Grilled Chicken Avocado Club Sub with Spicy Sundried Tomato Mayo

Grilled Chicken Avocado Club Sub with Spicy Sundried Tomato Mayo

These may be the lazy days of summer but summertime meals can still be just as time constricted as any other time of the year. With a 5:30 baseball game to attend one evening, it left very little time for a family dinner but a little pre-planning saved the day once more. We had grilled chicken breasts the previous evening and purposely grilled extra chicken to make these delicious club sandwiches.

Some homemade Spicy Sun-dried Tomato Mayo made these a little extra special and ripe avocado slices added more flavor and creamy texture in every bite. My daughter declared this the best sandwich she's ever eaten and is already asking when we are having more. With a full roster of baseball games, dance and music camps and other summer activities in the coming weeks, I'd say the opportunity to enjoy them again is probably just around the corner.

Serves 4

• 4 sub sandwich rolls split and toasted
• 4 grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
• 2 ripe avocados, sliced
• 12 slices crisp cooked smoked bacon
• baby spinach leaves
• Spicy Sun-dried Tomato Mayo

Spicy Sun-dried Tomato Mayo

You can make your own homemade mayo for this recipe or use 1 1/2  cups of good quality mayonnaise. Olive oil mayo works really well. Find my recipe for Lemon Olive Oil Mayo here.

• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp crushed chili paste or sauce (more or less to taste)
  1/2 tsp black pepper
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes

Pulse together in a blender until smooth. Store in the refrigerator.

Turkey Club Stromboli

Turkey Club Stromboli

Perhaps we were all a little extra hungry at supper last night but holy-moly did we ever tuck-in to these delicious simple baked Stromboli sandwiches. We are big turkey fans at our house and it often makes a roast dinner that we enjoy as often as every couple of weeks, so leftover turkey ideas are always welcome and this was a terrific one. I've included my dough recipe here but you could easily use store bought pizza or bread dough for a quick weekday meal. I'll confess that I have picked up fresh touton dough from my neighborhood supermarket on the way home from work in order to make Stromboli from different leftover ingredients for dinner.

Makes 2 Stromboli, serves 6-8.

Stromboli Dough:

3-4 cups all purpose flour
1 packet instant yeast
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tsp sea salt

Mix dry ingredients together except for one cup of the flour. Add the warm water and mix very well with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until dough forms. Remove to a floured breadboard or your counter top and knead for an additional 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest for ½ hour, covered in a warm place. Knead again for 5 minutes and split dough into 2 portions and allow to rest for 20 minutes before rolling your dough into the desired size; for Stromboli, roll into about a 12 inch square.

(I bake my stromboli on a pizza stone but alternatively, you could bake the stromboli on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 375 degrees F.)

Preheat a pizza stone in a 450 degree F oven for ½ hour.

Add the filling to the stromboli, layering the filling ingredients down the center line of the dough. Here we have used:

Sliced leftover turkey (about 1 ½ to 2 pounds)

Crisp cooked bacon ( about ½ pound pre cooked weight)

½ cup chopped, oil packed, sundried tomatoes

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Olives make tasty additions if you like. Dijon mustard or garlic oil brushed on the dough is also very good. You can also brush a little milk or an eggwash over the stromboli and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and/or fresh chopped herbs.)

Bring the edges of the dough to the center of the stromboli, covering the filling. Pinch the dough edges and ends together to seal. Gently roll the entire stromboli onto a cornmeal covered wooden pizza peel so that the seam is on the bottom. Cut 3 one inch slits, evenly spaced, in the top of the stromboli dough for venting. Shake the peel to make sure the stromboli moves freely on the cornmeal.

Slide the stromboli onto the hot stone, shaking it slightly in a back and forth motion as you slowly retract the wooden peel. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into individual servings.

Turkey Club Wrap on BBQ Flatbread with Lemon Savoury Mayonnaise

Turkey Club Wrap on BBQ Flatbread with Lemon Savoury Mayonnaise

I like to use any of my pizza dough recipes to make flatbreads on a gas grill. I find dough that was made the previous day and stored in a covered bowl overnight to be best for this purpose. I have posted a couple of them previously on this blog. You can find the plain pizza dough recipe here:
http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/10/grilled-chicken-pizza.html
My whole wheat and oatbran crust recipe can be found here:
http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/steak-and-roasted-red-pepper-pizza.html

I use about 3 ounces of pizza dough per flatbread, forming it into balls and allowing it to rest for about 10 minutes before rolling out to a very thin round of about 9-10 inches in diameter. Lay the dough rounds on a preheated gas grill on medium flame. These cook very quickly, so don't walk away. They will take a minute or less per side. As soon as they are able to be flipped, do so and cook for a minute or less on the other side. It is important not to overcook them, don't allow them to become crispy or else they cannot be folded to use for wraps. We make them all the time during grilling season and use them as a base for quick pizzas, for breakfast wraps, just as an accompaniment for favorite BBQ fare or as shown here, as sandwich or salad wraps. This one is a particular favorite of mine which I often make with leftover rotisserie turkey and add some crisp cooked bacon, baby spinach leaves and sliced tomatoes. The fresh Lemon and Savoury Mayonnaise absolutely makes this sandwich.

Lemon Savoury Mayonnaise

In a blender or food processor combine until thick and pale in color
2 large or extra large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tbsp dried summer savoury

Add oil alternately with lemon juice in three parts, adding the oil very slowly in a thin stream.
1 cup canola oil
Juice of one lemon
This will produce a thick mayonnaise, for a thinner mayo reduce the amount of oil.

Coconut Shrimp With Orange Ginger Dijon Dipping Sauce or Lemon Pepper Mayonnaise

Coconut Shrimp With Orange Ginger Dijon Dipping Sauce or Lemon Pepper Mayonnaise

Coconut Shrimp is one of my favorites. I have a bunch of dipping sauces that I use for them including the two recipes provided. I serve them as a meal with salad or fries, as an appetizer/ hors d'ouevres with dipping sauce or even as a sandwich with sliced tomatoes, baby spinach and Lemon Pepper Mayo on the excellent Belgian bread from Georgestown Bakery around the corner.

• 2 lbs uncooked shrimp
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups cold soda water or beer
• 2-3 cups medium or large cut unsweetened coconut

Combine dry ingredients except coconut. Add the egg and soda water and whisk together just until the liquid is incorporated. Lumps in the batter are not a problem.
Season the shrimp with salt and pepper on both sides. Dredge the shrimp in plain flour to help the batter stick. Dip the shrimp into the batter and then into the coconut, toss to coat completely. Carefully drop them into canola oil filled deep fryer that has been preheated to 325 degrees F. Fry for a few minutes, just until golden brown on both sides. Drain on a wire rack placed over a cookie sheet. Serve immediately.

If you have to fry the shrimp in more than one batch at a time, hold them in a 200 degree F oven on the draining rack to provide air circulation all the way around the fried pieces to prevent the shrimp from getting soggy.

Orange Ginger Dijon Dipping Sauce

• ½ cup orange marmalade
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger root
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Bring all ingredients to a gentle boil for only a minute or two until well combined. Puree until smooth.

Lemon Pepper Mayonnaise

Makes about 2 cups

In a blender or food processor combine until thick and pale in color

• 2 large or extra large egg yolks
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon zest

Add oil alternately with lemon juice in three parts, adding the oil very slowly in a thin stream.

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• Juice of one lemon