Sausage & Pesto Fried Egg Sandwiches

Runny egg. Slightly crispy sausage. Creamy sharp white cheddar. Fresh, garlicky pesto. 

That's what went in between the slices of my toasted English muffin this morning. This breakfast sandwich is based on the Yolko Ono, which is the best fried egg sammie around, from the best Portland food cart: Fried Egg I'm in Love. 

Amanda is friends with one of the Fried Egg owners, Jace. We make sure to stop by every time we're in Seattle's little sister to the south…not just because we know Jace, but because holy fried egg, it's so good! And also, they have a lot of fun. Those guys are basically the only reason I still look at Vine. And they sell super cute tshirts. And they use Aardvark hot sauce, which I love. And, the sandwiches all have fun music-inspired names, like Yolko Ono, Sriracha Mix A Lot, Free Range Against the Machine, and Back in Black Bean. Annnd one more thing, they have contests on Facebook where you can help name their new sandwich specials. So fun. So good.

My favorite is their original crowd pleaser, the Yolko Ono, which inspired this lil' mashup here. Of course I still dream about the real deal, but this homemade version will totally do the trick between trips to Portland. 

If you're not putting pesto on your fried egg sandwiches, you're not livin', friend. 

Sausage & Pesto Fried Egg Sandwiches

Inspired by the Yolko Ono

For each sandwich, you'll need:

1 English muffin, toasted

1-2 tablespoons pesto (store-bought, or recipe below)

2 slices aged white cheddar

1 pork breakfast sausage patty, cooked

1 fried egg (over medium for me, please, with salt & pepper)

Hot sauce for serving

To assemble, add a healthy dollop of pesto to both pieces of English muffin, then add cheese to one side, top with sausage patty, fried egg, and other English muffin half. Serve with hot sauce. Dig in.

Basic Basil Pesto

Makes about 1/2 pint

1/4-1/2 cup  extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan 

2 garlic cloves

2 cups fresh Basil

1/4 cup cup nuts (I used almonds, but you can also use pinenuts, walnuts, etc)

Squeeze fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

If using a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Ninja: add ingredients in order listed (not including salt & pepper), starting with 1/4 cup olive oil, and blend, slowly increasing speed, until smooth (use tamper as necessary). Add more olive oil if it's too thick. If using food processor, add garlic & nuts, and pulse for a few seconds until ground, then add remaining ingredients, and pulse until smooth (adding more olive oil as needed. 

Stir in salt & pepper to taste. 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Fried Egg Caprese Sandwich

I love breakfast sandwiches. More often than not, if a brunch menu is sans the bfast sammie, I'll order toast, a fried egg, and a side of bacon, and I'll make my own damn breakfast sandwich. 

Amanda taught me that trick. She's pretty smart like that. I mean… she just got her Master's degree over the weekend… talk about brains, that gal's got em! 

This breakfast sandwich is super fresh tasting…that's the basil. It's basically a caprese salad (um, yum!) but on a ciabatta roll. With a fried egg. It's got all the right fresh & tangy & creamy stuff goin' on. And it comes together really fast (no Master's degree required). 

PS. Doesn't that fried egg look like a steak? Why is it shaped like that? 

Fried Egg Caprese Sandwich

Serves 1

1 ciabatta roll, sliced open

Olive oil 

1 tablespoon mayonaise 

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2-3 thick slices fresh mozzarella 

2-3 large basil leaves

1-2 thick tomato slices (I used a big, meaty heirloom)

1 egg

Salt and pepper

Brush the insides of the roll with a little bit of olive oil, and broil until lightly golden and crispy (or grill!). Whisk together the mayo & balsamic, and spread on half the ciabatta roll. Add tomato on top of mayo, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cheese then basil to other half of roll. Fry an egg to your liking (I prefer over-medium….the yolk is still runny, but the white is fully cooked everywhere), and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put egg on tomato, and combine sandwich halves. That's it!

