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 #8: Eggplant Parm Sandwich

So like the sandwich version of eggplant parmesan ? Well, it also seems a bit simpler too.

Crusty rolls, eggplant (aubergine), tomato, basil, mozzarella and parmesan.

First i slice up the eggplant and pick the 3 chunkiest discs. I can save the rest for something else, ill probably just throw them in a pasta.

Brush both sides with olive oil and lay on a nice coating of salt and pepper, and let them fry!

Thinly slice discs of mozzarella to match, and dice a tomato. Don't have to do any more with the tomato and basil really, i guess they stay raw.

once they are looking browned on one side I can flip em over and add the mozzarella, cover the pan with a lid and hope the mozzarella melts nice and quick.

I'll half one of the crusty rolls, might as well have 2 of these today and save the other bread roll and cooked eggplants for tomorrow.

That cheese has melted nicely! Now we just assemble!

oh its a mystery... for the finishing touches i use a thin cheese slicer to top it with parmesan flakes.

****

It's picture perfect! Another recipe that demonstrates the power of fresh and good quality ingredients. It's a classic blend of flavours, the caprese salad trinity. Its basically just bruschetta but the fried eggplant makes it feel a bit more substantial.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #4: Fish Sandwich with Chilli-Lime Dressing

Somethings fishy... oh its the fish.

I picked out a chunky looking white fish fillet (hake), fresh "crusty" rolls, lettuce, tomato, coriander, and some seasonings for a special mayo sauce.

Ok so it says to dredge the fish in cornmeal... i dunno where to get that but i have cornflour. Should I have used breadcrumbs? uhhhh probably... it doesnt look very breaded in the image tho. anyway I also decided based on the image that i should mix the flour with seasonings too, to jazz this fish up a bit! I got salt, paprika, chili powder, black pepper, ginger and amchoor (indian dried mango)!

oh this fish is bigger than I expected, nice. Its frying well in a little oil while i prepare everything else.

I was so tempted to cook the fish in the garlic, but it says to put it straight into the dressing so i guess ill crush 2 cloves straight in a small bowl...

added lime juice, mayonnaise and plenty of chilli powder! i had a hot one and a mild one and i just sort of mixed them, so... now i dont know how hot this will be.

Tasted it, seems good! the zingy garlic and lime comes through. Good job me.

This bread i got yesterday was so fresh.. its starting to go a bit stale already... i think ive accidentally cut it a bit poorly.

slathered on plenty of that mayo sauce and a tidy layer of tomato slices...

Yeah im really regretting how wonkily i cut the bun now...! I still have to fit in lettuce and coriander. Sorry i didnt get a snap of the cooked fish but it looked really good. Things have become chaotic in the kitchen, im trying to hold a sandwich together and its dripping mayonnaise everywhere and I DIDNT SLICE THE LETTUCE YET AAA

****

Ah damn this tastes.. really good actually. The spicy crispy fish, tangy lime and tomato, coriander and mayo... these all go together really well. I guess its a lot like the BALT, flavour-wise. I just... i cant say its perfect when i managed to get this many fish crumbs on my carpet. If i picked a baguette and maybe cut it proficiently... maybe that'd make it reach full marks!?

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #1: B.A.L.T.

 First recipe! B.A.L.T stands for Bacon, Avocado, Lettuce and Tomato. I'm a regular bacon sandwich enjoyer so this one's not too out there. I did just get back from the shops with the goods though and i'm RAVENOUS, so lets get to it.

I think my bacon usually comes out better when I grill it, but im hungry now and i want the control i want the power so ill fry them.

It doesn't say to toast the bread or not, but with all these moist ingredients it feels like toasted bread would make it way better. We're making GOURMET sandwiches here!

"mayo thinned with lemon juice" ok so ill just mix mayo and lemon together in a ramekin.

The ramekin was a bad choice... its a funny shape so its weirdly hard to get sauce back out of it with a knife, I ended up using a slice of tomato as a makeshift spatula.

Bacon layer! I'm going to do these in order of the acronym. It's not a TABL. I'ts not a LBAT. Dyslexics just trust me on this one.

I just bought this "ripe and ready to eat" avocado and you know what... its ripeness seems debatable.

These vegetables are fresh but also firm... im starting to regret doing these in the order, they are very slippery this way around.

I'm usually a "tomatoes in sandwiches" skeptic, i think it makes sandwiches too wet. But you can't have L.G.B.T. without the T. The same logic applies here.

****

It's the most unwieldy and slippery bacon sandwich i've ever made! I think it actually would have been improved if I changed the order of letters a bit. It was the right call to toast the bread, the tomatoes made the whole thing sooo wet. I'd have probably enjoyed it a lot less with soggy bread. Normally I have bacon sandwiches with lettuce/rocket and brown sauce which makes them more bitter and sweet... but this lemon mayo combined with all the fresh vegetables and tomato... it tastes so fresh and juicy! To me this is really like a club sandwich, its a more refreshing and zesty way to bacon sandwich, and I see the appeal.

Delicious in Dungeon #36: Barometz Balut (Or Barometz Chops)

Barometz is a weird one... a plant that grows a lamb-like fruit. An unusually peaceful monster, but its a little unsettling somehow.

So this recipes another misleadingly named one. It's only "balut" in the sense that its meant to be a kind of embrionic lamb... really what this dish is, is lamb chops in tomato sauce.

Since its actually a plant with the appearance of a beast, I thought it be cool to source some imitation lamb made from plants! Big tesco had just what I needed, I guess this country aint so bad sometimes... Anyway for the sprouts garnish we also got some bean sprouts, for the fruit innards we have chopped tomatoes, and then we've got garlic, wine, and salt & pepper seasonings.

First im frying up the lamb steaks and sprouts... they were in the freezer so we're gonna need to thaw them then cook off all that excess water. Im also gonna cook the in this lime & avocado oil, add a little bit more flavour to the sprouts especially.

Meanwhile, since I bought tinned tomatoes theres not really much other work to do! Just peel some cloves of garlic to crush.

While its cooking i can add some salt and pepper, and then ill add a bit more to the tomato sauce as well.

That's looking nicely browned and dry! We can put these to one side and cook the rest of the stuff.

In goes the chopped tomatoes, garlic and red wine.

And then we cook it until... I dunno really? I guess its just a bit thicker and the tomato and garlic smells cooked?

****

I liked how easy it was to make... Did the barometz taste like crab? No! It tasted more like... soy mince with mint and parsley, the real reason why its been labelled as imitation lamb! But the minty herb flavourings do go well with the tomato and garlic, giving it a vaguely moroccan/greek style flavour. It tasted good, but not quite peak, maybe a more enhanced tomato sauce with more complexity would have added more?