Build-your-own sandwiches offer options to satisfy the palate

Sandwiches have come a long way since the bologna-on-white-bread standard fare I used to take to Girl Scout day camp or Vacation Bible School.

This past weekend I had two yummy sandwiches from a great deli and bakery in Valentine. One was an Italian on a focaccia bun and included salami, pepperoni, pastrami, mozzarella, tomato, onion, bell pepper, lettuce and olives, topped with a creamy Italian sauce that was made in-house.

The second was a Reuben on marble rye bread. Although it featured the traditional Reuben fillings — corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut — it was topped with a spicy chilpotle sauce instead of the traditional Thousand Island or Russian dressing. It was an unexpected kick.

The rest of the menu looked just as good.

But you don't have to go out to enjoy such tasty sandwiches. There is no reason you can’t make your own.

Here are some tips (complements of the late Sylvia Rector, a renowned food writer and critic):

To make a great sandwich, start with great breads. Chefs agree breads with substance, texture and the earthy flavors of grain are the real key to more substantial sandwiches. Choose rustic hearth-baked or artisan-style breads. Experiment with different textures, shapes and flavors, and slice them yourself to get the thickness you prefer.

Add flavor by grilling the bread, and roast or grill at least some of the fillings, such as onions, peppers and other vegetables. Seasoning or marinating the meat adds complexity and more layers of flavor. You can grill bread slices individually before assembling the sandwiches, or you can grill the whole thing in a contact grill or a specialized panini maker.

Use grilled or roasted meats instead of sliced cold cuts. Even leftovers from a weekend cookout or Sunday night supper are preferable to processed products. Think oven-roasted turkey breast, slices of rosy grilled steak, pan-seared salmon fillets, or even shredded, slowly braised beef pot roast. And if you love tomatoes on sandwiches, don’t settle for tasteless winter ones; intensify their flavor by slowly roasting sliced or halved Romas in the oven. Add a few leaves of fresh basil or other herbs while you’re at it.

Get beyond mayonnaise and mustard. Shop the aisles of almost any supermarket and you’ll spot prepared chutneys, pestos and tapenade — extremely flavorful condiments that aren’t usually used as sandwich spreads. In the refrigerator section, grab containers of hummus, bottles of salad dressing and tubs of spreadable cheeses.

Rethink everything you know about fillings. Grilled eggplant, broccoli and asparagus are just a few of the vegetables showing up as sandwich ingredients. Don’t overlook fresh vegetables. Pea shoots, rings of sweet yellow or red peppers, or long, thin slabs of crisp cucumber can add crunch, moisture and coolness to sandwiches.

Filling you in on sandwich terms

With so many new breads, ingredients and styles of sandwiches, it sometimes feels as though you need a dictionary just to know what you’re ordering or shopping for.

Here are some of the sandwich words to watch for in cookbooks, on menus or while shopping.

Aioli (ay-OH-lee): A garlic mayonnaise from France’s Provence region and a favorite spread for sandwiches. American chefs often tinker with the original recipe, adding flavors and ingredients such as citrus oils, herb oils or chopped capers, olives or herbs.

Baguette (baa-GHETT): A long, thin loaf of French bread with a hard, crisp crust and an airy, chewy interior.

Ciabatta (chee-BAH-tah): A rustic, oblong, flatbread whose name means slipper in Italian. Unlike focaccia, its top is usually unadorned with herbs and oil.

Flatbread: A huge category of breads shaped as their name implies; they may or may not be leavened with yeast. Ethnic cuisines offer many styles, from Mexican tortillas to Middle Eastern pitas to Italian focaccia. The thinnest, such as lavash and tortillas, are used as casings for roll-up sandwiches.

Focaccia (foh-KAH-chee-ah): A yeast-leavened Italian flatbread, flavored with olive oil and sometimes with herbs, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes or other ingredients before baking. Can be squarish, round or oblong; slice in half horizontally for sandwiches. Use at room temperature or grill it lightly, cut side down.

Panini (pah-NEE-nee): In the United States, panini are thin sandwiches grilled in a grooved sandwich press called a panini grill. In Italy, the word נplural of panino נliterally means small breads, such as rolls or biscuits, but also refers to the sandwiches made with them.

Tapenade (ta-pen-AHD): A thick, nearly pureed paste of black olives, capers, anchovies, olive oil, lemon juice and seasonings, from the Provence region of France. Available as a condiment or can easily be made at home.

Sources: Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts; http://www.baking911.com; Bread Bakers Guild of America

Make it at home

There are a zillion ways to make a patty melt, but this is a straightforward version with extra-lean ground beef, sharp cheddar cheese, grilled onions piled high on flatbread and, of course, topped with coleslaw.

Flatbread Patty Melt

1 medium yellow onion

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 (4-ounce) extra-lean hamburger patties

Salt and black pepper to taste

Four pieces flatbread

4 slices cheese (original recipe used cheddar, but any kind will do)

1 cup finely chopped Southern-style slaw

Condiments of choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Heat the olive oil in a medium-large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Using two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, flatten each hamburger patty to no more than 1/4-inch thick. Salt and pepper both sides to taste, and add to the skillet. Cook on each side 2 to 4 minutes or as desired.

Place the flatbread on a foil-lined cookie sheet or baking pan. Cut each hamburger patty in half and place on one side of the flatbread. Cover with cheese slice and onions. Bake for 5 minutes or until the flatbread is heated through and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, top with slaw, fold and serve immediately with desired condiments.

Makes four sandwiches.

Recipe from: Alicia Ross, Kitchen Scoop

This is one of those rare sandwiches that improves with time. And as an added bonus, it also happens to be a great way to feed a crowd at a picnic.

Here's how it works: Start by slicing a full loaf of bread in half horizontally. A bit of the insides of each half is removed, then the cut side of each half of the bread is liberally coated with an oil- or other fat-based condiment. This step is key because that fat creates a barrier that helps prevent moist sandwich fillings from making your bread soggy.

This recipe calls for a loaf of oblong Italian bread, but pretty much any shape and variety will work so long as the bread isn't crumbly. And while this recipe uses pesto as a moisture barrier, mayonnaise or a cheese spread would work fine, too. And obviously the chicken and salami could be left out or replaced with cheeses or vegetables for a vegetarian version.

Overnight Pressed Picnic Sandwich

1 loaf Italian bread, such as ciabatta

3/4 cup purchased pesto

2 cups coarsely shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken

3/4 cup jarred sweet-hot peppers, such as Peppadew or banana, sliced

4 ounces sliced provolone cheese

4 ounces sliced salami

1 small yellow or orange bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

1 small green bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives

Slice the loaf of bread in half horizontally. Use your fingers to carefully pull or scrape out the inside of each half of the loaf, leaving about 1/2 inch of bread. Spread half of the pesto over the cut side of each half.

Top the bottom half of the loaf of bread with the chicken, jarred peppers, provolone and the salami, in that order. Top that with the bell peppers, then the olives.

Top with the upper half of the loaf. Wrap the loaf tightly first in plastic wrap, then in foil. Place the wrapped loaf on a baking sheet, then top with a second baking sheet. Place the whole arrangement in the refrigerator, then top with something very heavy, such as several bricks, a few large cans of tomatoes, or a cast iron skillet.

Let sit in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to serve, unwrap and slice.

Makes six servings.

Recipe from Alison Ladman, chef and recipe developer

Terri Hahn of Osceola has worked in food media for more than 30 years and has won numerous state and national awards for her writing.