(y)our food choices™

We suspect that just about every food culture on the planet includes something that everyone would recognize as a sandwich. How could it be otherwise? Layered food between two slices of bread makes such good sense and, in its simplest form, a sandwich is the modest layering of flavors with very little fuss. Since plenty of culinary traditions obsess over the sandwich there are lots of complex, crazy sandwiches out there–Ike’s in San Francisco comes to mind. It’d be an impossible, if fun, feat to taste all Ike has to offer, but we do our best to scarf as many of them as possible when the line isn’t around the block.

Ike’s sandwiches; 52. Napoleon Complex and 5. Nacho Boy.

There’s also some favorites of ours that only taste their best when they are eaten in their home location. From the legendary Central Grocery’s Muffuletta in New Orleans to the Cuban sandwiches (or pan con lechon) in Tampa’s Ybor City to the Vietnamese pate banh mi at the soon-to-open Spice Kit in San Francisco, we’ve tucked into some amazing sandwich joints over the years. But, we have a long way to go in exploring all the great sandwiches in the US. We’ve been hankering for a lobster roll for some time know and need to figure out a good reason to head to Maine.

At home, nothing says quick and easy like a sandwich. Cheese, a little Prosciutto or bacon, maybe eggs, tuna, or last night’s chicken and every imaginable combination of condiments form the foundation of too many lunches and suppers to count.

Panini

A few years ago there seemed to be a craze in the city that has yet to fade. Grilled cheese sandwiches were becoming passé. A new sandwich was hitting the city and this one had grill marks all over it. The panini sandwich was everywhere. Sandwich shops, restaurants, and home kitchens in every corner of the City seemed to have a press or two to make this fancy grilled sandwich. The first panini we ate was at Tartine bakery and we quickly went out looking for a sandwich press. We found one on craigslist.com for $10 and we have used it over and over again. We don’t use it as often as we once did thanks to the the toaster oven we purchased a while back, mostly out of convenience, but when we do pull out the sandwich press we have a few standards that have become favorites of our family and friends.

If you’re not up to making your own bread, Trader Joe’s sells a great rustic pain pascal they sell by the half loaf. You’ll need to slice it yourself but that’s simple enough to do. If you have problems with getting things even you can always use your favorite loaf of presliced rustic bread. Just do us a favor and please don’t use Wonder bread. We quit eating that stuff after the age of seven.

Proscuitto and cheese panini

Ham and Cheese
Dijon Mustard
2-3 slices of Proscuitto
1 ounce of grated Guerye cheese
olive oil

Preheat the panini maker. Spread the Dijon mustard on one or both pieces of bread. Add the Proscuitto and then the grated cheese on one slice of bread. Top with the other slice of bread, mustard side down. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of the bread. Flip the sandwich on to the panini maker, olive oil side down, then drizzle a little more olive oil on the dry side. Close the sandwich press and grilled for 5-7 minutes depending on the sandwich maker.

Chocolate
4 ounces good quality dark chocolate bar
(or a good slathering of Nutella, or both)
room tempeture butter

Preheat the panini maker. Add the chocolate, or Nutella, to one slice of bread. Break up the chocolate so there is just one layer of it and it’s not too close to the edge. Top with the other piece of bread. Spread the butter on one side of the sandwich, flip it onto the panini maker and then spread more butter on the other side of the sandwich. Lower the grill press and cook for 5-7 minutes.

Ground Almond and Parmessan Cheese
¼ cup ground almond meal
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons or more olive oil
zest of ½ of a lemon
pinch of salt

Mix the almond meal, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon, and salt together in a small bowl. Add more olive oil if the mixture looks too dry. Spread the mixture on one piece of bread then top with the other piece. Place on the panini maker and lower the grill on to it. Grill for 5-7 minutes.

