A Thrown Together (Sandwich) Story

A low rumble roused me from my brief sleep.

My eyelids flew open and I jolted myself up, ready for action. Other than the strange rumbling sound, it was still quiet. I let out a long, silent sigh but the mysterious rumbling returned. It was a moment before I realized, with relief, it was coming from my stomach.

I needed food.

I paused briefly at the mouth of The Monster’s den and listened intently. The barely audible ‘shh, shh’ of The Monster’s breath was the only sound.

I crept silently and stealthy, avoiding the creaky steps with practiced precision. A small grunt suddenly pierced the silence.

The Monster was beginning to stir. I didn’t have much time.

I gathered up all the food I could find within reach: meat, cheese, bread. As I searched for something leafy, The Monster’s grunting grew louder.

I had less than two minutes now.

I pulled out a bundle of greens and barely stifled a curse as I noticed how damp and wilted they were and I had to throw them away.

The Monster’s grunts morphed into shrieks. Time was running out.

I piled the food together sloppily and crammed it into my mouth.

“I’m coming!” I called between chews with my mouth still full.

The Monster responded by shrieking and snorting more intensely.

Wiping my hands on a random cloth, I ran back to The Monster’s liar.

I was out of breath but ready; my hunger satiated, my energy restored. Thanks to the sandwich I’d thrown together and eaten in record time, I could resume my duties.

When The Monster saw me approaching, her snorts subsided and she reached out a pudgy hand towards me. Cooing instead of crying, a wide, gummy smile spread instantaneously across her face.

My Baby was awake and happy to see me, her Mom.

And then she realized she was hungry too…

*******************************************************************************************************

The above is a based-on-true-events story of some of my sandwich adventures as a new mom. In the past three months, I’ve made many a Throw-Together-Sandwich and it’s helped keep me going. It’s important to eat well and eat frequently while taking care of one’s baby. Since time between feedings, changings, and naps can be short, when you get the chance to grab something, DO IT!

I’ve said from the very beginning of this blog that the true beauty of sandwiches lies in how versatile and adaptable they are depending what you have on hand. A Throw-Together Sandwich is the absolute embodiment of this fact. Paired with other no-fuss snacks, like apples, bananas, dried cranberries, crackers, chocolate and potato chips, you’ve got a reliable standby meal in just minutes. And as my story shows, Moms sometimes only have minutes to refuel and recharge before getting back to their monsters.

I look forward to when I’ll have more time to make, enjoy and blog about sandwiches that are a bit more involved, but for now, I’m happy and thankful for fresh, non-wilted, non-gross sandwich ingredients, and for writing/blogging one nap at a time.

Some of my favorite Throw-Together Sandwiches are:

-Classic ham, cheddar, tomato and lettuce

-Salami, gouda and spicy mustard

-Leftover chicken, mayo, tomato and lettuce

-Turkey, any cheese and any vegetable; red and yellow peppers are great

Good luck to you all with your Throw-Together Sandwiches and a special shout-out to my fellow Mom Warriors on this crazy child-raising journey. We’re doing it, one sandwich, one nap, one day at a time.

PS. My husband and I refer to our girl as The Monster in a ‘My Pet Monster’/term of endearment way. She is a very content and generally sweet-natured girl…unless of course, she’s very hungry. :)

I cheated with the photo. These are not true Throw-Together Sandwich because no such photos exist.

Mmmozzarella Meatball Subs

Remember when Joey on Friends swore his meatball sandwich was “the greatest sandwich in the world”? He loved it so much he even dove to ‘protect it’ from what he thought was gunfire, prompting Chandler to think he cared more about Ross, who was next to the sandwich, than him. 

Turns out it was actually a car backfiring and nobody and no sandwiches were ever in any danger but whatever - to Joey, it was worth taking a bullet for.

To quote Chandler, could there be any higher compliment paid to a sandwich?

