Our Saturday afternoon ladies bites (Sandwich)

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:	Sandwich
Date:	23/02/09 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Phenomenal flavours

Disadvantages: A bit high in fat

Personally I would rather eat wide varieties of sandwiches rather than most meals so I have great appreciation of a good sarnie selection.
I thought I'd share my favourites, one which has become a favourite of my girlie friends who come over on a Saturday afternoon.

The staple element of any sandwich is bread. What kind of bread you use depends on you, some people only eat white, some like rolls, some believe in the benefits of brown and wholemeal.
So, for the purposes of my personal preference we're going to use fresh wholemeal pre sliced loaf.
For each sandwich you'll need:
2 slices, we're aiming for quality rather than quantity.

One pack of pastrami, which is a highly seasoned and smoked cut of beef. It's usually around £3 a pack and will have around 8 slices per pack. They are long slim slices, a little like bacon and with a rind of ground peppers and spices which you leave on.

One quarter of brie, a soft cheese which you can find in value packs in supermarkets for around 80p or the higher brow brands going up to around £3. Camembert works well too but drowns the flavour of the pastrami a little if it's ripe.

Mango chutney or onion relish. Sharwoods do a variety of mango chutneys from around £1.80 and most supermarkets sell some type of onion relish or similar sweet onion pickle for approximately 80p. Sharwoods have a spicey chutney which I really like on this sandwich sometimes, but it isn't for everyone.

I like to keep the flavour right across the sandwich so I start by using a low fat spread across the first slice of bread then covering the entire surface with pastrami, ensuring it runs up to the edges but one slice thickness is sufficient. Pastrami is reasonably strongly flavoured so you won't need overkill.

Then slice the brie into slim pieces and layer over the pastrami, no need to be so consistant with coverage this time. Brie adds a contrasting flavour which compliments the beef, cools in contrast to the warmth of the pepper and gives a more rounded flavour over all. It also lends itself to creating nice textures.

Now spread either mango chutney or onion relish right across the other slice of bread to your own taste. Too much and it will detract from the brie, too little and the flavour will be lost in the pastrami.

Pickled gherkin can be nice instead of chutney for those who are adventurous enough. Be sure to put it between the pastrami and brie though, otherwise the vinegar soaks into the bread and makes it soggy and wet, then it falls apart and that's no fun at all!

Put it all together and enjoy.

Another favourite in our house is buying a hot chicken, pitta bread and houmous.
You can buy a hot chicken or pieces of in the supermarket from around £1 up to £4 and it will stay fairly hot until you eat it, inside the bag it is served in.
Pittas are around 70p for a pack of minis, they fit in the toaster better than the large ones.
Houmous comes as normal or low fat, with added herbs, with lemon and so on, all of these work well.

We stick the pittas in the toaster, strip the chicken till the toaster pops, split the pitta, butter lightly, pop the shredded chicken inside the hot pitta and add a dollop of houmous to your plate for dip and scoop purposes.
The combination of butter and hot pitta makes a tasty flavour and as he butter melts on the chicken it adds moisture and flavour.
Now with moist toasted bread, warm chicken and a touch of salt from the butter, dipping in houmous gives an added dash of flavours and some healthy accompaniment.

Serving either sandwich with salad or crudites makes for a healthy though slightly high in fat sandwich.

If you try them I'd love to know what you think, they've become visitors favourites in our house.

Summary: Delicious sandwiches for anytime