When there’s little time to prepare a full meal, try one of these quick and easy sandwich recipes.
By Janet Groene, F47166
October 2008
When the Earl of Sandwich put his name to a two-fisted meal consisting of bread and filling, he did the ultimate favor for motor coach cooks. Make it plain or pretty, open-face or closed, hot or cold. Eat it with your hands or make it so saucy you need a knife and fork. It’s hard to go wrong with a sandwich for any snack or meal.
Try my sandwich ideas, and if you have your own favorites, send them to janetgroene@yahoo.com and they may be included in a future column.
Ruined Reubens
“Ruin” these Reuben-like sandwiches with onion soup spread instead of the traditional Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing. Everyone will rave about your new invention.
1 packet onion soup mix
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
12 large slices rye or pumpernickel bread
1 pound deli corned beef slices
1 16-ounce can sauerkraut, well drained
Stir the soup mix into the sour cream and spread on all bread slices. Top six slices of bread with the corned beef, divide the sauerkraut among them, and top with the remaining bread. Heat the sandwiches in the microwave oven just until they are warm. Serve with sliced beefsteak tomatoes.
Live-It-Up Liverwurst Sandwiches
Make these sandwiches ahead of time, then warm them in the microwave oven. They’re a hearty supper when served with a mug of cream of tomato soup or a big salad. To make a light lunch, serve with cherry tomatoes and sweet baby gherkin pickles.
2 cans liver paté or 1-pound package liverwurst
12 slices Italian bread
1 8-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 small can French-fried onions
12 slices crisp bacon
Canned liver pate is spreadable, but if you’re using cold liverwurst, allow it warm to room temperature for easier spreading. Spread the liverwurst on six slices of bread and press the mushrooms into it. Sprinkle a light layer of the French-fried onions on top (don’t use the whole can) and arrange two bacon slices over each sandwich. Top with the second slice of bread to make six sandwiches. Heat the sandwiches in the microwave oven just long enough to warm, or wrap and refrigerate for future meals. Do not overheat.
Baked Alaska Sandwiches
For convenience, you can buy liquid egg whites found in the refrigerated or frozen food sections of the grocery store.
6 slices bread
Butter
1 pound thinly sliced deli turkey breast
1 pound deli potato salad
4 egg whites or equivalent
½ teaspoon salt
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter the bread and place the slices butter side down on a greased baking sheet. Distribute the sliced turkey among the bread slices and top each with a mound of potato salad. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff; fold in the mustard; and “frost” the mounds evenly with the egg-white meringue. Bake the sandwiches “” watching carefully because they brown quickly “” until the meringue is golden. Serve at once. This recipe makes six open-faced sandwiches.
Kilauea Volcanos
Make these versatile sandwiches by the dozen at home, wrap individually, and freeze for future trips. To heat them, wrap the thawed sandwiches in waxed paper and cook in the microwave oven just until they are heated through. The sandwiches will be soft and steamy. For crispy sandwiches, wrap them in foil coated with nonstick spray and bake them over the grill or in a hot oven.
8 sandwich buns
Honey butter
16 slices provolone cheese
1 pound thinly sliced deli ham
8 slices pineapple, well drained
½ cup grated coconut
Spread the buns with honey butter and make sandwiches in this order: one slice of cheese, 1/8th of the ham, one slice of pineapple, a sprinkling of coconut, and another slice of cheese. Wrap individually. Just before serving, heat until the cheese melts.
Hambolis
A variation on strombolis, this sandwich is a completely different dish hot than when served cold. Make a good supply of them for quick lunches “” but refrigerate; do not freeze. For supper, heat to serve with soup and salad.
6 sandwich buns
Butter
1 pound deli ham salad
1 small sweet onion, finely diced
1 6-ounce package grated Cheddar cheese
If the ham salad is “weepy,” drain any excess moisture. Mix the onion and cheese thoroughly with the ham salad and spread on buns. Wrap individually. Eat cold or hot.
Royal Crustoffs
Here’s one sandwich where fluffy white sandwich bread is the right choice. You’ll need two or three of these elegant sandwiches per person.
