Thursday, October 28, 2010

Take Me Out To The Living Room. A Hearty Sandwich For The World Series.



   I have to hand it to the folks at Nature's Pride Bread. They do make some tasty goods. The last time I sampled some, I turned it into an Indian style Bread Pudding with coconut and pineapple. Tasteee! But the real test of any bread is how good does it stand up on its' own. When the rubber meets the road and the chicken meets the bread and crosses the road... whatever. My husband is the bread expert around our house and when the big box arrived from the Natures Pride people, I had all I could do to keep him from getting into it right away. He loved that bread so much the last time when I made bread pudding from it, I had a pretty good idea he'd go nuts if I served it to him in a sandwich.
   I have to confess here. I don't make a lot of sandwiches at our house. I've never been much of a sandwich girl, but I thought what is the best way to test this bread? The answer was clear; toasted with something yummy in between.

 So since I am a 5th generation San Franciscan, and San Francisco is up against the Texas Rangers in the World Series this year. I thought I'd fix my game-watching husband a World Series Special and put my Natures Pride Oatmeal Bread to the test.
    As most of you know, I haven't been chewing a lot lately, not since my dental surgery on the 8th. So I couldn't participate in this little road test. Alan however is the maestro of sandwiches and was eagerly looking forward to knocking off the writing early this afternoon in order to catch the game action. I needed to come up with a truly Series-worthy sandwich.
   I knew he was serious about this sandwich test when we were at the market this morning and he grabbed a bag of Kettle Chips because "they'll look really good on the plate in the picture, don't you think?" Sure.
  Also "Orangina looks great in a wine glass, right? And the bottle has a cool shape that photographs really well". Okay for the Orangina.
  Ever since I'd made all those fig preserves I'd been wanting to use them, and I thought what a great idea for a San Francisco Series Sandwich.  I'd bring together some NorCal Favorites with a Tuscan twist. 'Cause that's what my home town is all about, right? Figs, organic roast chicken with lemon and rosemary from the garden, a nice aged cheese, tender butter lettuce and thin sliced red onion.

   The first thing I did was to pan roast a chicken breast in a 425 degree oven. I tucked some fresh rosemary and lemon under the skin, drizzled it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, then popped it in a cast iron pan and let it roast for about 30 minutes.
   I decided to turn the Nature's Pride Oatmeal Bread into a sort of bruschetta. I toasted it on a traditional European brustolina grill, a gift from some Finnish friends.
The bread toasts on a nifty little metal grill that looks like a hunk of bed springs and sits on top of the burner so the bread is gently toasted from below. Perfection.
   Now about those fig preserves. I wanted to pair them with a great cheese. Figs love Paranno cheese, but they were out of it at the market so I settled on an aged Gouda. Not too shabby.
I figured that the figs would serve as a sort of chutney for the chicken, and to put a bit of bite into it, the cheese on top. I spread the figs and the thinly sliced cheese on the Nature's Pride Bruschetta.

I took the rosemary and lemon slices from under the skin and then sliced the breast meat  into thin sandwich slices.
 I placed the chicken on top of the fig preserves and the cheese,  then topped that with some thinly sliced red onion and a leaf of butter lettuce then topped it all off with another slice of Nature's Pride Oatmeal Bread turned bruschetta.

    I served it and awaited the verdict.
So did Patsy! Unfortunately she had to settle for kibble.
  What's the verdict on Nature's Pride and the World Series Nor Cal Tuscan Sandwich???? Alan ate two of them. 'Nuf said??

Update #1:  No matter what anyone says, baseball is a blood sport too. The Giants walked all over the Rangers last night. Sandwich magic? Maybe.

Update #2:  I'm a proud Food Ninja and am in a Food Ninja competition. I'd love to have your vote,  so  please go to Lafujimamas' site and cast a vote for me. I'm entered in the Ninja Recipe Category for Chili Verde, Cooking While Unconscious.

17 comments :

  1. I am not a sandwich girl either but that looks mighty tasty. I have to say that I had to listen to Dr Food whine because he is from Texas and a Rangers Fan. I did my "yes, dear" quite convincingly and deep down was thrilled that the Giants won.

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  2. nice job here Kathy and this new site looks fantastic!

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  3. Woo Hoo for the Giants!! I'm a San Francisco girl myself and my dad is a die hard fan and will be watching the series from start to finish. The last I remember was the one with the earthquake in, was it '89?
    Nicely done on the sandwich! I'm not much of a sandwich eater either, but on occasion I indulge. LOVE the photo of your husband and the dog! That one is frame worthy.

    Hope they sent you a BIG box... you need to keep the sandwich magic going!

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  4. sandwich s the best way to get full easy and pleasant ..

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  5. yum, i love all the choices for your sandwich. congrats on your team's win!

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  6. I love a sandwich like this. The combo of the fig preserves and the cheese sounds amazing. Maybe you should keep making these sandwiches so that your team keeps winning! ;-)

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  7. THanks for stopping by, Kathy! I was bowled over by the whole premiere and studio party! so amazing!

    Love this sandwich! I love sweet with the salty cheese. Great idea for the bread too. Really happy now to know about your blog and you!

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  8. @Lauren Zabaneh,
    yes, we were writing a project for Fox at the time so we were invited and was it ever lavish! They reproduced NYC on the back lot..built an ice skating rink where we could skate, Fulton Fish market, with oysters clams sushi...they brought out the Rockettes to dance, everyone got cashmere scarves with Working Girl embroidered on it. An insane party..they don't do them like that anymore..believe me. That's why I was so amused by your piece..very original. Good luck!

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  9. @pegasuslegend,
    thanks so much..while recovering I didn't have much to do except tweak my site!

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  10. @Janis,
    poor Dr. Food!! I knew as a Bay Area girl you'd have to be a Giants' fan! I voted for your ninja self btw.

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  11. @Emily,
    Patsy thanks you for the compliment!

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  12. Can't go wrong with a good hearty sandwich!

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  13. Great idea!!! I love sandwiches. It's a little bit similar with the Arabian JEBNA MURABBA SANDWICH (cheese with fruit preserve and mayonnaise). With savory chicken and crunchy onion rings added...it looks yummy!!! I can't wait to try it...

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  14. It's funny, I had a sandwich for dinner tonight--first in a couple of years. I'm not a sandwich girl either but I enjoyed one of my faves. I can't imagine yours tasting anything but delicious with the roast chicken, cheese and the fig preserves.

    I smiled when at the way your husband convinced you to get the Kettle chips--I would have done exactly the same! :-)

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  15. Like you I'm not big on sandwiches (well, except maybe for a really good hot pastrami) but this does look lovely. Glad to see you're up and around again!

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