There is an intimacy involved in eating food whilst holding it in your hands. An intimacy you cannot get from the cold steel of a knife and fork or even a pair of wooden chopsticks. The tactile quality of food in the hands is something we get from a sandwich or a wrap
(a floury bap; the charcoal dust left on our fingers from a torn piece of warm roti; the cool moistness of a rice wrapper), yet it is a way of life for some cultures, who long ago embraced the art of hand-to-mouth eating.
It is convenient to contain most hand-held food in an edible wrapper — a dough of some sort. It protects our hands from the hot, messy food. A slice cut from a sourdough loaf, a baguette with a shattered crust, a flour- dusted bun, a puckered wrap, an ice-cream cornet, a doughy roti, rye crispbread or thin, skin-like rice wrapper all serve the same purpose. We get to enjoy not only the filling but its wrapper as well. A wrapper that in some cases is warm to the touch and has partially soaked up the moisture from the filling.
The sandwich can be anything from a diminutive, accurately cut cucumber triangle to a doorstop bacon butty the size of an outstretched palm. Matching the bread to the filling can be state-of-the-art or pot-luck, depending on the day. Carefully considered or bunged together, a homemade sandwich rarely fails to hit the spot. Rough pork rillettes on sourdough, goat's cheese on walnut bread, and bacon on white sliced are amongst my desert-island sandwiches, and yes, I do plan for them when I'm shopping. But most are constructed in a somewhat more laissez-faire manner, which is why I have eaten salt beef on sourdough and Caerphilly cheese on a flat English muffin. (Both good, by the way.)
My rule of thumb is the softer the filling, the more suited it is to a crisp wrapping and vice versa. Which is why silkily wrapped rice paper rolls work so well with their crunchy cucumber and carrot filling and why smoked salmon and soft cream cheese are ideal for chewy bagels. It may also explain the heaven that is ripe Brie with a crackling baguette.
A sandwich needs some form of lubricant. This can be as off the cuff as a trickle of olive oil or as lavish as herb- flecked mayonnaise. It can bring heat (mustard, horseradish or wasabi) or be something more bland altogether, such as fromage frais. Yes, the lubricant — butter, hummus, creamed avocado, goat's cheese, mayonnaise, Patum Peperium, jam, honey, peanut butter — needs to work with the filling but there is plenty of room to experiment. Wasabi and smoked salmon works for me, as does mayonnaise with crisp smoked bacon. Whatever works. We probably shouldn't get too precious about a sandwich, but that needn’t mean we can be flippant about it either.
I must mention the burger. From the Big Mac to the now-ubiquitous gourmet burger, the idea of a meat patty held in some sort of bun has long had our attention. The patty is usually pork or beef, but I make them from lamb too, often with cumin and mint, and from sausage meat, mashed beans and shredded vegetables flavoured with mustard seed. The meat can be pure and lightly seasoned or tarted up with an entire spice box. Both have their moments. In its purest form, a sandwich is something you often make for yourself rather than for someone else. The bread and its filling are ours and ours alone, and we can do as we please. There are no rules. Bread that is less than perfectly fresh can be toasted; fillings can be classic (Cheddar and coarse chutney; roast beef and horseradish) to adventurous (salmon, wasabi and grilled bacon; goat's cheese, peach and black pepper) to downright bizarre. It can be browned in a sandwich toaster or in a film of butter in a shallow pan. Eaten hot, when the melted cheese forms burning strings, or chilled, with ice-cold radishes, cucumber and iceberg lettuce as crisp as broken glass.
The open sandwich has much to commend it. The filling is allowed to tempt the eye more than when it is held captive between two pieces of bread, and it can be more generous too. But a knife and fork are generally involved, taking away that all-important, though far from essential, tactility. An open sandwich — buttery yellow lettuce, smoked trout, dill mayonnaise and cucumber on rye — was one of the first recipes I tweeted. It remains a favourite summer lunch.
I still stand by many of the sandwiches in my first book, Real Fast Food (Michael Joseph, 1992): thinly sliced cold roast pork with sea salt, smashed crackling and mayonnaise; bread spread with anchovy paste and Camembert, toasted till the cheese runs; the bacon sarnie made with ‘plastic’ white sliced bread; even the pitta bread stuffed with fried leftover potatoes, garam masala and basil vinaigrette, despite the leap of faith you need to take to make it. We all have our favourites. The homemade sandwich is a friend who rarely lets us down. Hand-held food rights our wrongs, turning a bad world briefly good. Here are a few of my favourites, from the simplest to the most extravagant, that continue, year in, year out, to save my soul.
