sorrell from the garden and bread from the oven

just lately, i've been eating a fair bit of sorrell, which i have growing in a trough on the balcony. it's been going for about a year now and it's nice to have something salady at hand.

the sandwich of the moment for me is prawns, mayonnaise, sorrel and continental parsley with my homemade bread rolls. i buy just a few big prawns (easier to peel) which are already cooked, spread on the mayo, shred the sorrell and parsley roughly and grind on some pepper. very easy and fresh, and a lovely gourmet treat. i never find a bought prawn sandwich as satisying because there tends to be a lack of prawn flavour.

not a conventional steak sandwich

paul, the carpenter, has been jack hammering and sawing and generally ripping out my old laundry, so i thought it was important that he was fed meat - there used to be a commercial on television when i was young which encouraged people to feed the man meat.

600 grams rump steak, cut at least 2 1/2 centimetres thick, a generous 3 centimetres is better
seasoned salt
lemon pepper
butter
1 large onion, sliced
more butter
250 grams mushrooms, sliced
more butter
more seasoned salt
4 large slices of sourdough bread
yes yes....more butter...again...
a few rocket leaves (i used home grown because i had it in the garden)
slices of tomato

sprinkle seasoned salt lightly over the rump steak on both sides, then sprinkle the lemon pepper over the steak a little more generously, again on both sides. set aside.
place 2 tablespoons of butter in a cast iron pan or non stick pan and heat until bubbling and add the onions leave the onions a little while to colour before flippling them over. repeat until the onions are soft. remove them from the pan and set aside.
place another 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan and heat until bubbling and add the mushrooms. sprinkle lightly with seasoned salt and leave them for a litlle while to colour before flipping over. repeat until the mushrooms are done to your liking. remove them from the pan and set aside with the onions.
place 2 tablespoons again of butter in the pan and heat until bubbling and ensure the pan is well and truly heated and add the steak. leave the steak alone in the pan for 3 minutes. don't be tempted to fiddle with it. once the three minutes has elapsed, turn the steak over and leave it alone for another 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. if the steak is thin, 1 1/2 minutes might be best. remove the steak from the pan and allow it to rest.
butter the soughdough bread and toast the bread in the pan until golden.
slice the steak thinly, and hopefully, it will be rare, or at least rarish.
pile the steak onto 2 slices of bread generously. top with onions, mushrooms, rocket and tomato. place the 2 slices of bread remaining on top and serve.

chicken lavosh rolls

i first tried these at what was then the sheraton on the park hotel on elizabeth street as part of their high tea selection. this is really a glorified chicken sandwich which is nice to serve as finger food. i like it because i can prepare it a day in advance and slice it up as i need it.

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 small tub plain thick yogurt
1 onion, chopped and softened in butter
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
salt to taste
1 red capsicum, cut in fine slivers
6 pieces lavosh bread

combine the chicken, yogurt, onion, curry powder and salt. lay out a piece of cling wrap (cut larger than the lavosh bread) on a cutting board and place a piece of lavosh on it. spread about 3/4 cup of chicken filling on the piece of bread. place some of the capsicum slivers along the long edge of the chicken and roll the bred up firmly, using the cling wrap to assist the rolling, wrap the roll with the cling wrap entirely. repeat with the remaining mixture. chill the rolls until required; slice the rolls and garnish with parsley and serve.