Posts Tagged ‘sandwich’

I am so, so excited about this post. I’m practically bouncing in my chair with glee writing this because not only have I been waiting months to finally try this idea out, but it turned out to be an amazing success.

There’s no big story as to where I got the inspiration for this dish. I was musing to Rach in late July that I wanted to get an ice cream maker and play with flavors, and I mentioned the idea of a peanut butter ice cream/concord grape sorbet sundae, like “PB & J” – how fun would that be!? And then because for me it’s over-the-top or nothing, I wanted to go a step further and play with the “sandwich” idea even more, came up with this.  Concord grape sorbet sandwiched between peanut butter cookies.  “PB & J” turned up to 11.

This is one of those desserts where I’m clinging onto summer by my fingernails, refusing to let go.  Ice cream and sorbet will soon be replaced with apple tarts and pumpkin breads, so this is my final hurrah.  The tricky thing here is concord grapes are only in season for about a month – during Sept/October, thus me waiting a few months before I was able to make this. I stubbornly wanted only concord grapes since that’s the classic jelly pairing with a PB & J sandwich.  I had to call around a bit before I found a few pints at a Whole Foods nearby and snatched them up tout de suite. The flavor of the sorbet is so intense, so childhood-reminiscent turned grown-up complex it’s perfect for the beginning of fall and that back-to-school feeling in the air.  Sandwiched between sweet, sugary-rich peanut butter cookies… it’s hard to describe just how awesome it tastes.  You’ll have to try it yourself (now! go!) to find out.

Oh, roast chicken leftovers, how I love you so.  Being at a photography shoot the past few days where all we’ve been shooting is picture after picture of gorgeous food (and eating awesome Thai Basil for lunch every day), my guilt over just eating cold chicken with a salad once I got home finally got to me.  Normally I would make a yummy chicken salad and serve it on fluffy, sweet wheat bread, but I saw this on Gourmet a few months ago and thought how it would be something great to do for when I had leftover roast chicken instead of just buying a rotisserie substitute.

Tstasiki is right up there with Dijon mustard in my list of favorite condiments, and despite knowing how easy it was to make, I never actually did it.  The lazier part of me just always picked up a container whenever I was in the store, and frequently my after-work snack is me dipping celery into the container (thankfully I live alone) while I put dishes away and make my lunch for the next day.  Cooling, tart and decadent without the fat, I use it as a sub for mayonnaise in chicken salad (great calorie reducer) and even as a salad dressing.

The tsatsiki is the only ‘recipe’ here, really.  The rest is tossing the chicken with some herbs and oil, adding some veggies and topping everything with the tsatsiki on some pita bread.  It’s a great fast weeknight meal and even better if you have the time to roast some potatoes with oregano alongside it. Otherwise, just enjoy on its own!

Sandwiches. Quite possibly the most versatile of all dishes, and one of my favorite things in the entire world (notice I seem to say that a lot on here?). I know, I know, I’ve said breakfast is my favorite thing in the world (breakfast sandwiches being my favorite brekkie item, though!) but seriously, sandwiches are one of my biggest passions.  They can be dirt cheap, ridiculously expensive, cold, hot, room temp, sweet (Nutella and PB, drool), savory, and everything in between. I simply love sandwiches, and one of my many far-fetched dreams is to eventually open a small sandwich shop that seats a a few dozen people and is known for our awesome in-house made everything and great flavor profiles.  So coming up with sandwiches is not only something my stomach adores, but my heart is also very attached to it as well.

And that’s another reason why I love sandwiches – they’re really almost recipe-less.  Sure, you can cook ingredients that go inside them, but in the end it’s mostly just assembly and if you want to, grilling or pressing it.  Anyone can make a sandwich and what’s even better, anyone can make a sandwich exactly how they want, regardless of how weird the flavor combination may seem to someone else.  I’ve heard and seen some truly bizarre sandwich preferences in my life (my favorite being my sister’s penchant for mixing shredded colby jack cheese with A1 steaksauce and putting it between two pieces of white Wonder bread when she was young) but the sandwich I whipped up last night was a little more along the ordinary lines.

Most of the time when I come up with sandwich ideas it’s trying to incorporate multiple things I’m craving.  I used to work at Quizno’s Subs many, many moons ago and quickly became addicted to their red pepper sauce, which was simply mayo blended with roasted red peppers.  I’ve recreated it many times since, and the idea of it with some smokey chicken breast and tangy goat cheese was making my mind wander and mouth water all day yesterday.  So in the midst of packing and getting ready to fly to Charleston for a mini vacation with my best friend from Cornell, I threw this together with things I had in my fridge and pantry and welcome you to do the same, but with whatever you may have lying around.

I was able to start my weekend with a fun little victory today.  Upon arriving home and going out to the backyard to water my garden, I found a surprise.  My first ripe tomato had arrived!  Like a proud mother picking up her kindergartener after their first day, I lovingly took it from the stem and lavished it with photography before slicing it up for a scrumptious BLT.  Juicy, firm and sweet, it makes me drool for the future where I’ll have them available on a regular basis.  If only the sun could hurry up and make it happen faster somehow.