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The Candid Appetite

Where Cooking Meets Photography

lunch

The Classics: Turkey Club Sandwiches

November 20, 2018

If there’s a club sandwich on the menu, I will never not order it…or at the very least, never not consider ordering it. I’ll usually try to convince myself that getting the club is the best option. There’s just something so amazing about a sandwich with three slices of bread, just loaded with bacon, roasted turkey, ham, mayo and of course finished with lettuce and tomato because we do make healthy choices in life. Turkey clubs remind me of being a child and going to the local diner and feeling like an adult when the massive sandwich with a big mountain of fries was placed in front of me. Don’t even get me started with the sword toothpicks because let’s be honest, that was one of the main reasons why I loved ordering them. What kid (or certain adults) wouldn’t love a tiny plastic sword holding your food in place?! It’s a dream come true. These Turkey Club Sandwiches are also a dream come true, and now there’s no need to venture out to your local diner to get subpar food. I know it might seem like a turkey club is so simple to make and how could you really mess it up? I’m here to tell you that you can most definitely take some wrong turns, but luckily you’ll be good to go from now on. 

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Filed Under: Lunch, Main Dishes, Sandwiches Tagged With: lunch, Main Dishes, Sandwiches, Thanksgiving Leftovers

Simple Chicken Salad

April 13, 2018

I’ve never really been a big fan of chicken salad. Mainly because it’s always loaded up on mayonnaise and has too many veggies, and grapes, and you know how I feel about savory and sweet combinations. I’ve never been a fan. So I was somewhat hesitant to try out this recipe, but as I was flipping through Amber Wilson’s gorgeous cookbook, For the Love of the South, I came across this recipe and the photo alone made me want to make it immediately. It’s the simplest of chicken salad, flavored with just a bit of salt and pepper, fresh herbs and what really makes it over the top, is the homemade mayonnaise. I love that this isn’t really served as a sandwich at all, but you can if you want to, rather it’s served on crostini to really hone in on that appetizer/snack feel to it. A little Creole mustard and a few cornichons round out everything so nicely in the park. The good news is that it’s super easy to make for yourself, but the bad news is that it’s super easy to make for yourself, and having this on hand in the fridge 24/7 seems a little crazy. 

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Filed Under: Lunch, Main Dishes, Quick and Easy Tagged With: chicken salad, cookbook, Dinner, lunch, Main Dishes

Steak and Brie Sandwiches

August 9, 2017

I wanted to share a ridiculously easy recipe that requires hardly any time at all to put together because I’m no monster, and I know that we don’t always have all the time in the world to spare in the kitchen, especially during the work week. Those few and far in between moments of freedom in life need to be cherished and not spent working away over a hot stove. Let’s keep that in mind from now on and for the rest of summer, deal? I’d like to think that everyone of you (myself included) has the chance to make some of the more lavish recipes on the blog, on a daily basis, but I know that isn’t always the case. Sometimes we’re too tired or just simply too busy. I totally understand that. So that’s where these Steak and Brie Sandwiches come in. They’re not only incredibly simple to whip up, but they’re also super delicious and very filling, which is my main concern half the time. No one needs an unsatisfying lackluster meal. If I told you that the only thing we have to cook for this recipe was the steak itself, would that convince you even more to give it a try? You don’t even have to answer because I know you’d say yes. I’m already saying yes for the both of us. Whenever steak and brie are involved, we don’t have to think twice about it. 

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Quick and Easy Tagged With: Dinner, lunch, Sandwiches, steak

Asparagus Polenta with Burrata and Prosciutto + GIVEAWAY!

April 11, 2017

I’m currently obsessed with Melissa Clark’s new cookbook, Dinner: Changing the Game. Being a food photographer, I tend to look through a cookbook first through it’s images, and then through the recipes themselves. The first thing I noticed about this book in particular was the photography. I can easily say that this book has some of the most beautiful food photos I’ve seen in a very long time. (Hats off to the photographer of the book). The recipes are easy and straight-foward, which is what you want for dinner, especially during the week, when we don’t have all the time in the world, and are just too tired to cook. I don’t know about you, but there are certain times during the week when I’m just really stumped and don’t have a clue of what I want to cook for dinner. It’s hard sometimes to land on something to make because I get bored of cooking the same dishes over and over again.  When this happens, I usually start thumbing through the cookbooks on my shelf to find some inspiration. 

