Sloppy Lentil Sandwich

Sometimes my boyfriend gets these silly food ideas that end up being great. I call them “little boy food” or “little boy ideas.” These ideas usually come in the form of desserts, where he’ll go into the kitchen and make some sweet concoction that looks bizarre but tastes delicious. Tonight he actually semi-hijacked my meal and turned it into his little boy food.

I had made lentil soup for dinner and I probably let it cook a little too long. Because of that, a lot of the liquid had cooked off. And by “a lot,” I mean the majority of the liquid was gone and it was more just lentils with vegetables rather than lentil soup. Matt walked in, looked at what was cooking, and said, “Hey, we can make sloppy joes.” I kind of looked him confused, because clearly this is not sloppy joe filling, this is lentil soup! But the more I thought about it, the more I really loved the idea of making it into a sandwich. Since the consistency of the lentils definitely wasn’t soupy, it could easily go on a bun.

The sandwich was messy, much like a sloppy joe. The lentils weren’t entirely happy being between the bun as they slipped out occasionally. But for the most part, most of my lentils did stay on the sandwich.

Very simple and very yummy!

Sloppy Lentil Sandwich
(original lentil soup recipe)

 Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups lentils, soaked, rinsed, and drained
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 ground black pepper
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp white wine
2 bay leaves
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 hamburger buns

Directions

1. In a large pot heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until glossy. Add the garlic, paprika, carrots, and celery. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the tomatoes, lentil, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer. Pour in the wine and stir. Bring to a rolling boil.

3. Lower the heat slowly on the soup. Let simmer at medium-low heat for one hour.

4. See if enough of the liquid has cooked off. If not, keep cooking until the lentils aren’t soupy.

5. Divide the lentils between the buns.

* serves 4
* 362 calories per sandwich
* shared with Tasty Tuesday Party &  Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Beer Battered Grilled Cheese

I missed last month’s Crazy Cooking Challenge (blueberry muffins) because I just forgot to post the link. I made these delicious blueberry rum muffins, but oh well.

This month’s challenge was to make a grilled cheese sandwich. And with grilled cheese sandwiches comes a story from my youth. When I was little my mom loved grilled cheese sandwiches. And if I recall correctly, we had them quite often. But I didn’t realize they were called grilled cheese sandwiches. What I heard was girled cheese sandwiches. I would always get upset that my brother was getting a girled cheese for lunch because I thought they were part of the magical world of girl foods, or something.

In college I ate grilled cheese sandwiches a lot also, mostly because they were cheap and easy to make. A grilled cheese and tomato soup was hands down one of the best meals after a long day working for minimum wage.

This sandwich was a twist on the classic grilled cheese, having the beer batter. I probably should have cooked them a little longer to get a little crispier, but all in all, loved it!

Beer Battered Grilled Cheese
(inspiration)

Ingredients
4 slices bacon
4 slices bread
2 slices mozzarella cheese
2 slices cheddar cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup beer
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Set aside.

2. On 2 slices of bread place 1 slice of mozzarella, 2 pieces of bacon, and 1 piece of cheddar cheese. Top each with a piece of bread.

3. Heat a griddle over medium-high heat. In a shallow bowl combine the egg, beer, flour, and chili powder. Dip each side of the sandwich into the batter and let absorb.

4. Melt butter on a hot griddle. Place sandwiches on griddle. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

* makes 2 sandwiches

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Around The World In 52 Weeks: Coupé Coupé and Yucca Fries

Like I mentioned in my introduction to my journey around the world in 52 weeks, today starts my journey around the world. I’ve invited you all to join my trek across the globe with me. Every week (including this one) I am going to open it up to you guys so you can share your worldly dishes with me. They can be from anywhere!

Guinea is a country in Western Africa and was definitely an adventure for the week! Not only is it likely that I’ll never get to go anywhere in Africa, I also used yucca for the first time ever which was quite an experience. 

Coupé coupé is a dish prevalent throughout Africa, being their version of what we know as barbecue. Originally when I had planned my 52 week journey I had planned to go to French Guinea. Apparently French Guinea doesn’t actually exist anymore, but just because the country borders have changed, the influence that the French have on this region must still be in existence.  The name of the this sandwich, coupé coupé comes from the French word “couper,” meaning to cut or to slice. Traditionally the meat is grilled over hickory wood chips and has a smokey flavor.

Unfortunately, my grill was not yet set up. So rather than fly past this region in West Africa straight to Jamaica (my next week’s adventure,) I decided to make it work and find a way to recreate a barbecue in my oven.  While I’m sure the flavor would be more extreme had I grilled the meat over the wood chips, it was still a tasty sandwich. Also, it would have been better if I hadn’t bought already sliced beef, but had grilled a big chunk. Oh well though.

Additionally, I made yucca fries! I have never used yucca before. I have seen it in the grocery store and have been intimidated by the root. I had no idea how you would prepare it or what it would taste like. The yucca fries however were delicious and actually, I would consider never having french fries again and just replace them completely with these fries. They were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and they gave me a reason to pull my deep fryer out from the depths of my kitchen supplies.

Coupé Coupé

Ingredients
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp powdered chicken bouillon
1/8 tsp cayenne
salt
pepper
12 oz steak
1 tbsp mayonnaise
half anaheim pepper, cut into chunks
half onion, sliced
1/2 baguette

Directions

 1. In a small bowl combine the garlic powder, bouillon, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Rub half of it into the steak.

2. In your broiler brown the steak on both sides.

3. In a roasting dish place 1/4 cup water and the steak. Lower the oven to 350 and cook for a half hour. Remove from the oven, add another 1/4 cup of water, and lower the heat to 250. Bake for 15 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and check if it’s cooked or not. If not, continue this process checking roughly every 20 minutes. Once done, slice the steak.

5. In a skillet with a little bit of oil, cook the onions and pepper. Slice the baguette down the middle and then in half. Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes.

6. To make the sandwich spread some mayonnaise on one side of the bread. Place the onions, pepper, and steak on the bread to make the sandwich.

* serves 2
* I’m sharing this sandwich with Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen 

Yucca Fries

Ingredients
1 yucca root
vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Peel and quarter the yucca.  Cut the yucca into smaller, fry size pieces.

2. Boil a pot of water. Once boiling, add the yucca pieces and boil for 10 minutes or until soft.

3. Either in a deep fryer or deep skillet, get your oil sizzling hot and fry the yucca fries in batches for about 5 minutes a batch.

4. Set on a plate covered with a paper towel. Put some salt on the fries.

* serves 2

NOW! Come travel the globe with me this year.
Every Saturday I will be posting my recipe, as well as pictures to ethnic cuisines you have made and want to share.

- You must mention The Law Student’s Cookbook‘s Around The World In 52 Weeks in the entry you link. You can either use a link or use the banner.
- In your post you must  at least mention what cuisine the dish is.
- Email me your recipe at elizabeth@crabtech.net. Make sure to include:

* Your name or blog name
* The direct link to your post
* A picture of the dish or permission to pull a picture from the post

- Make sure to email me by Saturday at 12noon Pacific Standard Time