Slice small courgettes lengthways — longer ones may be better cut into rounds — then put them in a small roasting tin. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little crushed garlic. Roast till soft and sweet. Crumble over a little feta, then pile into crisp rolls or serve as a warm open sandwich.
Slice aubergines, tomatoes and courgettes, toss them in plenty of olive oil, then season with lots of garlic, black pepper, salt and finely chopped rosemary. Roast till everything is very soft. Chop a handful of basil leaves, stir them into mayonnaise and beat in some of the garlicky juices from the roasting tin. Stop before it curdles. Slather the basil mayo over crusty bread, then pile on the vegetables.
Slice leftover new potatoes into thick coins. Fry them in butter and a little oil till they are lightly crisp and golden. Spread mayonnaise thickly on to your bread and pile the hot potatoes on to it. (I like to add chopped dill to this one.)
Paper-fine air-dried ham and soft, flour-dusted, airy bread such as ciabatta. I have been known to tuck in a basil leaf or two. You can brush the cut bread with olive oil but the holes prevent the inclusion of any sort of spread.
A thin, flash-fried steak. Crisp baguette. Mustard. Mayonnaise. The trick is to slice the bread and press the cut side down into the steak pan, wiping up all the juices with the bread, before adding the mustard, slathering with mayonnaise and tucking the steak in. It’s the pan juices that make it.
Buy minced chicken, or better still mince your own, so you can include the skin. Slice a spring onion and fry in oil and butter, then add chopped sage, a little garlic and leeks, finely shredded. Let them soften, slowly, under a lid, till they are bright green, satin-soft and buttery. Add the minced chicken and cook briefly, before making into patties and frying in a non-stick pan until golden and sticky. Slather short lengths of crisp baguette with mayonnaise, then use to sandwich the burgers.
sausages, smoked bacon, bagels, tomatoes, cheese
Slit the skin of 3 herby butcher's sausages, remove the meat and put it into a mixing bowl. Chop 75g smoked streaky bacon, mix it with the sausage, check the seasoning, then roll into two plump patties.
Using a non-stick pan covered with a lid, cook the burgers in a little oil, over a low to moderate heat. Turn each burger several times during cooking, until they have developed a sticky, almost Marmite-like exterior.
Split and toast a couple of bagels, place a couple of slices of large, ripe tomato and the burgers on the bottom halves, add a few slices of interesting cheese and briefly place under a hot grill till the cheese has melted. Top with the other half of the bagels.
For 2. Soft bun. Herby sausage. Smoked bacon. Melting cheese.
Happy weekend.
I can't get enough of these; they're one of my favourite recipes in the book.
Put 400g chicken breasts, with their skin, in a food processor. Add a good handful of tarragon leaves, the zest and juice of a small to medium lemon, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper and 4 heaped tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs (I use panko). Blitz to a coarse paste but stop before the mixture becomes gluey. Heat a fine layer of olive oil in a shallow, non-stick pan, then shape the mixture into about 6 patties and fry for 10 minutes, turning gently, till golden.
Fresh white and brown turkey meat, including the skin for succulence, sausage meat (I generally work on a balance of half turkey to half sausage meat), a few chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, fresh thyme, salt and black pepper. Blitz then flatten into small, deep patties and fry slowly in butter and a little oil. Serve with cranberry sauce. Should you decide to use cooked turkey meat for this, mince it well, then add an egg yolk or two to the mixture to help to hold it together.
duck breasts, spring onions, plum, honey, soy sauce, breadcrumbs, lettuce, cucumber, chilli
Put 2 duck breasts (about 200g total weight) into a food processor, add a large spring onion, a stoned fresh plum, a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of dark soy sauce. Blitz to a coarse mince then add 75g fresh white breadcrumbs.
Form the paste into 4 burgers. Roll each in a few more breadcrumbs, then fry over a low heat for 10 minutes each side.
Place each burger on a large, crisp lettuce leaf, add shredded cucumber, chopped spring onion and a small, shredded chilli and wrap the burgers in the lettuce.
