"You're busted." that's what my doctor said after a physical a couple years ago. needed to lose weight, exercise, lay off the beer, salt, fatty stuff. well there's no way in hell i'm giving up the hot lunch. even in the summer when we get up to a scorching high of 72' i'll still make pho for lunch. so i started running again, lost 20 pounds and the hot lunch routine is not in jeopardy. there's nothing elaborate about my hot lunch...it's just not cold. leftovers usually morphed into something slightly different than the night before with a somewhat consistent cast of characters...habanero, scallions, hoisin, broth, refried beans, freshly picked greens and chives, eggs, bread. hot lunch means eating well with no more than 10-15 minutes of time invested. like adding some of the cast of characters to a ramen bowl. or a sandwich. a grilled sandwich.
grilled ham and cheese with arugula, onion, pepper, and a li'l mayo.
i've spent way too much time tweaking the grilled cheese sandwich concept but the results have been very good. home baked white bread is a good start but not crucial (more on white bread baking below). on two pieces of bread i apply a small amount of mayo (aoli, wasabi mayo, whateva), some onion and ground pepper (my son insists on johnny's seasoning and it's with good reason), then some thinly sliced cheese (tillamook round these parts), and luncheon meet. so you wind up with a symmetrical sandwich with just meat in the middle. in your favorite cast iron skillet or non-stick melt just enough butter to coat over medium heat. sandwich goes in and hopefully you have a tight fitting lid or forget this recipe and stick it in the microwave with a paper towel underneath. give it 2-3 minutes on medium heat then switch to low for another 2-3 minutes, then flip, cook on low for another 2-3 minutes, then turn off heat and leave on the burner (lid on always) for another 5-10 minutes. then transfer to cutting board and open up the sandwich and add greens, tomato, scallions, chives, kimchi...whatever floats you to hot lunch heaven).
san juan island has been blessed with some very good bakery's over the years. but sandwich bread to me, the comfort aspect, i've always had a preference for good old white bread. i love bakery san juan's sourdough sandwich loaf so much that i asked Marc Shepard to let me check out how they make it. i spent a very early morning there and was blown away by the how refined their process was. i went home convinced that i'm not going to try this at home. i want something simpler.
darn i'm out of time and need to go cook some chicken thighs.
white sandwich bread recipe
you'll need a digital scale for this (OXO makes a great one). i adapted this recipe from a Greg Atkinson book by converting to metric volume and increasing the amounts to end up with a bigger loaf.
(all numbers in grams)
in a small bowl combine 315 warm water, 10 yeast, 10 sugar, stir and let rest.
in a big bowl combine 466 unbleached white flour (really any brand is fine) and 10 salt. when the water mixture is foamy looking add to flour and stir with a big metal spoon or use your kitchenaid stand mixer. mix until you get a wettish sticky hard to handle dough and let it rest 5 minutes or so. add maybe a 4 finger pinch of flour and mix more and rest 5 minutes. with another big bowl pour a bottlecap size amount of olive oil into your palm, rub hands together, then with your oily hands rub the inside of the bowl. the dough should be kind of sticky but ok to handle with your oiled hands. transfer dough to oiled bowl, cover and let rise for one hour. coat the inside of a 5x9 bread pan (i like the glass one by Anchor) with a sliver of cold butter. lightly flour a work surface and work the dough into a foot long+ rectangle the width (9") of the bread pan. roll up the dough dough rectangle and place in pan seam down. cover with upside down stock pot and let rise @45 minutes. preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 50 minutes. pop loaf out of pan holding upside down with two towels, cool on rack for an hour if you can resist.
san juan island has been blessed with some very good bakery's over the years. but sandwich bread to me, the comfort aspect, i've always had a preference for good old white bread. i love bakery san juan's sourdough sandwich loaf so much that i asked Marc Shepard to let me check out how they make it. i spent a very early morning there and was blown away by the how refined their process was. i went home convinced that i'm not going to try this at home. i want something simpler.
darn i'm out of time and need to go cook some chicken thighs.
white sandwich bread recipe
you'll need a digital scale for this (OXO makes a great one). i adapted this recipe from a Greg Atkinson book by converting to metric volume and increasing the amounts to end up with a bigger loaf.
(all numbers in grams)
in a small bowl combine 315 warm water, 10 yeast, 10 sugar, stir and let rest.
in a big bowl combine 466 unbleached white flour (really any brand is fine) and 10 salt. when the water mixture is foamy looking add to flour and stir with a big metal spoon or use your kitchenaid stand mixer. mix until you get a wettish sticky hard to handle dough and let it rest 5 minutes or so. add maybe a 4 finger pinch of flour and mix more and rest 5 minutes. with another big bowl pour a bottlecap size amount of olive oil into your palm, rub hands together, then with your oily hands rub the inside of the bowl. the dough should be kind of sticky but ok to handle with your oiled hands. transfer dough to oiled bowl, cover and let rise for one hour. coat the inside of a 5x9 bread pan (i like the glass one by Anchor) with a sliver of cold butter. lightly flour a work surface and work the dough into a foot long+ rectangle the width (9") of the bread pan. roll up the dough dough rectangle and place in pan seam down. cover with upside down stock pot and let rise @45 minutes. preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 50 minutes. pop loaf out of pan holding upside down with two towels, cool on rack for an hour if you can resist.
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