To help you with the doldrum dinner dilemma, I’m giving away a copy of this book to one lucky winner. If you’ve ever participated in a giveaway on this blog, then you’ll know how they usually work. Just in case you’re joining us for the first time, I’ll let you know the rules. To enter, leave a comment answering a question I’m about to give you. You have until Friday to enter. One winner will be picked at random and notified via email. My mamma’s greatest pleasure in life is reading the comments on this blog, so as always, she’ll be reading all of your comments and be picking the winner at random. Usually it involves all the names being put in a jar and she picking one. She loves it. It’s one comment per person, let’s keep things fair. The prompt this time around is, what is your favorite “out meal” to eat? Out meal means those meals when you’re just too tired to cook, or simply aren’t feeling it, so you go out to eat. What is that favorite meal you like to eat, that you don’t make? I want to hear all about it. What is the dish, where do you get it from and why do you love it so much?! The more the merrier. You got this. 

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Quick and Easy, Snacks Tagged With: Appetizer, lunch, polenta, Quick and Easy

Spicy Meatball Banh Mi Sandwiches

March 6, 2017

This recipe reminds me of two of my firsts in my life. It reminds me of the first time I ate pho at a Vietnamese restaurant that my sister introduced me to. I remember distinctly ordering both pho and a banh mi because I wanted to try everything, and because I don’t know about you, but soup isn’t really filling to me. I always just think of it as a starter to a larger meal, but I digress, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. The second first it reminds me of is one of the dishes I cooked all the time when I was younger, and that is a meatball sandwich. I’ve always loved to cook, ever since I was little, and even though I didn’t know how to make many things back then, I tried very hard to cook as much as I could and as often as I could. So the first time I made meatball sandwiches, I realized how easy they were to make and so I would cook them all the time. I wonder if my family ever got tired of them? 

I was surfing the internet the other day and came across a recipe for a meatball banh mi sandwich from Bon Appetit and I instantly remembered about all those times at the local Vietnamese restaurant and those meatball sandwiches I would eat when I was younger. I thought it was such a great idea, and so I wanted to adapt that recipe for myself and give it a try. This is what I came up with and I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it. It’s a great recipe to make during the week for a quick and easy no-fuss no-muss dinner or on the weekend for a delicious lunch. I also think it would be great for a picnic because you can eat it at room temperature and it travels really well. I got a picnic basket for Christmas last year. It’s a nice basket that comes with a blanket and cutlery and plates and cups. Very swanky. And so I’ve been wanting to take it out for a spin. Once the weather gets a bit warmer, I’ll drag Julian out for a picnic and make these sandwiches, you better believe it. 

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Filed Under: Lunch, Main Dishes, Sandwiches Tagged With: Dinner, lunch, Main Dishes, Sandwiches, Vietnamese

Oven-Roasted Buffalo Drumsticks

January 25, 2017

Who isn’t a fan of chicken wings? Julian’s dream dinner has always been a big plate of wings. Last week for his birthday, that’s exactly what I made him, only there were two giant plates of chicken wings on the dinner table instead of one. Talk about dreams coming true. I roasted the wings in a super hot oven on a wire rack—that’s key because it allows for even circulation of the heat and prevents the bottom from getting soggy—until they got super crispy and crunchy. Then I dunked them in a sauce made of melted butter and hot sauce. Classic wing sauce for not so classic wings. They tasted just like their fried counterpart, but my body didn’t know the difference, so I was able to eat as many as I could before I passed out from a food coma. A chicken wing food coma. Best night ever on all accounts. After that evening, I realized that crispy chicken in the oven was key to a happy life. So I thought the most logical thing to do next is recreate the same dish, but with bigger chicken because sometimes chicken wings are too tiny and eating twenty wings doesn’t seem justifiable for a well balanced dinner. 

I like wings, probably not as much as Julian, but I enjoy them from time to time. I’m more obsessed with the drumettes rather than the piece with the two bones. Do you know what I’m talking about? Am I making sense? Am I a crazy person? The answer to all of those questions is yes, definitely yes. As I was saying though, the little drumettes make me feel like I’m a giant eating tiny food. Since the drumettes are my favorite piece of the wing, and since drumsticks are essentially larger versions of them, it only makes sense that I’d like try my hand at buffalo-ing them. We ate a lot of chicken drumsticks as a kid, so its nice to find new ways to eat them now as an adult. They remind me of my childhood. If you’re in need of a quick weeknight meal, packed with so much flavor, look no further. This is it. I know what I’m talking about. 

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Filed Under: Main Dishes Tagged With: buffalo chicken, chicken recipes, Dinner, game day, lunch, super bowl

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Jonathan Melendez is an author, cook, baker, blogger, and food photographer. He lives in Los Angeles, California where he spends most of his time eating doughnuts.

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