Alpine Garden Sandwich

We always get a large turkey for Thanksgiving.  This year we had a 23.5 lb. bird.  This always ensures plenty of leftover turkey for some of our favorite meals.  Other than making a turkey (dark meat) and stuffing sandwich, this has to be one of my favorite sandwiches using the white meat.

I first tasted this sandwich on my first day of work at an international accounting firm when a co-worker took me to lunch to meet some of "the girls" in the office.  We went to The Healthy Food Place restaurant and she ordered this sandwich for me, telling me it would be the most amazing sandwich I would ever taste.  Had I known what was in it I would have never ordered it for myself, for I was only 18 yrs. old and still a PB&J on white bread kind of girl.  But I was willing to try anything and loved this sandwich from the first bite.  Of course, I then made some for my family and we make these sandwiches following Thanksgiving every year.

The assembly begins with 7-grain bread.  Any whole grain bread can be substituted.

Both slices get spread with mayonnaise.  As you can see, I like to spread it a little thicker on the slice that will become the bottom of the sandwich.  It's just one of my weird quirks.

Next I place a double layer of fresh baby spinach leaves on one slice of bread.

I top that with the rings of one thin slice of red onion.

The onion is followed by the sliced turkey breast.

Then, I add Swiss cheese.  I know it doesn't have any holes in it, you'll just have to trust me that the cheese pictured is Swiss.

The final layer is alfalfa sprouts!  This is a generous amount.  You may want to skip this layer, but the flavor of the sprouts is a key ingredient in this sandwich.  One time I was making one of these sandwiches for my son and forgot the sprouts.  He took a couple of bites before I realized my omission.  I took it back and added the sprouts.  He said it made a huge difference in the flavor because the sprouts really added something special to it.  On that first day I ate this healthy treat, knowing that there were alfalfa sprouts in it would have kept me from ordering it.  I'm so glad I didn't have a choice!

The last step is to place the other piece of bread on top, mayo side down, cut it and consume.

I suppose a little leftover cranberries added couldn't hurt, but we've decided not to mess with an already terrific turkey sandwich!  Enjoy!

Toasty Deli Hoagie

There are two things that make this sandwich a bit different from the others I make.  One is that it has a nice crunch from the toasted bread and the other is that it has fresh guacamole on it.  I think the guacamole completes this sandwich and makes it special, but two of my guys disagree and choose to omit it.  Their loss!

I found this recipe in my April/May 2011 issue of Taste of Home.  This sandwich gets 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

The original recipe called for French bread, but we all decided that was far too much bread, so I started building this sandwich on a long, thin baguette.  I cut the bread in half horizontally, then into individual serving sizes.  I find that cutting the baguette this way ensures all of the sandwich pieces fit on my baking sheet.

 

The baking sheet gets put into a preheated oven at 350° for 5 minutes to toast the bread a bit.  Do not expect the bread to brown like regular bread when toasting.  If the bread was in the oven long enough to get brown, it would probably be too hard to bite into!  I took this picture to show the pieces don't look much different from the one above, but when touched, I could tell they were toasted.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, I combined the mayonnaise and lemon juice.

To that, I added the minced garlic.

Once the bread was toasted, using a brush, I applied the mayonnaise/garlic mixture to the bottom half of each sandwich.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it on three of the pieces of bread.

Then the layering begins.  The first layer is smoked turkey.

That is followed by a layer of ham.

The next layer is Italian dry salami.

This is followed by yellow bell pepper rings.

Next is red onion rings.

The last layer is mozzarella cheese.  The baking sheet gets put back into the oven for 5 minutes to let the cheese melt.

While that's in the oven, I make a quick guacamole by mashing an avocado and adding some lime juice, garlic salt and a little prepared salsa.

When the sandwiches come out of the oven, the cheese is melted and the lids are a little more toasty.

I add the guacamole to the lid and place it on top of the sandwich.

The garlicy mayonnaise on the bottom piece of bread gives an added flavor to this sandwich, but I still think that the guacamole is what really makes this sandwich special.  Enjoy!