Grilled Salmon Sandwiches {with Bacon!}

Lots of exciting things are happening. In the last 2 weeks, I indulged in a beast of a feast at Burning Beast, ran my 4th Ragnar Relay, threw a bridal shower, went to a bridal shower, shook it all night at a joint bachelorette party, hung out with a BFF who's visiting from the UK, celebrated Amanda's 29th birthday (ps. when Mel was 29, Amanda was 8, and I was 6…whoa! Mel also had a wicked perm in those days), and won a softball championship. No big deal. 

I also made grilled salmon sandwiches with bacon and sun dried tomato mayonnaise (I wanted to name them slammin' salmon sammies… but then I'd sound like Rachel Ray). I like my salmon pretty simple, not covered in a lot of heavy sauces or tucked between other attention-stealing ingredients. Which is why it may be surprising that I couldn't get enough of these sandwiches, with sweet and tangy mustard-honey-thyme glazed salmon surrounded by attention hogs like bacon and sun dried tomatoes. It worked. Somehow, people, this combo just worked for me. And I think it will work for you too. You can cook the salmon on a grill or under the broiler. I actually sort of did both… our gas grill's propane tank ran outta gas about half way through, so these tasty-fresh filets were finished under the broiler, which was actually kind of awesome. The salmon got a nice smoky flavor from the grill, and then a perfectly caramelized glazed top from the broiler. I totally planned that. 

Grilled Salmon Sandwiches 

Adapted from Food & Wine 

2.5 tablespoons grainy mustard

2.5 tablespoons honey

1.5 tablespoon mayonnaise

1.5 teaspoon fresh thyme

4 six ounce salmon fillets, skinned

Vegetable oil

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup pureed sun dried tomatoes

splash cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

8 slices cooked bacon

Lettuce

4 hamburger buns, toasted 

For Salmon: Light grill, and brush with oil. Mix the mustard, honey, mayo, and thyme. Rub the salmon with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the salmon over moderate heat, skinned side down, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip and grill for 3 minutes longer, until the salmon is almost cooked through. Flip again and spread each fillet with a hearty layer of glaze. Turn and grill until glaze is gooey and cooked into salmon, about 30 seconds. For a cleaner, less fishy flavor, scrape the grey flesh off the bottom of the salmon after cooking. Broiler method: Preheat  broiler. Line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with foil, and spray with nonstick spray. Arrange the oiled, S&P'd salmon fillets on the baking sheet and broil for 2 minutes. Spread sauce over the salmon and continue broiling until the cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.

For Mayo: Whisk together mayonnaise, sun dried tomatoes, vinegar, and s&p. Taste and adjust as necessary. 

For Sandwiches: Spread bun with mayo, top with lettuce, salmon, and bacon. 

The BLE

Amanda and I have a favorite sandwich. It's not really even a sandwich, but more like some stuff, on toast. We named it the BLE. That doesn't stand for bacon, lettuce, and random-ingredient-that-starts-with-E. It stands for Best Lunch Ever. And it is. It's really easy to make, pretty affordable, and is so good that I could eat it for lunch every day. At least for a whole week. 

First, you need to spread cream cheese on toast. Or on a bagel. The BLE is pretty flexible. 

Second, mash up half an avocado, and spread that on top of the cream cheese. Then add salt and pepper. That's your basic BLE. 

There are lots of variations though. Like adding a squeeze of fresh lemon to the avocado, maybe some tomato slices, maybe even some leafy lettuce and red onion. At that point, it starts turning into a veggie sandwich, but whatever. You can still call it a BLE.  

School Lunch: Chicken Pita Sandwiches

It's that time of year again: fall is here. It blew (and poured) in with conviction, unlike summer, that so-called season that never really showed up to the party. You know, like that friend, the one who RSVP'd and said she would be there, then texted and said she was on her way, but then didn't actually show up until the party was nearly over..that was summer. Fall, on the other hand, showed up in a big way. The party pretty much started when she walked in the door, and there was never a  moment of doubt that she had arrived. 

