Tinfoil Chef

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I have, over the years, had a lot of great sandwiches from Subway. Generally speaking their stuff is pretty good (even if a bit pricey) and it’s been consistent for years. Then in recent months we’ve had occasion to revisit a local Subway after a pretty long dry spell in between and There’s something that my wife noticed right away that I still can’t figure out.

They now make their sandwiches upside-down.

That’s right. The sandwiches are still great, made to order and so on. They’re just upside down. The meat items are now placed on the “top” half of the bread and the “toppings” are now placed on the bottom. We asked the person making the sandwich why they were doing it that way and they could only shrug and say that was the way they were told to make them. Which is what bugs me.

You see, Subway has always made a big deal about how their people have to be trained in detail how to make the sandwiches. In fact, the sandwich makers are called “Sandwich Artists”. Given their specialty, I’d think that Subway would get the construction order right. I mean, they’re called “Toppings” for a reason, they go on top.

I realize that a lot of people will say that it doesn’t really matter, so long as all the right stuff is on the thing and to a point they’re right. However, when I get out a sandwich and unwrap it, I expect the “Toppings” to be on the “Top” of the sandwich. When it’s not built right, there is a much higher chance of the meats, toppings, or condiments managing to escape the confines of the bread, making a mess.

So I’ll ask that any Subway employees who read this please pass this on to the higher ups. Sandwiches are supposed to be built a certain way. If they’re not, they cease to be sandwiches and turn into messes waiting to happen.

Technorati Tags: subway, sandwich making, sandwiches, messes, sandwich mess

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French bread is something that goes with a lot of meals and is also good for making some really great sandwiches. It also brings to mind the classic French restaurant with the soft lighting and violin music playing in the background. Mostly, I have to agree with my wife and say that what I like best about it is the smell of bread baking.

Start out by getting the yeast activated. Dissolve 4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water (about 115 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Accurate temperature is actually important for yeast to work right so take the extra time and use a thermometer to be sure. Let the yeast stand for five minutes or so. It should be bubbling and turning foamy almost. If it’s not, the yeast is dead and you’ll have to start over.

Once the yeast is bubbling, mix in 2 cups of flour and a cup of lukewarm water. Let this sit for a half hour to proof. It will reach a spongy consistency.

Then add a teaspoon of salt, another 4 1/2 cups of flour and another cup of water and knead. Add more flour or water as needed until the dough is soft.

Put a tablespoon of oil into separate bowl and coat the dough with it. Then cover it with a cloth and put it in a warm place for about two hours and let it rise until it’s doubled in size.

Poke the dough with your finger and if the dough does not bounce back then it’s ready for the next step. Punch it down and knead it lightly in the bowl. Cover and let it rise a second time.

Put a couple of brick roof shingles in the oven then heat it to 450 degrees. Shape the dough
into two loaves and let them rise covered with a cloth on a cookie sheet that’s been sprinkled with a liberal layer of cornmeal until they’ve doubled in bulk.

Carefully move the loaves onto the hot roof shingles and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaves are deep golden color and sound hollow when tapped.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

Technorati Tags: recipe, bread, french+bread, baking, baking+bread

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I’ve always been a seafood lover. I honestly can’t remember a time that I didn’t like fish and I’d say that one of the only seafood dishes that I would hesitate to even try is sushi. I’m sure it’s just wonderful for those who like it but somehow I just can’t wrap my mind around the idea of eating raw fish. I wouldn’t do that anymore than I would eat raw beef. The entire concept is just plain unpalatable.

Anyway, back to the seafood. My enjoyment of seafood started with the basic, not very fancy tuna salad and progressed to just the tuna and it’s gone on from there. I’ve had a variety of different kinds of fish ranging from things like catfish and trout to cod, sole, halibut, lobster, crab and a bunch more. One time I even had a shark steak. Of course, living as far away from the places where seafood is plentiful and less expensive, I sometimes feel like I’m undergoing a kind of addiction treatment only the addiction in question is seafood.

The basic tuna salad starts out with a 6.5 oz can of tuna (the kind packed in water! Fish don’t live in vegetable oil, they shouldn’t be packed in it.). Drain the tuna and add a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs and a quarter cup of chopped celery and 2 tablespoons of reduced calorie mayo. Mix well and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

It’s great by itself or on sandwiches. I personally prefer a good multi-grain wheat bread or a hearty dark pumpernickel and some mustard.