Ever since I started this sandwich blog, I’ve wanted to make a meatball sub-style sandwich and revisiting this Friends episode reminded me that our previous attempts, while commendable and tasty, just weren’t quite blog-worthy yet. I knew we were close to something great; we just needed a little something extra…

So I consulted one of my new Jamie Oliver cookbooks and found the answer – our meatballs needed to be a mixture of beef AND pork. Another burst of inspiration had us tossing in some sautéed green peppers for another layer of flavour and with a side of Crunch Veggie Salad, we’d finally done it – our Mmmmozzarella Meatball Sub was ready to meet the world.

Mmmozzeralla Meatball Subs

You will need:

Ground Pork

Ground Beef – I’d recommend getting lean ground beef since ground pork is usually higher in fat content

Bread crumbs – we used our immersion blender to crumb-ify half a dried baguette; worked great

One egg

Minced garlic or garlic powder – we didn’t measure specifically but it looked to be around ½ - 1 Tbsp

Minced rosemary – around 1 tsp-ish

Fresh baguettes or sub-style loaves, 1-2 depending on how many sandwiches you want to make

Mozzarella cheese, torn into chunks

A jar of your favorite tomato-based pasta sauce – after experimenting in our previous attempts, we recommend one with a bit of a spicy kick, like our favorite Arrabbiata sauce from Barilla

One green pepper, sliced and sautéed

Process:

1-Combine the pork and beef in a big bowl and use your (clean) hands to mix it all together.

2-Add the egg and bread crumbs and keep mixing until the meat sticks together but isn’t too wet; add more crumbs to achieve this and add the spices.

Meatball process

3-Shape the meat into balls; try to make them the same size so they cook evenly.

4-Place the meatballs into an oiled pan and bake in the oven until they’re cooked all the way through. (You will probably have to sacrifice one to check, but you can still use it in your sandwich.)

Watching and waiting for meatball goodness

4.5-Make the Crunchy Veggie Salad:

            -Chop and combine red and yellow peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery and crumbled goat/feta cheese in a bowl

            -Mix olive oil, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and oregano and pour over salad 

(Tip: If you make a big batch and know it will all get eaten, pour it over everything. But if you plan to eat this salad with a few meals, only pour the dressing over your individual serving to avoid it turning into a soggy mess.)

Crunchy Veggie Salad

5-Cut the baguette in half, length-wise and fill with meatballs and green peppers.

6-Pour pasta sauce on the meatballs and top with chunks of mozzarella.

7-Bake or broil the sandwiches in the oven, around 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden.

8-Serve with a side of Crunchy Veggie Salad.

Mmm!

Definitely one of the most photogenic sandwich creations we’ve made.

The pork and beef combo work so well together, I can’t believe it took us this long to figure it out. One fun variation to try is to stuff the meatballs with mozzarella before you bake them. This makes for some oozy, cheesy meatballs, if that’s your thing. I could go either way on this, but the pork and beef togetherness are a must.

Meatballs are actually quite easy to make and there are so many recipes out there to experiment with, so don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get in there.

Here are some meatball recipes to get you started – have fun! 

http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-italian-meatballs-92095

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/meatballs-and-pasta/

http://www.citrusandspice.ca/pitas-with-lamb-goat-cheese-and-rosemary-meatballs/

Joey would certainly approve.

Lunch at Bagelstein Bastille

Packed and stacked with rows of different kinds of bagels and cookies, the window display of Bagelstein Café in the 11^th arrondissement certainly did its job in attracting this hungry customer. 

A quick glance at my options on the sandwich-board outside, or bagel-board in this context, and I’d found my lunch spot that Friday afternoon.

I’m always on the lookout for new lunch places to try in Paris and this newly opened café on Rue de la Roquette is one of them. It’s not a big place inside but what it lacks in space, it makes up in fun décor: the walls are plastered with framed magazine covers, newspaper front pages, signed celebrity headshots and small plaques of witty French quotes.