Toasty Deli Hoagies

1 loaf baguette bread

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 pound thinly sliced deli smoked turkey

1/2 pound thinky sliced deli ham

12 slices Italian dry salami

1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into rings

1 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

1/2 pound sliced mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cups guacamole

Cut bread in half lengthwise; place cut side up on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted.  In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice and garlic, spread over bread bottom.  Layer with turkey, ham, salami, pepper, onion and cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.  Spread guacamole over bread top; place over cheese.

Italian Seasoned Super Sub

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a recipe for the sandwich my oldest son calls "The Holy Spirit Sandwich" (see Turkey Club Sandwich with Avocado Aioli).  Before I introduced him to that sandwich, this one was his favorite and he named it "The Jesus Sandwich" because it's that good!

I've been making this sandwich so many years that I don't remember where I found the recipe and the original copy has disappeared.  Luckily, I had typed it up for someone, so I had it saved in my computer.  This is one of my personal favorite sandwiches that I make and feel that the bread is what helps put this one at the top of my list.  This sandwich gets all 9s on the Melnarik rating scale.

For some reason, the pictures of the process of preparing the bread disappeared from my camera, so there is only the finished loaf pictured above.  It's a fairly easy process which begins by spraying a nonstick cooking spray on a baking sheet.  Then the bread dough is removed from the can and placed seam side down on the sprayed baking sheet.  Using a serrated knife, I cut 5 diagonal slices in the top of the loaf (they can be seen in the picture above), which allows for expansion as the bread bakes.  I then spray the top with additional nonstick cooking spray and in a small bowl combine the Parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic salt.  This mixture gets sprinkled on top of the loaf and it gets baked at 350°F for about 30 minutes.  It needs to be completely cool before assembling the sandwich.  When it's really hot outside, I bake the bread in the morning and once it's cooled completely, I wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out until I'm ready to assemble the sandwich in the evening.

Once cool, I cut the loaf in half horizontally.  The assembly begins by spreading the creamy Italian salad dressing on both halves of the bread.  When I couldn't find creamy Italian salad dressing in the market, I would make a mixture of mayonnaise and regular Italian salad dressing, which gave me the same result.

Then I begin layering the fillings.  I begin with the swiss cheese, overlapping so the cheese is in every bite.  I also think the tips that hang over the edge help give the sandwich a stuffed full of goodness look when it is completed.

The next layer is deli thin slices of ham.

This is followed by the bell pepper rings.  I overlap them also for the best coverage.

I angle and overlap the cheddar cheese slices as I did with the Swiss cheese.  I use the sharp cheddar cheese as I think it has more flavor.

Next is the Italian dry salami, where again I overlap each slice.

The sliced tomato goes on next.  I like to use the Roma tomatoes on this sandwich, but you can use any kind.

To make this sandwich faster to assemble, I use the prepackaged shredded lettuce on top.

I put the top half of the loaf on top and it's ready to cut and serve.  It even looks good from an aerial point of view!

Does this sandwich look like it's packed full of goodness, or what?  

I cut this sandwich into four equal pieces for my family.  I didn't measure them, but I'd say each piece is somewhere between 4 and 5 inches long.  I think this sandwich not only rivals but beats any sandwich you can buy at Subway or Jersey Mike's!  Enjoy!

Italian Seasoned Super Sub

BREAD

Nonstick cooking spray

1 (11 oz.) can Pillsbury Refrigerated Crusty French Loaf

2 tablespoons shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

FILLING

3 tablespoons purchased creamy Italian salad dressing

5 slices Swiss cheese

¼ lb. thinly sliced cooked ham

1 small green bell pepper, sliced into rings

5 slices cheddar cheese

¼ lb. sliced Italian dry salami

1 medium tomato, sliced

1 cup shredded lettuce

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.  Remove dough from can; place seam side down on baking sheet.  With sharp or serrated knife, cut 5 (1/4-inch deep) diagonal slices on top of dough.  Spray dough with nonstick cooking spray.  In small bowl, combine Parmesan cheese, garlic salt and oregano; mix well.  Sprinkle on top of bread dough.  Bake at 350°F for 26 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 20 minutes or until completely cooled.