Fruit and Cheese

Sometimes you’ll make something over and over before realizing “Hey, there’s a recipe here!” More importantly, others might want to share in one of life’s simple joys. We’ve been having a love affair with a certain Irish cheddar and apricot sandwich for at least a year now with no end in sight. We love it so much that we’ll purchase a couple of pounds of the cheese from Costco about once a month. The taste of this cheddar is great with Jam’s Blenheim apricot preserves and our homemade bread. It’s one of the simplest things to make and, as we’ve recently found out, a favorite of several co-worker’s mothers in Steve’s office. Perhaps this is an old sandwich combination that needs to make a come back. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Goat cheese, peach, and basil on a baguette.

Another wonderful fruit and cheese sandwich happened by accident as Jason was scurrying about the apartment getting ready for work the other day. With a half of a baguette on top of the fridge from the day before, a couple of peaches that were almost past their prime, and a large tube of goat cheese that had been recently opened, and a big bushy basil plant in the window, Jason assembled a wonderful sandwich. He split the baguette, then spread the goat cheese on one side of the loaf, peeled and sliced the peaches and placed them on top of the goat cheese. Tearing the basil leaves and sprinkling on a grind or two of fresh black pepper was all it took to finish it off. The sandwiched looked beautiful and tasted fantastic.

Carmelized onions and brie on seeded baguette.

Caramelized Onions and Brie

1 lb yellow onion, halved then sliced into 1/8th inch thick semi-circles
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat skillet and olive oil over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper, tossing to coat. Reduce heat and cook onions on low for about an hour to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to scrape up brown bits. When onions have reduced and are caramel brown, add balsamic vinegar. Continue to cook on low for 2-3 minutes until vinegar has been incorporated. Remove from heat and cool. To build the sandwich, slice brie into ¼ inch pieces and place on one side of split baguette in a single layer. Smear caramelized onions on the other side of the baguette.

We’ll add more blogs about our love of sandwiches later on, for now, try these quick and easy recipes.

Enjoy!

If you haven’t visited Paris, you might assume that the pastry that best represents the city would be the croissant. After all, as Americans we associate the flaky pastry with the French even though it is technically a Viennese pastry. In our opinion, the pastry, or confection, that symbolizes Paris, and maybe even all of France, is the French macaroon. These beautiful cookies seem so sophisticated, yet are nothing more than colorful petite almond meringues filled with whatever the pastry chef can imagine; jams, caramel, pastry creams, whipped creams, are only a few of the things that can be smeared in between these light creations. If you’re a purist, you might add nothing at all.

Walking around the streets of Paris you’ll notice that many shops specialize in one thing and one thing only. The fromagerie will not sell baguettes, and the boulangerie will not sell cheese. And many patisseries throughout Paris specialize in macaroons and that is their near singular focus. Walking into one of these shops with rows and rows of colorful dots reminds Jason of a George Seurat’s masterpiece not yet painted. Imagine the size and scope of Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte created with tiny little macaroons in place of the dots of paint. Maybe George Seurat was influenced by these attractive, perfectly round, perfectly hued cookies. Born to a wealthy family and raised in Paris, he likely ate many of them. It’s fun to imagine his young eyes widening when he first sees the myriad color combinations created by the exotic palatte of the patisserie display case.

Laduree macaroons served at Harvey Nicks.

We first tasted a French style macaroon at Harvey Nichols. As fans of the BBC series Absolutely Fabulous, we had to lunch like Eddie and Patsy on our recent trip to London. Drinking wine and dining like the divas was one of the highlights of our trip. But, before stopping in for lunch at Harvey Nicks we toured the food halls of Harrods and visited the world famous Laduree teashop. When we saw the macaroons on the desert menu at Harvey Nicks we just had to finish our meal in style. Each of us indulged in a small, colorful piece of heaven. One bite of the cookie (there are only two bites per cookie) was all we needed to be hooked on the Parisian treat.

