Homemade Deli Sandwiches

When I was growing up, my amazing mother made me a lunch everyday, and it usually contained a sandwich. Usually, they were the regular lunch meats and some cheese, but nothing terribly exciting. I mean, it was a lunch for school.

Sometimes, though, on a weekend, we would have "Hawaiian bread sandwiches." You've never heard of Hawaiian bread? How sad. It's amazing. It's a sweet bread, but not too terribly sweet. Amazing for sandwiches. And on those rare occasions we had these wonderful sandwiches, my parents would "splurge" on fresh sliced deli meat from the deli part of the grocery store, and some deli sliced cheeses. And we would be in hog heaven.

So...while this blog post does indeed show you how to construct a sandwich on Hawaiian bread, it is more of a nostalgic post for me, because I carried on the tradition of Hawaiian bread sandwiches. Hehe. Let's take a walk down memory lane now, shall we?

Ingredients:
-Hawaiian bread
-sliced deli meats
-sliced deli cheeses
-any sandwich condiments you prefer (mayo, mustard, etc)
-any sandwich trimmings you prefer (lettuce, tomato, etc)

Directions:
Hawaiian bread, at least the kind I get, usually comes in this awesome round loaf.

I use my electric knife to cut it. It's easier to me than a regular bread knife. I can get the slices more uniform. So I cut several slices, as many as I'll need to make the sandwiches, and leave the rest whole.

It retains it's moistness better that way.

Moving on. I take my two slices of bread and spread whatever condiments I'd like on the bread

(this one was for my hubby...I don't like mustard). Then I add the cheese (I used smoked provolone for this one) onto one slice of bread. Then I add the meat onto the cheese (I used roasted turkey). I usually fold it to fit on the bread, however that will work. I top it with the other piece of bread, and voila!

Yummy deli sandwich is ready to go.

Yum.

Turkey, Potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and cranberry sauce

Yes, it sounds a little like Thanksgiving dinner, I know. But...it was amazing, and my husband loved it, and I'm glad I made it. Mmmm.

Why is it that we reserve turkey with potatoes, greens, and cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, anyway? It's good other times of year, too. How about Thanksgiving in May, as opposed to Christmas in July? It could work, right? Hehe. It worked for us. Granted, I just used turkey breasts, not the whole bird. Mashed potatoes are a staple in our house, and brussel sprouts make an occasional appearance on my menu. The way I make brussel sprouts...is the only way I can eat them. Any other way, and they taste like nasty cabbage grossness or something...I'm not a fan. But this way, I can eat them. :) It doesn't hurt that the hubby likes them this way too, and occasionally asks for them. Haha.

I know you're all jealous. It's ok. You can make this too. Your tummy will be happy. :)

Ingredients:
-Turkey breasts (I think mine said "breast cutlets" or something...whatever)
-olive oil-probably a tablespoon for turkey, 2 tablespoons for sauteing sprouts, and another 2 tablespoons for drizzling on sprouts. total: 5 tablespoons)
-Butter, about 1/2 tablespoon per turkey breast
-salt and pepper, for seasoning turkey. Probably 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper, per turkey breast
-Brussel sprouts, about 2 cups, cut in halves
-Garlic-you can use fresh cloves or powder...the application is just slightly different. For fresh cloves, use about 6 cloves, cut in half. For powder, about 1 tablespoon
-Potatoes, for mashing. I use russets, with skins on, chopped into chunks, but use whatever you like.
-1/2 cup milk, 2-3 tablespoons of butter for mashing with the potatoes
-3 tablespoons flour, for making gravy
-1 cup water, for making gravy
-1 can cranberry sauce (i like the jellied kind, not whole berry...)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the turkey breasts in a lipped baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place about a half tablespoon of butter on top of each breast. Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350. Turn the turkey breasts over and cook another 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Remove from oven and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.

While turkey is cooking, heat up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. If using fresh garlic cloves, saute the garlic fora couple minutes in the olive oil. DO NOT BURN THE GARLIC. It will turn bitter and nasty. Just keep stirring them around in the pan until the get kinda translucent and fragrant, but not brown. Remove the garlic from the skillet, but leave the oil behind. It will be flavored with the garlic and in turn flavor the brussel sprouts. Place the halved brussel sprouts in the garlicy oil. If using garlic powder, sprinkle about 1/2 tablespoon over sprouts when you first add the to the oil. Saute the sprouts until they just start to brown. They won't be cooked totally, but that brown color will add flavor and make them yummy. Take a glass baking dish, and pour the sprouts, including any oil left in the pan, into it. The baking dish should be big enough for the sprouts to be in a single layer. Place the cooked garlic cloves in the dish with the sprouts. Drizzle just a tiny bit more oil over the top, and place in the 350 oven with the turkey. They'll need to cook about 30 minutes, so the turkey will be done first. That's ok, though, because the turkey should sit for a few minutes before serving. You might want to toss the sprouts around the dish halfway through to make sure they cook evenly. Remove from oven. When they are cooked, the sprouts should be tender but not mushy.


While the turkey and sprouts are cooking, boil a pot of water. Add the potato chunks, and boil until tender. Remove from heat and drain, reserving about 1 cup of the starchy cooking water. Mash the potatoes with a handy dandy potato masher, add in the milk and butter, combining with the potatoes. If they are still too dry, add in a little of the cooking water at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

When you pull the turkey out of the oven, you will have one of two things...a lot of juice from the meat, or cooked in brown stuff from the juices evaporating and browning into the bottom of the pan. If you have juice, just pour it into a small sauce pan. If you have the brown stuff...while the baking pan is still hot, like right when you pull it out of the oven, pour a cup of water onto the pan and use a whisk or something to "de-glaze" the bottom of the pan. The water will "soften" the brown stuff enough to release the yummy flavor and make it liquid again. Pour that liquid into a small sauce pan. Heat it over medium heat. If you don't have about a cup of liquid, add the rest in water. Add the flour to the hot liquid. Stir continuously to keep the flour from clumping, and it will thicken into a gravy. Yum.

Open up the can of cranberry sauce and dump it into a bowl.

Serve everything together, and have your Thanksgiving dinner knock off whenever you want. :) Enjoy!

Turkey, Bacon, Cheese Panini

I really like my panini press. It's so easy to just throw a sandwich on it and let it do the work. I've made a bunch of panini on it lately, as you can see on my blog, or just a grilled cheese for a quick lunch. Haha. I know not everyone has one, but...it's nice. Anyway, here is yet another panini. :)

Ingredients:
-Bread (any kind will do)
-Turkey (of the lunch meat or deli variety)
-Bacon, cooked and crumbled (or if you're lazy, bacon bits. :) Just make sure they'll the real kind)
-Sliced cheese (I used American)

Directions:
Take two pieces of bread. Place a piece of cheese on each. Stack some turkey on one slice. Add bacon to the same slice as the turkey. Then place the other piece of bread and cheese on top of the meat. Place on the panini grill, or skillet, or whatever you're using. Grill and press until hot and yummy and the bread is toasted. Yum!