I like fall. I like pumpkins, and soup, and pumpkin soup, and pumpkin beer. I like apple cider and pear crisps. I like the red and orange leaves on the sidewalk, and the feeling of new beginnings. For some of you, fall is back-to-school time—time to dust off the ol' red Garfield the Cat lunch box, and fill it with sandwiches and snack packs (but not gogurt...that stuff weirds me out). I haven't had a first day of school since my senior year of college—5 years ago! I guess some of you might not think that's so long ago, but going back now seems nearly impossible. Homework? Tests? Studying?! I can't even imagine giving up paychecks for tuition, and Friday Night Lights on Netflix for term papers. And while it seems crazy to me after only 5 years, Amanda is about to have her first first day of school in 7 years. 

My big sister, the girl I've been following my whole life, is about to start grad school. When Amanda started playing softball in elementary school, I did too…even though I was afraid of the ball. When she campaigned for student government and tried out for cheerleading, so did I. Her first car became my first car, and, like all the hand-me-downs I took from her over the years, I was stoked about the level of coolness her things would bring me. Amanda graduated from high school and moved to Seattle for college, and two years later, I followed her up here. And now, here she is, headed back to school. While I'm not in a hurry to follow her there, I'm once again in complete admiration of how cool she is. And how brave. And how crazy, definitely a little bit crazy. 

So, for the first day of school, while Amanda's sharpening pencils and buying text books, I'm coming up with back-to-school lunches to fill up her Garfield lunch box. The one she left on the bus and cried hysterically over. Boy was I jealous of that lunch box and school bus. 

While this portable lunch might not be quite right for the elementary school cafeteria, it packs up awesomely for work or big-kid school lunches. Super thin, flavorful chicken stuffed in a pita with fresh veggies and hummus. People will be jealous. And it's super easy to pack the components separately and combine at lunch. And, when you grill the chicken for dinner the night before, you get two meals in one. Just the kind of efficiency working moms or working grad students need. 

Grilled Chicken Pita Sandwiches

For chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Juice from 1 large lemon

olive oil

oregano

salt

pepper

Paillard your bird. Ok, that sounds complicated and fancy, but it really just means to make your chicken super thin (which means it cooks quicker but stays tender, has more of the seasoning rub in each bite, and goes further). Here's a good guide to paillarding. 

Rub your chicken paillards with olive oil, douse in lemon juice, and heavily coat in oregano, salt, and pepper. 

Grill indoors or out until cooked through, only a couple minutes on each side. Oh the joys of the paillard!

For dinner, slice one breast and add to salad or pasta. Slice the 2nd paillard, and refrigerate. 

For sandwiches:

Pack chicken and a pita. Pack fresh spinach leaves, diced red onion, red pepper, tomato, and cucumber in a to-go container or baggie. 

Add a spoonful of hummus to a baggie.

To serve, cut the corner off the hummus baggie and squeeze hummus into pita (way less creepy than gogurt), then fill with veggies and chicken. 

Done…(school) lunch is served. 

CSA Sandwich

Today is CSA pick up day, and last night I still had a veggie drawer full of goodies from our first CSA haul. To prepare for my half marathon, I was avoiding dairy and fibrous foods like beans, fruits, and greens...so my drawer full of farm fresh veggies was just sitting there, waiting and temping me.

Difficult as it was, my pre-race diet paid off, and I rocked the Rock n Roll half marathon, beating my 2.5 hour goal, and finishing in 2 hours and 20 minutes, not walking once, and having the most unbelievable experience. After the race, Amanda, Cynthia, and I lounged in a hotel room, covered in bags of ice, sipping champagne, and gorging ourselves on anything and everything in sight. And since then, I’ve been filling up on the foods I was craving leading up to the race. Cheeseburger and yam fries with lemony aioli, cheesy black bean enchiladas with a hearty dollop of sour cream, yogurt with nectarines and a drizzle of maple syrup, mint brownie ice cream with nuts, and last night, the foods I was craving most of all: tons of veggies.

