Monday 8 June 2015

Bistro Sandwich With Herb Salad and Poached Egg


Have this awesome sandwich for lunch, brunch or even supper. Leave out the ham and make it vegetarian. Even fancy enough to serve to company. Buy good quality deli ham and delicious Swiss style cheese, I have used Jarlsberg, a Norwegian cheese. My family loves this dish, I hope yours will too.


Good quality ingredients make a huge difference. Buy the best that you can afford.
Start by making the vinaigrette. You will need a blender or food processor. I like to use my Ninja bullet to make this dressing.


Put the tomatoes, oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt and pepper into the blender. Blend until the tomatoes are pureed. 

Next, comes the toast. 
Cut 1 inch slices of bread from a French loaf.
Brush both sides of bread with olive oil.


Broil until lightly toasted


Spread one teaspoon dijon mustard onto one side of the toast


Poach the eggs. I have this contraption that fits into my sauté pan. Poach your eggs in water if you don't have one of these.


Poach the eggs so that the yolk is still liquidy.


While the eggs are poaching, assemble the sandwich. Place a generous portion of ham onto the toast. Top the ham with cheese.


Broil the sandwiches until the cheese melts. This will only take a minute or two.


Place about two cups of the herb salad mixture onto your plate. Place a slice of toast onto the salad.



Put one poached egg on top of the toast. Drizzle the tomato vinaigrette on top of it all.


The flavours compliment each other perfectly. Just delicious!


Bistro Ham And Cheese Sandwich (Serves four-six)

Tomato Vinaigrette
1/4 cup tomato, use the best tasting tomatoes that you can find
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
pinch of salt and pepper

The Rest
4 slices French bread, sliced 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 teaspoons dijon mustard
200 grams shaved deli ham
200 grams Swiss, Gruyere, or Jarlsberg cheese, sliced
8 cups mixed salad greens
1 cup fresh basil, torn into small pieces
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
4 eggs

Start by making the dressing. Put all ingredients of the vinaigrette into a blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth. Put dressing in the fridge while you assemble the rest of the dish.

Bush both sides of the bread with olive oil. Put slices of bread onto a foil lined baking pan. Broil bread until lightly toasted. Spread one side of the bread with dijon mustard. Set toast aside.

Make this sandwich vegetarian by leaving out the ham.

Mix salad greens and fresh herbs together. Put about 2 cups of the salad onto each plate.

Poach eggs in water until the whites are firm but the yolks are still runny.

While eggs are cooking. Put a generous portion of ham and cheese onto each slice of toast. Broil the toast until the cheese has melted. It will only take a minute or two.

Assemble the dish. Put toast on top of the salad greens, put the poached egg on top of the toast, drizzle with tomato vinaigrette. Serve immediately.