Yummy, Oozy Club Sandwich

You know those days? The ones that are so hard, that all you want to do is have a do over and block it from your mind.

Yesterday was one of those days.

So, when I got home, I was glad that the boyfriend was at his mother’s house and the only person to feed was me. But, there was a problem. There was nothing in the refrigerator and we were out of milk, so the bowl of cereal was out.

Then I saw the eggs, and I knew I had a bag of baby spinach in there, somewhere and when I checked the cheese box? SCORE! There was ham in there too!

So it was time for a Club Sandwich.

This version is quick, satisfying and the end product is delicious.

Ingredients
Any type of sandwich bread (I use Potato bread)
1 tablespoon Mayonnaise (or enough to cover both side of the bread)
1 teaspoon Ketchup
1 teaspoon Mustard
1-3 slices of Ham
1 Tomato cut into round slices
1-3 leaves of Lettuce (or in my case) spinach leaves
1 Egg, fried
1-3 of slices of Cheese, I used Havarti, but any cheese will do.
1 teaspoon of Butter (to fry your egg on and toast the bread)

And we start with putting a bit of butter to melt in a sauce pan at medium heat, when hot, crack the egg, add a bit of salt and pepper and fried until done. NOTE: I like my yolk soft/runny, because this sandwich whole existence is to dip it in the oozing yolk when cut in half. When done, put the egg to the side.

Keep the sauce pan on the heat, but bring it down to low

Take the slices of bread and coat both with mayonnaise. Then coast one slice with a bit of ketchup and the other with mustard.

On the ketchup side place the ham, then pile a couple of lettuce/spinach leaves on top. On the mustard side, place the slices of tomato, season with salt and pepper and then the cheese. Place the friend egg on top. Cover with the ham slice of bread.

Coat the outside of both bread with a bit of butter and place in the hot sauce pan on the stove. Toast about 1 minute and flip, until you have it toasted.

Take out, place on plate and cut in half… let the egg ooze out of it and now eat up!

Travel: Eating through NYC

I don't have a recipe this week, mainly because I was eating my way throughout New York City for the past 4 days.

Last Thursday I took off to brave freezing temperatures in order to celebrate my best friends 40th birthday in New York City.  Boy did we celebrate! Here is a quick run down of the foods, places and our take on our culinary walk-about.

We started Thursday nigh by visiting Mama Mexico. A family owned restaurant close to where my NY friends live.  While the food was fresh and flavors were spot on.  The best things were the "Margaritas".
 

We ordered the guacamole, which was done tableside, unfortunately the place was super dark and pictures did not come out. I ordered their appetizer, "Almejas al Tequila", which are clams, filled with baby shrimp and crab with a tomatoes, tequila, cilantro and olives all sautéed on top. It was refreshing, fresh and delicious. Another way to go is the traditional Burritos and Enchiladas, which were also a hit.

On Friday night we took the birthday girl to Fig and Olive.  Located in the meatpacking district, this is a happening place. The atmosphere was full of a trendy vibe, beautiful people and eighties music, who knew? The bar was hopping while people were waiting for their table. It was the perfect place for a birthday dinner. As the name suggests, many recipes feature liberal use of olives, olive oil, and sweet figs, all of superior variety and quality. We started with a couple of appetizers but the star of the show was the "Fig Gorgonzola Tartlet". The melted gorgonzola, prosciutto, fig, walnuts, arugula, tomato on top of a puff pastry was such a hit that we all pretty much were licking our fingers and eyeing the last piece - ready to pounce.


Another good choice was the "Veal Carpaccio", and the "French Riviera Rotisserie Chicken".

On Saturday night we had tickets to see a show in Union Square, so we decided that Republic was the best choice, plus we all were craving Asian food.  We started with the "Fried Calamari" and the "Fried Wontons" as appetizers, and we were not disappointed.  The sweet-chili sauce of the Calamari was to die-for.  I ordered the "Wonton Broth Noodles" while my friends opted for the "Chicken Pad Thai".  We also highly recommend the red "Sangria".

After the show we decided the only thing to do was to duck into the "W" hotel to warm ourselves down and to have a couple of drinks at the Living Room Lounge.  We were all over the drink menu and ended up ordering a couple of appetizers to make sure the hang-over the next day would not kill us. It's all about balance people - trust me. We ended up loving the "Fig and Prosciutto Flatbred" (Yummy) and the risotto tater-tots filled with Asiago cheese. (I'm so going to duplicate this, make sure to look for it in a future post).

To round the whole culinary experience we had going, on Sunday we decided to head back to the meatpacking district/Soho and find our way into Pastis.  The restaurant looks and feels like an early 20th century French bistro - without being tacky. Broken mirrors on the wall are offset by stained and cracked tiling and worn floorboards. Nicotine-stained ceilings are nicely ironic in a city where you can't smoke in public. It was the perfect place for a late, very late brunch.

More than once we keep saying "Are we in back in Paris or in NYC?” This place its happening right now, the wait was around 15-20 minutes and it was almost 4 in the afternoon - The place was packed! The food was excellent. I ordered the "Eggs Florentine" and the Béchamel sauce combination with the poached egg on top of sautéed Spinach was the perfect comfort food after a night of drinks. The other dishes to recommend here is the fries and the "Croque-Madame". Its also the perfect place to find someone famous. We sat a table away from Matt Dillon and his companion. Very cool.

And of course since it was a Birthday celebration we could not forget the most important thing.  The Cake. And were else but Magnolia Bakery?  The only flavor acceptable was the Coconut Cake and it was so good we ended up eating it every day during our trip.

Agnolotti with Tomato Alfredo Sauce

This is simple and easy.. why? Because the ingredients are all pre-made and when you are in a hurry, trust me buying at the supermarket makes sense.

Now I'm old school, make it from scratch, because well there is nothing better than homemade.  But, I have to be realistic as well... I sometimes don't have the time to make from scratch. I do however have time to take the supermarket bought stuff and modify it to make it taste like I been in the kitchen slaving away all day long.

This recipe is going to be one of those times.   You will need:

Ingredients
1 package of Buitoni Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti 
1 container of Buitoni Alfredo Sauce
1 fresh tomato, diced up into small pieces
1 cup of fresh baby spinach leaves
1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk (if needed)
2-3 tablespoon of butter
Salt and Pepper to taste (I use cracked pepper)
Parmesan Cheese to taste

In a deep pot, place water over the stove to boil for the fresh Agnolotti.  When water starts to boil season with salt and pour the Agnolotti, cook until a bit al dente or follow the package instructions.

 

On a skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter, once its bubbling, throw the dice tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and stir, let them cook until they are soft, about 2 minutes or so.  Then add the fresh spinach and stir once more.  The spinach will quickly start to wilt, season with a bit of salt and pepper again.

Next step is to pour the Alfredo Sauce over it and mix together... if the consistency is too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoon of the heavy cream or milk.  Stir together and taste, if needed add a bit of salt and pepper.  You can also add a bit of parmesan cheese at this point too.  The end results will be a creamy, smooth sauce.

By this point, your Agnolotti should be done.  Take from the pan and using a spoon start adding the pasta to the sauce.  Slowly move them around and coat each of them.

Served on a bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!