For 3—4. Sweet, fruity and crisp.
Grill or fry fish fingers till crisp. A light cooking should keep them moist inside. Split a baguette in half. Stir some capers, chopped dill and basil into mayonnaise and spread it over the baguette. Tuck in a lettuce leaf, then the hot, fresh-from-the-pan fish fingers. Squirt with lemon juice. Crisp. Soft. Green. Unapologetic.
Dust a couple of trout fillets in flour to which you have added a good pinch of smoked paprika. Fry in shallow butter, or oil if you prefer, then drain on kitchen paper. Sandwich in a soft, fresh bap and squeeze over a little lemon juice.
Grill a few large shelled prawns and some streaky bacon. Put them into a sandwich of hot brown toast spread with a little mango chutney.
raw prawns, coriander, garlic, chilli, lemongrass, fish sauce, rice vinegar, pickled ginger, carrot, ginger, spring onion, mayonnaise, sesame oil, baguettes
Put 250g raw shelled prawns in a food processor with 8 coriander stems, 2 cloves of garlic, a bird’s eye chilli, a lemongrass stalk, a lump of fresh ginger, 2 teaspoons of Vietnamese fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar. Blitz.
Finely shred half a carrot. Shred 10g Japanese pickled ginger. Finely slice a spring onion and toss all three together with a little fresh coriander. Stir 2 teaspoons of sesame oil into 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.
Put the blitzed prawns in a non-stick frying pan and fry, without any oil, for 4 minutes. Toss with the seasoned carrot. Split 2 small baguettes and spread with the sesame mayo. Stuff with the prawn hash.
For 2. One of the great sandwiches. IMHO.
Instead of chorizo, mix 350g soft morcilla with the pork opposite. Split into 4 and pat into thick burgers. Fry, then stuff into soft, white baps or sourdough buns.
Choose a softish chorizo rather than one of the harder varieties. It should be only a little firmer than a good butcher's sausage.
Use 650g pork sausage meat taken from good, herby breakfast sausages. Grind 6 juniper berries and half a teaspoon of fennel seed in a pestle and mortar, then stir into the sausage meat. You could include a few herbs, such as oregano, thyme or ground bay. Shape into 4 thick, flat patties and cook as opposite. Fill the buns with a fennel salad or a tomato and cucumber salsa.
chorizo, minced pork, ciabatta buns, salad leaves
Remove the skin from 350g chorizo cooking sausages and discard. Put the meat in a mixing bowl, add 250g minced pork and mix well. The pork will lighten the dense chorizo. The seasoning will need little, but much depends on your chorizo, some being more highly flavoured than others. Split the mixture into 4 and roll into balls. Pat each one into a thick patty, about the diameter of a digestive biscuit.
Get a non-stick frying pan hot, add a very thin film of oil, then place the burgers in the pan. Let them cook till lightly browned on the underside, then flip and cook the other side, adjusting the heat accordingly so they cook through to the middle. Be gentle, lest they break up.
Split 4 ciabatta (or panini) buns open, partially fill with salad leaves, then a chorizo burger.
For 4. Smoky, succulent.
cucumber, red chilli, carrot, spring onion, rice noodles, spring roll wrappers, mint, basil, coriander, chives, ponzu sauce, lime, rice vinegar, hot chilli sauce
Slice half a cucumber in half lengthways, scrape out its seeds with a teaspcon then cut the flesh into matchsticks. Very finely slice a mild, long red chilli, then cut a medium-sized carrot into small matchstick-style pieces. Shred a spring onion.
Pour a kettle of boiling water over 50g glass noodles and let them soak for a few minutes. Moisten 2 large spring roll wrappers in warm water, lay them on a work surface, then divide the shredded vegetables and noodles between them, tucking 6 or 7 basil leaves, 6 or 7 mint leaves and 6 or 7 coriander leaves into each one as you go. Lay 4 slim chives on to each one, then wrap the vegetables up into parcels.
Make a dip for the summer rolls by mixing together a tablespoon of ponzu sauce, the juice of half a lime, a teaspoon of rice vinegar and a teaspoon of hot chilli sauce. Eat the rolls, cut into two, with the dip.
