Saturday Sandwich 63: Peanut Butter & Jelly

This week's sandwich is one we've had often in our house but according to most Americans we haven't had it properly. The proper jelly/jam to use is Grape Jelly and you can't buy it easily in the UK. Luckily as it's JD's favourite jam I made him some for his birthday earlier this month. Hurrah \o/

We decided to have two different Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches to compare. JD is also particular about how the sandwich is made with peanut butter on one slice of bread and jelly on another and not one spread on top of the other. I did that once and have since been corrected.

 Smooth peanut butter with grape jelly.

 Crunchy peanut butter with strawberry jam.

I was surprised how different the one with grape jelly tasted having been used to eating them with strawberry jam usually. It was much nicer, I can see why it's the American favourite. JD prefers the crunchy peanut butter where I prefer the smooth. This recipe called for white bread which we don't often eat, both liking brown bread peanut butter & jelly sandwiches much better. Leigh and Erin fail to get the joy of a pb&j and opted for just a jam sandwich for Leigh and just peanut butter for Erin. *sigh*

Ratings: JD -3, Emma - 4

Coming up next Saturday - Christmas Sandwich 2 (In June e_e) 

Saturday Sandwich 62: Veal Schnitzel

Apparently veal is quite popular in Harrogate because we tried two butchers who had sold out of it before we struck lucky in a third butcher shop. They had veal already tenderised into a escalope too, which was handy.

Ingredients: veal, bread rolls, panko breadcrumbs, egg, flour, mustard and hot sauce.

Dip the flattened veal steak in flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in a pan until cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Sandwich the veal schnitzel in the bread roll adding mustard and hot sauce to the top of the veal.

This was a very appetising sandwich thanks to the golden brown crispy looking panko breadcrumbs. The sauces added went really well together too making it a nice spicy bite each time. The veal didn't add much to the sandwich, it could easily have been pork instead. The veal wasn't tender (despite being malleted beforehand) and was difficult to bite into when eating the sandwich. The first bite of mine led to the veal being dragged out of the breadcrumbs so I had to poke it back in. Still, it was a nice simple sandwich to make and we enjoyed it.

Ratings: JD - 2/5, Emma 3/5

Coming up next Saturday - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Saturday Sandwich 61: Franceshina

I've actually had this sandwich before because I made it for the Portuguese entry for my other blog here --> http://foodsoftheworld-emmajackson.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/portugal-francesinha.html

This is a different recipe though so I'm looking forward to trying it again.

Recipe here if you want to make one --> http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/cook/recipe/francesinha-portuguese-croquemadame-20140813-3dmg9.html

 
Cooking the onion, chorizo, smoked sausage and steak.

 Compiling the sandwiches ready to be baked in the oven.

The tomato sauce on top was very rich as it had beer and hot sauce mixed in then had been reduced down until really thick. The meats were all delicious and went well together. This recipe was very different from the other I had made so it seemed like a new sandwich to me. The only thing letting the taste down was that the sandwich was impossible to eat. The sour dough bread the recipe said to use had really hard crusts that made squishing down the bread to bite the sandwich really difficult.

Ratings: JD - 5 (1 for uneatability), Emma - 3

Coming up next Saturday - Veal Schnitzel Sandwich

Saturday Sandwich 60: English Tea Sandwiches

Years ago people used to have an extra meal around 3-4pm to keep them going until the evening meal. This meal was called Afternoon Tea and consisted of small, light, delicate sandwiches and cakes served with a pot of tea.

The entry in our book lists three types of English Tea Sandwiches so we made them all.

Sandwich 1 - Anchovy Butter and Radish

Chop up 3 anchovy fillets and mix with a tablespoon of butter. Spread over two slices of bread and add a layer of thinly sliced radish. Cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Sandwich 2 - Egg and Cress

 Mash up two hard boiled eggs. Add mayonnaise and some cress to the mix. Sandwich between two slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Sandwich 3 - Cucumber

 Halve a section of cucumber and scrape the seeds out. Thinly slice the cucumber and sprinkle with salt and a dash of lemon juice. Sandwich between two slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut into fingers.

Serve with a pot (or cup) of tea.

These sandwiches make a lovely presentation but lack any real substance. The anchovy one was a bit too salty but was an interesting taste. The egg sandwich was nice enough but a bit too light and delicate. I liked the cucumber one the most because it had a nice crunch to it at least with the lemon giving it a different cucumber taste than usual.

We both enjoyed having a hot drink for a change because we never drink tea with food (or without food actually).

So, in conclusion, these sandwiches would be nice to show off if the vicar was coming round for tea but other than that they're a bit wishy washy for us. :D

Ratings: JD - 2, Emma - 1

Coming up next Saturday - Francesinha

Saturday Sandwich 59: The Reuben

We've had this sandwich before a few years ago but we made it with pastrami because we couldn't get salt/corned beef. So this time we made some salt beef.

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/536477/salt-beef-recipe

Ingredients: Salt beef, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, gruyere, rye bread and butter.

Take two slices of bread and butter them. Place them butter side down into a hot frying pan to toast. Spread with thousand island dressing then add the sauerkraut, cheese and beef.

Top with another slice of bread spread with the dressing and press down.

Flip over to toast the top slice of bread. Press down with something heavy like a pan until the bread is crispy.

Slice in half and eat!

This is a really delicious sandwich. The salt beef on it own was fantastic. Really soft and salty, so impossible not to eat while I was breaking it up after cooking it. The tang of the sauerkraut and the smooth, sharp tasting cheese go really well together. The previous sandwich we made had a different sauce to thousand island dressing which I think I preferred but it gave some moisture to the toasted rye bread at least. Very filling and satisfying sandwich.

Ratings: JD - 4, Emma - 4

Coming up next Saturday - English Tea Sandwiches