Awesome breakfast sandwich


DSC_0768There’s no reason to call this an ‘awesome breakfast sandwich’ when this can be as easily called an ‘awesome brunch sandwich’, and does in fact serve as a fantastic brunch idea. It’s fast, filling and satisfying. Monstrously heaped with all things good, it’s indulgent, comforting and a fantastic fuel for moments when your body craves a morning laden with carbs and greasy crisp bacon.

No excuse ever needed for gorging thyself with bread, or sandwich, and this gorgeous tower of kindly extravagance can help sort of fill the voids in your sad mundane life, or pep up an already exciting one. It’s very versatile this sandwich; it doesn’t discriminate.

 

DSC_0730 copyif you were to edit bacon out of this picture, you’d have the ingredients for a a very veggie sandwich. There’s also mustard and mayonnaise but they’re working behind the scenes.

 

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I used the same skillet that had the bacon cooking, and wiped out most its grease.

 

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added an additional tablespoon of regular vegetable oil

 

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and tipped in my colorful medley of vegetables.

 

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a bit of salt to get them going

 

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sweat them on medium heat, cook for about ten minutes, until there’s a visibly pleasant shrinkage of the caramelized and cooked kinds.

 

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like so. The vegetables will be a bit watery at first, but as you keep cooking them low and slow, they will soften and become more flavourful.

 

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Take this slow vegetable cooking time to lather bread with mayonnaise and mustard

 

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and spread it about

 

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now for the lovely assembly. I have lined a baking sheet with parchment paper, because these sandwiches will get a short burst of heat in the oven and also because there is scant cleanup in case of any drips and melts. So, top the now lathered bread with lettuce leaves

 

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with the green leafage as a receptacle for our sandwich fillings, pile high the cooked vegetables.

 

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followed by crispy bacon. As many pieces as your conscience would allow. I do not have a conscience at the moment.

 

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you can grate some cheese, or tear and Jackson Pollock them about. This is sharp cheddar and I didn’t even do a good avant garde bit..let’s call it modern art , and top off with a smattering of pepper.

 

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blitz in the hot oven at 200°c for 10 minutes, and Voila! indecently luxurious and voluptuous with a big V sandwich. Life’s answer to an overwhelming need to feed your greed.


Ingredients

sliced bread or bread loaves

Bacon crisped: 4-5 rashers

Lettuce leaves : 4

mushrooms: 5-6 chopped

bell pepper:1/2 chopped

onion: 1 small chopped

salt: 1/2 tsp

mayonnaise: 1 tablespoon

mustard: 1 tsp

cheese: 3 tbsp

pepper: 1/2 tsp

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Recipe:

Cook the chopped vegetables over medium heat. Add salt and saute for ten minutes until caramelized and well cooked.

Spread mayonnaise and mustard over bread and top with lettuce, cooked vegetables, crisped bacon and cheese.

Bake in oven at 200°c for 10 minutes, until the cheese had melted, the lettuce has slightly wilted and the bottom of the bread has crisped.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Chinese pancake sandwich (hangover cure & stoner’s grub)


DSC_1059These are by no means an innovation that ever appeared in gastronomic heaven, but in fact a hearty street food staple very commonly found in China. There are many a variations to it, but I’m sharing the one I find in my locality.

Before I begin let me just tell you how incredibly fantastic these street food pancakes are; sold mostly out of a small shop or mobile stall, and usually eaten after a drink too many or breakfast and even as a not so light snack.. they’re crispy, fried on a hot pan without skimping on the oil and meat. The pancakes are flaky, almost like a puff pastry sheet, slathered with a thin coating of viciously hot sweetness, a layer of egg, meat of choices, bundled up and wrapped in a packet. Every bite is a steamy, meaty, spicy morsel wrapped in flaky pancake heaven. Every bite a revelation! I usually buy these sometime around tea time from a very kind lady near my house. She has a stall decked with small jars of condiments and spices, and an array of meat. The most popular combinations are eggs+bacon+spam with a generous brush of her homemade spicy sauce.

I’ve tried to recreate something similar here which is gratifyingly delicious and stunningly delectable but absolutely no match to what she whips out of her 5 feet x 3 feet stall.

So here it is.

DSC_1015the ingredients are straight and simple. Just frozen Chinese pancakes which are easily available in any supermarket, lettuce leaves, eggs, fried bacon and ham (instead of spam) and sriracha.

I’ve cut ham into thick coins and very slightly charred them on a hot pan to recreate those smoky flavours that emanate from the street stall’s seasoned skillets.

DSC_1017these are what the pancakes look like. They come frozen and neatly wrapped in wax paper on both sides. These pancakes are smaller than the street food stall ones, but work just as well.

DSC_1020I slightly charred the lettuce as well on a very hot pan for that burnt crisp texture. This step is entirely optional.

DSC_1022ok, so in a pan on medium heat add some oil. This is about a teaspoon and let it coat the pan.

DSC_1024once the oil is evenly heated, slap on your pancake and let it be. The trick is knowing that you can not and will not flip it until the underside is done, or else you will break, tear and ruin your pancake.

DSC_1025this is how you figure out if it’s done. It’ll start turning translucent as it cooks. So the sides are cooked but the middle isn’t. Give it another few minutes

DSC_1026there you go. It’s ready for a flip

DSC_1027see.. so nice and golden and cooked.. now while the other side is cooking

DSC_1042crack en egg

DSC_1043mutilate it with a fork to let it evenly spread

DSC_1044and flip! for maybe half a minute until the egg is cooked

DSC_1045flip it back to let the egg face you

DSC_1029add sriracha or your favourite hot sauce, and paint it all over the egg

DSC_1030now we have to start layering. start with lettuce

DSC_1031followed by bacon

DSC_1050followed by ham

DSC_1033followed by folding over, to form a sort of pancake sandwich, which is also weirdly the name of this blog post.

DSC_1034and just like that you have a hearty meal to satisfy your inner glutton. Perfect for curing hangovers and stoner hunger pangs.

Ingredients

Frozen Chinese pancakes: 2

eggs: 2

bacon: 4-5 strips

ham: 4-5 slices

sriracha: 2 tablespoons

oil: 2-3 teaspoons

(of course there’s no particular recipe, you can make as many for a lot of people or just a couple for solitary indulgence. Change the ingredients to make a Chinese pancake BLT or even a vegetarian version)

Cooking directions: On medium high heat, coat the surface of a pan with some oil. Once hot, lay the pancake gently so as not to tear and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once its surface is translucent flip over and crack and egg on the cooked side. Break the yolk with a fork to coat the pancake and flip over to the let the egg cook for at least half a minute.

Flip again to spread some hot sauce over the now cooked egg and start layering with lettuce, bacon and ham on one side of the pancake. Fold over the other end to form a sort of half moon.

The sandwich is now ready to be devoured. These are easy to make and quick to eat. You can make plenty for a crowd or just a couple for lunch.

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Enjoy!