Fancy Super Sandwich

Most of the time on Fridays I try to avoid cooking as much as possible. And the last few weeks I ended up making sandwiches, great sandwiches, and this time I discovered the Fancy Super Sandwich. And together with a bottle of wine, I say it's a perfect start of the weekend!

Last time, a friend of mine came over and I actually wanted to make salmon burgers. But she's not much of a fish-lover so that plan got canceled. And while doing some shopping, I found this:

Mayonaise with truffle!!!! Wow....there are a few things I'm really addicted to, and truffle is definitely on that list!! Never bought a fresh truffle, not even a little part of it because of their price...only good truffle salt, truffle oil and now this....wow... Oh and btw....if you ever find salami with truffle, buy it and make an omelet with it....that's what you would like every (sun)day!! ok, I got sidetracked now, back to the sandwich!

Are you ready? Then watch this:

Halleluya!! The Best Sandwich I've made so far!! You want to know more?? Ha, I knew it!
It's a baquette, with the mayonaise on both bread sides, some arugula, a lot of thin sliced roastbeef and grated Parmesan cheese......Heaven # 1.

Are you still with me?? Trust me, it was good. Very good.
Too bad I ony had the ingredients for one sandwich for both of us, but there's more....Not as good as the one with the truffle, but certainly a good second!!
Take a look at this piece of heaven:

And this, this is a sandwich with layers of cheese, grilled eggplant and roasted red bell peppers. The dressing is a mix of mayonaise and yellow mustard. Put it on a panini grill just long enough to let the cheese melt and .... heaven # 2!!

I think this is enough for one post. Try it, enjoy it and oh you want some wine with it? I opened a bottle of Pinot Noir, it matched the second sandwich the best, but that was no surprise.

Enjoy....!

ribeye and more

Ooooh I missed my Weber!! But today was W-Day again! Summer has returned for 2 maybe 3 days so I really needed to whipe off the dust that had found my barbecue and go for it!
And that my dear friends, I wrote more than a week ago...time flies when you're busy!! Didn't had time to finish this post, and oooh I knew you would gonna love it, so I had to hurry.
And here it is!!!
After some discussion about Halloumi and Yanni Cheese with my friends Cyndi and Wilfred I came to the conclusion that I just had to try it myself to find out what the raving was all about! And so I did! Now I still don't know if Halloumi is the same as the Yanni cheese, but I think it's very close! If you can help us out here, let me know please.
Okay before we have lift off, as you know, Holland is a cheesy country, so I guess we are spoiled. Why do I tell you that? Because the Halloumi disappointed me a litte bit. Not that it was not tasty oooh nooo!!! But a bit too much salt and the structure...well....not quite what I expected but I enjoyed it anyway.
Hey....anything coming from the grill is good!!
But I really want you to try it for yourself and make up your own mind about this. Because taste is difficult, and very personal!!!
 

Let's start with a Greek Salad:

you need tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, onion and feta. Cut it all into bite-size-pieces except for the onion, slice that one very thin.

Mix it all in bowl and make a dressing of 1 part vinegar, 3 parts olive oil and oregano. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and you're done!

Now let's move over to the grill! I started with the greek potatoes because they need 50-60 minutes. The last 15 minutes I added the ribeyes and the Halloumi cheese. The ribeyes (I just couldn't resist) I sprinkled with some Cajun Foreplay rub....wow....).

As you can see, the Halloumi doesn't melt. I grilled it for 2 x 5 minutes. The ribeyes only for 5 minutes, then you let them rest until the cheese and potatoes are ready.

For the Halloumi cheese I made a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, pepper and fresh oregano. Drizzle that over the cheese as it comes from the grill. Oooh ain't that a lovely picture!!

And this is the result on the plate: it doesn't get any better than this...okay almost close then!

And now all you need is a wine!
I served it with a Shiraz Rosé (yes, again, you really have to try it because it's soooo good and matches with a lot of dishes) but a red Shiraz would go great with it too!

Enjoy!
And stay tuned, because I know what is gonna be the next recipe.......!!! (don't you love those cliffhangers at the end of a soap episode??)

Potato Salad

Everybody needs at least one good recipe for potato salad, you can't survive the summer without! Lucky me, I've got three great recipes, an "unhealthy-but-sooo-good" one, a "healthy-but-also-almost-the-best" one, and the recipe I'm giving you today (the "definitely-not-the-average-salad"). And easy does it, cook, chop and mix!
Make this a couple of hours before dinner, keep it in the fridge and I promise you this recipe is gonna be a keeper for the rest of this summer!

Usually I don't measure the ingredients, and it's not that important in this salad. A little more or less, it still will taste yummylicious, so that's good news for the uncertain cooks among us!

The only thing that is important, is your choice of potatoes. Choose potatoes that will stay firm after cooking. Boil them, with the skin on, for 25 minutes and let them cool. It's easier to peel them when they have cooled off. A trick I use is an old, clean, towel. Rub the potato and the skin will go off easy and the potatoe won't break or fall apart. Cut them into not too small cubes.
In the meantime, boil 2 eggs for 10 minutes and let them cool.

In a bowl mix half a cup of sour cream with 4 tablespoons of the best olive oil you can get, one garlic (use a garlic press), some pepper and salt and give it a few stirs, just enough to get a smooth dressing.

Then it's time to chop chop!

What do you need:

green olives, capers, shallot, another clove of garlic, fire roasted red bell pepper, parsley and the boiled eggs.

Mix all the ingredients, put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours and here is the result:

When it's dinner time, put some meat on the grill like skewered beef (recipe will follow this week so stay tuned!), steak or whatever you're in the mood for and dinner is ready!

Enjoy!

Surf and Turf Extra

Years ago I had a recipe almost like this, and I loved it! Some weeks ago I came across that same old recipe and was so happy, so I made it the same day. Guess what....it wasn't as good anymore as I thought. In fact, it was one big disappointment.

But, but, but, a miracle happend, yeah well almost....

In a magazine I found a recipe that had the puree as described below plus the beef, and then I knew, this has to be IT!

And there it was, a mixture of two recipes and a little extra. The extra is, yes of course, the tequila.

I used a red chili pepper, including the seeds, so it has a kick, but you can discard the seeds if it's too much for your taste.

Ingredients:

1 red chili pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

olive oil

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime

about 7 oz raw large shrimps, peeled and cleaned

2 beef tenderloins

4 oz feta, cut in cubes

tequila

Use a mortar and pestle to make a puree of the chili and bell pepper, add some olive oil, the cilantro and the juice of half a lime. As you can see I didn't pureed it all, I like some chunks of the bell pepper in it.

The tenderloins got a rub with the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub (yes I used it again, and I love it!!) and some olive oil. I grilled the meat on the stove, in a cast iron grillpan, but you can do this, of course, also on the grill. Grill them for 5 minutes, then wrap them in aluminium foil and let them rest while you prepare the rest.

In the meantime heat a wok and start heating the pepper puree. Keep the heat high and keep stirring! Add the shrimps, and keep stirring! Add a splash (don't be shy...) of tequila and the feta cheese.

This all should take no longer than 5 minutes.

Unwrap the meat (yeah, really, makes dinner taste much better...) and slice the meat. Serve it with the shrimps and some bread.

I can't describe how it tastes, but trust me, you're gonna luvvv this dish!!!

Last but certainly not the least, uncork a bottle of Shiraz Rosé to complete your meal!

Enjoy!