Although not an academic superstar, I did gain some renown at university, amongst my flat mates at least, for my sandwich making ability. My repertoire was not huge - in fact it only contained one sandwich: a double decker featuring three slices of toasted bread smothered in (probably full fat) mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, bacon and chunks of chicken. There may have been some cheese in there on occasion. It was neither healthy nor refined but was great for a hangover and at one point I decided once I graduate I would show off my cooking skills by opening an establishment called Big G's Pie Shack. Unfortunately though, probably due to my limited sandwich repertoire, not to mention my lack of pie making ability, the venture never got off the ground.
Since then my interest in sandwich making has declined and they are now basically my go to option when I want a lunch which requires neither effort nor expense - some kind of ham/cheese/salad combo is about as exciting as it gets these days. So to have to make a rather fancy Mexican BLT, featuring home made guacamole and a side salad, is kind of messing with the status quo a bit. Much like the hit and miss pasta dishes, I was basically wondering if it would really be worth the effort. And although there was nothing particularly difficult about this recipe it involved lots of separate components - making the guacamole, the dressing, chopping the salad ingredients, slicing the bread, slicing the chicken - it's all rather challenging in a kitchen the size of an average wardrobe.
Credit where it is due though - while the pasta dishes have often had an air of afterthought about them, the sandwiches have been very inventive. And this particular one works really well. It's almost a fajita sandwich (albeit with rather non-authentic fahita seasoning of oregano and cumin). The homemade guacamole was very straightforward, much better and fresher than anything you can buy in the shops, but we made a bit too much of it (and went a bit heavy on the chilli) and it almost overpowered the chicken. The salad, although very basic, was actually really nice - I think the salty feta and peppery radishes go really well together.
All in all quite a success. It's not something I would go to the effort of making on a regular basis when there is a Pret a Manger mere steps from my office, but should I ever decide I need a career change and open the pie shack, it will now feature at least two sandwiches on the menu.
Lolz gave the dish 9/10. Difficulty rating 4/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment