BBQ Rib-Patty Sandwhich Meal

This is definitely off my "fast food at home" menu. Pre-packaged foods cooked at home are certainly not as healthy as a genuine home-cooked meal, but there are times when things like frozen entrees come in handy and other times when you are just craving that cheap corporate processed junk food. This idea is also a cheaper, probably more healthy substitute to the rib patty sandwich put out by America's favorite fast-food chain on occasion.

Start with the On-Cor BBQ Rib Pork Patty frozen entree and heat according to package instructions. Nuke the sucker or toss it in the oven. Simple enough. Once they are heated through, it's only a matter of assembling the sandwiches, but here is where we will execute with a little creativity.

You could just use some hamburger buns, but I bought some oblong-shaped buns that fit the rectangular patty a little better. They were basically oversized hot-dog buns that were available at my supermarket bakery. Cut them open and lay them down open side up. Be careful not to split in two separate pieces though.

Next we are going to lay in a slice or two of cheese. Lay flat down over both halves so that the cheese will help strengthen the roll and wrap around the fillings when we close the sandwich up at the end. I have used provolone in the past, but today I went with some baby-Swiss. It was a good choice. Whatever you choose, it should be something a bit pungent in order to cut the sweetness and play with the smokiness of the BBQ sauce.

Go ahead and lay in one of those pork patties. The hotter the better so the cheese gets a little melty action. Lay it down on the "bottom" half/side of the roll so that we can close the other half against it in just another second here.

But first we are going to top it with a dill pickle "stacker." A flat-sliced strip of pickle ideal for sandwich making. Laying in a thin dill spear could work as a substitute too. Top that with some very finely chopped onion, and then sliced black olives. Finally, close the roll in around all that goodness.

As you can see, we took it a few steps further than the average BBQ rib patty sandwich, so you may prefer to eat and serve with the closed side down like a hot dog, rather than the bottom side down like you would a regular sandwich. It will help catch the toppings and sauce. You may also wish to serve a little sauce on the side for dunking, but be warned, it's a little messy either way.

You could just eat and serve the sandwich of course, but why not make it a meal? There is plenty of sauce left over in the tray even if you have drowned your sandwiches into a super-sloppy mess. You could use that sauce for dunking french fries perhaps, the ubiquitous fast-food side dish and traditional accompaniment. Instead, I chose to make up a batch of some instant mashed potatoes instead, and used that extra sauce as a gravy to drizzle over them. I also cut back on the butter when whipping them up, reserving a few fat calories for a dollop of sour cream instead on each bowl served.

Round out the meal with either a small garden salad, or my preference today, a blend of frozen veggies heated through. The broccoli, cauliflower, carrot blend is my favorite lately, smeared with just a little butter and topped with a slice of American cheese. Microwave or toss in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese down over the veggies. A little splash of that BBQ sauce couldn't hurt either to tie it all together, or maybe just a dash of salt and some cracked black pepper.

So there we have it. A simple to prepare lunch or dinner made from items that are easily kept stored in your freezer and pantry. A good meal plan for items that you can keep on hand for a long time in case you have trouble getting to the store frequently. A fast-food meal with home-cooked feel.

Here is your shopping list:

For the sandwiches you will need an On-Cor BBQ Pork Rib Patty frozen entree, rolls, Swiss cheese, onion, pickle stackers and sliced black olives.

To complete the meal as planned you will need instant mashed potatoes, frozen veggie blend, American cheese, and butter.

The Doppelganger (Sandwich)

A few days ago I blew ten bucks on a sandwich from a sub shop. It was tasty, but I figured I could do it better at home, and for less money too. I was right. When I got out of work today I really didn't feel like cooking a big dinner, so I decided to get some cold cuts and put these bad boys together.

First I had to select a bread. Regular, or maybe old-fashioned white bread? A hearty multigrain? Sub rolls? I found a bag of some nice Portuguese rolls on the day old rack. Absolutely the right choice. Portuguese rolls are a little shorter and wider than a hoagie roll, lighter density than Italian bread, with a dry floury crust.

Now let's get to the meat of the matter. I hit the deli counter and ordered up a half pound of the store-brand rare roast beef, sliced thin. But don't let them slice it too thin if the grain does not allow, or it will wind up more like a pile of chipped beef. A good deli will shave off a slice to let you have a look, and a taste if you like. I didn't wind up using the whole half pound, but if you are making sandwiches for more than just yourself, you will want to order more of course.

Just about any sandwich ever invented goes better with cheese, and this one is no exception. I went with Finlandia brand imported Swiss. Dense and sour but not too much stank like you would get on a creamier Lorraine Swiss. Normally I like to get the cheese sliced thick, especially a softer cheese like American, but I went a little thinner with this since it has a more “stretchy” consistency like some mozzarella.

