One day I was challenged and told that I am incapable to do simple things, all I do is complicated (maybe that matches my complicated mind as well, since I am known to be une fille assez compliquée!) so I did not like that statement too much and decided to make something simple that I don’t really eat, because I am staying away from meat and lots of white bread, so I prepared it for some friends who came to visit…who are quite traditional and quite French, and of course meat eaters. Vous voulez du simple? hein? ben voilà des sandwiches!!!

When I cook for the French, I don’t have to worry about the health issue, they have a tendency to lean towards heavier meals. I just want to clarify maybe one misconception about the French, they don’t eat light food, well my friends don’t and most French I know don’t (overweight problem in France is becoming an issue)….and the Friday night steak and Fries with extra fries and extra sauce at Café Bastille is the living proof of my statement! Now I know there IS a new generation of people, foodies and chefs promoting a new cuisine using less grease and more fresh ingredients, emphasizing of natural flavors and preservation of nutriments. But overall people tend to be quite traditional in their eating habits.

There is a new sandwich place in San Francisco called Ike’s Place, and I have been driving by almost every day, the line of people on the sidewalk waiting to get served is insane, never seen something like that here, feels like Russia during the bad years. I am just wondering how this could be possible, waiting one hour in line for a sandwich? I never wait for an hour not even not even for my favorite restaurant, so it seems like sandwiches are more popular than ever…well Ike’s Place for sure is.

If you are in the mood for some fancy and delightful chicken sandwich try this one…the patties are mixed with herbs and spices topped with melting cheese, peppery arugula and an avocado sauce! Watch out Ike! I might be complicated but I make great sandwiches!

Ingredients for 4 sandwiches

• Flat bread or also called “pain rustique”, or herb focaccia

For the spread

• ½ tsp curry powder
• juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tbs red onion finely chopped
• 1/3 tsp. chili flakes
• salt and pepper

Sandwich ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 16 slices pancetta
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 2 tsp parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tsp oregano, finely chopped
• 2 tsp basil, finely chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp capers
• 12 garlic stuffed green olives
• 4 jalapeno peppers, sliced
• 2 heirloom tomato, sliced
• 2 cups arugula
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the spread: Peel avocado and remove the kernel. Crush avocado with a potato masher.  Add curry powder, lemon juice, onions, chili, salt and pepper. Mix well and place in the refrigerator until use.
For the patties:  In a mixing container, mix ground chicken with garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, lemon zest, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well to obtain a smooth consistency paste. Make 2.3 oz (or 6 cm) diameter patties and 0.4 inches thick.
Grill pancetta until golden brown on both sides.
Grill on a grill pan for about five minutes on both sides. Two minutes before removing from grill add Fontina cheese and cover with a lid to enable the cheese to melt. Remove when the cheese has melted but before it starts liquefying.
Grill bread on both sides on a grill pan, or regular grill. Add 1 tbs avocado spread on each slice of bread. Add arugula, tomatoes then add patties. Top with  jalapeno peppers, sliced garlic green olives and capers.

I am still in the middle of boxes and no kitchen cabinets and no silverware and tons of boxes filled with junk stuff…the bad news is that I need to cook tomorrow for some new clients and that I am still wondering how it will happen…All I want right now is sleep 24 hours straight.

This is the second post featuring a sandwich, just because I am not a sandwich fan…but sometimes, they can be fun to make, even if you don’t eat them. I wouldn’t say this is a quick one to make, since you need to grill your vegetables first but still it’s fun put it together and look at all the bright colors combined. When you organize a picnic party, those can come in handy since they’re tons of vegetables packed in two slices of bread, so instead of eating junk food at a picnic, you can actually enjoy some healthy food.

Sandwiches for me, were only eaten during the time my parents and I would leave Nancy to drive to Italy. My mom would make a few of them for the 10 hour drive trip, since my dad would drive straight, without any stop in between point A to point B. You needed to have some sort of food handy in the car. My mom would get up at 2 am and make a few panini per il viaggio and by 3 am we would be on the road. I hated to get up at 2 am…but my dad always wanted to hit the road on Sunday at 3 am because there would be no truck on the freeways (trucks don’t drive on Sundays) and the freeways in Europe are not as large as the one in the US…now at 70 years of old, he still gets up at 2 am to hit the road at 3 pm and there is nothing and no one that will make him change his mind.

In France, the most traditional sandwich you get, is the jambon, beurre, cornichons = ham, butter and cornichons (It’s not really a sandwich country). On a great crunchy baguette, with great ham and salted butter, it’s wonderful. What I like about the real French baguette is that there is very little crumb, the middle is airy and not dense, so it’s not as filling as some other breads. Now many boulangeries are making some fancy sandwiches with all kinds of baguettes and all kinds of stuffing (but always on baguette) and even though I am not a sandwich fan, I somehow like the ones on baguettes once in a rare while because they have a lovely crust and almost no mie (the breadcrumb inside) that is the stuffy part.

