Proscadopple

Huh? Proscadopple. Don't you know? Prosciutto, Avocado and pineapple. It took me a while to combine them, but there you go. hahaha... Yet, there I go again with combining words. But this is just a regular ol' sandwich. I like to think of it as a cousin of the BLT. Sort of.

Made a little sauce spread to go along with it. A simple thousand island like concoction of ketchup, mayo, relish and paprika. Cook up the prosciutto like bacon. Toast up some bread, spread the sauce, place the prosciutto on top followed by some pineapple slices and avocado. Simple easy the saltiness of the prosciutti balances well with the pineapple.

Oh...Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Proscadopple (Prosciutto, Avocado, Pineapple)

4 slices of bread
4-6 slices prosciutto
1 small avocado - sliced
2 round slices of pineapple - drained of juice
 cheese

Spread
1 Tbsp Mayo
1 Tbsp Ketchup
1 tsp sweet pickled relish
1/2 tsp paprika

Mix the ingredients of the spread in a small bowl and set aside.

In a skillet, cook the prosciutto until browned and slightly crisp. Place on a paper towel to drain of any oil.

Toast the bread. Then generous helping of the spread on each of the slices.  Divide the prosciutto among the two sandwiches. Top with the avocado and pineapple and the top slice of bread.

Lavash Breakfast Pizza

 
Well, I didn't have this at breakfast. More like breakfast at dinner. Have I mentioned that I haven't always been a breakfast person? In fact, I'm not much of a morning person. I'm very nocturnal. Not sure why, but that's how I've been for most of my life. I guess I like the quiet solitude that accompanies doing work at night.

I had one more lavash bread. Let's I took a little field trip Whole Foods and found some ready prosciutto. Nice and thinly sliced. I haven't used prosciutto on B + B yet, so why not. It's Italian dry-cured ham. A little saltier than the American ham, yet so good. I love my pork! Anyway...so Lavash plus prosciutto plus...let me see...cheese...tomato sauce...Oh, oh...and EGG! It can't be breakfast with an egg or two. Yes.

Spread the sauce, followed by the cheese (parmesan and cheddar). Make a little border with the prosciutto to hold in the the eggs that i cracked in the middle. Bake it up like a regular pizza and voila...lavash breakfast pizza.

Serves 2

Lavash Breakfast Pizza

1 large lavash bread
4 or 5 thin slices of prosciutto
2 eggs
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/2 c shredded cheddar
1/4 c tomato sauce

Preheat your oven to 375˚F

Lay the lavash bread on a pizza pan or ungreased baking sheet.  Spread the tomato sauce evenly around, then sprinkle both cheeses. With the prosciutto, create a border in which the egg will go into. Crack the eggs, then bake for 10-13 minutes.

Serve warm.

Stir Fry Quesdilla

Still cleaning out the pantry/fridge in some way. A little over two week until my trip to the Philippines. I'm really excited.

Istill had some that lavash bread and havarti cheese. The only thing that came to mind was a nice big quesadilla. *insert big smile here* Mmmm... I rummaged through the pantry and among the cans of tomato sauce was a can of sardines. Boneless and packed in olive oil. A small light bulb moment.

Sardine quesadilla?

There's got to be something else I can throw in there. I savenge the fridge and find some leftover frozen mixed veggies that I totally almost forgot about. Sometimes I think my freezer becomes no man's land. Or should I say land of lost foods. You end up forgetting what's in there sometimes. So I cook that up. Did a quick defrost in the microwave and stir-fry them up with some onion, oyster sauce and soy sauce. Adding the sardine in chunks. Mix it all up and place onto the lavash bread with nice slices of the havarti cheese. I used ol' Georgie once again to press it all together and melt the delicious cheesy goodness. You can omit the sardines all together, if you'd prefer a veggie quesadilla. Either way it's all good eats.

Makes 1 large or 2 small quesadilla

Stir Fry Quesadilla

1 large lavash bread or large tortilla
a few slices of havarti cheese.

1 c mixed vegetables
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 small sweet onion - chopped
pepper to taste
1 small can sardines in Olive oil (optional)

Heat  a little olive oil in a skillet and saute the vegetables and onion until tender. Stir in the oyster sauce and soy sauce, then season with a little pepper -- to taste. Once sauteed, add the optional sardine. Stir it in chunks. (Note you may also use the oil in the sardine to saute the vegetables a onions. Set aside.

Lay the lavash bread on a flat surface. Spread the stir-fry evenly on half and top with slices of cheese. Fold the other half of the lavash bread and press firmly.

If you have a press, heat for 3-5 minutes until the cheese has melted. You may also heat the quesadilla  in a dry clean skillet. Heat both sides for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Serve warm.

Jewel City Diner

I had me one of those mother-daughter shopping days at the Americana in Glendale, Ca. Actually, it was getting several items that I will be bringing with me to the Philippines later this month, but still I love spending quality time with my mom. It was also really lovely day in LA. A mild break from the crazy winds we've been having lately. There was a nice breeze, which made it nice for going to the beach or simple a day out in the park.

Jewel City Diner. Located next to Cheesecake Factory and H&M at the Americana. Most of the outdoor seating was taken, so I opted to eat inside the diner area.   But it did have that diner feel even though the inside had limited room. But you do get counter service, which was pretty neat. They had some of the usual selections. Sandwiches, burgers, hotdogs, salads, desserts.

