Skip to main content

sandwich

Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches & Portuguese White Gazpacho

Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches


Starting this post with a little housekeeping note: one spot came available my workshop/retreat in Northern Ireland, July 19th – 23rd (details here) If you are interested, please email or call the Belle-Isle Cookery School where the workshop and retreat will be hosted, here.

Speaking of that workshop in Northern Ireland, we are finalizing the schedule of lessons, shoots, cooking and fun and I am getting so excited I can’t stop smiling all day! Really can’t wait to be there and meet everyone. I am also still pinching myself that I can do this with Bill and we are taking a few days before to explore both Scotland and Northern Ireland where is ancestors are from.

Tomato Heaven


We travel well together. We have a way of dividing planning tasks without even saying it. From the first time we crossed the English Channel on a super long, chaotic and loud ferry route, we knew we could travel together without wanting to throttle each other. He’s really the best companion.

I am realizing this post is turning into a public Thank You note to my husband….but he deserves it. For everytime I have been able to spend an hour geeking out on the photos for a post or taken another more time to write and edit recipes and words – he’s been behind me, supportive of this blog, intended at first to be nothing more than a fun creative outlet.

Portuguese White Gazpacho


That fun creative outlet turned out into a fun and amazingly rewarding life, creating stories through images. And he’s been my rock throughout the process. While my mom was complaining I was "still on the internet", he would gently tell her "give it a bit more time, she’s got a plan."

Did I? Have a plan? No, not really. My guts were telling me there was something there. My creative self was telling me not to let go. So I pushed through. With Bill by my side, never complaining. Many times a day I feel the urge to tell him thank you for this gift. I pick up the phone and send a text. A smiley face, a one liner. An extra hug. Something. Anything that shows him that I am mindful of what he’s doing.

Ingredients For Portuguese White Gazpacho


To tell my husband "thank you" for his awesomeness, I know that the simple act of putting a nice lunch together will say just that. We never eat lunch together so when Summer rolls around, it’s a bit of a treat. Taking a few extra minutes to pack up a nice picnic and a bottle of cold lemonade to head out to the dock or the bench in the backyard is one way for me to say "I notice what you do".

From the first years that I moved to the US, I have always loved the idea of the "Sandwich and Soup" lunch combo one can find at restaurant. I’ve loved seeing how different years bring different favorites, from the elaborate "Salmon BLT and Vichyssoise" combo to the classic "Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup" one. Each chef, restaurant, region and era putting its own spin on it.

Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches


One of my favorite salade is Salade Nicoise, one of my favorite sandwiches is a Pan Bagnat and one of my favorite soup is gazpacho. I finally combined them all in one of our favorite picnic fares to date: Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches and Portuguese White Gazpacho.

The sandwiches are pretty straightforward, combining all the ingredients of a Salade Nicoise; tuna, oilves, green beans, eggs, tomatoes into a sandwich that needs to be made the night before, such as the Pan Bagnat, so that the bread can get all soft inside and the flavors meld together inside.

The gazpacho has been made three times since I made it first thing last week when I came back from New Hampshire. We just can’t get enough. A creamy blend of almonds, cucumber, fennel, oregano and garlic. If a soup ought to be called "sensual", it would be it. It made my toes curl. Which is always a pretty good indication I am happy… Thank you David Leite, author of The New Portuguese Table, for the recipe!

For dessert, the first cherries from our neighbors tree. A nice picnic indeed…
Sorry for the so-so polaroid, was in a hurry to eat them!

Cherries


Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches:

Makes 4 large sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 cup French green beans
4 large eggs
2 cans tuna in oil, drained, coarsely flaked
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup small black olives, pitted
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup torn and loosely packed basil leaves (no need to chop fine, just use your fingers)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 anchovy fillets, finely crushed with back of fork
1 garlic clove, minced
1 baguette (regular or gluten free)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and blanch the green beans in it for about 3 minutes. Drain them in a colander and place them in a bowl full of ice until they are completely cold. Drain again well and reserve. The goal is to cook the green beans just enough to remove the raw taste of their uncooked selves but still keep the vibrant color and nice crunch of their barely cooked selves.