I decided to use up all of the remaining CSA items in one go (except for the big fuzzy leaves of apple mint, which might just get steeped in creamy custard and frozen into a minty ice cream this weekend). We had already polished off the strawberries, lettuce, and spinach (basically the moment they arrived). The remaining bok choy, green onions, garlic scapes, cilantro, and carrots, combined with a few things I had at home, made for one tasty veggie-filled CSA Sandwich… one that Evan, the meat-eatingest guy I know, said he’d order off a menu. It may not have been pretty, but it was damn tasty.

I halved the bok choy lengthwise, and drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkle of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Then I threw that, and the green onions (whole) on the grill. Meanwhile, I made a quick carrot pickle, bathing matchstick carrots in rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. I blended the garlic scapes and cilantro with some basil, walnuts, and olive oil to form a thick and delish pesto-esque paste. All of these components, plus a little cottage cheese (and Sriracha for Evan), went between slices of whole grain toast. Fresh, crunchy, smoky, and flavorful… the randomly delicious post-race CSA Sandwich.

Bring on the veggies…who said all cravings are bad for you?

{One year ago: V ran the full RnR marathon, followed by my Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream!}

Editor's Pick

Food52 Challenge: Your Best Recipe with Figs.

Sure, I could have done something super fancy, like a fig tart, or a pork loin in a port-fig sauce… but for this challenge, I decided to stick to my guns and go with my favorite of food preparations: the sandwich. As I’ve mentioned before, I heart sandwiches. So, I decided for the best-fig-recipe contest I might as well incorporate figs into one of my favorite sandwiches- the Chicken Charlie.

The Chicken Charlie is a sandwich that LB and I used to get at Trillium Café when we were home from college for holidays and breaks (we used to also get rounds of beer from an old high school teacher at Trillium Cafe when we were home on college breaks, but that's another story). I’ve heard rumors that Trillium was shutting down, but lucky for us, I’ve perfected their delicious sandwich. Chicken Charlie is a grilled chicken breast topped with melted Swiss, caramelized onions, honey mustard sauce, and sliced fresh pears. The crisp pears are really what makes this sandwich special and sets it apart from other chicken sandwiches. In my version, I add my kick-ass honey mustard caramelized onions instead of (or in addition to) the honey mustard sauce. I also substitute the basic bun with some kind of yummy bread like ciabatta. It’s a pretty awesomely delicious sandwich.

I decided that I couldn’t think of a better way to use figs than in the ol’ CC sandwich- aptly (and boringly) renamed the Fall Fig and Chicken Sandwich for the contest. I also wanted to jazz it up a little, so I threw in a balsamic marinade for the bird, and a nutty blue cheese spread on the bread. Since there was so much goin’ on with this sandwich, I left the honey and mustard out of the onions, but they were still kick-ass and caramelized.

The sandwiches, served on chewy ciabatta bread, were pretty great. I definitely did ol’ Chicken Charlie proud with this one. Evan had a “tummy-ache” (or he’s afraid of eating things that grow on trees or out of the ground), so I ate my sandwich and half of his. The next morning, I mixed up the leftover goodies into an awesome chicken and fig salad sandwich for work!

Once again, delightful as it was, my recipe was not a finalist in the Food 52 challenge…but… It got a nod as an Editor’s Pick! WooHOO! I’m one step closer!

The Figgy Chicken Charlie
 
2 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion- sliced in rings
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon peach or apricot jam
1 tablespoon crumbled blue cheese
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
6-8 figs- stemmed and halved (dried for chewier texture, fresh for softer texture-both work great)
1 ciabatta loaf (or 2-4 rolls)
spring greens salad mix
1 crisp pear- thinly sliced

For Chicken: Mix together worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper- Marinate chicken in mixture for up to an hour. Grill chicken on medium-high grill until cooked. Slice thin.

