Sandwiches are not just for lunch, and they can go beyond peanut butter and jelly. A great sandwich can be perfect nutrition and a meal in itself. In My Rustic Sandwiches, author and baker Sam Sidawi offers such enticing recipes that you'll forget the jar of peanut butter, and rise to new heights in sandwich making with ease and simplicity.
As a baker, Sidawi starts with steps to making your own artisan bread, discussing flours, yeast, filtered water and the twelve steps of bread making He gives some classic bread recipes from Baguettes to Ciabatta to Foccaccia and Whole Grain Bread. Then he moves on to the inventive and nourishing sandwiches. The recipes are divided into Simple & Savory; Hot & Gourmet; Melty Delights. He includes a section for Spreads & Dips.
You will find recipes that come from the grill, piled with fresh vegetables, such as Stuffed Country Boule with Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini, Red, Green and Yellow Pepper, Assorted Cold Cuts, Fresh Mozzarella and Watercress. This is dense with vitamins and easy as firing up the grill. If seafood is your delight, you'll find such recipes as Seared Tuna, Sauteed Scallions and Ginger, Strong Mustard on Kaiser Bread. If you love meat, there are recipes for chicken, lamb, beef and pork, all dressed with vegetables, some with the addition of cheese. Working with Foccaccia, Sidawi stuffs it with almost anything that comes to his imagination. There are nine recipes for foccaccia alone.
Sidawi opts for recipes from the classic cuisines, from the French Pate to Middle Eastern Shawarma, to Greek-inspired Beef Gyros enlivened with tzatziki, onion, tomato, all on a Greek Pita. Italian is here, not just in foccaccia, but in the use of ingredients such as garlic, radicchio, roasted tomatoes.
This is a book intended to inspire. While inventive recipes are offered, Sidawi wants you to spread your wings and play with the ingredients. There are luscious color photographs throughout, and a section of Bread Baking Tools.
This is a moment in which your mother might suggest that you go ahead and play with your food.
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