chicken saltimbocca sandwich

good god this was good. i'm having it again tomorrow for lunch.  seriously. it's my take on chicken satlimbocca.  it has all the ingredients of this popular italian dish, but on a toasty baguette.  i did use fresh basil instead of sage, which is traditional.  i have been trimming chicken breast so they aren't so darn big, and instead of feeding the slivers of chicken to the dog, i made a sandwich.  i briefly marinated the chicken in olive oil, dried basil, and garlic.  grilled it, topped it with a few slices of prosciutto, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil.   a slice of tomato would have been good on this as well.  i'll make that adjustment tomorrow...

pulled pork

there really is pork on this sandwich, i promise.   i had a huge pork shoulder in my freezer that i wanted to use this weekend, so i made pulled pork, with a bbq sandwich in mind.  i had defrosted the pork on thursday and on friday morning i put it in a dutch oven with some apple cider vinegar and water, and cooked it at 300 degrees for about 6 hours.  my, my how incredibly moist and tender the pork was.   i made a huge batch of bbq sauce that consisted of ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, worchestershire, brown sugar, white sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.  it was delicious.  on saturday night we ate bbq sandwiches with dill pickles and fried green tomatoes.  i decided right then and there that i was opening up a lunch truck and serving these.  seriously, they were that good.  when i woke up sunday morning, i decided against the lunch truck idea,  but knew i was going to have another bbq sandwich for lunch.  i set off to the market early for green tomatoes.  i couldn't find them at any of the stores i went to, and lucy's market is closed on sunday's.   (that is where i picked up the green tomatoes earlier in the week).  so plan "b" brought me to topping my sandwich with coleslaw.  still very good, but not like the one with the green tomatoes on it.  i have a lot of bbq leftover, so you will be seeing another post shortly with a fried green tomato on it!

leftovers

i love leftovers.  i haven't always, but the past few years or so i have begun to understand their importance.  for one, if it was good the first time you ate it, it will be good the next.  they also allow you to skip all the preparation for a meal.  it's is essentially already made for you.  i also like that you can really have a completely different meal with your leftovers than what you had previously made.  got all that?  i made individual turkey meatloaves the other night for my client and miraculously had two left over.  that is a rarity.  brian and i split one meatloaf for dinner and had this turkey pita for dinner the next night.  just as good as the night before.  the fact that the pita i used is probably the best pita i have ever eaten, helped in the creation of this delicious impromptu meal.  i love sandwiches, probably my favorite "go to" meal.  you can have it all in a sandwich:  protein, veggies, carbs.  you can throw anything you have in your fridge on a sandwich and make it that much better.  i was a bit limited with my turkey pita, but i also like to keep meatloaf sandwiches simple.  why do people have a problem with eating meatloaf, by the way?  many turn their noses up to it.  it is absolutely no different than a burger, in essence.  so what's the problem here?  i make my turkey meatloaf by adding egg, bread crumbs, garlic, fresh parsley, oregano, grated parmesan, salt and pepper.  who wouldn't like that?

i love lucy

lucy's market, that is... i fell upon this place last week needing to pick up some farm grown tomatoes and i am now hooked! i have always seen this place, but i've always gotten my farm produce elsewhere (sorry lucy). but not anymore. i met the owner, kim, who is adorable, helpful, efficient, and she keeps a tidy market. i was leaving last friday when i saw a bag of pita bread. the bag was moist with steam, that's how fresh they were. i got in my car and ate one instantly on my ride back home to make lunch. then proceeded to eat another. best pita i have ever eaten. no joke. i think she gets her bread from a local bakery - she must, being as fresh as they were. i went back today because my client has requested more of lucy's market tomatoes. these are the real thing. i have a feeling i won't eat tomatoes throughout the fall and winter, when they are no longer in season. they're that good.  over the weekend i made a caprese salad, a blt, this greek pita sandwich, and a burger using this pita bread for the bun.  it's was so stinkin' good!  i'll post about that on a later date.  so, if you are in the atlanta area, check out lucy's market.  she has gorgeous peaches and strawberries, green beans, onions, eggplant, jams, and more!  it's on roswell road, in buckhead, at the intersection of w. wiecua and roswell rd.  you will love lucy's market, i promise you.