From the deli counter I hit the produce section and picked up a white onion, white mushrooms, and a nice vine-ripened tomato. Next, I hit the spice rack for a little jar of chipotle powder. The star of the show on the sandwich I got at the sub shop the other day was the chipotle mayo. You can pick up some ready-made flavored mayos these days right off the shelf, but I don't really see the need for that. I can mix it myself and use the chipotle powder in other recipes as well. For mayo, I am a loyal Hellman's man.

As soon as I got home I got right to it and chopped up the onion, then threw it in a frying pan with some canola oil on high heat. Instead of stirring constantly like I would for caramelized onions, I let them sit on the heat and start to stick a little to get some browning toasty action. I didn't cook them down too much either and pulled them from the heat before they got too soft or started getting gelatinous.

Next I fried the mushrooms. You could get away with doing the mushrooms and onions together probably, but I wanted everything jusssst right. So, I fried the mushrooms separately in some butter rather than canola. The delicate taste and texture of mushrooms are more sensitive to the oil you cook them in, and taking in a butter flavor is preferable I think to other cooking oils.

Go ahead and slice open two rolls and lay them on a toaster-oven rack face open. Next, use a nice wide knife or spatula (not a pancake turner, an actual spatula) to give a nice smear of mayo on each face of the rolls. Over the mayo give a light dusting of chipotle. It's a little spicy and very smokey, so you have to be a bit careful in order to not overpower the other flavors in your sandwiches.

Next we are going to lay on a few slices of the rare roast beef to one face of each sandwich. Don't just lay them flat though. You want to sort of “fluff” the meat the way they do at a good sandwich shop to make the sandwich look thicker. Bunch it up a little, use your wrist to give it a little twist. Actually, the technique helps give the sandwich a sort of “independent suspension,” keeps the innerts from sliding around so much when you finally put it all together, and actually gives the sandwich a nicer density to bite into.

On the opposite faces lay down a layer of your chopped fried onion, and some of your fried mushrooms spaced out nicely. I folded over a slice of the Swiss cheese to get four strips. Lay down two at bit of a hash-mark angle over the meat, two more over the mushrooms and onion, then repeat for your second sandwich.

I had to squeeze them in a little, but the two sandwiches just fit into the toaster oven. Bake at 425-450 degrees for maybe 3-5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it. Once the cheese is melted down well, the bread should be nice and crispy at the edges and over the crust, but you don't want it to turn to dust either by over doing it. You want the roll to still be soft inside when you finally take a bite. But, we are not quiiite there yet. While the sandwiches were toasting, I sliced my tomato nice and thin. When you pull out your sandwiches form the oven, slip on a few ripe red slices, and fold the Doppelgangers closed. And yes, you must have two or it is not a Doppelganger. So if you're a light eater, bring a friend.

Warm, toasty, smoky, spicy, rich, a little sweet, a little pungent, with stretching gooey cheese that might get caught on your chin, so bring a napkin! Enjoy.

For your grocery list you will need: Portuguese rolls, deli-sliced rare roast beef, deli-sliced imported Swiss cheese, a white onion, sliced white mushrooms, a ripe red tomato, mayonnaise, and chipotle powder.

Grilled Cheese Pizzaiola

I recently went on a kick making a variety of different grilled cheese sandwiches after finding myself with more bread on hand that I would normally ever eat in a week. Cheese is obviously a big part of Italian cuisine, and being such a fan of Italian food, of course I had to come up with an Italian version of the grilled cheese sandwhich. This version is inspired by a dish from Naples called steak pizzaiola, which is basically a cut of beef simmered in a “pizza” sauce.

We start with two pieces of sliced Italian bread, seeded or unseeded at your pleasure. A nice sourdough bread would also be tasty no doubt. Each slice is going to get a smear of tomato sauce.

You should choose a thick, robust sauce for this, not a watery or plain sauce. Jarred or canned pizza sauces would work, as pizza sauces tend to be more robustly seasoned and thicker in consistency than some other tomato sauces for pasta. I had a jar of Emeril's kicked-up garlic that I used a bit of this last time, but any bold sauce like a fra diavolo should be just fine. Consider reducing the sauce in a pan for a while to make it thicker. If all you have is a plain sauce on hand, simmer and reduce, adding extra seasonings, oregano, heavy on the garlic, some black and crushed red pepper. You won't need much sauce for this though, so you can refrigerate the rest for use some other time.

Now lay down a nice thick slice of provolone cheese onto a slice of bread. Mild rather than a sharp or “picante” would be best, nice and creamy. At the deli I ask them to always slice the cheese thick, as it stays in one piece better when you try to peel a slice off the top, and is better for sandwiches such as this one. Meats on the other hand, I always like as thin as possible. A regular sandwich I would sort of “ripple” or “fluff” several slices of meat for a thicker sandwich, but for this application, one thin slice of roast beef will be plenty. The cheese is really the star of the show, and the beef an accent. I used regular rare roast beef, but some delis have Italian-style roast beef that might be put to good use here with its bold flavor. Again though, one thin slice should do. Now top with one more thick round of provolone.

