 |
| The Chicken Caesar BLT is on the left, the Italian is on the right. |
Chicken Caesar BLT Sandwich Ring
2 cans of Pillsbury French Loaf bread (found next to the refrigerated canned biscuits and crescent rolls)
1/2 lb. deli-sliced chicken lunch meat slices (I used peppercorn-crusted deli chicken slices from Wegmans)
1 Beefsteak tomato, sliced thinly, then each slice should be halved
1 bag of cut up Romaine lettuce
1 bag of shredded parmesan cheese
1 bottle of Newman's Own Caesar dressing
6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled into bits
Mayonnaise for spreading
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Open cans of French Bread loaves. Place each loaf on cookie sheet, seam side down. Shape both loaves into semi-circles so that they both form a circle. Pinch ends together to form a complete circle. Slash each loaf with a sharp knife in several places. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until loaf is nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool until loaf is easy to touch. Carefully cut loaf into a top and a bottom portion with a serrated knife.
Spread mayonnaise on both top and bottom of each sandwich piece. Set top piece aside. Put bottom side on an attractive tray. Sprinkle Romaine lettuce pieces over the bottom half. Then, layer the tomato slice halves on top of the lettuce. Shake up the Caesar Salad dressing to emulsify it, then drizzle it over the lettuce and tomato. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the dressing/vegetables. Sprinkle the bacon bits over the cheese. Then lay the chicken slices in a circular pattern over the sandwich. Place the top half of the ring on the sandwich and gently press down. Use a serrated knife to cut the sandwich into 3" portions. I put the remainder of the Romaine lettuce in the middle of the sandwich and garnished it with an extra tomato slice to give the sandwich that "finished" look.
Italian Sandwich Ring
2 cans of Pillsbury French Loaf bread (found next to the refrigerated canned biscuits and crescent rolls)
1 Beefsteak tomato, sliced thinly, then each slice should be halved
1 bag mixed lettuces
1/2 lb. sliced hard salami (from the deli)
1/2 lb. sliced provolone cheese (from the deli)
1/2 lb. sliced ham (from the deli)
1 bottle Newman's Own Family Italian Recipe dressing
pepperocinis, for garnish
Mayonnaise for spreading
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Open cans of French Bread loaves. Place each loaf on cookie sheet, seam side down. Shape both loaves into semi-circles so that they both form a circle. Pinch ends together to form a complete circle. Slash each loaf with a sharp knife in several places. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until loaf is nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool until loaf is easy to touch. Carefully cut loaf into a top and a bottom portion with a serrated knife.
Spread mayonnaise on both top and bottom of each sandwich piece. Set top piece aside. Put bottom side on an attractive tray. Place lettuce pieces over mayonnaise on bottom of ring. Layer tomato halves over the lettuce. Drizzle Italian dressing over the lettuce and tomatoes. Layer ham slices, then hard salami slices over the vegetables, then top with the provolone cheese slices. Place the top half of the ring on the sandwich and gently press down. Use a serrated knife to cut the sandwich into 3" portions. I finished the sandwich off by placing the rest of the lettuce in the middle of the sandwich ring, then topped the lettuce with the pepperocini and placed a few more pepperocini around the ring itself. My Hubs is not a big sandwich fan, but he LOVED this sandwich so much that he requested I make it two weekends in a row!
Ranch-Garlic Dip
Simple, but so delicious!
1 package Hidden Valley ranch dip mix
1 16 oz. container of sour cream
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. minced onion (fresh or dried)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Mix all ingredients in a serving bowl. Let sit for at least an hour to combine flavors. Serve with potato chips, fresh vegetables, or beer bread cubes (recipe below).
Beer Bread Mix
I used to be a consultant for that popular food-sampling company that sells a boxed beer bread mix for quite a hefty price. Through trial and error, and suggestions from friends, I came up with a fool-proof and "cheap & cheerful" recipe to make my own beer bread. I think you will agree, it tastes a lot like the original!
3 C. self-rising flour
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 12 oz. bottle of beer (I prefer Yeungling, a mellow lager from Pennsylvania. THE oldest brewery in the U.S. They do tours and give samples: http://www.yuengling.com/ )
3 TBSP melted butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a bread loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and beer. Pour into greased loaf pan. Level batter with a spatula, then pour melted butter over top of batter. Place on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until loaf is lightly browned or until skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out cleanly. Either slice the bread as an accompaniment to a main dish, or cube the bread to serve with dip.
I also deconstructed a dip that my company used to sell as two separate dips. I often combined the two dip mixes to create a really tasty dip that is really delicious and really easy to make:
Garlic-Dill Dip
1 C. sour cream
1 C. mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip or Salad Dressing)
2 TBSP dried dill weed
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 TBSP. fresh, minced or dried granulated garlic
Mix spices together in a small bowl. Add 1 tsp. hot water, then mix spices together so that they can rehydrate. Mix sour cream and mayonnaise together. Mix in rehydrated spices, then cover and chill dip for fifteen minutes. Makes a great dip for beer bread, vegetables, or potato chips. Also makes a great garnish for pannini or regular sandwiches.
No comments:
Post a Comment