Giant Tomato: Turkey BLT

I made tukey BLTs with the giant tomato, thought you might like to see a picture. The second one is a little blurry :(

BLTA?

My daughter is in California this week. She called yesterday and told me she was enjoying a BLTA. Must be avocado, I responded.  Seems like they put avocados in almost everything in California.  I have another friend from California who recently commented on this blog that he likes his double cheeseburgers with "lots of bacon, swiss cheese, avocado and if possible, grilled onions." I guess California did invent the California Roll with avocados, and they grow their fair share – approximately 90% of the nation's avocados are grown in California.

We had an avocado tree in Florida which made me bias to preferring the Florida avocados which are larger (often growing twice the size of the west coast fruit) and juicier with a light green, smooth skin. It is less buttery than the California avocado and contains up to half the amount of fat – plus because it was grown in my back yard it was free.

Tonight we're enjoying a BLTA with avocado from... California!
  
4 slices crisp fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, bread mayo, Simple.

By the way the fat in avocados is the the "good" kind, so if you want to eliminate fat from this sandwich, eliminate the bacon!

Bocaditos: Finger Sandwiches

We've all arrived at our present destination via the decisions we've made in life.  It's astounding how two simple words led me on a thirty-year-long path of sleep deprivation, physical flagellation, mental debilitation, moral degradation and artistic suffocation.  Those two words were I do.  No, no, it wasn't the answer to that question. The question was "Do you want a job in advertising as a graphic designer?"  I do.

When I started out, I didn't have a car.  Working in Miami Beach and living over 20 miles away, I had to make two bus transfers followed by a mile walk to get home.  My boss would sometimes give me a ride to my halfway point.  As has always been the norm in downtown Miami, there are countless of homeless people who live under the overpasses of the expressways.  My boss would point and say, "That's what happens to old ad men."  I would chuckle, but believe me, ad men (and women) really are madmen.  It's the relentless deadlines and the unreasonable, inconsiderate, narcissist demands of the clients, and more importantly the biting of ones tongue that brings us to our demise.

But this blog is about food. So where am I going with this? For those of us who cannot speak our minds for fear of losing our income, I suggest we present those who annoy us and make our lives so impossible with the subliminal finger... the Finger Sandwich, that is.

To make a traditional finger sandwich make sure you choose thinly sliced bread of a tight grain. (Unlike what I used in the picture which was a soft white). Cut away all crusts, apply your spread and cut each sandwich into thirds to ensure that fingers alone can perform the task of lifting to mouth.

For the spread we start with a  base of
8 oz. cream cheese
3 - 4 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/2 cup pimento stuffed olives, chopped

Add
6 - 8 oz canned
ham  or deviled ham or tuna or salmon or chicken

Mix all ingredients until smooth

The Cuban bocadito sandwich which one orders at bakeries for parties is made with small sweet rolls (I substitute the Hawaiian sweet rolls found at any grocery) and ham spread.

What's for Lunch: Cuban Sandwich

Most Cuban-Americans have at least one parent or grandparent who worked at some point or another in the "factoria." In our household it was my mother who took the bus at dawn every morning to the sewing factory. On a good day, she could pack a lunch with a leftover slice of Cuban sandwich.


A Cuban comes home from the "factoria" with a big smile on his face. His wife asks in spanish:
—How was your day?
—The boss told me I was sizzling!
—What words did he use? 
—You're fired!

Un Cubano llega a la casa sonriente después de trabajar todo el dia en la "factoria." La señora le pregunta:
—¿Como te fue? 
—Estoy muy orgulloso porque hoy el jefe me dijo que yo era la candela.
—¿Como te dijo?
—You're fired!

Soon after arriving in this country, the children were pulled front and center to translate. To our parents our second grade English was better than no English at all, but at seven years old, we barely had a grasp of our native Spanish! Ahh the frustration, the misinterpretation, the incomprehension, the futile attempts at communication. But alas, we had our Cuban Sandwich and we ate it too!

Ingredients:

Cuban bread (yeah right, like we'd find Cuban bread in the middle of nowhere, we'll substitute with a French bread -NOT a baquette- or as in this picture home baked from a frozen bread dough)
Roast Pork (I made a Hormel boneless pork roast - onion and garlic flavor - threw it into a crock pot until done)
Sweet Ham, thick sliced
Swiss cheese
Dill pickles
Yellow mustard (optional)
Butter

To prepare the sandwich slice the bread horizontally and spread butter on both inside halves. Lay the pickles on the bottom half followed by a layer of roast pork, then ham and swiss cheese. You can spread mustard on the inside top half.  Close the sandwich, spread a little butter on the top and place it on a Panini press (okay, I know you don't have one, but I bet you have a George Foreman grill which works the same, if not then place the sandwich on a hot (not too hot) lightly greased frying pan. Place a heavy iron skillet on top of the sandwich to flatten.) The sandwich should be compressed to about 1/3 its original height.

Grill the sandwiches, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. Slice the sandwich in half diagonally and serve.

Fritas Cubanas and the story of the Humdinger

I had Cuban relatives that ended up straight out of Havana in Highpoint, NC. It was the early 1960's and the population in the surrounding areas was sparse. My uncle had bought himself a car, and with his wife and two daughters decided to explore their surroundings on a Sunday morning. Unaware that all commerce was closed on Sundays, out into the woods they went without packing a picnic. After a few hours of trying to decipher maps, they found themselves totally lost, hungry, and disappointed at finding "closed" signs at every venue they visited. With starvation eminent, they saw a road sign that read Home of the Humdinger! Open two miles ahead. "Hamburgers!" — my English illiterate family exclaimed. Their mouth watered in anticipation of the meal they were about to consume. They arrived at the diner and sat down. A young woman came to take their order. My uncle in his broken English proudly exclaimed "Four humdingers please." Soon the young woman appeared with four huge bowls of overflowing ice cream sundaes. Their chagrin was unparalleled as they slurrped the last bit of their melting slop. This story leads me to the Cuban Hamburger … Fritas Cubanas.

Tonight I'm making this variation of the hamburger for 8, To make less cut the measurments in half.

You will need:

2 lb ground beef

4 Spanish chorizo sausage, ground up

(If you can find them—good for you, but up here, they've never heard of it. When you ask for it they present you with Mexican chorizo. They are not the same. Spanish chorizo gets its distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers (pimentón/paprika). Mexican chorizo usually has the consistency of ground beef, though drier, due to a higher chile and spice content.) 

I'm using 1 lb Italian sausage, so there!
2 tablespoons ketchup

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 medium onion grated

2 cloves fresh mashed garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp. sweet Spanish paprika

(pimenton)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Hamburger buns

Mix all ingredients and form into patties. Cook on the grill or in a frying pan. Top with shoestring potatoes and serve on a traditional American hamburger bun.

Normally Fritas Cubanas are topped with shoe string potatoes, but if you prefer, you can grate them as you would do with hash browns.

4 large potatoes, chopped or finely grated, fried crispy.