12 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 cups egg, ham, or chicken salad
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
Prepare the bread and arrange six slices on a clean work surface. Mix the cheese into the salad of choice and place a mound of filling on each bread slice, avoiding the edges. Do not overfill. Carefully brush egg wash around the edges of the bread, and top with another slice of bread that also has been brushed with egg wash. Press the edges to seal. In a skillet, heat the butter and canola oil and cook the sandwiches until they are golden and crusty on both sides.
Breakfast Stacks
This goes faster if you have a griddle that fits over two burners.
1 or 2 hamburger buns per person
Butter
Nonstick cooking spray
Precooked sausage patties
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into rounds
Pourable egg substitute
1 sweet onion, peeled and cut in very thin rounds
Round provolone cheese
While the buns brown on one part of the griddle, butter side down, and the sausage warms in another spot, place one slice of green pepper per person on a sprayed place on the hot griddle. Pour 1/4-cup egg substitute in each pepper ring and top with a slice of onion. When the egg is firm, carefully flip to brown the onion. Top with a slice of cheese and a piece of sausage and pop into the browned bun.
Sand-witchery. Here are more winning ways with sandwiches.
- To make egg salad without having to boil and peel eggs, coat a pan with nonstick spray, break the eggs into it, and stir to distribute the yolks. Cover and cook over low heat until the egg solidifies completely. Turn out onto a cutting board and chop. Then add celery, mayonnaise, etc.
- Instead of getting a bowl dirty to make tuna salad, spread the bread with mayonnaise and press drained, flaked tuna into it. Top with sliced cucumbers and a second slice of bread spread with mayonnaise.
- To make Reuben sandwiches (corned beef, rye bread, Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing) for a crowd, butter the bread and place the sandwiches butter side out on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees until golden on the outside and warm inside.
- Buy or make chicken salad and fold in dried cranberries and broken cashews. Mound it on sliced, toasted corn cakes.
- Cover a slice of buttered bread with flaked tuna and top with a slice of tomato and a generous sprinkling of grated cheese. Broil or microwave for a quick tuna melt. For an even heartier sandwich, add a few spears of parboiled asparagus before topping with the cheese.
- The better the bread and other ingredients, the better the sandwich. Even a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich can be a gourmet delight when made with grainy bread, natural peanut butter, and fruity jam.
- When serving hot dogs to a crowd, fill a cookie sheet with the hot dogs in buttered buns and bake at 375 degrees until the buns are toasty and the wieners heated through. Place each in a coffee filter on a large serving plate. Provide bowls of fixings, such chili; salsa; ketchup; relish; mustard; coleslaw; baked beans; and heated, canned macaroni and cheese. Diners can dose the hot dogs their own way.
- Complete a colorful sandwich plate by adding a round of chilled cranberry sauce and a pile of snack chips, or a scoop of deli coleslaw.
- Grate a couple of large carrots and fold in a small can of well-drained crushed pineapple. Bind with peanut, cashew, sesame, or almond butter and spread on whole-wheat buns.
- Generously spread softened cream cheese on bread, and press in one of the following: well-drained salad olives, dried cherries and toasted pecans, torn chunks of dried beef and a sprinkling of onion relish, or a thin slice of chilled cranberry sauce sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts.
- Place buttered bread on a baking sheet, butter side down, and top with sliced tomatoes and crumbled bacon. Mix equal amounts of mayonnaise and grated Cheddar cheese. Spoon the mayonnaise and cheese mixture evenly over the sandwiches and broil, watching carefully, until golden. Variation: Add a little grated onion to the mayonnaise mixture.
- To make breakfast for one, use a 6-inch nonstick skillet to make a breakfast sandwich. First, heat a 6-inch tortilla and then set it aside while you scramble two eggs in the pan with two tablespoons of salsa. Put the 6-inch egg “pancake” atop the tortilla; top with grated cheese; wipe out the pan with a paper towel; and quickly heat the second tortilla to complete the sandwich.
- When packing sandwiches for a day’s outing away from the coach, put them in fold-top sandwich bags rather than resealable-style bags. When you’re in places where you can’t wash your hands, it’s easier to eat the sandwich out of this type of bag without touching it.
- Rediscover the pie irons we all loved in our tenting days. Cut the crusts off of white sandwich bread, butter the bread, and place in the pie iron, butter sides out. Fill with any favorite sandwich filling or make dessert sandwiches by filling the bread with cherry or blueberry pie filling.
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