Home-made Italian BMT

If you ask my boyfriend, he would tell you that I have two vices. No, not drinking or smoking. Not drugs. Not even shopping. My two vices are: 

• Red Bull
• Subway

I have a pretty strong addiction to both these things, and I try to limit my intake to 1 per week. I know how bad both of these things are, so I make sure they are treats and not daily habits. However.... if I made the Subway at home it wouldn't be so bad right? Especially if I made the bread rolls myself, right? Right!

Homemade Italian BMT


Ingredients:
9 inch whole wheat roll (I made these myself, but you could buy from the supermarket)
Sliced cheese
Ham
Pepperoni
Salami
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Sliced tomato
Sliced cucumber
Sweetcorn kernels
Jalapeños
Sliced pitted black olives
Honey mustard dressing

Slice and assemble. Best made on the same day.

White Rustic

Not my hands - the man practising his carving skills!

Just a quick post today to babble enthusiastically about my new breadmaker. It's AMAZING. On Saturday I was making roasted pumpkin soup and I wanted some buttered toast to go with it. I had the ingredients for a White Rustic loaf - 3 parts white and 1 part wholemeal. We were going out later in the afternoon so I put the machine on the rapid cycle (59 minutes) and crossed my fingers. The bread was ready before the soup was! After cooling it cut just like store-bought bread, and the flavour- oh my! Truly delicious. I always find that things taste better when you make them yourself, and this was no exception. I'm a breadmaker convert, and have plans for a weekly loaf, maybe even using the timer so the bread is ready first thing on a Saturday morning. Imagine that! I know, it's pretty much the most exciting thing I can think of too.

Lunch Box - Homemade bread roll

Main: Homemade bread roll with relish, cheese, tomato, cucumber, beetroot, lettuce and mustard
Fruit: Apple Slices
Sweet: Afghan biscuit, broken in two to fit!

Not a very photogenic lunch today I will admit. I don't often make sandwiches, as they aren't very filling and it's easier to fit in a salad. But over the weekend I made my first attempt at bread rolls with my cheat's Kenwood BM200 Breadmaker so I thought, why not make them lunch-box sized? I started by making a whole wheat dough, following the breadmaker instructions. Then I divided the dough into 6 large flat rolls and let them rise, before glazing, topping with sesame seeds and baking in the oven.

I was never really a fan of sandwiches before I came to London and discovered Pret. Although I don't approve of their sushi, Pret make sandwiches like no-one else. They make sandwiches which you drool over. I've heard the calorie content is not that great, but damn they're tasty. My favourite is the Posh Cheddar and Pickle Artisan Baguette. Mature cheddar, pickle, roasted tomatoes, mayo, red onion and cress. It's amazing. I tried to recreate this using my homemade relish and a few extras like cucumber, tomato and beetroot. I may need a few more attempts before I get it just right, but this wasn't a bad start, tasty and very filling. I mean, look at the size of it!

Incidentally, I was given this breadmaker for free from a work college. It's great, because although I know it's easy to make bread from scratch, I can never actually be bothered. This allows you to throw all your ingredients into the machine and get on with other things while your bread is kneading, rising and baking. And you get to enjoy fresh, additive free bread which you can slice and freeze to stop going stale. I'm going to try a half white/half whole wheat loaf this weekend - exciting!!!

Have you got any favorite sandwich recipes to share?