30 Gourmet Sandwiches #20: Pork Sandwich with Red-Onion Relish

 After that slightly sad processed turkey in the thanksgiving sandwich, I felt like maybe i haven't been putting in as much effort, and getting more sliced ham instead of a proper roast pork wouldn't do for this one.

So I am going... for it!!! I bought a whole-ass roasting pork joint. only £7.50 actually, pork has gotten really cheap here. It's a workday so I sneakily pop this in the oven a couple hours before I finish work, one of the many perks of work from home eh. Bit of red valkyrie lore for ya.

Still, it would be a crime to do all this and not give it some season. I've got a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar (more on that later), paprika salt (mostly just salt at this point) and some chilli flakes. And then some fresh sage leaves from my herb planter!

A couple hours later and I've finished up at work, time to complete the dinner... I've got a big loaf of sourdough bread, red onions, olive oil and red wine vinegar, and some... ketchup for this? really?

I'll thinly slice 2 onions, thatll probably make me plenty.

I've already done a later recipe where i had to caramelise onions, and i cooked them too hard and fast and burned them a bit, so now im gonna try really hard to do it low and slow. They're sauteeing in some olive oil and then when they've softened I add in the red wine vinegar.

A nice chunky slice of the sourdough will do. I think sourdough is a bit overrated, this bread looks a little dense and cakey. Never seemed worth the hassle to maintain all that starter stuff, just to make a slightly worse and more sour bread than yeast can do. Still better than any bread ive ever made.

These are looking much better! And as for the pork?

That's looking great! I've tried to slice it as thin as I can.

Nicely proportioned and smells so good.

The onion relish goes on top, there'll be plenty of both for leftovers.

And lastly. perhaps controversially.. I must admit, even as a big ketchup kid this wasn't my first thought to pair with pork and onions! But i love sauce on my sandwiches, i couldn't help but want to try it. Is that a good idea though...?

*****

This is sooo good. It's mainly the roast pork that tastes soooo goooood. It pairs surprisingly well with the sourdough, and the ketchup really doesn't clash with the vinegary onions after all. I should definitely make roast pork loin more often, sandwich or otherwise.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #19: Nicoise Hero

This ones another "not really my thing" type and we're about to go make do with a lot of compromises. Yay.

Got a nice small baguette, lettuce, tomato, lemon... went ahead and boiled some eggs earlier. I HATE olives so no olives i'm just gonna go with the capers instead. They were out of green beans so i got mangetout beans, those are good salad beans anyway. And lastly, tuna... im quite fussy about tuna so i wanted to get some frozen tunasteak and cook it myself but they were FRESH OUTTA THAT TOO so instead we really are getting canned. At least its in olive oil.

Mm yes. not bad. It smells like cat food most certainly, but like, good cat food i guess? I can eat this.

Looks like its got lettuce on the bottom. sure. already I know its gonna be an unwieldy one.

All the tuna and plenty of capers. Wait, how many capers is plenty of capers?

I just need to chop up a little bit of tomato and beans.

veggies in and a good squeeze of lemon over it all. No sauce or anything I guess. Actually that's probably for the best, theres a lot going on here.

And lastly, the sliced boiled egg. Is it me... or is trying to close these sandwiches a whole art? How do they do it? I'm too european for this. I just put some cheese between breads and call it a day.

**

It's edible. It's like a... plain undressed but relatively upmarket cat food salad. This one goes out to people who choose tuna sandwiches when there's options for literally any other sandwich on the menu. You're so mysterious. Couldn't be me.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #18: Chicken Red-Pepper Pesto Panini

 I'm back from the shops, a headache is brewing... but lets get this show on the road.

I'll go all out and grill the chicken and pepper myself, its not too much trouble.

I'm brushing the chicken with olive oil, paprika salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of thyme, lemon & bay seasoning (though its almost empty i didnt get much out)

Don't forget the peppers too! I oiled and seasoned them the same way.

The chicken isnt quite done yet, but this pepper looks good, i'll let it cool for a bit.