Once in Paris we located Laduree’s flagship store on the Champs-Elysees. After selecting their grande cookies over the petites, a pistachio and a chocolate, we walked to the Arc de Triumph and climbed the stairs to the observation deck to watch the Eiffel Tower light show while secretly eating our cookies (secretly because food and drink are forbidden on the observation deck). All things Parisian were rolled into one glorious experience. C’est la bon vie!

Upon returning to the states we’ve found a few little bakeries in San Francisco that make these beautiful little cookies. Jason made them once before, using almond paste, with modest success. Most of the recipes we have found call for almond meal or almond flour and in our opinion this approach seems to work better than almond paste. To truly get an authentic French macaroon you must grind the almond meal until very fine. Sending it through a fine sieve multiple times will get the best result. It is very time consuming and if you don’t have the right equipment it can take over your entire day, which means that sometimes you have to settle for the good over the perfect. You can still make a wonderful version of these cookies even if they are a little gritty from not getting the almond meal perfectly powdery. Think of them as country chic macaroons rather than the fussy, if perfect, Parisian variety.

The recipe Jason uses comes from Martha Stewart’s June 2010 magazine and features a recipe by a baker in Colorado. The recipe seems pretty close to the ones we’ve found on-line that claim to be the authentic Laduree recipe. The filling he uses is an apricot preserve from a local San Francisco company called Jam. Jam’s Blenheim apricot jam is perfect for a light peach color macaroon, but any flavor of store bought or home-made jam, custard, or caramel will work wonderfully with the cookie recipe.

So if you need a little taste of Paris don’t look for a croissant but instead try to find a little French macaroon. Of course, if you can’t find one in your local patisserie you can always make a small batch of them at home.

Bon Appetit!

French Macaroons with Apricot Filling
(from Martha Stewart’s website)

My only variation from Martha Stewart’s recipe is with the pulsing and sifting of the confectioner’s sugar and almond flour. It can be difficult and time consuming to do this. If your almond flour is too gritty, don’t worry too much, just pulse as much as possible and if it’s taking too much time to sift it, just do your best. Some sieves are extra fine and sometimes it can be almost impossible to pass the flour through. They’ll still turn out wonderfully no matter how fine your almond flour becomes.

Makes 35 macaroons

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar (if you don’t have superfine sugar, pulse some regular sugar in a food processor)
2 drops red and 4 drops yellow food coloring

3/4 cup apricot jam (or your favorite filling, see below for suggestions)

Pulse confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times. (See the note above about pulsing and sifting the almond flour and sugar.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air.

Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.

Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macaroons.)

Sandwich 2 same-size macaroons with 1 teaspoon jam. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

MACAROON VARIATIONS
• Chocolate: Substitute 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of the almond flour.
• Coconut: Substitute 2 tablespoons desiccated unsweetened coconut for 2 tablespoons of the almond flour, and add 1/2 teaspoon rum; sprinkle with additional coconut before baking.
• Peanut: Substitute an equal amount finely ground unsalted peanuts (peanut flour) for the almond flour.
• Pistachio: Substitute 1/2 cup finely ground unsalted pistachios (pistachio flour) for 1/2 cup of the almond flour, and add 2 to 3 drops forest-green gel-paste food coloring.
• Raspberry: Add 1 tablespoon fresh raspberry puree, strained, plus 3 to 4 drops dusty- rose gel-paste food coloring.
• Vanilla Bean: Add 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use.

SUGGESTED FILLINGS FOR MACAROONS
• Chocolate: Chocolate Ganache
• Coconut: 1 cup Swiss Meringue Buttercream, mixed with 1/3 cup angel-flake coconut.
• Peanut: Chocolate Ganache, or store-bought dulce de leche, jam, or peanut butter.
• Pistachio: 1 cup Swiss Meringue Buttercream, mixed with 1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios.
• Raspberry: 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
• Vanilla Bean: 1 cup Pineapple Buttercream , 1 cup Swiss Meringue Buttercream, or 3/4 cup store-bought jam or preserves.