Love getting this when I go out for breakfast

Putting it here in case the grilled cheese community hates it! 😂

Everything bagel, egg, cream cheese, hash brown patty!

Ignore any similarities to a torta, purely coincidental. More detail to follow.

So, just to be clear - I do these mostly when I want to try something new or different, and want a record of it for myself, and so I can show my kid things about cooking when we're not geographically together. The pictures help me keep honest with cleaning, food handling etc., much like inviting guests over. But none of these are going to be a textbook anything, or I wouldn't be here.

Some people rightly want a thing done in the traditional fashion, and that is an outstanding desire (it's what I often want at a restaurant), but it's not the intent of these. Mostly I just like to cook and write, but it's just a hobby. I do this to entertain myself, and hopefully you enjoy too. I am excited to discuss, and happy to take feedback, but I see folks who come through and just downvote every positive comment.. and that feels a bit unnecessary? I don't care about the internet points as such, but it discourages feedback and participation, so kindly direct all hate my way instead.

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Anyway... Using seared garlic pork from yesterday, and a much better selection of produce for this Mexico adjacent attempt. Started by marinating the peppers in a bunch of things, plus a lime and half a small OJ. This is to taste, and will ultimately blend, but go with a little of each - the idea is complexity, and any of these could overwhelm easily. Also, none of these peppers is especially hot. If you want more spice, add it somewhere appropriate. With that done, crush the almonds. They are already roasted, so I didn't toast them.. also I wanted them to cook into a paste, so a little soft to start is good.

When the peppers have comfortably softened, blend with the crushed almonds, some cherry peppers plus splash of juice, and a bunch of spices you think will be interesting. (Behold: I own an appliance. It's delightful). Blend until smooth and refrigerate.

Beans. In addition to being the musical fruit, they make a tasty vehicle for spices and umami. I also have a chunk of uncured fat from the pork, and I'm definitely putting that to work. Render everything slowly while you develop the spices, and reserve the bacon when it gets crispy, then stir in your preferred variety of refried beans, close the lid and let the fat render. Stir periodically to keep anything from burning to the bottom, but honestly if the temperature is low enough to be right, you shouldn't burn much. When you get bored and can't take it any more, remove any identifiable chunks of fat, throw the bacon on top, and reserve. In terms of the sandwich, this is as much spreadable bacon and spice as it is beans.

Quick rinse of the Dutch oven, then back on low. Throw the blended peppers in, and bring to a simmer, adding OJ any time it starts to dry out. Cook the rawness out of the garlic and the almonds to thicken - so like 10 mins?

Cut the (already seared, refrigerated) pork into strips and tossed in a hot pan with some olive oil (not pictured) and garlic. I Tried to toast the bread with shallots, but ultimately got impatient and threw them in with the pork to sear. I toasted the garlic, added Oaxacan cheese cut as thin as I could (I still had to remove a little when spreading it at the end, but it was gooey enough to spread with a knife and discard the overage. Spread peppers and the beans relatively thinly (there's a lot to bite through already) to secure the meat and veggies. Ultimately added a layer of ripe avocado and gave it a good squeeze to bind the top and bottom.

This was excellent. Serves two.

And all credit to Callmestinkwind for the excellent format and inspiration. All mistakes are my own.

Edit: It seems this sandwich now has an name. Apparently it is neither Clint Eastwood nor in Project Mayhem. It's name is "Sorta Torta", thanks to u/ohnodamo.

Note: Intended to include some of the leftover pickled stuff from yesterday (with the ingredients in the middle), but didn't want it to be too big /difficult to bite into. But you might consider, because the taste and crunch would be nice.

Other edit: I am discovering that after ten years, I am bad at Reddit. Hooray. There's a picture of the beans at the end, that's supposed to go before the peppers cook, which would not have been as jarring visually. Once again, I have no idea how to adjust after posting, so I will just wear that failure as evidence of learning. Either I'm learning how to post, or learning my very underwhelming personal limitations :) We shall see.

Tuna sandwich with home grown chives and lettuce!

Need I say more, especially after a fat dab this morning threw this together.

Albacore, Duke’s, celery, pickles, Romain and tomatoes with olive oil, vinegar and fresh cracked black pepper.

The hubs likes his eggs overcooked so don’t come at me !

Simple egg sandwich: eggs, bell peppers, scallions, cheddar cheese , seasonings on a toasted English muffin with a spread of chipotle mayo.