Good things to put in your summer rolls
Makes 2 large rolls. Bright-tasting. A hot, refreshing crunch.
Thickly-cut smoked salmon, generously-spread cream cheese, a golden chewy bagel. Bliss. But try adding a few bottled green peppercorns — the sort that come in brine — to the cream cheese; tuck in a rasher or 2 of very crisp smoked streaky bacon; stir dill or chives into the cream cheese; toast the bagel on its cut sides, spread thinly with wasabi paste then add the cream cheese and salmon; or swap the salmon for mackerel.
Peel a soft, salami-type chorizo and blitz it to a paste in a food processor, adding a little creme fraiche or olive oil to give it a spreading consistency. Slather generously on to split and toasted bagels.
bagel, mascarpone, balsamic vinegar, raisins or sultanas
Put 3 tablespoons of raisins or sultanas in a small bowl, pour in 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of warm water and leave the fruit to swell for 20 minutes or so, then drain, reserving some of the liquid. Split a bagel in half horizontally, lightly toast both cut edges then brush with some of the soaking liquid from the fruit. Mix 200g of mascarpone with the raisins and spread thickly over the hot bagel. For 1. Sweet, warm. Feel-good.
mung beans, butter or flageclet beans, spring onions, garlic, basil, chives, parsley, tomatoes, ciabatta buns, salad leaves, mayonnaise
Drain and rinse a 400g can of mung beans and a 400g can of flageolet or butter beans. Finely slice 6 spring onions and let them soften in a tablespoon of oil over a moderate heat. Don't let them brown. Peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic and add them together with a large handful of basil leaves, 8 finely chopped chives and a handful of parsley, chopped. Tip in the beans and season.
Using a potato masher, partially crush the mixture so there isa combinaticn of smooth and rough, producing a texture that will be interesting to eat. Mould small balls of the mixture into thick, flat patties. You will get about 12. They are fragile so treat them carefully, setting them down on a baking sheet, then refrigerate for a good 20 minutes.
Warm a thin layer of oil in a non-stick frying pan, then place the patties down in the pan, a few at time, leaving room to flip them over. When the underside is golden brown, carefully turn the patties over and cook the other side. Drain briefly on kitchen paper before stuffing them into toasted buns with slices of tomato, salad and a slather of mayonnaise.
For 6.
tomatoes, Little Gem lettuce, ciabatta, garlic, egg yolk, vinegar, Dijon mustard
Slice 400g tomatoes in half and place them, cut-side up, on a grill pan or baking sheet. Cut 2 Little Gem lettuces in half and tuck them in amongst the tomatoes. Season, trickle with a little oil, then grill for a few minutes, till the lettuce has just started to colour and the tomatoes are soft.
Make the dressing. Peel 2 garlic cloves and drop them into a blender. Add an egg yolk, a tablespoon of white wine vinegar, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, then 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend till smooth and thick. (You can also do this by hand, in the way you would make mayonnaise, beating the oil into the other ingredients with a balloon whisk.) Check the seasoning.
Split a large ciabatta loaf and toast it on the cut sides. Place toasted- side up on a board, trickle over a generous amount of olive oil, then cover with the tomatoes and lettuce. Spoon over the dressing and eat immediately, whilst the tomatoes are still hot and the bread is crisp.
For 4. Crisp, sweet, luscious.
Heat a well-seasoned or non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat, add a salted and peppered rib-eye steak and let it brown for a couple of minutes, without any oil or fat. Turn and cook the other side, then turn it again a couple of times. Slide a thick slice of butter under the steak — it will melt immediately — and let the meat soak some of it up, then turn it over in the butter, keeping the heat at a temperature that will not let it burn. Remove the steak and let it rest for a good
5 minutes. Melt a little more butter in the pan, add a few thinly shredded spring greens and fry till soft and bright. Split open a baguette, slice the steak into thick strips and stuff into the bread with the hot, buttery greens.
Roughly grate a potato, skin on, then fry it in a little beef dripping with a finely sliced onion until it colours. Add some chopped parsley and thyme. Pour in some of the beef juices from the roast, then add the crisp ends of the roast, bits of golden fat and any interesting crusty bits left behind after the roast has been removed from the tin. When all is sizzling, pile the mixture into bread rolls.
leftover gravy, cherry tomatoes, roast beef leftovers, fresh horseradish, mayonnaise, bread rolls
Warm the roasting juices and gravy from Sunday's roast beef over a moderate heat, including any interesting bits left in the pan. When they start to bubble, add a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half, and let them cook till they colour lightly. Crush the tomatoes in the gravy with afork.