It smells warm and inviting inside and unlike the (albeit) tasty baguette sandwiches that crowd the display cases of nearly every boulangerie, Bagelstein’s creations, on freshly baked bagels, are made to order right in front of you.

I chose the Hypolite – roast chicken, honey mustard, cream cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles - on a toasted Gratin (cheese) bagel. I chose my seat by a signed photo of Wonder Woman and munched on my tasty bagel lunch. I was at first unsure about the pairing of pickles and chicken (and yes, as a pregnant woman I’m aware of the irony of that!) but when mixed with the flavourful honey mustard and cream cheese, it worked for this sandwich.

The reasonably-priced menu has many options for all your bagel-cravings: smoked salmon, tuna, pastrami, vegetarian and build-your-own on your choice of bagel. There’s even a Bagel-of-the-Month meal, plus a mouth-watering selection of cookies, cheesecake, and muffins so you can eat your bagel and get your fix of French baked goods. And a big bonus - the location on Rue de la Roquette is open 7 days a week for your bagel devouring pleasure.

Paris-area sandwich lovers, on your next jaunt in the city, be check out one of the many locations of Bagelstein for a delicious, low-key lunch. Because even the most devoted baguette fan needs variety once and a while. 

For more menu info and other fun facts, check out Bagelstein's unique website:

http://www.bagelstein.com

Homemade Tim Hortons Breakfast Sandwich

Being the good Canadians we are, my husband Mike and I suffer from the occasional bout of Tim Hortons withdrawal.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with the institution that is Tim Hortons, allow me to educate you: Tim Hortons is the largest fast-food chain in Canada and it specializes in doughnuts, coffee and sandwiches. It was founded by Canadian NHL hockey player Tim Horton in the 1960s and there is a Tim Hortons in virtually every Canadian city, post-secondary campus, airport, community sports complex and corner gas station.  It’s known as Tims, Timmie’s, or Timmy Ho’s, in various communities. Their ‘Rrrroll up the Rrrrim to Win!’, ‘Camp Day’, Double-Doubles, Timbits doughnuts and the Timbits hockey teams (both of my nephews have started their hockey careers as Timbits, as well as NHL superstar Sidney Crosby), and their many other marketing tie-ins are extremely popular throughout my home and native land.

My Grandpa goes to the Tim Hortons in Olds, AB almost every day to visit with whoever’s there. My father-in-law makes daily runs into the Stettler, AB Tims for his large, black coffee. When we visit them, he often brings me back a small pack of Timbits, which I have to hide from the dogs. The chocolate ones are my favorite. Friends of mine swear the ultimate hangover cure is a large order of Tim Hortons chicken noodle soup and Mike has a soft spot for their iced-cappuccinos, no matter the outdoor temperature. I’ve often picked up coffee and snacks for my friends and coworkers as fuel during report card time, and almost every staff meeting or potluck lunch includes a box of Tim Hortons doughnuts.

So you can see how we would miss it occasionally.

In the winter, Mike and I would often pick up two sausage breakfast sandwiches, hashbrowns and orange juices on our way out to the cross country ski trails. Admittedly, not the most healthy pre-skiing breakfast, but it always hit the spot and gave us motivation to ski harder to burn it off.

The snow is scarce here in Le Plessis-Robinson, France and so are the fast-food places, which is actually a really good thing. But not when you’re missing a taste of home.

So we created our own, Homemade Tim Hortons Breakfast Sandwich and now you can too.

Ingredients:

-Half a pack of ground pork

-1/2 teaspoon each of paprika and cayenne pepper

-Cheddar cheese slices

-Eggs (1 per sandwich)

-Homemade dinner biscuits, which I made using butter instead of shortening, from this good recipe

Prep:

1-Mix the paprika and cayenne pepper in with ground pork.

2-Shape the pork into small patties and grill on a hot skillet. 

3-Make the biscuit dough and cook them for 13-15 minutes, as per the recipe. For a convection oven, set the initial time for 10 minutes and check them periodically to avoid burning. Allow them to cool a few minutes before assembling the sandwiches.