Bring another large pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs to the boiling water, cook for 6 minutes (soft yolks). Remove them from the water and run them under cold water until they are cooled enough to peel. Once peeled, coarsely chop them up and add them to the green beans.

Add the tuna, tomatoes, olives, shallot and basil. Toss well to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, anchovy and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour this vinaigrette over the green bean and eggs. Toss well until everything is nicely seasoned with the vinaigrette.

Cut the baguette in half horizontally and spread the Salade Nicoise all along its bottom part. Wrap with a layer of parchment paper and then a layer of foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. The next day, cut the baguette into 4 pieces and serve.

***********************************************************************************

Portuguese White Gazpacho:
I am not reposting the recipe here since I made it ad verbatim from David’s site, Leite’s Culinaria.
I skipped the crab salad included in the recipe but I have no doubt it was as good as the gazpacho.
I used gluten free leftover bread that was going a bit stale but feel free to use regular bread.

**Mortar & Pestle from Le Creuset.

Vanilla Bean Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches


It’s the little things lately that fuel me up. The details. Paying attention. So much is out my hands that it’s all in the little things. Maybe it’s the renewed warmth of Spring doing that to me with very much intensity. Maybe it’s the rhythm of the work days that intensified lately. It makes me crave finding my grounds, keeping them and taking care of us.

Food is naturally part of that equilibrium. Roasted chicken and mixed greens enjoyed with friends during a lazy Sunday lunch. A simple salad of heirloom tomatoes shared with B. in between his classes and his music. A classic nosh of French cheeses and pate downtown at a new favorite hang out. A simple plate of lentils and kale topped with a friend egg on a weeknight. Simple. Details. Seasonings. Spices. Balance.

Vanilla Ice Cream


When it comes to dessert, you can bet I am right around the corner with a big plate and large smile! I rarely want a slice of cake or a dozen cookies. Fresh. Seasonal. Textures. Aromas. These words resonate strongly when it comes to picking desserts. There are things I can’t have anymore and ingredients I need to pay attention to so desserts need to pack a punch in a few bites. They need to make me weak in the knees or I’ll pass. I am a gourmande. I’d like to enjoy that for a while and not feel worse because I am not keeping tabs of what I do.

Most nights dessert is a bowl of strawberries or raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream (my absolute weakness), a handful of cherries, a baked apple. Simple. Then there are the simple but planned out desserts we enjoy a couple of times a week. The ones I come to tell you about here. The ones which flavors dance in my head long before I actually make them.

Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches


Like these Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches. They were not just good. They were simple. They were made from scratch with good stuff like homemade vanilla ice cream. And they were gluten free. I know! You’re thinking "Stop the healthy stuff Helen or we’re going to throw you a cookie." "Ice cream! Portable! Yes!".

I could fit one in my hand without a problem. I could do a 3 bite dance just as easily. I could also carry one in my pocket. I am sure the pups would follow me to the end of the earth with such a trick, ahahah! B. simply loved the taste of the wafers which always make me happy as I bake more and more gluten free that he can’t point out the switch. He grabbed a handful of plain wafers on his way out earlier. Just like that.

Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches


I took the cookie recipe used on a job last week and modified to be gluten free and I was really pleased to see the end products behaved the same while being prepared, baked and stacked. The original recipe called for margarine which I subbed for half butter and half coconut oil (see reasons and how to’s in recipe section here) but feel free to use all butter. For the ice cream, I kept it pretty simple and did an eggless base loaded with good vanilla seeds.

Here’s what I like about making ice cream sandwiches from scratch beside the obvious "they’re better for us": it gives me an excuse to make fresh ice cream for some other night of the week. I don’t have to fill all the cookies at once and can do so as we please since they too can be kept in the freezer and I can keep some cookies plain on the side when a chocolate cravings comes knocking at midnight. As it is now….

Why is the freezer door this loud this time of night when everyone is asleep but me? Ha!
————————————————————————————
One more thing before I go: If you are curious to read about more about the whys/whats/wheres of this blog, check out an interview I just completed on Bizymoms by going here. Thanks!

Props:
– milk bottle and various plates: ebay
– flatware and straws: Kikkerland on amazon.com
– paper straws: Bake It Pretty (I hear Anthropologie also has them)
– "Ice Cream Parlor" cup (2nd picture): cup outfitted with a DIY pattern from Eat Drink Chic.

Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches:

Makes twelve 3-inch square sandwiches

Notes:
– you can use 2 cups all purpose flour instead of all the combined gluten free flours (sweet rice through cornstarch)

– for the dotted look on the sandwiches, I used one of the tools comprised in this set that I received as a gift years ago.

For the cookies:
4 tablespoons (55gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons coconut oil (55gr), at room temperature
1 cup sucanat (organic cane sugar) muscovado or brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup superfine or regular sweet rice flour
1/2 cup superfine or regular brown rice flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup cornstarch (use tapioca flour if allergic to corn)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Prepare the cookies:
In the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butterm coconut oil and muscovado sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Lower the speed and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, all the flours, baking powder, and salt. Still with the mixer on low speed, at the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until the dough starts to come together. Gather the dough into a ball and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
On a lightly floured surface or a Silpat, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Use your preferred cookie cutter to cut out as many pieces as you can. Gather and re-roll the scraps if necessary. Make patters on cookie with a fork or other tool (see notes) if desired. Place on lined baking sheet and bake 8 – 10 minutes. Cool completely before sandwiching them with ice cream.

For the vanilla ice cream:
1 cups (250ml) heavy cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
1 cup (250ml) whole coconut milk
1/2 cup (125gr) mild honey
1/2 vanilla bean, split open and scraped – seeds set aside

Prepare the ice cream:
In a large saucepan set over medium low heat, bring the cream, milk, coconut milk, honey and vanilla bean seeds to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s intructions.
Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, pour about half into a 9×9 freeze proof dish lined with plastic wrap (try to get about 1 to 1.5 inch thickness for the ice cream to sandwich later on) and the other half into a freezable container. Freeze until firm.
No ice cream maker? No problem! Pour the cream into a freeze proof container and freeze for a couple of hours. Take it out and whip it with an electric mixer or immersion blender, freeze it again, whip it again….do that four or five times. The mixture won’t be quite the same but pretty darn close.

Assemble:
With the same cookie cutter, cut through the ice cream that was poured into the 9×9 inch pan and sandwich in between two cookies. Keep frozen. The cookies will keep well wrapped in the freezer for up to 3 months.

————————————————————————————-
I’ll upload the recipe in French either tonight or Wednesday – ran out of steam tonight!

La recette en Francais ce soir ou demain au plus tard. Le boulot ca fatigue – ahahahah!

French Word A Week: Glace A La Vanille

Retro!


I’m always fascinated to see how events, things and people come together sometimes. I remember when I was still working in a restaurant kitchen that I could spend one night plating nothing but fancy chocolate cake adorned with pretty caramel twirls and the next the only thing people wanted was two scoops of sorbet. What bug was whispering the same thing to their ears the whole time? How could a dozen people at once get the same fancy for chocolate cake or ice cream?

Ever wondered why in one day or one week a lot of the same thing surfaces over and over again?

Here it was ice cream this week. Lots of it. For us, for work, for fun. It made me realize that some of you might be visiting France in the summer and what better words to learn than "Vanilla Ice Cream"? You never know…

So here it is: Glace a la vanille!

One evening my dear and lovely gave me his best smile (the one I can’t say not to) and asked "have you ever thought of making gluten free ice cream sandwiches?" "Hmmm…yes," I said "the thought occured to me. And your point is?". Once again, he gave me the grin and I acquiesced."Alright, alright….I give up. Ice cream sandwiches coming right up".

It really helps that I am up for any sort of sweet concocting and experimenting in the kitchen…Ahah!

The ice cream sandwiches in the picture above are from a feature with a retro theme I did this week. I was handed a plate of ice cream sandwiches made by one of the chefs on staff and they were good, or so I hear. I then proceeded to a gluten free version once home, down to the dotted look, (fooled B!) which I will post next week.

Have a great weekend!

P.S: Lots of you asked where I got the green cups in the previous post (Anthropologie – I also have the brown set which I love) which made think of posting my sources whenever I can remember (some are old – some are new -some are from antique stores – some are from home).

Flower bud vase: Wal-Mart
Mini cake stand : Sur La Table
Straw:
Bake It Pretty