Technorati Tags: tuna+salad, seafood, fish, recipe, diabetic+friendly, sandwich

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This started out as something called “Ham Salad Croissants”, which my wife found in Taste of Home magazine. We thought it sounded good but of course, being the tinkerers that we are there was just no way we were going to leave it exactly as we found it.

This is also a good example of the kind of thing I talked about in Measuring vs “Eyeballing”, some of this is measured out and the rest of it is pretty much a judgment call on the part of the cook. This is because some things are really just a matter of personal tastes and simply are not going necessarily be the same for everyone.

This started out with one of those four pound boneless hams. I cut it in half and wrapped one piece in foil and put in in the freezer for another time. The remaining half I sliced and cubed.

Then I took four ribs of celery, about two thirds of a cup of diced green pepper and diced half of a sweet onion and sauteed that in a couple pats of butter.

My wife took the ham and used the food processor to grind it down to a paste like consistency. Then the vegetable mixture was given the same treatment and added to the bowl of ham.

Next she added roughly half of a 16oz jar of Miracle Whip dressing, a generous heaping tablespoon of sour cream and about a third to a half cup or so of dill pickle relish.

From here it’s just a matter of stirring this whole combination together and taste a sample of it to see if any one thing is overwhelming anything else. If at this point the taste is satisfactory then you’re ready.

The way we used it last night was to simply make sandwiches with some shredded cheese and a few leaves of spinach on your favorite type of bread. This mixture also makes for a really good variation on the breakfast burrito, simply use the ham salad instead of the egg & sausage mixture. It also makes a fantastic dip for most kinds of chips.

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No, I’m not about to talk about an old movie that I haven’t actually seen. This is a treat that goes good as a side dish, in sandwiches for lunch or a snack or just because you gotta have ‘em.

The basic recipe is really easy. They’re fried in either oil, bacon drippings or a combination of the two. I like Olive oil in most things that need oil so I would use that for it’s flavor and ability to stand higher temperatures and bacon grease for it’s flavor. in all you want about a quarter inch or so of hot oil in the frying pan when you start.

The tomatoes should be green and firm without being hard. If they’re starting to turn red that’s fine, Ripe tomatoes are good this way too. Slice them anywhere from a half inch to a quarter inch thick.

Season them with salt and pepper then dip them in cornmeal and place (carefully) in the hot oil.

Cook for two to three minutes or until they’re golden brown on the bottom, then turn ‘em over and brown the other side.

They make a great side for breakfast or any meal really. I’ve enjoyed them just by themselves with nothing else but a fork and loved every bite.

Some variations on this include mixing some general purpose flour to the cornmeal (maybe season that mixture with a bit of salt and pepper) or crack an egg into bowl, add a bit of milk (or buttermilk if you prefer) and dip the tomatoes in that mixture before coating them. You could even make up a batter and deep-fry them.

You can also use other things besides green (or red) tomatoes. Dill pickle spears, {insert your favorite veggie here}, little smokies or even Vienna sausages

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We tried something new recently, It’s a Sam’s Choice product labeled “Backyard Gourmet Black Angus Beef Patties”. This particular batch was their Swiss Cheese & Mushroom variety. They come frozen and shrink wrapped in two stacks of three patties with wax paper between them that keeps them from merging into two giant 1 pound burgers.

They cooked up pretty nicely even though we’d only given them time enough to partially thaw. We used the oven option, setting it to broil and placing the burgers 4 to 5 inches from the heat source. The directions on the box called for 15 to 16 minutes cooking time with turning them over halfway through.

We found that the burgers themselves were great and we’ll almost certainly be having them again some time. They were extremely juicy, and during cooking they actually bloated up into an oval, almost egg like shape. I’d say that was because the meat juices and whatever water was in them boiled and built up pressure because they were seared in and couldn’t escape during cooking. I would recommend poking some holes in them as they cook, before they start to swell up. This will allow the juices to escape and keep the burger from squirting when you first bite into or cut it. If you cook them on a rack of some kind you also get the option of draining away most of the grease as they cook.

