I’m always so happy when Monday nights roll around and I get to drive to town and hang out with my cooking buddies for the evening. They are such a jolly bunch and all my stress and fatigue melt away as we cook fabulous food and talk for hours and visit around the campfire or all cozy in the living room. I love those folks!

This week we decided it was high time for something easy, so we settled on sandwiches.

Folks brought all kinds of fabulous breads likes this chewy olive loaf.

I brought two spreads: ajvar and…

…spicy peanut.

The others brought sliced tomatoes…

deli meats…

lettuce picked fresh from the garden…

FIVE kinds of cheese: Muenster, Jarlsberg, Fontina, Havarti and Monterey Jack….

all manner of mustards and sauces and crisp pickles and sprouts and everything you could possibly imagine atop a sandwich, including Deb’s to-die-for maple bacon.

My friend Kat and her Mom made this delish corn and black bean relish, then spoiled us rotten with…

homemade Triple Berry Cobbler made with berries they’d picked themselves that afternoon. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

It was a grand evening.

Next week we’re going to make Indian food and I can’t wait!!

What is your favorite sandwich?

Krista’s Thai Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
3 gloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Taste. Add more hoisin sauce if not sweet enough.

Krista’s Bosnian Ajvar

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, washed and dried
6 large red bell peppers, washed and dried
1 sweet onion, skin on, brushed with olive oil
2-3 garlic clove, peeled and minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Place eggplant, onion and peppers on baking sheet and roast until their skins blacken and blister, about 30 minutes.
3. Put roasted vegetables in a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow them to steam for 10 minutes. This will loosen and moisten burnt skins.
4. Peel off and discard blackened stems, skins and seeds.
5. Place vegetables in large bowl or food processor depending on the consistency you want. Mash in bowl if you want it chunky, puree in processor if you like it smooth.
6. Add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir until well mixed.
7. Store covered and refrigerated. Can be canned to last longer.

Darren’s REALLY good Gluten-free Sandwich Bread
(From Gluten Free Cooking School)

Really Good Sandwich Bread

1 Tbsp. bread machine yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)

2 ½ cups “Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe”
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1tsp. salt

3 eggs (or 9 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. ground flax seed)
1 ½ Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Start by combining the yeast and sugar in a small bowl (I use the smallest in my set of three nested mixing bowls). Add the water while gently stirring the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients – bubbles and foam should form if the yeast is happy.
2. Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum and salt in the largest mixing bowl and stir well.
3. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.
4. By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Blend the dough with a mixer for 4 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough. I bake my bread using an 80 minute setting that allows for 20 minutes of kneading, 18 minutes of rise, and 42 minutes of baking. However, since I don’t use the paddle in by bread machine, I’m effectively doing a 38 minute rise and a 42 minute bake. (The advantage of not using the paddle is that you don’t end up with a hole in the bottom of your bread.)

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loafpan. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until is is about 1 inch from the top of the pan. Then bake at 375 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes.

Other Notes:

* The masa harina in the flour mix for this recipe is usually available in the Hispanic sections of most grocery stores. Due to the way it is processed, masa harina is very absorbent and you cannot substitute corn meal or corn flour. You can purchase masa harina on Amazon.com if it is not available locally.
* If you are allergic to corn then you can make the following substitutions in the flour mix: use tapioca starch instead of corn starch and almond flour instead of masa harina

* If you are allergic to soy, then you can substitute any of the following flours for the soy flour in the flour mix: sorghum flour, garfava flour, or quinoa flour.

* If you are on a dairy-free diet, then you may use soy milk or rice milk. Just make sure that they are gluten free.
* If you are allergic to eggs, use the flax substitute listed in the recipe, or follow the instructions on your favorite egg replacement powder. When I use the flax eggs, the bread is usually slightly wetter than otherwise.

Kat and Shirley’s Thai Corn and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3 ears of corn, cooked
2 cups cooked dried black beans
1 diced red pepper
1 diced red or sweet white onion
2 jalapeno chili peppers, seeded and minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons minced gingerroot
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Juice from 1 large lime
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine corn, beans, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, and ginger root.
2. Whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, and lime juice.  Add to corn mixture.  Season with salt, chill.  Makes 6-8 servings.
3. NOTE:  this recipe is adaptable to tastes, and ingredients available.  Canned black beans can be substituted for cooked, dried beans; frozen corn for fresh corn on the cob.  Amounts of corn and black beans should be similar.  Amounts of chopped vegetables can easily be increased or decreased.  Other mild vinegars can be substituted for the rice vinegar.  It is adapted from ‘From Asparagus to Zucchini:  A Guide to Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce’, from the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition.

Kat and Shirley’s Berry Crisp

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 cup butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Mix berries with lemon juice.
3. In separate bowl mix first measure of brown sugar and flour, then add to berries and toss to coat.
4. Pour into baking dish and top with sour cream.
5. Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour and ginger in medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
6. Sprinkle topping over berries and bake 35 minutes.