Finely grate a little fresh horseradish and stir it into some mayonnaise. Cut bread rolls in half lengthways, spread them generously with the horseradish mayonnaise and fill them with slices of beef cut from the cold roast. Put dishes of the hot gravy on the table and dip the rolls in as you eat.
Split a small ciabatta down its length. Toast the cut sides lightly and spread with basil pesto. Cover with slices of buffalo mozzarella, then stir a little more olive oil into the pesto and trickle it over the cheese. Grill till the cheese melts, but stop before it colours.
Thinly slice a large onion, fry it in a little butter till nutty golden brown, then stir in a tablespoon or two of quince paste. When it bubbles, pile the mixture on to sourdough bread and cover with slices of blue cheese such as Picos, Cabrales or Stichelton.
Warm some pitta bread in the oven or under an overhead grill, split it, then stuff with labne, feta (crumbled in a little yoghurt with dried oregano) or goat's curd, plus some mint leaves and a good, thick, sweet olive oil.
Spread thin slices of sourdough bread with anchovy paste. Cover with slices of Camembert, Waterloo or similar semi-soft cheese, then add a second slice of anchovy-spread bread on top. Cook on a grill, or place in a frying pan in a little quietly sizzling butter and oil, pressing the sandwich down on both sides till it browns,
sourdough bread, bresaola, Emmental cheese, sugar, cucumber, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard
Lightly peel half a cucumber with a vegetable peeler, then halve it down its length and scrape out and discard the seeds. Peel into long, pappardelle-like strips. Put 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar,
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a teaspoon of sugar and a little pepper into a mixing bowl and add the cucumber. Leave for 10 minutes.
To make the sandwich, fry 4 very thin slices of sourdough bread in butter till lightly crisp on both sides, then drain on kitchen paper. Pile 2 slices with thinly sliced Emmental cheese, shreds of the pickled cucumber, a little salt and some thin slices of bresaola. Then add the final slice of bread.
For 2. Toothsome.
Grill a few rashers of smoked streaky bacon till truly crisp. Finely chop a small chilli, removing the seeds as you go. Fry in a little oil, then stir into 4 or 5 tablespoons of mayonnaise, together with a handful of finely chopped coriander leaves. Pull some cold roast chicken to shreds and fold into the chilli-coriander mayo. Pile the mixture into rolls, tucking the crisp bacon in as you go.
Peel, deseed and dice some cucumber. Trim a few radishes and slice then in half lengthways. Add to the herb mayonnaise opposite with some roughly torn pieces of roast chicken. Pile on to dark rye bread, preferably in a curl of perfect, crisp summer lettuce.
cold roast chicken, basil, tarragon, dill, mayonnaise, asparagus, avocado, lettuce, spring onions, sourdough bread
Boil 8 small asparagus spears in deep water till just tender (they should still be slightly crisp for this), then drain. Slice them in half lengthways and set aside. Shred 2 crisp iceberg lettuce leaves. Trim 4 spring onions and halve lengthways. Peel and slice a small avocado. Slice a cooked chicken breast, or remove slices from yesterday's Sunday roast.
Put 4 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise in a bowl, stir in a tablespoon each of chopped basil, tarragon and dill and season lightly with salt. Toast 4 slices of sourdough bread and spread each of them with the herb mayonnaise. Top 2 of the slices with the lettuce and asparagus spears, followed by the spring onions and avocado. Place slices of chicken on top and sandwich together with the remaining bread.
Makes 2 heavily laden sandwiches. Toasted sourdough, herb mayo, cold chicken, crisp, ice-cold lettuce and avocado. Possibly my favourite sandwich.
Fry or grill a seriously good pork sausage. Peel and thinly slice a couple of onions and let them cook in a little butter till truly soft. Add a splash of balsamic or sherry vinegar. Add to the sausage as you stuff itinto a roll.
