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.

Pizza Biscuit Rolls

O.K. anything that remotely resembles pizza is bound to be a big hit. Use some of the red sauce from the spaghetti and meatballs recipe under "Kid Friendly Suppers". I cut the veggies up really small so that they are't obvious. Lets get to it.

First Start with the filling.

• 1/2 onion, chopped finely
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped finely
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped finely
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp oil 
• 1/2 c finely chopped pepperoni(optional)
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce or tomato sauce. Reserve the sauce when you make 
• spaghetti and meatballs.

Saute the veggies in the oil until they are softened. About 5 min. Add the pepperoni and marinara sauce. Let mixture cool.



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees




Second. The biscuits.

• 2 cups all purpose flour or use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 3/4-1 cup milk
• 2 cups grated mozzarella

Combine first five ingredient in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until it is the size of oatmeal or small peas. I like to use a pastry cutter for this. If you do not have a pastry cutter you can use two knives or your fingers. Check out the technique on the video. Add the milk using the smaller volume and adding more if needed. Stir until mostly combined. Turn dough out onto countertop. Gently kneed the dough until it is well combined. Roll the dough out until it is about a 9 x 13 rectangle. Spread the cooled sauce evenly over the dough. Sprinkle mozzarella over sauce. Carefully roll the dough up. Cut it into 1 inch slices and place onto baking sheet pan(watch the video for a great tip on how to cut your slices so they are the same size).Bake at 350 degrees for  15 or 20 minutes until they are golden brown. 

Video Tutorial on You Tube

These treats freeze well and are great for an on the go snack or to pack into a lunch kit for school.
Serve them with a green salad, some raw veggies or a bowl of steaming soup.

My kids love them. Hope they please your crowd too.