The one thing I did not care for is the packaging. It’s a dark brown that looks like they want it to look sorta like wood. The ingredients and cooking instructions were printed in black using a fairly small type that was very hard to read. I think rethinking the color choices would be a good idea.

All in all, they’re good burgers and the package can only get better.

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Here’s something that while it’s almost deceptively simple, it’s guaranteed to put that little touch of something extra in Breakfast (or any other meal as well).

Take a package of Bacon and cut it into “bit” size pieces.. I’d just take the bacon out of the package in one piece and cut across all of the strips at once and then scatter this in the skillet. Then take a couple of medium onions and dice them reasonably fine (as long as the pieces aren’t too big, it’s mostly a personal preference) and add them.

If your bacon is really lean then you’ll want to add a bit of Olive Oil to keep it from sticking.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat. You’ll probably want to stir quite a bit at first to prevent sticking until the bacon grease starts to cook out.

When it’s done the onions will be soft and either transparent or caramelized and the bacon will be done.

The only limit to the ways you can use this is your own imagination and taste. It’s a great addition to any omelet. Add it to hash browns to wake them up a bit or use them pretty much anywhere you’d use bacon.

I think they’d make a fine addition to a Spinach and Egg Sandwich.

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Ever think something like “This sandwich is good and it’s been a favorite of mine forever but it’s not *quite* what I want right now.” ?

I’ve done it time and again. Most recently it involved the Spinach and Egg Sandwich that we like so much around here. I think it’s a great sandwich, and I could happily have ‘em every morning for weeks on end… In fact, I’ve done so more than once.

Recently though I started looking for ways to “kick it up a notch” to borrow a phrase from Emeril Lagasse. I tried adding various combinations of spices and herbs to it, both before cooking and after. Most of the variations were good but not quite what I was looking for until I finally hit the right thing… Horseradish sauce.

Specifically we had some left over “Horsey Sauce” packets from Arby’s which is basically a horseradish sauce. I added that as a topper to the sandwich and that clicked right away. It was just the thing I’d been looking for.

I’ve had the same thing happen with ketchup, mustard (a bunch of varieties) and all sorts of other things. The thing is that when you get a “close but not quite” feeling from something, don’t be afraid to change it up a bit and see what different touches you can give it. Who knows? you might just discover a new favorite.

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No, I’m not talking about garbage email. Rather, I’m talking about the original product from the folks at Hormel. The one downside of calling unwanted junk email “Spam” is that it’s cast a bad light on an otherwise good food.

The thing that’s great about Spam is it’s versatility. You can bake, broil, boil, fry, microwave, grill your spam or just eat it cold. It’s good with eggs for breakfast and makes a quick sandwich for lunch. I’ve heard of people making a “mock turkey” out of Spam and baking it and I’ve seen it grilled on the Barbeque.

I can’t begin to say how many times I’ve just unrolled a can of it, ran it under some hot water for a minute and sliced it up into sandwiches. It’s really great on dark Pumpernickel bread with spicy brown mustard. So next time someone mentions Spam, ask if they’re hungry. Odds are pretty good you’ll catch ‘em off guard.

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This is another favorite that my wife Lura and I both love. take about 1/4 cup or so of chopped mushrooms and saute in a pat of butter for a minute or so. Just enough to get them started nicely. You don’t have to cook ‘em all the way through.

Crack an egg into a bowl and add a splash of milk (less than 1/4 cup, you don’t need much). Add the mushrooms and an ounce or so of shredded cheese. Then take some fresh spinach, about a dozen leaves or so and chop them reasonably fine and add it to the mixture. Finally, slice a few black olives into it.

Stir thoroughly and put it in the microwave oven for about three and a half minutes (Microwave times will vary with power, ours is an older 1,000 watt oven). While that’s going, toast two slices of bread, butter both and then sprinkle some more shredded cheese on one slice.

When the egg is done it should be solid all the way to the center, don’t overcook or it’ll come out with a rubbery consistency that you won’t want. Place the egg on the slice of toast with the cheese on it, sprinkle a bit more cheese on top and put the second slice of toast on it.

This little gem before you will look kinda strange with the green from the spinach but it’s a taste treat you’ll definitely want more of.

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