Sandwich Loaf.........{Its National Picnic Week}

 

It's national picnic week - I absolutely love enjoying food al fresco and picnics are just the perfect way to do this. One of my favourite things to make for picnics is my Sandwich loaf, because I love me a sandwich! This loaf is a kind of sandwich but looks much fancier. Transporting it whole is very easy and you can just cut it in slices or quarters when you get to your destination. Feel free to play around with the fillings as well; I’ve made one previous ones with tuna, rocket, hard boiled eggs and anchovies which was pretty lush....
 

  

Picnic Sandwich Loaf

1 cottage loaf, size of you choice
Olive oil
6 slices Parma ham
15 slices salami milano
5 tomatoes, sliced
2 balls mozzarella, sliced
Basil leaves
1 aubergine sliced and then grilled and allowed to cool
1 courgette, sliced, then grilled and allowed to cool
75g, sundried tomatoes

Slice the top of the bread and then scoop out the inside of the bread. Brush the insides with olive oil and leave uncovered overnight. Take your other ingredients and then layer them inside the bread. My layers went as such: Parma ham; tomatoes; basil; mozzarella; aubergine; salami; courgette; sundried tomatoes; mozzarella; tomatoes; basil; and finally more salami. Make sure you press down every time you finish a layer so you are packing it down firmly. Once you have filled your loaf, put the top back on and cover the whole thing in foil and then weigh the top down (a tin of duck fat works well here!). You want to leave it for at least 2 hours but the longer the better. When you are ready, either slice or cut into quarters and serve.

 

This recipe can be found in my recipe pages in the July/August edition of Families First

Linking up with Honest Mum for #tastytuesdays

The Sandwich Sessions #2........ {Courgette Quesadillas}

My eldest little sister (who blogs over here) gave me the idea a while ago that I should do a blog series on how to take your sandwiches to a whole other level and enjoy this most perfect of comfort foods.

Sandwich #1: Fishfinger sandwich 

Today I'm going for a Mexican toasted sandwich - a quesadilla which I make with courgette, chorizo and lots of gooey melted cheese. You can omit the chorizo if you want this to be vegetarian and you can also omit the spice if you so wish - which I never do! Perfect served with an ice cold beer!

Courgette Quesadillas

1 onion, diced 

50g chorizo, cubed 

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2tsp cumin 

2 tbsp tomato puree 
1 tin black beans, drained 
2 courgettes, sliced on the diagonal 
200g cheddar, grated 
green chilli, finely chopped
handful of coriander
limes
tortillas 

take a griddle pan and heat it up, using a pastry brush, brush the courgette with olive oil and then place them on the pan and char-grill them on each side, set aside to cool, season and squeeze over a bit of lime juice. in a separate pan fry off the onion and chorizo in a pan with a tiny splash of oil. once they have softened add in the garlic, cumin and tomato puree and cook off for a couple of minutes. add in the beans along with around 6 tablespoons of water and mash the beans a bit with a fork until you have a rough paste. in a bowl combine the cheese, chilli and  coriander. take a shallow pan and place on tortilla on one half add the beans, courgette and the cheese and then fold it over, pressing down slightly, cook for a few minutes and then turn over and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. remove from pan and then repeat until you have used all the ingredients. 

I'm linking this "session" with Honest Mummys blog's link up - Tasty Tuesdays! 

The Sandwich Sessions, #1 Fish Finger Sandwich with Homemade Tartar Sauce

A food fanatic like myself  often gets asked "What's your favourite food?" and oh my I have so many, I'm not sure I could possibly pick a favourite... but one of my favourite food groups is the sandwich, and yes I truly believe that the sandwich is a food group. Comforting and so versatile I don't think there is anything humble about a good sandwich, they are the perfect food often H and I will just have a good sandwich for our dinner and that's just fine and dandy with us.

My eldest little sister (who blogs over here) gave me the idea yesterday that I should do a blog on sandwiches and whilst I'm loyal to this blog only I'm going to make this a little series (maybe a link up one day) and every couple of weeks I'm going to show you how to take your sandwiches to a whole other level and enjoy this most perfect of comfort foods.

I'm starting with the Fishfinger sandwich which seems to have become a bit of a staple on UK pub menus and rightly so. Nothing screams nursery food more than fishfingers and by putting them in a sandwich its like we are saying that its acceptable to eat as adults. Make your own tartar sauce because it's not difficult and tastes so much better than shop bought rubbish. You can also make it to your tastes them; I hate too many capers so only add a few.  I used sub rolls as I like the texture with the filling, although you could just use white bread or baguette. However it should be white,  this is not a time for wholemeal. Please forgive me for my use of a processed cheese slice, this is the only occasion where I feel that it is totally acceptable to use them!

Fish Finger Sandwich 

Fishfingers (I used 2 jumbo ones per sandwich but use whatever ones you prefer)

Submarine rolls 

Optional: thinly shredded Iceberg Lettuce, processed cheese slice 

For the Tartar Sauce:

3 - 4 TBSP finely chopped gherkins 

1 TBSP very finely chopped onion

1 TSP Capers 

8 TBSP Good quality mayonnaise

2 TSP freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1 TSP of the pickle juice from your jar of gherkins (trust me it makes all the difference)

Cook the fishfingers according to the directions. Put all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly, taste and make any adjustments you think it may need - maybe some more lemon juice? Slice your rolls along one and spread the sauce along the top and the cheese and lettuce on the bottom, add the fishfingers and then push the sides together. Eat, preferably with your lovely housemate whilst watching Great British Bake Off, and be transported to your childhood when life was ever so simple.