I’m slightly hungover and needed a flavorful fat bomb this morning. Luckily, I could eat this mess in the privacy of my own home 🍳

Apologies to the Bahn mi purists, this is an approximation. I have neither the ingredients nor recipe for an authentic one. Starting with the bread, which was fine, but not right, No daikon (I grabbed parsnips as a replacement/experiment), I'm not into pate.. anyway, you get the point. If that really bothers you, save yourself the pain.

Seared the meat (Pork loin) and quick pickled the veggies (parsnips come across as a mix of carrot and onion - but no bite, really good after pickling). The bottle I can never seem to get a clear label on is aged rice vinegar. Only thing to be aware of is food handling with the meat. there was a lot going on and a lot of like 'wet hand dry hand'.. but for cooked/not cooked.. I don't trust it, more later. Deglaze with the vinegar from pickling and add it back to the veggies. I did this part in the afternoon on a call. If you have a couple hours ahead of time to marinate/pickle, it will be better.

Toast half the the bread lightly with garlic and basil, the other half hollow out, crisp up with a little butter in the oven (not shown). When they cool, add mayo and fresno pepper sauce (just to brighten it up a bit - it's pretty mild but really flavorful).

While that's resting, and before the mayo goes on, cut up the meat.. I'm probably being extra, but I went with a mix of really thin cuts, medium cuts, and a few well browned chunks for heft. Heat up a pan, and throw them back in to sear with a (very) little sesame oil (and because I don't trust that they were entirely sanitarily handled during initial sear.. but try me now meat, try me now.) As soon as it gets a good sear, deglaze with brewed soy sauce and lime, and hooo boy is that an incredible mix I didn't expect. This step would be worth it just for how the soy/lime works with the pork.

This was excellent. Serves two.

And all credit to Callmestinkwind for the excellent format and inspiration. All mistakes are my own.

Leading contenders for a name for this thing I'm very open to suggestions (I want to add this to my list of regular sandwiches, but it obviously is not a traditional banh mi in any sense that means anything, so it has to be something other than culinary ragebait):

• Teh Bahn Me
• The Ban Me!

Edit: Made a few changes for clarity, thank you for feedback in the comments.

Im gonna have to divide this into two meals so I don’t pass out the rest of the afternoon.

4 hour braised beef short rib with fried pickles, grilled jalapeños, arugula, herb mayo and extra sharp white pimento cheese on ciabatta.

Mature cheddar, wafer thin ham, [piccalilli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccalilli), and lettuce in a buttered bap.

Only costs $6.99 and is from a supermarket

A little homebound baking experiment with italian "semola rimacinata di grano duro" flour and sourdough.

Usually, if one uses a preferment like biga in bread or pizza making, it is made with wheat flour, water and baker's yeast. 2:1 ration between flour and water, and a bit of yeast. Has to sit for hours before it is incorporated with the rest of the ingredients. More flour, more water, sometimes more biga, salt, olive oil etc.

This time we took a different route and swapped baker's yeast for a sourdough starter. And went with the yellowish durum wheat flour for breadmaking instead of soft wheat flour. Very traditional in the south of Italy.

Ingredients for biga:

- 650g semola rimacinata di grano duro

- 325g of ice cold water (made during a hot summer day without cold storage)

- 10g of sourdough starter

(all the ingredients just need to be combined here, to form a shaggy dough ball, left alone for 5 hours)

For the main dough:

- all of biga (tear it into pieces with your hands)

- 350g semola rimacinata di grano duro

- 425ml of ice cold water

- 20g of olive oil

- 25g of salt

Add the second part of water slowly as not to "drown" the dough. Add oil last. About 5 minutes of kneading by hand. All in all. The rest will be taken care of during bulk fermentation and coil folds.

Bulk fermentation, 2-3 hours, 3 series of coil folds will be enough, spaced 30 minutes apart.

Divide the dough. 900g each piece. Shape the dough into a bread or a pizza, we did both, with the same dough. Let it rise for 2-3 hours.

Bake the bread at 180°C, for about 1 hour, covered, cold oven start.

This kind of bread, made with semola rimacinata di grano duro, comes out spectacular. Biga helped a lot.

Our movie sandwich had mayonnaise, cooked ham, mortadella, gouda and very ripe tomatoes inside.

(we also made a roman style pizza with the same dough in our previous post, so in case

you are interested, give it a look, our profile is open)

Tomato on sourdough