Fry or grill a pork sausage or two. Slice in half and place cut-side up on a grill pan. Place a slice of cheese — fontina, Comté or some other firm variety — on top and grill till it melts. Slide into a roll.
mozzarella, chorizo, ciabatta, spinach
Slice 130g cooking chorizo thickly, across the diagonal, then place the slices in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. There is no need tc use any oil or butter. Cook gently for 4—5 minutes, turning halfway through, until the oil begins to escape from the sausage.
Slice a large ball of mozzarella (about 150g) on top of the chorizo, then carefully spoon some of the oil from the pan over the top. Cook for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt - covering with a lid will help — then season with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
Tear open a short ciabatta, spoon the chorizo and mozzarella inside, then spoon the juices from the pan over the top. Again, there is no need to butter the bread as the pan juices will ensure it gets deliciously moist.
Tuck a handful of spinach leaves inside the ciabatta. Give it a good squeeze, allowing all the juices to soak into the bread and the spinach to wilt a little. Slice the ciabatta in half and serve immediately.
For 2. It’s all about the juices.
If the bread and ham are of the best quality, then a ham sandwich needs nothing more than a spread of mustard. A perfect baguette, thin, hand-cut ham, a dab of mustard. That is all. If only life was always as simple as this.
There are two sorts of British ham sandwich: the thin, triangular afternoon-tea sandwich, which I am not concerned with here, and the chunkier, more satisfying version. The English farmhouse ham sandwich probably needs thick, impeccably fresh bread, roughly torn ham and a thick layer of mustard. Embellish as you think fit, with lettuce, mayonnaise, tomato or whatever else takes your fancy.
The delightful little ciabatta-style stuffed bread. Rectangular, shallow, light. The bread is chewy, the filling can be pretty much anything you fancy, but mozzarella often features and crisp, bright green lettuce is pretty much compulsory, as are slices of tomato.
A smear of wasabi on your ham sandwich.
A brush of green olive paste is worth pursuing.
Watercress, rocket, basil — peppery things — always cheer up a ham roll.
A spoonful of creamy scrambled egg makes a substantial twist.
Warm some thickly sliced bottled artichokes in olive oil and toss them with the ham.
Brush baby leeks or spring onions with olive oil and grill till soft. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Grill once again till the cheese is golden, then pile on top of the ham.
Fry slices of prosciutto briefly till they curl and crisp, then pile them into soft white bread.
pork rillettes, gherkins, spring LL onion, sourdough bread
Put a large spring onion (2 or 3 if small) in a food processor with 5 tablespoons of olive oil, add some salt and pepper, then blitz to a green paste. Soak 4 slices of sourdough bread in this spring-onion oil. Fry the bread in a non-stick pan till very crisp on both sides. Drain briefly on kitchen paper, then spread 2 slices with 2 tablespoons of pork rillettes and add a few gherkin slices. Top on. Trickle on the last bit of spring onion marinade. Eat. Makes 2 sandwiches. Sweet-sharp and crisp.
Mix together soml groundnut oil, soml soy sauce, a crushed clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons of mirin, a pinch of sugar and a pinch of dried chilli flakes. Let 2 salmon steaks soak in it for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, then grill till crisp and dark on the outside. Break into large pieces then stuff into split baguettes with slices of cucumber and soft green leaves such as lamb's lettuce.
Cut 400g chicken meat into thin strips. In a food processor whizz a medium-hot, deseeded chilli, a pinch of dried chilli flakes, 2 cloves of garlic, a small handful of mint leaves, the juice of a large lemon and
4 tablespoons of oil to a coarse paste. Toss the meat in the spice mixture and set aside for 20 minutes. Grill the chicken and any clinging marinade till sizzling (there will be quite a bit of smoke) then stuff the hot, spicy chicken into rolls, with watercress or crisp lettuce.
chicken breast, beansprouts, lemongrass, coriander, mint, chillies, ginger, sesame oil, mayonnaise, soy sauce, baguette
In a food processor, blitz the following: a lemongrass stalk, 2 red bird’s eye chillies, a peeled walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, a handful of coriander, a bunch of mint and a little sesame oil. Remove the skin from a chicken breast, then slice into six. Fry in a wok with a little oil till golden. Add the spice paste, let it sizzle then throw in a handful of beansprouts. Season mayonnaise with a little soy sauce. Split pieces of baguette lengthways, spread with the mayonnaise, then stuff with the spiced chicken and beansprout mixture.