I order the turkey burger with swiss cheese and a side of onion rings. Look at those tick battered onions rings. It was a mix of crisp with a touch of soggy as the oil it was deep fried it soaked up into the fresh fried rings. Ooo...That's one thing I haven't done on B + B yet...good ol' fashioned onion rings.

Anyway...I had these with some lemonade to wash it all down. The burger had your usual trimming of tomato and lettuce, pickles with may and mustard. Served on a wheat bun, I believe. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't the best burger I've eaten, but it was good enough to keep my hunger down for a few hours. It was just enough to fill me. Not to the point where I need a nap right after. It was the "ok now I'm full and let's keep shopping" feeling. They do offer to slice your burger in half. That's was pretty neat, in case you can't finish the whole thing. As how I always eat my burgers, I like like to go for the veggies first, then eat up the meat and bun after with maybe a load of ketchup per bite.

Jewel City Diner
Americana at Brand
629 Americana Way
Glendale, CA 91210
818.637.8998

Another Late Lunch

I did it again. I went to Porto's Bakery for the second time this week. I couldn't help it. I really can't. I love the place way WAY too much. Wouldn't you go back to a place, if you really loved the food?

A little view of the cafe area. The bests times to go are between 9-11am and 2-4pm. Those are, I think, the semi-lull hours. Though, I wouldn't really call it a lull point.

My mom orders the Feta. This has feta cheese, fresh basil, vine ripened tomatoes,  olive oil, Italian dressing, red onions on a baguette. Served with some mariquitas.  A little reminiscent of the 

This time I ordered the Cubano. (Cuban Sandwich) Slow roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, butter, may and mustard, pickels on Cuban bread. This is a little similar to the Medianoche sandwich my mom had a couple days ago except that the bread is different. Served with some FRESH mariquitas. I say fresh because I saw them bring out a fresh batch. Plus, you know it's a fresh batch when you see a little of that oil still slightly on the surface. Yum!!!

Just to show you how packed the place gets -- here's a pic from their bakery area. The first pic on top was from their cafe area. This is before the end of day rush hour crowd.

Multiply that by two and that's how crowded it can get during peak hours.

Porto's Bakery

Glendale Location
315 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
tel. (818) 956-5996
fax (818) 956-0696

Chicken Lavash Wrap

This one is another quick meal when you have no time. I stopped by whole paycheck...er...I mean Whole Foods and picked up a couple items. A pack of lavash wraps, fresh spinach from the salad bar as well as some fresh mushroom and some roasted chicken. This is perfect for using leftover chicken, if you have. Also a nice small block of havarti cheese. Yum. I had some pineapple tidbits left in the fridge, so I figured I'd use that in my ingredients for this as well.

Wraps a relatively easy to put together. You basically just pile everything and wrap it up like you would a burrito. I decided to used ol' Georgie to heat the wrap as well as press it a little. It melts the cheese, cooks up the spinach and mushrooms a bit. Mmmm...just look at the chicken and cheese wanting to bust out of the wrap. The pineapple brings a nice balance, too.

Makes 2 wraps

Chicken Lavash Wrap

1 large cooked chicken breast or 1 large cooked thighs
2 lavash wraps
2 c fresh spinach
1/2 c pineapple chucks or tidbits
1/3 sliced mushrooms
few slices of havarti cheese

Lay a lavash wrap on a flat surface. Layer the spinach, mushroom, chicken, pineapple and cheese. Wrap it up like a burrito.

Heat your panini press and place the wrap seam side down. Heat both side for roughly 5 minutes until warm enough.

To heat over a skillet, Place the wrap seam side down first. Place a plate or something flat over the wrap and place some weight on top to give it some pressure. A 12oz canned good would work. Heat for 5 minutes on medium heat. Flip the other side and do the same.

A Late Lunch

Today will just be a little quickie post. Yesterday was on of those days where the day was bright and sunny and cooking was the last thing on my mind. Got s few errands done and had myself a lovely late lunch with my mom at one of our favorite Cuban bakery/cafe, Porto's Bakery  I've featured them befor. 

They've been in business since 1960. That would be 50 years of great pastries and breads. They must be doing something right if they've been around that long. Especially with long lines every single day. They're known for their breads and pastries like their potato balls, empanadas, guava and cheese rolls, it's a large selection. When we decided on our lunch it was still before the rush hour crowd. I tell you the place can get really packed.

I order the Glendale Veggie Sandwich also known as the Porto's Veggie. This has roasted eggplant, peppers, zucchini with havarti cheese, hummas spread, lettuce, tomato on a wheat bun. Served with some mariquitas, which are fried plaintain chips.

Look at the  veggi-licious sandwich. I do love my eggplant. The bread is just soft enouh that you can have a piece of everything in one bite. Although, I was craving a nice meaty sandwich to get some protein, my ultimate choice was this one. I don't know why, but hey I'm glad I did.

My mom orders the Medianoche sandwich (Midnight Sandwich). She had the other half in her hand when I took this pic. This had slow roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, butter, mayo, mustard, pickles on a sweet roll.

I was able to sample a little bite of this and it was pretty tasty. They also have a really great Cuban sandwich, if you every stop by there. Quite frankly, I love this place a lot fresh made. This is definitely on LA/Glendale spot worth going to.