Once it's cooled i'll blend it... im adding some mustard and lemon juice since i have it handy, idk. Getting a bit improvisational up in here today.

It comes out a great red colour! Does this really count as "pesto"? is that italian for "putting whatever you want in a blender"???

The chicken looks done! Sorry about the state of my grill tray, i made bacon the other day.

Cutting open my lidl bakery panini... looks real good!

Thick spread of the roasted pepper "pesto". Looks to die for.

The chicken breast was quite thicc so ive sliced it flatways to fit it on the sandwich perfectly, and as a bonus you can see if its cooked all the way through that way.

And don't forget, the rocket (arugula) and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar! I made it a generous drizzle since i forgot to put any in the pesto.

****

I think mines better. They said panini/ciabatta but theirs looks like a burger bun? Anyway it was really bangin, I loved the pepperyness of the rocket with the sweetness of the vinegar and pesto. And the chewy crusty breads a great choice with salad-y Mediterranean flavours. The only thing holding it back from being an instant classic though, is it was a little watery. I guess i should have roasted the peppers longer or left them out a bit to dry. And ideally used a balsamic reduction. I'm not a deli though i ain't doing all that.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #17: Turkish Lamb Pocket

 Pittas, doners, gyros, kebabs, souvlakis, shawarmas,.. they're all kinda similar to me i don't really know what the difference is but ill tell ya ive never had one i didn't like.

Got some lamb mince, onions, garlic, pitta bread, tomatoes, lettuce, and greek yogurt and seasonings ill specify later.

I'll start frying up some diced onions and crushed garlic. I guess since we dont need to make them into patties or meatballs it doesnt matter if we use too much or too little.

The lamb mince can go in too. Looks quite finely minced so ill have to mash it around a bit with the spatula.

We get to add some spices to this one! Cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and salt & pepper.

I normally cut these things in half and then it naturally forms a pocket, but im gonna try doing a whole one but cutting along one side and toasting it whole. The heat should open the pocket up so i recommend lightly toasting.

That worked!

The mince looks brown and good to go.

I'll chop the tomatoes quite small and shred the lettuce too.

ill put a bit of salad in the back actually, then plenty of the mince, and then more salad on top. 

Oh! I almost forgot, a squeeze of lemon was mentioned also, fortunately i still had some in the fridge. And a dollop of the plain greek yogurt.

*****

Perfect just the way it is! I often make something similar to this but ill add tzatziki, chilli sauce, or whatever sauce i have handy. I didn't expect the greek yogurt and the lemon juice to be enough but with that and the spiced up mince and tomatoes, it was full of flavour.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #16: Thanksgiving Sandwich

 Happy thanksgiving! Hang on we're a month early.

I was hoping they'd have some chunky pre-cooked turkey in the deli meats, I wasnt planning on cooking a whole one for this. They had chunky chicken, but I was stubborn about the turkey thing so we've ended up with some slightly sad wafer turkey. We also have whole-wheat bread, cream cheese, bacon, avocado, and cranberry sauce.

I managed to get pre-cooked turkey, but not pre-cooked bacon, so we're still gonna make our own bacon bits, despite it being such a minor sandwich feature.

Crispy! This should be perfect for making little bacon bits.

I'll slice the avocado, its got a bit of a bad spot but just less than half a'cado is plenty.

We toast the bread for this one. I should probably de-crumb this toaster sometime.

We're ready to assemble! Beautiful toast.

Cream cheese layer. Honestly? turkey and cranberry is a pretty normal combination to me, but cream cheese and avocado is a bit out there.

since we don't have proper leftover turkey breast meat we'll make do with a generous stack of slices.

The avocado and the bacon bits. This looks so much more colorful than the reference image! Where are all these supposed ingredients hiding?

Finally, a generous slather of cranberry sauce. 

***

Hmm. It's very sweet and jammy, quite salty and a little creamy. Odd. I think you'll get a very different effect from different types of cranberry sauce and cheese, as well as the turkey to avocado ratio. Maybe I didn't make a good example of this, despite following the instructions technically. I don't dislike it though. But it's a bit like... random.