Ingredients for 4

For the Kalamata olive tapenade spread

• 1 cup kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup capers
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• ½ tsp garlic crushed
• ½ tsp. extra strong Dijon mustard

For the sandwich

• 2 small size eggplants, cut crosswise
• 3 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
• 4 tbs sundried tomatoes
• 1 cup arugula
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 4 tsp parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp oregano, chopped
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 4 tbs crumbled goat cheese
• 4 tbs roasted peppers, sliced and well drained
• 2 tsp olive oil

Preparation

For the spread

mix all ingredients in a mixer.

For the sandwich

Grill eggplants and zucchini in a grill pan or regular grill. Place in a mixing bowl with sliced roasted peppers. Add parsley, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut country bread in two, grill on a grill pan or regular grill.
Spread 1 tbs. of tapenade on each slices of the bread. Add arugula, avocado, grilled zucchini and eggplant. Add sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers and goat cheese.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/11/lets-have-a-picnic-grilled-vegetables-sandwich-with-goat-cheese-and-tapenade-2/feed/ 17 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/10/pan-bagnat-revisited-pan-bagnat-sandwich-or-something-similar-with-grilled-pepper-tuna/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pan-bagnat-revisited-pan-bagnat-sandwich-or-something-similar-with-grilled-pepper-tuna http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/10/pan-bagnat-revisited-pan-bagnat-sandwich-or-something-similar-with-grilled-pepper-tuna/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:04:35 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=4379 Pan Bagnat revisité – Pan bagnat et thon grillé au poivre ou quelque chose dans le genre

Sandwiches are not my favorite food, I very rarely eat sandwiches, almost never…but on Sundays I sometimes go to “Le Garage” in Sausalito for brunch (a little touristy town across the Golden Gate bridge), it’s a really cute French restaurant that serves good brunches, fresh, seasonal products and with a gorgeous view of the Bay, so all reasons combined to make it a great place for brunch.

Last time I had brunch there, I tried their Pan Bagnat, a typical sandwich from Nice, just because I had already tried everything on their menu and I was starving (that’s when I can appreciate a sandwich). I never order sandwiches in a restaurant, not because I am a snob or picky, just because I really don’t like to eat that much bread at once, it’s that simple. Besides, for me sandwich is something you eat “sur le pouce” (on the thumb) meaning on the go, you grab it and leave or they’re great for picnic but I don’t like to sit down in a restaurant to eat a sandwich.

Anyway to cut it short, one Sunday Pan Bagnat and myself met again after such a very long time that I had almost forgotten its existence and we fell in love over again.

Pan Bagnat, in dialect from Nice (Pain baigné = wet bread) is made with salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced eggs, tuna, olives niçoises (also sometimes anchovies are used) and lots of olive oil (that’s where its name comes from, wet in olive oil). You can use green peppers, and basil as well. The bread used is a special round bread that is opened, with the white part of the bread removed (I have just learned that technically in proper English it’s called crumb – no S). The composition of Pan Bagnat is very similar to salade niçoise, and using local ingredients from Nice. The round bread is soaking in vinegar, olive oil to make it softer and then filled with those ingredients. Every bakery in Nice sells those but you can find it in other regions as well.

My Pan Bagnat has been a little modified from its original recipe, for the purists, please forgive my audacity to call it Pan Bagnat…Instead of canned tuna I used fresh ahi tuna grilled coated with coarse black pepper and some bell pepper paste as a spread.

Ingredients for 4 sandwiches

For the spread

• 1 cup  roasted red peppers
• 6 basil leaves
• 2 tbs walnuts
• 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
• ¼ cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Sandwich Ingredients

• 4 slices ahi tuna (about 7.2 oz each slice)
• 1 cup arugula
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• ½ English cucumber, finely sliced
• 2 eggs, boiled, sliced crosswise
• 4 radishes, slices
• 2 tbs Niçoise olives
• 4 tsp capers
• ½ red onion, sliced crosswise (to get rings)
• 4 tsp. coarsely grind or crushed black pepper
• 2 tsp dill, chopped
• wine vinegar and olive oil for drizzling
• Kosher salt

Instructions

Cut the roll in two, still leaving the bottom portion bigger than the top. Remove some of the white part of the bread  from bottom side.

First start preparing the spread. Place roasted pepper in a mixer, then add basil, garlic, basil, walnuts, olive oil and salt.  Mix to obtain a smooth paste. Adjust with salt if necessary. Set aside in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.

Crush black pepper in a mortar or you can also use a pepper grinder that grinds coarsely. Place pepper in a flat surface or a plate. Add kosher salt to both sides of the tuna and press tuna firmly on top of pepper to coat both sides.

Grill tuna under broiler or on a grill on both sides for 3 minutes each sides or until the outside is cooked but still rosy in the middle. Do not overcook, leave the center of the tuna rare. When cooked remove from the oven or grill, and slice in small strips.

Using your hand squeeze firmly cucumber slices to remove excess water, add a little olive oil, dill and salt.
Spread 1 tbs of the roasted pepper pesto on each sides of bread. Place arugula, tomatoes, egg, tuna strips, cucumbers, onion, capers, radishes and olives. Drizzle with extra olive oil, a little wine vinegar. Press firmly and serve.