For Carmelized Onions: Heat 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil with 1 tablespoon butter. Add onions and cook over medium heat until golden and delicious. Remove onions from pan but leave remaining oil/butter on medium heat for figs.

For Figs: Add figs face down to hot oil/butter mixture. sautee until golden and chewy (1-2 minutes).

For Spread: Stir together cream cheese, blue cheese, nuts, jam, rosemary and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Assembly: Heavily spread the cream cheese mixture over both sides of bread. Pile high with chicken, pears, onions, and figs. ENJOY!

For the Love of Sandwiches!

I love sandwiches. I don’t just mean I like them sort of… I’m talkin’ the real deal… hearts with arrows through them, wedding ceremony with white doves, 2.5 kids, shared burial plots… (Ok… maybe Evan and I are watching a little too much Six Feet Under lately, but it’s sooo good! We’re almost finished with the series, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when we’re done).

Anyway, I digress--back to sandwiches. I think my love affair maybe started when I was a kid, and John would sandwich everything on his plate... wrapping his mashed potatoes and green beans up in a bread roll, folding his pizza in half so that the cheesy fillings were squished between two easy-to-grab layers of crust, smashing his rice between two pieces of chicken and folding that up in his garlic bread, and so on. Maybe I love sandwiches because they can be consumed quickly and easily, in one fell swoop- without the messy interruption of forks and knives. Or maybe I just love the combination of bread and filling, and the magic that happens when the two mix and mingle in perfect proportions. Regardless of why, I’m utterly and hopelessly in love with sandwiches.

If pulled pork and cuban pork had a baby, and that baby had a baby with a cheese steak, it would be this poorly photographed sandwich that Evan and I made a few months ago...

While I love a good restaurant or café sandwich (my latest obsession is Blue Dog), I also find great joy in being able to serve a restaurant style sandwich at home. While some things are always better homemade, sandwiches are one of those hit or miss items. I find that most homemade sandwiches are of the boring Oscar Mayer variety. You know: sliced bread, processed lunch meat, mustard, mayo, slice of cheese…it’s really quite sad to see the state of home sandwichery reduced to this.

In an effort to put an end to the typical lunchbox sandwich, I regularly make tasty, fun, gourmet quality sandwiches at home, for dinner- from pulled pork to caprese, panini to cheese steak (my daydream is to one day own a café with a menu full of delicious specialty sandwiches). Recently, I realized that there was one sandwich variety that Evan and I both love, but have never attempted to recreate in our own kitchen: the bánh mì.

Bánh mì, or Vietnamese sandwiches, are served up all over Seattle (my favorite is Monkey Bridge). Usually consisting of pork, chicken, or tofu, pâté, spicy aioli-like sauce, jalapenos, cilantro, cucumbers, and pickled carrots and daikon on a Vietnamese style baguette (also called bánh mì), bánh mì is bursting with unique flavors. To make it easy and fresh, I skipped the pâté and pickling, and still ended up with a damn good sandwich.

Fresh Chicken Bánh mì for Two
(This is of a general idea than a recipe- tweak as you like!)
Chicken: Marinate bite size pieces of chicken breast in soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and honey- grill (or bake or sauté)

Aioli: mix together mayo, lime juice, sriracha

Veggies: cut carrot and daikon (radish or jicama will work as well) into matchsticks and toss with olive oil, cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Slice jalapenos, cukes, and red and green onions.

Assembly: Cut baguette in half (to serve 2 people) and halve lengthwise. Broil with cut side up til golden. Spread both sides with aioli. Pile high with cilantro (lots of it), chicken, and veggies.


Enjoy, and don't let yourself fall into the sorry-sandwich routine!