30 Gourmet Sandwiches #25: Roast Beef with Horseradish and Cucumbers

We're really in the place to be for a roast beef, horseradish and cucumber sandwich. It's not really a go-to sandwich recipe for me, but maybe it should be...?

We got that traditional german pumpernickel/rye, roast beef, cucumber, a red onion, rocket/arugula, mayo, and I couldn't be bothered to buy a whole jar of horseradish when i have a tube of wasabi, which is basically the same thing!

Like for real, most wasabi in the uk is secretly horseradish dyed green. Anyway is this a good ratio? i have no idea. We'll just find out.

Since I already got that loaf of rye for the smoked salmon one, I figure thats close enough for "seedy wholegrain" bread. It's quite a crumbly and brittle bread for a sandwich though.

 

Now I can just chop a bit of the onion and cucumber for the sandwich. Red onion is a good one to use raw, the brown onions are a bit too.. yknow, oniony.

Like a pair of beef curtains... hmm thats making me extra hungry...

The crunchy veg...

And lastly, the aroogla. irregular. amoogus. leafs.

*****

Damn this is hittin... the dry beef, peppery horseradish and onion, and crunchy vegetables are so perfectly balanced. I think i did this one just right. Even the bitter, seedy bread feels like a good match. This is a good sandwich. 

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 #6: Grilled Cheese with Pears

Simple grilled cheese, but with an fruity twist. I'm already interested.

Sandwich bread is from the freezer but it can defrost while it grills. We got a basic british pear (conference variety?), i got you covered for a good sharp cheddar cheese, and we got a bit of butter. Actually.. can you believe this is the first sandwich recipe with butter!?

Half a pear should do. You could use less, I suppose.

Buttering BOTH SIDES? Wait where do I put this down? I guess ill just place it on the grill and hurry up and assemble the sandwich!

Big layer of pear, and then good coverage of sliced cheese.

It got real messy in there! These things are a real bastard to clean this is why they always end up in the back of the cupboards.

*****

This rules. Crispy, chewy, plenty cheesy (despite looking like it all oozed out of the sides) and the pears have lightly cooked to a nice crisp-but-not-raw and gently sweet filling. The fruity flavour takes place of a sauce like chutney or mustard so it makes a simple and fun variation to a classic. A great vegetarian alternative if everyone else if having ham and cheese.

Delicious in Dungeon #64: Final Blood Sausage

Blutwurst, morcilla, boudin noir, bleedie weenie, hemoglobin cylinder.

 
Blood sausage! What am I, a butcher? Nah ill cook pre-made blood sausage, but instead im going to use the recipe as inspiration to make an extra dipping sauce to have with it.

Here in the UK our typical blood sausage is called "black pudding", so i got that. And for the sauce its gonna be red bell pepper and garlic.

I guess I could have roasted the peppers in the oven, but that seems like a lot of extra work when im gonna try and mix it and reduce it on the hob anyway. So ill just chop it up to go in the blender.

Pepper and garlic, liquid style!

Put it on the hob for about 5 mins and its already reduced significantly into a thick paste! I was worried itd be too soupy.

Now we can add lots of spices. I've got a jar of chopped chillies, olive oil, cream, salt, pepper, paprika and garam masala, which is kind of a classic indian spice mix.

Pop em all like this and mix up!

Well, now I guess all thats left is to fry these things. Dreading this because i dont like blood sausage. I'd usually pass on them with the fryup breakfast.

See, heres the other problem with them... since they instantly turn black, how do you even know when they're cooked through or burnt? Well i took one aside and cut it in half to make sure it seemed hot throughout. I gotta admit they do actually smell amazing right now, as does the sauce.

***

Huh, is it me or is this the best black pudding ive had? Its not as chalky or bitter as I remember. Maybe you just can't beat fresh home cooking..? Or maybe my expectations are always lowered. I guess its not like, amazing though. Compared to other sausages its pretty bland. The sauce is pleasantly spicy and pairs pretty well. I tried to do a little sausage-inspired swirl but it was too lumpy so we ended up with this.. artistic puddle presentation.

Delicious in Dungeon #63: Final Meat Pie

We're in the final stretch! But, deceptively, there's a whole series of these recipes. They all feature the same final ingredient.

A mysterious meat! If you read the manga you know. We gotta use something versatile that comes in a lot of cuts, so I'm going to be using pork.

The first cut is "breast and liver", and ok I don't know what pork breast would be, but ive chosen a lean cut, and i couldnt find any liver so i got sausages. Whatever, I just think they'll go well in a pie. We also got onions, mushrooms, aubergine, and tinned carrots cause they were out of fresh! Oh and some pastry, because, well, you'll see later how bad I am at handling pastry.

Chopping the onion into medium chunky chunks.

Followed by the mushrooms..

I'll put the onion straight in a pan to fry and put the chopped mushroom and aubergine aside so we can cut the meat last.

The pork fillet. Tenderloin, is it? Always seems to be quite nice to cook with.

And 2 of the "chorizo spiced" sausages sliced up.

Now, we get to add plenty of undisclosed spices. It's a bit of a scattershot here, but im leaning into the chorizo idea a bit. We'll have just a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, plenty of chilli flakes, celery salt, paprika, black pepper, and a sensible amount of fennel seed and thyme flakes. And another of those concentrated chicken stock capsule things.

Mm spicy! once the pork and onion are looking somewhat browned ill throw in the mushrooms and aubergines next.

And try and melt down the stock in a little bit of water, though i expect the vegetables to produce a fair bit of liquid as they cook.

When everythings had time to cook and soften we can add in the tinned carrots last, as they're already soft.

Oops its very wet in there. Perhaps we can thicken it up with some cornflour?

I had a bunch of leftover bits of square pastry to use up, so ive just kind of.. yeah this is just how I do pies. No technique.

At least its the right size! Now for the lid... I guess it need to be...

about this big!! haha!

Hell yeah im a genius

thats not so bad, is it? Its vaguely pie shaped. Now it can go in the oven for like 40 mins or until.. yknow, baked looking. The insides are all cooked so its just the pastry.

*****

Yeah ok its a little wet. A little soupy. What i should really have done is strained out some of the liquid and made a gravy on the side! Anyway it tastes AMAZING. A delicious blend of spices and vegetables gave this a super flavourful sauce.