between buns and serve.

Oven Frites
2 medium baking potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place a heavy-duty baking sheet in the oven. Scrub and rinse potatoes. Cut lengthwise into batons. Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• When baking sheet is hot, about 15 minutes, remove from oven; place prepared potatoes on baking sheet in a single layer. Return to oven, and bake until potatoes are golden on the bottom, about 30 minutes. Turn potatoes over, and continue cooking until golden all over, another 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

My notes: These sandwiches were delicious, but messy, ha. Almost like a pizza sandwich. Mmmmm. I used wheat hamburger buns because that's what I had, but the sandwiches would probably be a bit messier with split hoagie rolls. These frites were really good too, Josh commented on them several times. The only thing I'd do differently is cut them a bit thicker than I did. I'll definitely use this recipe again.

In Case You Didn't Believe Me When I Said

I wasn't a foodie, I've come baring more proof. I have a couple other things that I could post about, since I made them prior to tonight's dinner, but they'll just have to wait. I didn't want to put off telling you about our meal any longer than I'd have to. The other day, while perusing food blogs, like ya do, I wandered over to Ruth's blog, Once Upon A Feast. As I scrolled down the page I delighted in finding the collection of recipes from Presto Pasta Night #34. I didn't have to look for long before one particular item caught my eye. I immediately linked over to the Spaghetti Sandwich, submitted by Alisha of Cook.Craft.Enjoy. And so tonight, I did just that. I cooked spaghetti, I crafted it into a sandwich, and I enjoyed. While I didn't follow her actual recipe, it was the inspiration for our meal, so she deserves props. So, if you ever think- hmm this pasta sure is good, but shoving it between two slices of bread would make it that much better
- read on.

Spaghetti Sandwich
Recipe inspired by Cook.Craft.Enjoy.; Serves a lot












1 7 oz. package fideo pasta
1 pound ground beef, 93% lean
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 15 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
garlic powder
dried basil
dried oregano
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
french loaf- or whatever bread you especially like for garlic toast
butter

• Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add ground beef and brown until there is no pink left, making sure to break up into a good crumble. Drain the beef and set aside. Return pan to stove, add a little more olive oil and cook onion and garlic for several minutes, till beginning to soften. Add meat back to pan, with both cans of crushed tomatoes. Begin seasoning, adding as you feel necessary and tasting often. Once the taste is to your liking reduce heat to low.
  
• Boil salted water and cook fideo pasta for approximately 9 minutes. Drain and return to pan.
• Cut thick slices from french loaf- large enough to make a decent sized sandwich. Butter both sides of slices and press one side each with garlic powder and a sprinkling of oregano. Toast in a skillet over medium heat till each side is to your desired crispness.
• Meanwhile, combine your sauce and pasta. Once toasts are done, spoon spaghetti onto one slice and top with the second.

My notes: I don't know if anyone is going to bother trying this, ha. But if you do you should know that you will have a ton of spaghetti leftovers, so this itself would probably be the ideal leftovers meal, following a pleasant spaghetti dinner. As it is we will behaving spaghetti for lunch tomorrow, ha.

Under Pressure

Last night was another recipe chosen by Josh. I think I personally prefer hot sandwiches when really flavorful ingredients are involved, like with this one. I was going to make salad to go with it, but as I had salad at lunch yesterday, and the plan was to have more today I instead tossed together some brown rice, chopped broccoli and freshly grated Parmesan. It was really good. It's an Everyday Food recipe, in case you couldn't guess.

Pressed Mozzarella and Tomato Sandwiches
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 2
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, reserving 1 tablespoon oil
1/2 loaf ciabatta bread (about 5 ounces), split horizontally and hollowed out
Romaine lettuce leaves
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• In a small bowl, whisk together mustard and oil until thick; spread on bread. Layer bottom half of bread with some of the lettuce, then cheese, tomatoes, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining lettuce and bread.
• Wrap sandwich tightly in plastic; place on a baking sheet. Top with another sheet, and weight down with canned goods or a heavy skillet. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight to meld flavors. Cut in half, and serve.

My notes: I should have prepared this sandwich Sunday night and left it to press overnight, but I didn't, so it only pressed for about an hour and a half. I think that my ciabatta could perhaps have been a little softer, because as it is it was pretty crusty, but after sitting in the fridge it was really hard to bite through the exterior. It tasted good, don't get me wrong, but it seems like it could have tasted better and could have been slightly easier to eat.

I'm just crazy bout 'Cados, 'Cados crazy bout me....

Last night's dinner was a variation on something I'd done before. You may recall the Southwestern Turkey Clubs I blogged about in March. This time around I decided to eliminate the middle slice of bread, resulting in Southwest Turkey BLTs. Equally delicious, slightly easier to eat, and less calories since removing the middle slice of bread also eliminates the need for extra bacon and applying multiple layers of the avocado spread. I served these up with Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Fries. An easy and enjoyable dinner for our Monday evening.

Southwest Turkey BLTs
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart; Serves 2
4 slices whole wheat bread
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 to 2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno, chopped
coarse salt and ground pepper
4 slices bacon
4 slices peppered turkey breast
1 Roma tomato, thinly sliced
torn lettuce leaves, I prefer romaine

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Bake bacon for 20 minutes, turning slices halfway through cooking time. Remove from baking sheet and place on paper towels to drain.
• While bacon is cooking mash avocado, jalapeno and lime juice together in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Toast bread. Spread one slice with avocado mixture. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, 2 slices bacon, 2 slices turkey and second piece of bread. Repeat for second sandwich.

Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (2 to 3 medium)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut each potato into 8 wedges lengthwise; halve long wedges crosswise.
• On a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, toss potatoes with oil, sugar, chili powder, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, until coated. Arrange wedges, cut sides down.
• Roast potatoes until browned and tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with additional salt, if desired, before serving.

My notes: Like I said, this sandwich is just as good, and even easier, than the original it was inspired by. I forgot that last time I decided it was too limey, and had similar results this time. Still good, but very limey. Next time I will only use half the amount. And I only used 1 tablespoon of jalapeno. I think I will try 2 next time. As far as the wedges go, I typically mix everything in a bowl with tongs and then transfer to the baking sheet. This time for better coating I added each ingredient one at a time and tossed after each addition. I think they were definitely coated better this way. Also I cut this recipe in half, since there is just the two of use and I even have a few wedges leftover to go with my lunch today.

We can make sandwiches....

That's an inside joke. With someone who doesn't even read this blog actually. Gosh, how rude of me. Sorry, my mind takes me where it takes me, and I can't be responsible if we get lost on the way. Let me try and get it back on the road. Last night I made Meatball Subs for dinner. I have never even had a meatball sandwich before. They have always been appealing to me, but I've never had the opportunity presented to get one. I know, I coulda just ordered one up any of the hundreds of times I've been to Subway, but I wouldn't even know how to ask for one, since I don't know what makes a good one. But I took it upon myself to introduce this sandwich into my life. We hit it off! This sub was delicious. Granted, I'd never had one before so who am I to know, but I thought it was awesome. And when the hubster got home and I made him his, he concurred. And that's coming from someone who has eaten a few of them before. I aimed to make a less messy version, for the obvious reason of being less messy. This was a truly easy thing to make, especially since it's a leftovers meal. That's right, remember those meatballs I made a few weeks ago? Well, I just popped those leftovers from freezer to fridge the night before, and fridge to the oven that evening. I served the sandwiches with a salad on the side. I just kind of threw together the few vegetables I had left in the fridge- broccoli, carrots, and onion- with spinach and spring mix.

Meatball Subs
Made by me; Serves 2
10 meatballs
1 small can Hunt's basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
Red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 wheat hoagie/sub sandwich rolls

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
• While meatballs are in the oven heat the tomato sauce in a small sauce pan over low heat. Flavor sauce with sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, to taste.
• Remove meatballs from oven, and place them in the sauce to coat. Allow to sit for a minute or two, while you prepare the rolls. Cut the rolls horizontally, stopping short of cutting all the way through. Pull out some of the soft innards on the top and bottom, to create a nest for your meatballs.
• Place 5 meatballs in the recess of the bottom portion of the roll. Spoon as much sauce as you'd like over the meatballs and top with Mozzarella.

My notes: When the meatballs come out of the oven, I usually pick each one up and move it to a clean spot on the parchment, to help drain off some of the fat that will have pooled around them while baking. Some people might like more Parmesan cheese, but I found that since I used it in the meatballs, flavoring the sauce with a bit carried the flavor through nicely.

And Lindsey- I'm totally gonna work on that entry for you, just wanna do some research first.

Sammiches

So, I know I posted over at This Week For Dinner that I was going to make Spinach Pie last night and Southwestern Turkey Clubs tonight, but I had to switch things up when I realized yesterday that I'd forgotten to thaw my phyllo dough. And thusly Wednesday and Thursday will be switching because I was going for an alternating menu of veggie and meaty. Anyway, back to the recipe at hand. I served these sandwiches with Spicy Black Beans, which is practically the only way I prepare black beans. We love them and it's so quick and easy. The recipe for the sandwiches can be found here, but I really changed it up to suit what I had & felt like doing, so below is my adjusted recipe.

Southwestern Turkey Clubs
Recipe based on Everyday Food recipe; Serves 2
2 small ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
8 slices of bacon, cooked crisply
Sliced peppered turkey breast
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno, chopped
1 tomato, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 slices whole wheat bread, toasted

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bacon slices on foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping slices halfway through. Remove from baking sheet and place on paper towels to drain.
• In a small bowl mash together avocado, lime juice, and jalapenos. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spread avocado mixture on one side of each slice of toast. Layer bacon, tomato, turkey, and toast to form triple decker sandwiches. To serve, skewer with toothpicks and slice diagonally with a serrated knife.

My notes: I used peppered turkey breast purchased from the deli, because it's one of our usual lunch meat purchases, so it saved me time and money. I bake my bacon to a crisp, which protects me from the usual grease burns I get frying it. This worked fine since I was using prepared turkey. The recipe calls for 1 avocado and 2 tablespoons lime juice. I felt the mixture was much too limey going by this original recipe, so I added an additional avocado to the mix. It helped, but still didn't even out the taste completely, so next time I'll also use less lime juice. So, keeping these adjustments in mind, we both really enjoyed our sandwiches, and I will definitely be making this again sometime.

Spicy Black Beans
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4

1 teaspoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 14.5 oz. canned black beans, drained and rinsed
Coarse salt
Cilantro leaves (optional)

• In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add black beans and 1 cup of water.
• Bring to a simmer; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. (Add more water for a thinner consistency if necessary.) Season with coarse salt and cilantro leaves, if desired. Serve immediately.

My notes: Since this recipe serves 4 I usually divide in half for our dinners. I use 1/4 teaspoon of the red-pepper when I half, but I tend to still use all 3 cloves of garlic. Spicyness is in the tastebuds of the preparer though, so adjust as you like. Also, despite my love of cilantro, I once again didn't have any. I rarely buy it unless it is truly integral to a recipe, because it usually goes to waste. I'll have to plan this recipe in conjunction with some other ones that require it next time.