French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

Onion Soup Paste

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

1. Butter, unsalted, 50g
2. Onions, sliced, 4
3. Flour, 10g
4. Beef stock, 1l
5. Salt, to taste
6. Pepper, to taste

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1. Bread/baguettes
2. Cheese

Instructions

Onion Soup Paste

1. In a pan, heat butter at medium-high heat.
2. Add onions and sauté for 5 min until tender.
3. Stir in salt, pepper and flour.
4. Reduce to medium heat and sauté for 5 min until the onion is golden brown.
5. Stir in beef stock and cook for 1 min.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil.
7. Cover, reduce to low heat and simmer for 2h.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1. Brush the onion soup paste onto the bread generously.
2. Layer cheese on top of bread.
3. Toast the bread until crisp and golden, and the cheese has melted.

Sweetbread Bread

Ingredients

1. Sweetbreads
2. Milk
3. Oil
4. Bread

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine milk and sweetbreads. Soak overnight.
2. The next day, drain sweetbreads.
3. In a pot, combine sweetbreads and cold water. Bring to a boil and blanch sweetbreads.
4. Remove and plunge sweetbreads immediately into a bowl of ice water.
5. Drain sweetbreads.
6. In a pan, add oil and sweetbreads. Cook on medium heat until golden.
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Toast bread and sandwich with fried sweetbreads. Serve hot.

Satay PB&J Sandwich

Adapted from Kitchen Tigress, Rasa Malyasia, and Enriching Your Kid.

Ingredients

Chicken Satay

Makes about 10 skewers

1. 250g boneless chicken thigh/breast/leg meat
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. 1 tbsp coriander powder
4. 1 tsp cumin powder
5. 5 shallots
6. 1 cloves garlic
7. 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only
8. 1 slice galangal/ginger
9. 1/2 tsp salt
10. 1/2 tsp kecap manis/dark soy sauce
11. 10 skewers, soaked overnight in water

Satay Peanut Butter Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

1. 15g assam (tamarind)
2. 1/2 cup warm water
3. 125g toasted peanuts, skinless, unsalted
4. 75g peanut butter, creamy
5. 2 shallots
6. 1 cloves garlic
7. 1/2 stalk lemon grass, white part only
8. 1 slice galangal/ginger
9. 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
10. 7.5g palm sugar

Tamarind Jam

1. 250g tamarind
2. 1 cup warm water
3. 1 tbsp honey

Satay PB&J Sandwich

1. Satay meat
2. Satay Peanut Butter Sauce
3. Tamarind jam
4. Bread

Instructions

Satay

1. Roughly chop up the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and galangal/ginger. Pound/blend, then mix in oil, coriander, cumin, salt and kecap manis to make a paste.
2. Marinade the chicken in the paste overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Thread the chicken meat through the skewers.
4. Grill for about 5 minutes each on both sides, until slightly charred.
5. You can eat the satay on the skewers (as it is eaten traditionally, dipped in peanut sauce), or you can make a pretty awesome satay PB&J sandwich.

Satay Peanut Butter Sauce

1. Mash the assam in warm water, then drain and keep the water. Discard any seeds.
2. Roughly chop up the peanuts, then divide into half. Finely grind one half of the peanuts into smaller pieces.
3. In a pot, boil half of the assam water with the peanuts. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 min.
4. Pound/blend shallots, garlic, lemongrass and galangal/ginger to a smooth paste.
5. Fry the paste with chilli powder and peanut butter over medium heat until fragrant and the colour darkens.
6. Add the paste to the peanut mixture, and add palm sugar. Stir to mix thoroughly.
7. Bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer gently for 10 min, until reduced to a thick paste. Serve warm.

Tamarind Jam

1. Mash the tamarind in warm water, then drain and keep the water. Discard any seeds.
2. In a pot, boil the water and add the seedless tamarind and honey. Stir thoroughly.
3. Simmer gently for about 1.5h over low/medium heat, until reduced to jam-like consistency. Add more water if necessary.
4. Cool and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. 

Satay PB&J Sandwich

1. Toast the bread.
2. Spread peanut butter sauce on 3 pieces of bread, about 1 tbsp each (or as much as you want).
3. Remove the grilled chicken satay meat from the skewers, and coat in the peanut butter sauce. Place about 3 skewers worth of meat on each piece of bread.
4. Spread jam on 3 other pieces of bread, about 1 tbsp each (or as much as you want).
5. Sandwich the jam-covered piece of bread on top of the piece with peanut butter sauce and chicken. Serve warm. 

Smörgåstårta (Sandwich Cake)

Adapted from Like a Strawberry Milk. Makes eight small individual tarts or one 24cm. The traditional smörgåstårta is more of a layered sandwich cake with egg filling, smoked salmon filling and cream cheese and prawn filling, but I have adapted this recipe for my own taste and preference.

Ingredients

Base

1. Rye bread
2. 75g unsalted butter, melted
3. Pinch of salt

Filling

1. 5g or about 3 gelatin leaves (add more if necessary)
2. 300g cream cheese
3. 200g creme fraiche
4. 1/2 red onion, finely minced
5. Juice and zest from 1 lemon
6. Pinch of salt
7. Freshly ground black pepper
8. 80g fish roe

Garnish

1. 300g cocktail prawns, de-shelled
2. Smoked salmon
3. Vegetables such as radishes, sugar snap peas, cucumber, dill, chives

Instructions

1. Prepare eight 8cm-wide rings or a 24cm ring on a tray, and line with baking paper.
2. Blitz bread into crumbs, and add melted butter and salt. Divide the mixture between cake rings and press to form a base.
3. Set aside in fridge until needed.
4. Soak gelatin leaves in ice water.
5. In a bowl, mix half the cream cheese with creme fraiche, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper.
6. Heat the remaining cream cheese, then dissolve the gelatin the warm cream cheese. 
7. Incorporate cream cheese gelatin mixture into the creme fraiche with a whisk.
8. Gently fold in the roe into the mixture. Divide between the cake rings.
9. Refrigerate for 1h.
10. Un-mould by running a knife around the rim of the ring. Garnish with prawns, smoked salmon and sliced vegetables of your choice.