Todays Sandwiches
Source of Recipe
Sources: Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts (Prentice Hall,
Recipe Introduction
sophisticated sandwiches shouldn't be confined to restaurants.
List of Ingredients
Baguette (baa-GHETT): A long, thin loaf of French bread with a hard, crisp
crust and an airy, chewy interior.
Ciabatta (chee-BAH-tah): A rustic, oblong, flat bread whose name means
slipper in Italian. Unlike focaccia, its top is usually unadorned with herbs
and oil.
Cuban: The signature ingredients of this hot, pressed sandwich from
(obviously) Cuba are sliced roast pork loin, sliced ham, Swiss cheese and
dill pickle slices. It's typically served on an oblong white bun.
Flat bread: A huge category of breads shaped as their name implies; they
may or may not be leavened with yeast. Ethnic cuisines offer many styles,
from Mexican tortillas to Middle Eastern pitas to Italian focaccia. The
thinnest, such as lavash and tortillas, are used as casings for rollup
sandwiches at fast-casual restaurant chains.
Focaccia (foh-KAH-chee-ah): A yeast-leavened Italian flat bread, flavored
with olive oil and sometimes with herbs, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes or
other ingredients before baking. Can be squarish, round or oblong; slice in
half horizontally for sandwiches. Use at room temperature or grill it
lightly, cut side down.
Monte Cristo - A favorite from the '50s that's been making a big comeback.
Basically a ham and cheese sandwich is dipped in an egg batter, much like
French toast, and fried. Then it's sprinkled with powdered sugar and served
with a side of jam or jelly for dipping.
Muffuletta (muff-uh-LETT-ah): A New Orleans hero-style sandwich, usually
made on a round loaf of white Italian bread. It's filled with layers of
provolone, salami and ham, topped with a mixture of chopped green olives,
pimentos, celery, garlic, capers, oregano, olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Panini (pah-NEE-nee): In the United States, panini are thin sandwiches
grilled in a grooved sandwich press called a panini grill. In Italy, the
word - plural of panino - literally means small breads, such as rolls or
biscuits, but also refers to the sandwiches made with them.
Tapenade (ta-pen-AHD): A thick, nearly pureed paste of black olives,
capers, anchovies, olive oil, lemon juice and seasonings, from the Provence
region of France. Available as a condiment or easily be made at home.Recipe
Made at home, they're perfect food for today's lifestyle challenges. Too
busy to cook? Watching your budget? Eating healthier? Bored with the same
six dinners every week? Sandwiches can be an easy, quick and endlessly
variable solution.
If you're ready to shed your turkey-and-American-cheese past for a more
contemporary style, there's no shortage of help and inspiration.
There are new sandwich cookbooks by famous chefs, elaborate $100 panini
grills from high-end appliance makers, and scores of tempting ready-made
ingredients at bakeries, markets and grocery stores.
Tips on making a great sandwich
To make a great sandwich, start with great breads. Chefs agree that breads
with substance, texture and the earthy flavors of grain are the real key to
today's more substantial, sophisticated sandwiches.
Skip typical supermarket loaves and choose rustic hearth-baked or
artisan-style breads.
Experiment with different textures, shapes and flavors, and slice them
yourself to get the thickness you prefer.
One chef suggests rich olive-sourdough bread, sundried tomato and basil, or
any kind of focaccia.
Add flavor by grilling the bread, and roast or grill at least some of the
fillings, such as onions, peppers and other vegetables, suggests another
chef. Seasoning or marinating the meat - whether it's chicken, beef or
seafood - adds complexity and more layers of flavor, he says.
You can grill bread slices individually before assembling the sandwiches;
these are the ones you'll find on high-end menus. Or you can grill the whole
thing in a contact grill or a specialized panini maker, sold at high-end
appliance retailers.
Restaurant chains all over the country are jumping on the panini bandwagon,
industry studies show. Panera Bread, for example, introduced them two years
ago, and now, even Starbucks is reported to be experimenting with them.
Use grilled or roasted meats instead of sliced cold cuts. Even leftovers
from a weekend cookout or Sunday night supper are preferable to processed
products. Think oven-roasted turkey breast, succulent slices of rosy grilled
steak, pan-seared salmon filets, or even shredded, slowly braised beef pot
roast.
And if you love tomatoes on sandwiches, don't settle for tasteless winter
ones; intensify their flavor by slowly roasting sliced or halved Romas in
the oven. Add a few leaves of fresh basil or other herbs while you're at it.
Get beyond mayonnaise and mustard.
Shop the aisles of almost any supermarket and you'll spot prepared chutneys,
pestos and tapenade - extremely flavorful condiments that aren't usually
used as sandwich spreads.
In the refrigerator section, grab containers of hummus, bottles of salad
dressing and tubs of spreadable cheeses. Check out prepared foods counters,
too.
La Brea Bakery chef, restaurateur and author Nancy Silverton of Los Angeles
says prepared items such as tapenades and roasted red peppers in jars can
taste great and save time; just read the ingredients to know what you're
buying.
Rethink everything you assume about fillings. Both vegetarian and seafood
sandwiches were strong new trends on restaurant menus last year, Food
Technology magazine reports.
Grilled eggplant, broccoli and asparagus are just a few of the vegetables
showing up as sandwich ingredients; Silverton's new cookbook has recipes
using sautéed bitter greens and even bean purées.
Don't overlook fresh vegetables: Pea shoots, rings of sweet yellow or red
peppers, or long, thin slabs of crisp cucumber can add crunch, moisture and
coolness to sandwiches.
Try fruit; mango or pineapple salsas are cool, spicy and refreshing in
knife-and-fork sandwiches.
And don't forget grilled salmon, smoked salmon, seared tuna, crabcakes or
seafood salads as options to heavier protein sources such as beef, pork and
chicken.
|
Â
Â
Â
|
member logon
