Birthday Dinner Review
#11
  Re: (...)

Well, you know how one thing leads to another so this is kind of a double review.

Made my foccacia dough, set it aside to rise while I prepped everything else. Well, it wasn’t ready when I was so I ran across the street to Walmart to see what they had, at this point I had hungry people. For $1.50 I got a simple foccacia, okay, back home to assemble. The vinaigrette needed a little more vinegar than called for, I think, maybe personal preference. I didn’t slice my turkey thinly enough but that’s not a big deal.

All in all, it turned out well. Who doesn’t love the bacon/egg/avocado thing, and arugula is a nice change from spinach. So, I’m giving this a 9. I’m going to make it for the 4th, and not use the turkey. I think it would rate a 10 as an upscale BLT. My sandwich would serve 8 easily for lunch, as an app or part of a buffet, many more. And, if I had sliced the turkey more thinly, I would have thrown it on the pannini,, that would be great, too.

[Image: DSCN0960.jpg]

So, the rest of the story….

Now I had an extra avocado (sold in pkg of 2), extra arugula (big bag only), and the foccacia, which finally rose. So, off to Walmart again, for 3# of sweet onions. Caramelize those, wilt the arugula, add the avocado and some chopped walnuts and the rest of the blue cheese, drizzle with olive oil and another lunch, a flatbread pizza.

Good choice, Maryanne, a keeper!


PJ
PJ
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#12
  Re: Birthday Dinner Review by pjcooks ([br]Well, you know h...)
Cobb Salad Muffaletta Review

This is a nice recipe to use when you want to do a lot of your prep work ahead of time, which is exactly what I did. In the morning I made the dressing, hard-boiled the eggs, sliced the tomatoes, cooked the bacon, and baked my own focaccia bread. In the evening, it was very easy to grill the turkey tenderloin and put the sandwich together.

What a surprise that was. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I sure wasn’t prepared for the gynormous size of this sandwich, and was not able to use all of the turkey tenderloin while making it. As it was, we had to squish it down a lot in order to take a bite of it. I liked all the flavors, but Ron wasn’t wild about the consistency of the sandwich. He thought it had too much “mushy” stuff on it. In other words, he didn’t care for the eggs or the avocado on it. His second slice, he took them off and liked it much better. I thought it was good as it was, but will make the following changes to suit our tastes better.

First of all, I’ll buy some nice crusty Italian sub rolls for this. (My focaccia bread, while tasty, was not crusty) Then, I won’t pile quite so much on the sandwich, or at least slice everything thinner. The combination of flavors is good, the way I made the sandwich left a lot to be desired. For a round loaf, I think it would be desirable to remove some of the bread in the middle, as my homemade bread was too “bready” for a sandwich. With these changes, I would probably give this an 8.
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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#13
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by Mare749 (Cobb Salad Muffalett...)
We liked this well enough, but I think there were just too many 'bland' flavors to add up to a really tasty sandwich. We both gave it an 8, probably won't make it again, without some subbing.

I made a good size focaccia and quartered it for the freezer, so was able to make just a sandwich for two, but I do have turkey tenderloin leftover to play with. hmmmm
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#14
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by cjs (We liked this well e...)
We really LOVED this one. We gave it a 9. (And I've made it twice.)

I made my own focaccia. Mine is stretched into a sheetpan, so is rectangular and fairly thin and very crusty. I had always thought that was a drawback for a sandwich, so had never used it that way. After reading everyone's review, I guess that's a good thing for this recipe.

I couldn't get arugula, so I subbed with red leaf lettuce. I do want to try it with the arugula one time though.

I used a Jennie-O Applewood Smoked turkey tenderloin. I guess the smoke flavor is injected, but it was all I could get. We really liked it. I sliced it VERY thin. After squishing down, it was a managable sandwich to eat.

Like Maryann said, I liked the fact that I could do all the prepwork ahead so that all I had to do was grill off the tenderloin and bacon and assemble the sandwich. The first time I made this was when I discovered grilling bacon and won't go back...at least during summer monthes!

I too had plenty of turkey left over to play with, but couldn't tell you what I did though, it's been a couple of weeks...

Shut up Jean...LOL!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#15
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by Gourmet_Mom (We really LOVED this...)
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#16
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by cjs ( [img]/ubbthreads/im...)
Did you grill the bacon on the barby? If you did, how did you manage the flare ups...for that matter how did you grill the bacon? I usually do mine in the oven and then drain it on paper towels.

My foccacia has never satisfied me with either the texture or the flavor. I had some at a fair that was about 3" thick with whole garlic cloves and chopped garlic in it and lots of rosemary and some sea salt. That was my ideal.
Don't wait too long to tell someone you love them.

Billy
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#17
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by bjcotton (Did you grill the ba...)
Yes, I did it on the barby. My grill is set up for indirect heat, so no flair ups. Came out flat and crispy and no clean up! If the pan is out, I would just heat one side and cook on the other.

I really like my focaccia. I'll be using it for certain sammies from now on. I like the garlic idea. Was it roasted before adding you think? I always use olive oil, rosemary and sea salt on mine. Sometimes I season my oil with onion/and or garlic. YUM!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#18
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by Gourmet_Mom (Yes, I did it on the...)
I love to use my roasted garlic and the residual garlic oil on/in my focaccia - plus rosemary and salt.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#19
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by cjs (I love to use my roa...)
Jean, I just realized, that's what I need to do with those little ones in the center. You know, they're really too small to mess with, so I pop a clove off a fresh head. I'll roast them and keep them in a jar for use like this and others.....DUH!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#20
  Re: Re: Birthday Dinner Review by Gourmet_Mom (Jean, I just realize...)
Daphne, could you post your focaccia bread recipe for me?
I would like to compare it to mine and try to figure out why mine wasn't crispy, or better yet, just use your recipe. Thanks so much.
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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