4-Whisk the eggs individually and pour each egg into a small, greased, microwave safe dish. 

5-Microwave the egg on a low setting, and check/pause it regularly to prevent mess and overcooking. Or cook them in the pork grease, if that’s what you fancy.

6-Slice the cooled biscuits in half and assemble the sandwich. Our order was egg, cheese, meat, top.

7-Pour yourself a Double-Double or a glass of orange juice and enjoy.

The result for us was a welcome taste of Canada on a balmy, French winter day. 

I’ll leave you to your sandwich making now, along with one of my favorite Tim Hortons commercials, featuring Sid the Kid himself and a nation of hockey-crazed Canadian folks.

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Grilled Cheese

In my constant search for sandwich-inspiration, thank goodness for the Internet!

I recently found an epic list of different grilled cheese incarnations, henceforth to be referred to as The List, and after I wiped the drool off my chin, I faced the difficult decision of which one to make. The Baked Potato Grilled Cheese won out and I’m super excited to share my vision of it with you.

To create this sandwich edition of a baked potato with all the fixin’s, you will need:

-2 Large Baking Potatoes (Russets are good)

-Bacon

-Sharp cheddar cheese

-Sturdy sandwich bread

-Green onion

-Sour cream or crème fraîche

Prep :

1-Fry the bacon until crispy, then cut it into small bits.

2-Shred the potatoes and fry them up like hash browns (in the bacon grease, if that’s how you roll).

3-Slice the onion and grate the cheese.

4-Assemble the sandwich and insert some toothpicks to hold everything together.

Cooking:

I tried to grill them in the skillet like a regular grilled cheese, but the abundance of ingredients made it difficult for the sandwich to melt together and flipping it was basically impossible. So I did what one does when making stuffed baked potatoes: I baked them in the oven! They only needed 15 minutes total, but I rotated the pan at halftime so make sure they cooked evenly.

I served them immediately with a side of sour cream. So good! The onions were the unexpected star of this sandwich, as they added a nice spicy flavour and heat, while complimenting the bacon and the potatoes. This is a super-filling sandwich on its own, but I recommend adding a side salad to balance out the hot-mess of melted cheese and bacon grease.

It doesn’t have to be Grilled Cheese Month to enjoy this type of sandwich. If you’re feeling adventurous and creative, consult The List - and the blog! - for some excellent sandwich-spiration. 

Happy Grilling and Sandwich Eating!

Crunchy Croque Monsieur

A Croque Monsieur is an inside-out grilled cheese!

I've been chowing down on this famous French sandwich since we moved here and I'm so pumped to share it during Grilled Cheese Month 2015.

Viola Le Croque Monsieur: an inside-out grilled cheese!

Croquer means 'to crunch' and the loud crunch it should make when you bite into it is how it got its name. Like the other great French sandwiches I've enjoyed, it has super simple ingredients: bread, ham, emmental cheese, for the inside, and melted Gruyere cheese on top.  

The tricky part of making this at home was finding the right bread. The beautiful artisan breads I love are also very holey, which isn't ideal for a grilled sandwich. Luckily, bakers are like pharmacists, since there are as many pharmacies here as there are bakeries, and if you go to one with a question, they can help you get what you need. So I went to the new bakery that just opened behind our house for some expert advice. The result was a very small, square loaf of bread, plucked fresh from the shelf. The slices were no bigger than small ceramic tiles in a bathroom, so I knew it would be a multiple Croque Monsieur meal.

Small bread makes a tasty, crunchy Croque Monsieur.

To create your own Croque Monsieur, you will need:

-Non-holey bread
-Ham
-Emmental cheese
-Mustard (optional, but you know how I feel about my spicy mustard!)
-Gruyere cheese for the top

Prep:

1. Spread mustard on one slice of bread.
2. Top with ham and slices of emmental.
3. Assemble the other piece of bread.
4. Sprinkle a thick layer of grated Gruyere on top.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes/until the top is nicely melted and golden.  

