is by Susan Russo from Food Blogga, and the photography is by Matt Armendariz from Matt Bites. I’ve known about this book for a while since I had the pleasure of testing a recipe for it, and I recently received a review copy. The sandwiches appear in the book in alphabetical order, and there are options made with waffles, bagels, doughnuts, English muffins, cookies, pound cake, rolls, buns, and many, many different types of bread. There’s also background information on where types of sandwiches originated and suggested alternative fillings in some cases. I was unfamiliar with a few of them like the chow mein sandwich and the chip butty, but there are also well-known favorites like the dagwood, the po’boy, and sliders. There are breakfast sandwiches like the Denver sandwich and the classic breakfast sandwich on an English muffin, there’s dessert with the pound cake sandwich and the ice cream sandwich, and there are classics like the Elvis and the lobster roll. It’s a fun book to peruse for sandwich ideas, and everything is so beautifully presented, I was instantly hungry when I started turning pages. The falafel pitas was my first stop since I can’t resist the mix of crunchy fried patties and cool, crisp toppings.The sandwich recipe itself is followed by one for quick and easy falafel which involves using canned chickpeas rather than soaked, dried beans. To make the falafel, minced onion and garlic were briefly sauteed before being added to a food processor with rinsed and drained canned chickpeas, chopped parsley and cilantro, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Flour and baking powder were added, and the mixture was pulsed until it formed a paste. Then, balls were shaped from the mixture, they were rolled in sesame seeds, and they were flattened before being fried for a few minutes. I also followed the recipe in the book for tzatziki, and that was a quick mix of diced cucumber, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and fresh mint. The sandwiches were built in halved pita with falafel patties, some tahini, chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and tzatziki.
When you’ve just roasted a whole, double turkey breast for a household of two people, odds are good that meals for the next several days will involve sandwiches. That’s not a bad thing considering how versatile a turkey sandwich can be, and it’s even better when you’ve just read the recipe for jibaritos in Daisy: Morning, Noon, and Night
. A jibarito is a sandwich in which the bread has been replaced by slices of fried plantains. Apparently, the original jibarito was made with beef, but Daisy suggested leftover turkey breast pavochon. This sandwich is usually built like a cubano with a primary meat (turkey in this case but it's often roast pork), ham, swiss cheese, mustard, and sliced pickles, but I omitted the ham and used all leftover turkey. Once assembled, just like a cubano, it’s toasted in a panini press. It sounded delicious but maybe a little on the heavy side considering the ‘bread’ is fried plantains, but I had to give it a try.
Plantains were peeled and sliced lengthwise. Since the plantains I was using were large, I cut each piece in half crosswise as well. They were fried in canola oil for a total of five minutes and were turned at the halfway point. After this initial frying, they were drained on paper towels and allowed to cool just a little. While still warm, they needed to be pounded down to a thickness of one quarter inch. I used a meat tenderizer for this fun task, and they easily flattened out to an even height. After smooshing the plantains down to size, they were fried a second time to crisp them, and again, the frying time was five minutes total with a flip after two and a half minutes. I used firm, green plantains, and they held their shape very well, crisped nicely, and didn’t seem to absorb the oil. The sandwiches were built with slices of the roast turkey, swiss cheese, sliced dill pickles, and mustard. They spent about six minutes in the panini press, and came out looking toasted, golden, and just gooey enough in the middle.
I have to mention again that I was really happy with the texture of the plantain ‘bread.’ It wasn’t mushy or greasy at all, and it delivered a satisfying crunch. Of course, the melted cheese, pickles, and well-flavored turkey were great on the inside too. As I had guessed, this was a filling sandwich. One small portion was enough for a meal for me, but it was a lip-smackingly good meal.
