London Broil Grinder

done1Grinder, Hoagie, Subway, Sub, Torpedo, Hero or Dagwood… whatever you like to call a big perfectly designed sandwich is up to you… but no matter how you slice it, this dish is pretty delectable.  London Broil as a deli meat is fairly new to me.  I love to make an actual London Broil Roast in the cooler months, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it available at my local grocer in the deli department!  Basically it is a kicked up sort of roast beef.  London Broil comes from a much more flat and narrow piece of meat, unlike your traditional roast.  This means the surface to flavor ratio goes up by quite a bit.

Fresh and flavorful ingredients are a great start to a good sandwich, but the key to a good grinder is all in the details of how to build your sandwich.  For example, I like my bread to be soft on the inside, but to have a toasty exterior.  There needs to be the correct meat to bread ratio. Then there are the seasonings.  In this sandwich we will season the meat and be sure to have oil and vinegar.

This sandwich is great for lunch, dinner or just a snack if you’re super hungry… It’s great for a meal on the go, a picnic or to cut up for Sunday Football!  It’s very versatile and travels well wrapped in foil.

Start with a good sandwich roll… this one happens to be a portuguese roll from a local bakery and is about 7-8″ long.

Take a serrated knife and cut along the side of the bread, careful not to cut all the way through.

Grab some good olive oil and pour it into a bowl for easy use.

Brush onto both exposed insides of the bread.

Once you have it moderately coated, stick it in under your broiler for a minute or two. With the oil this goes pretty quickly… I like my bread a little over toasty, but it that’s not your preference and you don’t like scraping black, watch the oven, don’t send a text, don’t answer the door… watch the bread.

Here is the London Broil meat. This one is Boar’s Head… I’m sure your local deli has either Boar’s Head or another brand, if not, you can use roast beef.

Once your bread is properly toasted, add on your deli meat individually.

Once your bread is properly toasted, add on your deli meat individually.

We are using a 1/4lb. of meat here, so you want to pile it on with some volume.

The outside of any good roast is usually a pretty yummy seasoning, however, the inside is usually in need of a little help. So, just a sprinkle of some kosher salt will do it.

Then a couple cracks of black pepper.

Can’t have a good sandwich without the right cheese… My favorite for this particular sandwich is a nice Provolone.

Now layer it on. You are going for full cheese coverage here. Again, pop this under the broiler for a minute or two, but watch it.

I am not a fan of burnt cheese, so this a nice melt and warm through was all I was after here.

Now I am brushing on a bit more olive oil.

Add on a good mayonnaise. If you want to roast some garlic in with your mayo, that would be really yummy here too. Of course you may be of the mustard persuasion and that’s o.k. too… but not me.

Evenly distribute your mayo. Here would be the step where you would add in any fresh veggies you would like to add… so lettuce, tomato, pickles etc… none for me thanks. I would rather have a salad on the side than to interrupt this perfectly balanced sandwich. (Also, if you want to add fresh veg. just be sure you aren’t traveling too far otherwise you may want to bring it along separately so they don’t get all wilty.)

Just one last addtion...  the peppers... you can use sweet peppers of course, but there is something about the kick of a nice hot pepper ring that I love here.  Pickled hot peppers also provide your sandwich with that briney vinegar... If you don't like peppers at all, still add in some vinegar for the flavor and balance.

Just one last addition… the peppers… you can use sweet peppers of course, but there is something about the kick of a nice hot pepper ring that I love here. Pickled hot peppers also provide your sandwich with that briny vinegar… If you don’t like peppers at all, still add in some vinegar for the flavor and balance.

Now add on those hot pepper rings. Don’t be shy about including a few drops of the yummy liquid they are kept in too!

done2

Recipe for London Broil Grinder:

(Serves 2)

1/2 lb. sliced deli style London Broil

4 slices deli style Provolone cheese

2 sub rolls, Portuguese rolls

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup mayonnaise

1/8 cup hot pepper rings

kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat broiler set to low. Prepare a sheet pan with a layer of foil or parchment paper.

Slice into bread lengthwise with a serrated knife.  Be sure not to cut all the way through.  Brush with olive oil.  Pop under the broiler to toast.  Watch the progress.

Take out of the oven and build your sandwich.  Place each piece of London Broil on individually splitting between the two sandwiches.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add cheese up on top of each sandwich.  Again place under the broiler for one minute or so until cheese becomes melty.

