When I think of sandwiches, I immediately think of the grilled cheese sandwiches my mum used to make before we headed off to school in the mornings. With some salami and the addition of some red pepper flakes, it was just the perfect start to the day. While many sandwiches are relatively simple to make, one can get rather bored making the same old stuff over and over again. So this week, let’s have a look at different sandwiches, some you may know, some you might not.
Start with the classic: Grilled cheese sandwich
The classic is the best way to go when you are craving some cheesy goodness and pizza feels like a step too far in that moment of hunger. With minimal equipment and effort, this is a crowd-pleaser.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread
- 2-3 tablespoons butter
- 2 slices of cheddar or other cheese
Instructions
Making sure the slices of bread are more or less the same size is essential here. We do not want to waste any of the cheese after all. Spread some of the butter on the slice of bread and place it on a heated pan with the buttered side facing down. Place the slice of cheese and butter on the other piece of bread with the buttered side facing up. After the bottom piece of bread is slightly brown, flip it and cook it on the other side until it reaches a golden brown color.
Rinse repeat.
Tip
As much as the butter gives this more flavor, you can of course just use a toast machine.
Spicing up the sandwich is an absolute must! Adding a bit of dill or other herbs to the sandwich gives it an interesting edge for sure.
Adding a leaf or two of lettuce to the sandwich once it’s ready is another tip you should give a shot.
Ayvalık Tostu
After a rather simple sandwich, this one is a doozy. Named after the seaside town in the northwestern Balıkesir province, where it initially became popular, this sandwich is made from a rather tough bread, usually using chickpeas as a leavening agent instead of regular yeast. I say tough but what I mean is that it has some substance to it compared to super-soft toast bread. Do you need to have that exact bread? Of course not, but it is much more satisfying to use a more hardy variation for sure. Sourdough bread could be used as an alternative.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of Ayvalık toast bread, or alternatives
- 6 slices of Kasseri cheese (known as Kaşar in Turkish)
- 10 small sausages
- 15 thinly cut salami
- 7-8 slices of sucuk
- 1 tomato
- 3-4 pickles
- salt, vegetable oil
Instructions
Chop the sausages and salamis lengthwise, and do the same with the cheese, pickles and tomatoes. Using a minimal amount of oil, saute the sausages and salamis. Meanwhile, toast the bread until it has a nice color. While still rather hot, place first the cheese, then the sauteed meat and the other ingredients according to your taste and enjoy.
Tip
Adding a decent portion of Olivier salad to the sandwich, not on the side, is a popular option. I personally do not enjoy the mess and find it a little heavy, but there is no harm in trying it out.
Club Sandwich
If there is a sandwich worth taking a picture of, it would be the club sandwich, hands down. With its many layers, it is more than enough to fill anybody’s stomach and can be an eye-catcher at a party, when those become normal again. Choosing what goes into these is of course entirely up to you, so feel free to break the rules and go further than what we are suggesting here.
Ingredients
- 200 grams chicken breast (1 big chicken breast usually)
- 6 slices of toast
- 6 slices of bacon, sucuk or whichever you like
- 2 eggs
- 3-4 leaves of lettuce
- 1 tomato
- 3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- salt, black pepper, vegetable oil
Instructions
Saute the chicken breast to your liking, alternatively, you could use chicken salami or something similar. Without the addition of any fat, roast the bacon or sucuk (both have enough of their own fat to cook). If they are releasing excessive amounts of fat, let them drip off on paper towels. Cook the eggs until they are hard, peel them and slice them.
In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with the mustard and season to your tastes. Thinly chop the lettuce and stir that into the mayonnaise mixture as well. Slice the tomatoes and let’s get stacking. The toast should be grilled to a healthy light brown color. The order of the stacking usually does not matter but each slice should have a good amount of the mayonnaise spread, followed up by either a slice of the chicken breast or the other meat. Stack to your desire alternating all the ingredients.
As a final step poke through the sandwich with a skewer and cut it diagonally through the middle.