I tried this sandwich using store-bought packaged mozzarella, and it did not work out well at all. Far too rubbery, the whole chunk of cheese just came sliding out when I bit into it. Some fresh mozzarella might work out though, as it is creamier but not as dense as the packaged stuff. I have yet to give that a try myself though. Besides, a nice provolone will really give you a lot of flavor anyhow.

Now go ahead and lay the other slice of bread on top, sauced side down, to complete the assembly. But on the top side, we will put a nice smear of softened butter all the way to the edges. Not too thick, but cover the slice completely.

In a pan, melt another pat of butter so that it is coated nicely. Keep the heat low. When the butter is melted and bubbling some, lay the sandwich in dry side down, and let it sop up the butter in the pan. Keep the heat low. You can't rush a good grilled cheese. We don't want it to burn before the cheese has had a chance to melt. Keeping an eye on the edges of the bread, the residue in the pan, and by sense of smell, I can usually guess when it has gotten to be a perfect golden brown. I lift it and take a peek through a slotted turner. If it is perfect, go ahead and flip it onto the other side that was buttered beforehand.

When it is done, you should be left with a crispy, buttery crust on the outside, with a gooey, cheesy, robustly flavored filling.

Serve with a crisp, cool, green leafy salad for a light meal.

A more standard but still Italian flavored version of the grilled cheese sandwich could also be made by omitting the sauce and slice of roast beef. Instead, just use a slice or two of the cheese and sprinkle the inside with a bit of garlic powder and oregano. Cook the same way, to a nice golden brown with the cheese melted well. Serve as a sandwich, or perhaps in place of plain or regular garlic bread with your favorite Italian meal. It would also go well with a number of soups. You could also cut the sandwich into strips with a pizza wheel and serve the zesty sauce on the side for dipping, as an appetizer, or fun snack for kids.

Olive oil is not usually used when cooking in a pan, because of its low boiling temperature, it begins to smoke and burn rather quickly. But a good grilled cheese should be made at very low heat anyway so it might be worth a try here in place of the butter. It would be in keeping with traditional Italian flavors and just a bit more healthy, if one could really consider a grilled cheese sandwich healthy, lol.

The shopping list is simple: Sliced Italian-style bread, provolone cheese sliced thick, roast beef sliced thin, pizza sauce, butter.

Classic Grilled Cheese

Sometimes it's the simple things, done to perfection, that give us the most pleasure. A grilled cheese sandwich is one of those things. So let's make it a double shall we?

We'll start with four pieces of white bread. The sliced "old-fashioned" sort works excellent, a little thicker, and a little drier than a standard loaf, which will make for great texture when it is done. Lighter and crispier rather than pasty and flimsy. "Day old" bread works great too, being a bit dried out.

Cheese. Nothing more classic than yellow American cheese of course, but Double Gloucester is a similar but tasty alternative.The choice is yours of course. What you should do though, is get it fresh sliced from your local deli rather than using the more plastic-like plastic-wrapped slices in the cooler section. Ask them to slice it extra thick. American cheese is a rather soft cheese which tends to break easily when trying to pull a slice off, especially when sliced thin. Thick slices will help make it easier to handle, and perfect for sandwiches. Slap down a nice thick slab onto two of your four slices of bread, or perhaps two slices if you are stuck with thinner sliced or packaged cheese. Top with the other slices of bread, so that you now have two assembled  sandwiches.

Put a frying pan on the burner and turn on the heat very low. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the pan. While the butter is melting there, smear the topside of your two sandwiches with softened butter completely, but just a thin coating.

When the butter in the pan is melted, go ahead and lay your sandwiches in, dry side down. The key here is to get just the right temperature in the pan, and maintain that temp. Most folks make the mistake of using too much heat and cooking the sandwich too fast. Low and slow is how to do it best. Just a very little bit of bubbling and crackling as the bread soaks up the melted butter in the pan. Watch the edges of the bread and the color of the butter in the pan, use your sense of smell to help guide you to the perfect crispy golden-brown crust, the color of caramel. Use a slotted spatula to so that you can pick up the sandwich out of the pan and have a look at the color. If it's not quite there yet, lay it back in. When it's perfect, go ahead and flip to do the same to the other side, already lightly buttered.

Cooked slowly, the outside of the sandwich will have the perfect, crispy, deep golden crust. Buttery but not greasy. While inside, that rich golden cheese has melted into a gooey sauce poached in fluffy bread. That contrast is why a drier, thicker, less doughy bread works best.

Now let's go ahead and make a meal out of it shall we? A basic tossed salad, cool green and leafy on one side. And on the other, the most classic accessory to a grilled cheese, Campbell's tomato soup. Simplicity, perfect for dipping and slurping. Of course, you could go with a more hearty, complex, tomato soup, but there is nothing more classic than that red and white can of simple goodness we all grew up with.

Here is your simple shopping list:

Bread, cheese, butter

Can of tomato soup.

Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, dressing. (Avoid a thick creamy dressing, to keep the contrast of your meal.)