Cut bread in half lengthwise.  Brush cut sides of bread with salad dressing.  Layer bottom half with Swiss cheese, ham, bell pepper, cheddar cheese, salami, tomato and lettuce.  Cover with top half of bread.  Cut into 4 pieces.

Turkey Club Sandwich with Avocado Aioli

I tried this recipe for the first time recently and think it has become one of the favorites of my family.  One reason is the bread, which is embellished with parmesan cheese and oregano.  Another reason is the marinated vegetables, which give this sandwich a fresh taste.  Then, of course, the addition of bacon makes everything better, according to my guys!

I found this recipe in a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe magazine, which indicated that Helather Halonie of Webster, WI was the person who submitted this recipe.  This sandwich received 9's from everyone on the Melnarik rating scale.

I began by opening a tube of Pillsbury refrigerated Crusty French Loaf and putting it on my baking sheet seam side down.  Mine has a wonderful non-stick surface, so I didn't need to use any cooking spray, if yours does not have a non-stick surface, you'll want to cover it with baking parchment paper or use a no-stick cooking spray where the bread will sit.

With a sharp knife, I cut five diagonal lines into the dough, piercing the top about 1/4 inch.

In a small bowl, I combined the Parmesan cheese and oregano.

After spraying the top of the dough with a mist of oil (no-stick cooking spray or butter may be used here), I sprinkled the cheese mixture as evenly as possible.  Into the oven the bread went to bake at 350°F  for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, I began cooking my bacon (sorry no photo) until crisp.  Also, in a medium bowl, I combined the shredded lettuce, onion, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes and oregano.  Instead of shredding my own lettuce, I bought the pre-shredded lettuce that is found in the produce section of the market near the other bagged lettuces.  This mixture then went into the refrigerator  for 20 minutes to let the flavors blend and to slightly wilt the lettuce.

The kitchen was smelling great at this point.  When the bread was finished, I brought it out of the oven and left it to cool completely.

In a mini food processor, I combined the mayonnaise, garlic and avocado.

I processed this mixture until smooth, scraping the sides once.

When the bread was completely cool, I sliced it lengthwise and pressed down the bread on the bottom half to flatten it so it would hold the vegetable mixture.  Then I spread the avocado aioli on each half.

On the bottom half, I piled the marinated vegetables that I had put in the refrigerator earlier.

Then I added the thinly sliced deli-style turkey.

I then added sliced provolone cheese.

The next layer was the crisp bacon.

I placed the top half of the bread over the bacon and it was ready to slice and serve.

Just looking at this picture is making my mouth water!  There is another sandwich I make where the bread is "dressed" similarly and my oldest son refers to it as the "Jesus Sandwich."  It used to be his favorite sandwich.  When he tasted this one, he declared this one just a little bit better and called this one "The Holy Spirit Sandwich."  When I asked him why, he said it was because it spoke to him!  Enjoy!

Turkey Club Sandwich with Acocado Aioli

1 can (11 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated Crusty French Loaf

1 tablespoon fresh grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, divided

1 ½ cups shredded lettuce

¼ cup chopped red onion

2 medium plum (Roma) tomatoes, chopped

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ avocado, pitted, peeled and roughly chopped

8 oz. thinly sliced cooked turkey from deli

5 slices provolone cheese

8 slices bacon, halved, crisply cooked

Heat oven to 350°F.  Spray large cookie sheet with no-stick cooking spray or line with cooking parchment paper.  Place loaf of dough, seam side down, on cookie sheet.  Using a sharp or serrated knife, cut 5 diagonal slashes about ¼ inch deep on top of dough.  In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of oregano.  Spray top of loaf with no-stick cooking spray or oil; sprinkle with cheese/oregano mixture.  Bake 26 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Cool completely on cookie sheet – about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix lettuce, onion, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes and remaining 1 teaspoon oregano.  Refrigerate about 20 minutes to blend flavors and slightly wilt lettuce.  In a food processor, cover and process mayonnaise, garlic and avocado until smooth.  Cut bread in half horizontally.  Press inside of bottom half of bread to flatten slightly for filling; spread both bottom and top with avocado aioli.  Place lettuce mixture in bottom half.  Top with turkey, provolone cheese and bacon.  Place top of loaf over bacon; cut and serve.