For 2. Fiery, with the refreshing crunch of beansprout and mint.
figs, goat's cheese, honey, focaccia, rosemary
Split a piece of focaccia, about 10cm x 15cm, horizontally to give two rectangles, then place them side by side in a shallow baking tin or oven tray. Set the oven at 200°C/Gas 6.
Pour 4 tablespoons of honey over the focaccia (if you are using thick honey then warm the jar first in a small pan of boiling water to make it runny). Slice 5 figs into four from top to bottom and place over the focaccia, then trickle over another tablespoon of honey and a few finely chopped rosemary leaves. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and turn the oven to the grill setting.
Slice 10g goat's cheese into thick rounds and place on top of the figs. Grill for 5 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt. Serve immediately.
For 2. Crisp bread. Melting cheese. Sweet figs.
Season the burger opposite with a proprietary jerk seasoning — the best of them contain allspice, cloves, cinnamon, thyme and chilli. Fry the burgers, then serve in soft, toasted buns with a little cooked spinach, or if you are near a West Indian market try and get hold of some callaloo.
Instead of the ricotta, double up on the beef. Place each burger in your hand and press a ball of Gorgonzola into the centre, then squeeze the meat around it so it covers the cheese. Carefully flatten out into a thick patty then fry as opposite. Soft, toasted buns and slices of ripe tomato complete them.
Chop a gherkin. Not finely. Not coarsely. Add it to the mince. Stir in a sprinkling of sesame seeds, a little ketchup, salt and pepper and some hot French mustard. Shape and fry.
minced beef, ricotta, spring onions, capers, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, sherry vinegar, ciabatta
Mix together 400g minced beef, 200g ricotta, 4 chopped spring onions, 1 tablespoon of capers and a little picked rosemary. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Shape the mixture into 6 thick burgers, about the diameter of a digestive biscuit, then leave for as long as you can in the fridge to firm up. Fry the burgers in a little olive oil in a shallow, non-stick pan for 6-8 minutes per side.
For the relish, chop 100g sun-dried tomatoes (the sort that come in oil) and mix with a little of the oil from the jar. Add a tablespoon of sherry vinegar and season with salt and pepper. When the patties are ~ cooked, sandwich them between 6 ciabatta rolls spread with the relish. For 6. A fresh take on the classic burger.
tomatoes, focaccia, ricotta, basil, olive oil
Make a basil oil by whizzing 10 basil leaves and 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a blender or food processor till you have a bright green dressing. Slice a couple of large tomatoes in half and grill till soft and slightly charred at the edges.
Split a rectangle of focaccia, about 10cm long, horizontally and brush with some of the basil oil. Grill till lightly crisp. Spread a large tablespoon of ricotta on top, then add the tomatoes and trickle over any spare dressing.
For 1. High-summer lunch.
Thin slices of roast pork, shredded crackling, a smear of apple sauce. Roast pork, cut as thick as a pound coin. A russet apple, sliced but not peeled. Gravy. Wholemeal bread, untoasted.
Slice the meat from last night's barbecue ribs. You will probably get in a sticky mess. Cut the meat into thin shreds then stir into mayonnaise, together with a couple of tablespoons of the barbecue sauce, tasting as you go. Pile a piece of soft, good bread — ciabatta or a bap — with a little shredded carrot or some chopped apple, some tufts of watercress, then pile on top of the pork.
A rare delight (let's face it, it's not that often you have leftover barbecue ribs), but one of the most memorable sandwiches I have ever eaten and one I felt I should share.
Finely chop a sweet apple, removing the core as you go. Warm the juices, fat and interesting bits from the roasting tin, then stir in the chopped apple, a dash of cider if needs be, or perhaps a little Marsala. Briefly add thinly sliced cold pork then stuff into a roll, letting the juices soak through the bread. Glorious.
leftover roast pork, roast potatoes, crackling and roasting juices, bread, apple sauce
Slice the leftover pork very finely and salt it generously. Cut up the leftover roast potatoes and warm them in the juices from the roasting tin. Spread the bread — a panini would be spot on too — with apple sauce or mayonnaise. Add the hot roast potatoes, the slices of pork, a bit of crackling if you have it and then spoon over the warm roasting juices.