Any kind of grilled cheese, inside and out, is a big favorite of mine but I can't deny that all that melted cheese alone is not super healthy. So I paired my Croque Monsieurs with another crunchy dish, a fresh Broccoli Salad, for a tasty serving of veggies and sweet fruit. 

Equally crunchy Broccoli Salad with apples and dried cranberries.

Prep for the Broccoli Salad:

1. Rinse the broccoli and chop into bite-sized florerets.
2. Chop up an apple and toss in a big handful of dried cranberries.
3. Sprinkle with some grated cheese and toss in a cream dressing (to make a quick one, add some milk, white sugar and ground pepper to a big dollop of mayo and mix until thin.)

Mmm..crunch! What a lovely sound! The spicy mustard really made this Croque Monsieur pop! 

My stack of Croque Monsieurs was a great opportunity to break in my new sandwich tray! I found it in a fun gift shop on a recent trip to Brussels, Belgium. That shop reminded me of one of my favorite shops in Edmonton that closed last year, The Tin Box. I knew as soon as I saw the tray, it needed to come home with me and fulfill its purpose of serving up delicious sandwich meals. 

How awesome is this tray?! 

Happy Sandwich Making! Crunch!

Bridges, Poulet Crudités and Being in the Moment

One day during my ESL Teacher training course in January, I bought a baguette sandwich from the bakery two doors down on Rue Dauphine (right in the heart of the Latin Quarter, such a cool area!) and walked a few blocks north to Pont Neuf and ate my lunch right there on the bridge, overlooking the Seine.

Lunch on Pont Neuf: Poulet Crudité, jus de pomme et pain au chocolat.

Pont Neuf, contrary to its name, is not a ‘new bridge’. It was actually built in 1578 and it has two parts that span the right and left banks of Ile-de-la-Cite. It’s a beautiful place and I was needing a few minutes of calm during a very busy and intensive course. I remember planting myself firmly in the moment, taking a deep, yogic breath, and deliberately acknowledging: “This is my lunch break. I’m eating on Pont Neuf. In Paris. Wow!”

Because life gets busy sometimes. And we often forget to just take a moment and acknowledge where we are and what we’re doing. Sometimes, the scenery of everyday, anywhere, can start to blend together and we can lose track of calm, lovely moments that make life interesting.

So I chose to make that moment count and to enjoy every single bite of my delicious sandwich, there on one of the oldest bridges in Paris.

The sandwich I bought from that bakery was a Poulet Crudité, a chicken sandwich with vegetables and a salad dressing sauce on a crusty baguette. It was tasty and filling and kept me going through the busy afternoons of teaching, observing and planning during my course. Recently, I had some lovely leftover roast chicken and I was inspired to gather the ingredients and make my own version of the Poulet Crudité, right at home. And now, you can too!

Cheese and eggs

You will need:

-one baguette

-Mayo or salad dressing sauce, like ranch

-roast chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces or thin slices

-some cheese of your choice; we used some nice Bleu des Neiges, a combination brie/blue type cheese

-hard boiled eggs, sliced (1 egg per sandwich)

-tomato slices

-lettuce/salad greens

Chicken and Tomatoes

Prep:

1-Slice the baguette in half, lengthwise.

2-Drizzle the mayo/salad dressing on each half of the bread loaf.

3-Boil the eggs, using the method from the Colourful Egg Salad post.

4-Layer the bottom half of the bread with cheese, chicken, egg slices, tomato and lettuce.

5-Assemble the top half of the baguette, slice and serve. Makes two big, dinner-sized sandwiches!

Poulet Crudité: Pret a Manger!

This particular sandwich was eaten for dinner in the comfort of my own home, with the company of my husband. It may not be as exciting as a bridge in Paris, but it’s home and I enjoyed every bite of this sandwich just as much as I enjoyed the other one.