Remove from oven and brush with a little more olive oil.  Then add on mayonnaise and hot pepper rings.  Close up and wrap in foil to keep warm.

Enjoy!

Chicken Mozambique Sandwich (Sanduíche de frango Moçambique)

main plate3If you are looking for something fun and exciting with a Portuguese twist for those Spring baseball games or just to enjoy with your family tonight for dinner.  Try this super easy and quick recipe for Chicken Mozambique Sandwiches!  While hot dogs and hamburgers definitely have their place all summer long, it won’t be long before they can become less than desirable.  Throw this in the mix and keep um guessing.

A good Mozambique sauce is a staple all year long.  Traditionally, Mozambique sauce is paired with shrimp, but it has proven to have great results with chicken.  Check it out and try it with whatever protein you would like.

onions

Start by slicing up a large onion. Traditionally, onions are minced for Mozambique, but since we are making a sandwich, I thought it would be extra yummy to have some nice onions on top of our sandwich. (If you are not a fan of onions, try not to leave them out, instead ether do it this way and remove later or mince and they will melt right in. You need the onion flavoring though.)

add butter

Saute the onions on medium in olive oil until they soften. Then add half a stick of butter.

garlic

Once the butter melts in, add minced garlic.

sazon

After about a minute or so, add in a packet of saffron seasoning. (If you don’t have saffron seasoning in your neck of the woods, just add in 6-8 tendrils of actual saffron and about a teaspoon of salt)

add sazon

This is what you should have.

sliced chicken

Slice two chicken breasts about 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick.

add chicken

Add in the chicken… You want to coat all that yummy saffron seasoning directly on the chicken for just about a minute. (It’s a crazy color, right?)

glass of wine

Next, add in a glass of dry white wine. (about a cup… beer can be substituted here)

hot sauce2

Add in your favorite hot sauce, or whatever you have on hand, to taste… if you aren’t into spice, leave it out, no biggy, there is still a ton of flavor going on.

 

done

If you have some fresh parsley around, add some in… it’s not totally necessary, but I like it. Simmer for 5-8 mins and your done with the chicken part of this sandwich. If you want to serve this over rice, it’s super good!

I like to make a kind of aoli sauce to top my sandwich, here’s how I do it:

mayo

Measure about a half cup of mayo. (If you prefer a healthier option, you can use Greek yogurt here, gives if a bit of a tang)

add broth

Add in about half a cup of broth and wisk to combine

add garlic and hot sauce

Now we want to intensify some of the flavors we used. So add in about 1/2 t. garlic powder and some hot sauce. Wisk.

add paprika

Lastly, add in some paprika. This is Hungarian paprika, its got a spicy kick, whatever you have on hand works too.  And you’re done… If you have extra after the sandwich… Keep it! This would be really yummy over some fish or shrimp.

Now just a couple of preparations to build your sandwiches:

bread

Find some sub rolls.

cut bread

Cut down the middle using a serated knife.

 

 

toast

Toast up your sub roll with some butter.

swiss2

Slice up some Swiss cheese.

main plate1

Build your sandwiches by first placing in the cheese. Then add the piping hot chicken, don’t forget to grab some of those onions to place on top and then top with the sauce. And wala, you’re done!

Recipe for Chicken Mozambique Sandwich:

(Serves 4)

For the chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly

2 T. olive oil

1/2 stick butter

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup dry white wine

1 packet saffron seasoning

hot sauce to taste

For the sub sauce:

1/2 c. prepared mayonnaise (or Greek yogurt)

hot sauce to taste

1/2 t. garlic powder

pinch of paprika

For the Sandwich:

4 torpedo rolls or sub roll of your choice

1 t. butter

8 slices swiss cheese

Directions:

Chicken:

Saute onions until soft in olive oil over medium heat. Melt in butter.  Add in garlic, continue to saute one minute.  Add in saffron seasoning.  Add in chicken to coat with spices. Add in remaining ingredients.  Cook for about 5-8 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  (Wine should come to a boil)

Sub Sauce:

In a medium bowl add in 1/2 c. Mozambique broth with mayo, garlic powder, hot sauce and paprika.  Wisk.  Set aside.

Putting the sandwich together:

Toast the sub roll with butter.  Cut down the middle to allow for stuffing.  Layer cheese, chicken, onions (from the chicken recipe) and top with sub sauce.