I like combining things in my pantry to see if they work well together. The most promising concoctions I publish here!
Recommended recipes
Still needs work
Recommended recipes
Bright Tuna Mash
- Sliced sourdough bread
- Prepared horseradish
- Chunky canned tuna
- Kewpie mayonnaise
- Fresh basil
- Provolone cheese
Drain the tuna. Prepare a simple tuna salad by mixing Kewpie into it. Despite the recipe’s name, be sure to preserve at least some of the chunky texture; don’t liquefy with too much mayo or beat into a puree.
On one slice of untoasted sourdough bread, place in the following order: the tuna salad, a slice of provolone, and a leaf of fresh basil.
Coat the other sourdough slice (also untoasted) with a layer of prepared horseradish. Place on top to close the sandwich.
Potential plus-ups (I haven’t tried them yet):
- Incorporate chopped celery to the tuna salad?
Spicy Bagel
- Sesame seed bagel
- Refried beans
- Fresh tomato
- Salt
- Palo Alto Firefighters pepper sauce
- (If you can’t find this specific sauce, use a sauce that complements Mexican dishes and isn’t too liquidy)
- Spicy Nacho flavor Doritos
Warm up some refried beans in a skillet. Spread onto one half of a toasted sesame bagel. Salt a thick slice of tomato on both sides and put atop the beans. Add pepper sauce to taste. Add enough Doritos to cover the bagel’s area well, and close with the other half of the bagel.
Potential plus-ups (I haven’t tried them yet):
- A spread of Mexican crema or sour cream on the top bagel half?
- Spicy Sweet Chili flavor Doritos?
- Salsa Verde flavor Doritos?
Tomato Tarragon Bagel
- Sesame seed bagel
- Fresh tarragon
- Fresh tomato
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Plain cream cheese
Spread cream cheese on both halves of a toasted sesame seed bagel. Season two thick slices of tomato with salt and pepper on both sides and put them on one of the halves. Top with a whole lot of leaves of fresh tarragon. Put the two halves together and enjoy.
Potential plus-ups (I haven’t tried them yet):
- Herb shmear instead of plain (perhaps dill or sun-dried tomato) ?
Still needs work
Thousand Island Thing
- Sourdough bread, sliced
- Thousand Island dressing
- Gruyère cheese, sliced
- Green onions, chopped
- Taco-sized flour tortilla
- Dill pickle chips
- Salt
- Black pepper
Ensure the tortilla is sufficiently supple; consider warming it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Toast the bread. Coat both slices with Thousand Island. Incorporate salt and pepper into the dressing to taste. Atop one slice, place in the following order: one slice of Gruyère, the green onions, the tortilla, another slice of Gruyère, and the pickles. Splash on some more Thousand Island before closing the sandwich.
What’s wrong with this recipe:
- I was hoping the tortilla would make for an interesting spin on the typical club sandwich structure. Unfortunately, the chewiness of it clashes with the textures of the crispy toast outside and the cheese inside.
- Keeping the green onions and the pickles on the same layer would probably be better.
What could fix it:
- Forget the “club” thing altogether; remove the tortilla entirely.
- Fry a corn tortilla and use that instead.
- Butter the bread and toast it on a skillet (à la grilled cheese)?
- Some sort of meat (but I’m pescatarian, so I’m not 100% sure). Hot pastrami?