I want to mention that the first time I ate lunch on Pont Neuf, it was Friday, January 9 2015, the day there was a hostage situation underway in Porte de Vincennes. I didn’t know it was happening at the time and where I was in Paris, it was business as usual. The Paris attacks shocked me and my husband, as it shocked the rest of the world and we were quick to reassure our friends and family that we were safe.

Shocked though we were, we still went to the ballet at Palais Garnier that weekend, because life must continue. And the following week, I made a point to buy my lunch again (a different kind of  sandwich from the same bakery) and eat it on Pont Neuf. Because I refuse to live in fear and I want to keep looking for the good in my life, in the people around me, and in my surroundings.

And I’m happy to report that the view was just as picturesque and my sandwich was just as tasty as it was before! Paris is a beautiful and a tough city, having withstood a lot in her history, and I will continue to look for the good in it and take the time to deliberately acknowledge that I’m lucky and happy to be here.

One of my favorite lunch spots in a beautiful and tough city.

I hope you find the time to be in the moment and appreciate where you are, what you're doing and to find the good in it.

Thanks for your support and Happy Sandwich Making!

Ciabatta Goodness

Can you pronounce ciabatta?

It’s a tricky one – the ‘ci’ is actually pronounced like ‘chi’, so to say the name of this lovely bread correctly, try ‘chi-batta’. I actually looked up how to pronounce it – thank you Macmillan Dictionary and your audio clips for pronunciation!

Fresh Ciabatta Goodness!

This sudden attention to the pronunciation of foreign words is a result of the intensive English Teacher training course I recently completed at the International Language Center in Paris. I can now apply for English teaching positions and the world is wide open to me once again!

During my course, I brought my lunch from home as much as possible. This was helpful to save money, since buying lunch everyday can be expensive, and to save time, especially on those afternoons when I was teaching. I often brought homemade sandwiches made with ciabatta bread and stuffed with my favorite sandwich innards: multiple types of meat and cheese, veggies and mustard.

Stacked and Packed!

I can get fresh ciabatta bread  at my local grocery store and one loaf can make multiple sandwiches, depending on the size of my appetite: 3 small or 2 large. Ciabatta is lovely bread, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, with lots of nice little nooks and crannies to hold reserves of mustard. It’s a worthy alternative to the baguette and it makes some pretty amazing sandwiches, both fresh and toasted.

A medley of goodness and ingredients

Possible ingredients for some Ciabatta Goodness include:

Meat: Ham, salami, sausage, roast beef, roast chicken or turkey

Cheese: Emmental, gouda, camembert (so good!)

Veggies: Feuilles de chêne (salad greens), arugula, spinach, avocado, red pepper, tomato, etc.

Condiments: Butter, mustard (multiple kinds in the same sandwich!), mayo

Prep:

1-Cut a fresh ciabatta loaf in half, length wise.

2-Spread butter and/or mustard on the halves, alternating or combining as per your tastes.

3-Pile on your choice(s) of meat(s) and cheese(s).

4-Top with veggies.

5-Assemble the top half of the loaf.

6-Cut to your desired size and number of sandwiches.

7-Serve and enjoy!

One Ciabatta Loaf = Multiple Sandwiches!

To create a tasty toasted ciabatta sandwich, place both halves of the bread (after the meat and cheese are in place, but before adding the veggies) in the oven under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, top with veggies, cut and serve!

Tasty and Toasty Ciabatta Sandwich

This sandwich was a conversation starter among my new classmates during my course and it was extremely filling to eat for lunch. It also works well at sandwich parties or potlucks, where there are lot of fun ingredient combinations to play with. We brought some ciabatta to a recent gathering of sandwich lovers (friends) and they were a big hit there too.

So give it a try with your favorite ingredients and when someone asks you about your sandwich, because they will, tell them it’s all in the ciabatta bread and help them pronounce it correctly.

Just don’t talk with your mouth full!

Upside-down Ciabatta Goodness.