my traveling sandwich

i just got back from a wonderful beach vacation with my husbands family.  we didn't leave until 10:00 am on saturday, so lunch was a decision that needed serious consideration.  the thought of eating fast food makes me nauseous, but the thought of not eating lunch makes me even more nauseous. so i packed this sandwich.  my favorite sandwich.  prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, on a toasted baguette.  i was so excited about eating this i think i talked about for the first 30 minutes of our road trip.  the conversation went a little like this.  me:  "ready for lunch?"  him:  "no".  me:  "why not?".  him:  "it's 10:15".  me:  "so".  him:  "we just ate breakfast".  me:  "oh yea,  but it's going to be really good".  him:  ""i know, but it's still 10:15".  me:  "fine". i let it rest for a while, and what seemed to be hours i asked again... "ready for lunch?"  him:  "no".  me:  "why not?".  him:  "it's 10:30".  me:  "well, i'm eating mine".  him:  "good for you".
i was looking so forward to this sandwich that i honestly could not think about anything else. so, i decided i was going to eat mine.  i opened up my foil wrapped sandwich, opened up a bottle of water, laid a paper towel on my lap, and was about to have my own little picnic.  what happened next will never happen again.  i made a dreadful mistake.  i placed the mozzarella so that it hung over the bread and had contact with it.  the bread in places was soggy.  i almost started to cry. i'm not kidding.  (my stomach just flipped thinking about it.)  i loathe soggy bread.  i could bore you with the conversation that followed between brian and myself, but i won't.  i was whining at this point, nothing appealing about that.  long story short, he offered to give me his sandwich, but his bread was soggy too.  (otherwise,  i would have taken him up on it).  i ended up taking the top off and eating an "open face" sandwich.  it sucked.  oh well, it happens.

veggie greek pitas

i love gyros.  i especially love the pita bread that comes with them.  soft, chewy, sustainable.  i make these a good bit for lunch.  surprisingly, they stay with me all day long.  i generally get a bit hungry around 3:00pm when i have only eaten a veggie sandwich for lunch.  must be the bread.  you can put anything on these that you like.  i prepared cucumber, tomato, onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, feta, and fresh oregano.  i like to put the pita in the oven for about 1 minute, just to soften and warm it up.  after i take it out, i rub some garlic on it.  i find it easiest to toss all the diced vegetables in a bowl and then top the pita - it incorporates everything.  sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and lunch is served.

my banh mi

typically banh mi is made with pork, but i only had a sirloin in the fridge, so i used that. glad i did. i made this for my lunch today and just threw it together. i didn't want to put too much effort into it, i was pressed for time. i did however try to put a few traditional vietnamese elements in it, after all i still wanted it to taste good. while the beef was sitting out, i put some soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil over it. while grilling the meat, i thinly sliced a cucumber, carrot, jalapeno, onion, fresh spinach and basil. grilled my baguette, topped it with everything and was out the door. i must say, it was awesome.

big tuna

tuna fish was a hard sell in my house. my husband hates mayonnaise more than any other food product out there. i mean he hates it so much, i don't even keep it in my house, hates it. so, in order to get any "mayo" effect, i turn to greek yogurt (fage, because that is the only brand i have tried and have been completely satisfied with) or plain fat free yogurt. i personally think it tastes better than mayo. for this sandwich i used about 1/4 cup of fat free plain yogurt, a heaping spoonful of dijon mustard (please don't use that yellow stuff you put on hot dogs at a fair, go buy dijon.), a splash of worchestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, celery seed, curry powder, a splash of white wine vinegar and one can of albacore tuna, drained. as you can see i also added bacon. easy now, it was only one slice! add whatever you like, shredded lettuce, thinly sliced onion, tomato, shredded carrot even? by the way, i generally never have bacon around. so, when i have any left over from the package, which i always do, i freeze the remainder. i take two slices of bacon, wrap it in plastic wrap, and store in my freezer. when i want to have a slice of bacon for a "special" egg white sandwich for breakfast on the weekends, i simply pull it out of the freezer. it only takes about 15 minutes to defrost. it's a nice weekend splurge. this big tuna is light and goes perfectly with a homemade bowl of soup or salad. you will be left satisfied and full!

ciabatta schmatta

i hope i have finally learned my lesson . . .i just don't like ciabatta bread. some may like it, i think it makes eating a sandwich difficult, and tears up the top of my mouth! i like a sandwich where each ingredient plays an equal role. the bread should participate just as the other ingredients, the chicken, the pancetta, the arugula, the dressing, etc. but not ciabatta, it always wants to be the star; overbearing and kind of getting in the way. i had such high hopes for this one, even waiting 10 minutes for it to come out of the bakers oven. okay, so you get my point. needless to say, this sandwich has great potential. i made it for company on sunday and can't wait to try again with a different loaf. i stumbled upon it on the food network site, ina garten's recipe. i changed the dressing and used fage 0% greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise and thought it was delicious. just curious, am i the only one with a ciabatta hatred?