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Sandwiches Iron Chef Clinic style

For many years, the Ohio State University, Jefferson County Extension 4-H has held an Iron Chef Clinic, giving 4-H teams a chance to work together on a specified category recipe and then prepare and bring it to be judged.

The judging is probably the hardest part for the participants who realize their creation will be scrutinized ingredient by ingredient in a taste test and looked over for an attractive presentation.

The 4-H members seem to thrive on the competition, however, as more and more teams from the many clubs in the county enter each year and proudly show off their creations.

This year the category was sandwiches, and they could be in appetizer, dessert or main dish areas.

Awards went up to fifth place, and there were many excited members, either winning or just enjoying the competition and tasting the food for a small fee later on.

I attended the event in 2012 but was unable to do so this year, much to my regret.

Here are some of the recipes I found to look quite tasty. But in time, I will try to get all of the recipes printed.

The Steubenville Spirits 4-H Club put together this recipe. I don’t know if Joey Wood was part of this team or not, but he is involved in many cooking endeavors. This received a first-place award in the main dish category.

Lunch Meat Bake

2 tubes crescent rolls

1/4 pound sandwich pepperoni

1/4 pound provolone cheese

1/4 pound salami

1/4 pound baked ham

1/4 pound mozzarella cheese

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Lay out a package of crescent rolls on the bottom of a greased pan. Layer all the meats on top; then add cheese on top of the meat. Beat eggs, parmesan cheese and pepper with a fork until mixed well. Pour over top of cheese layer. Save enough to brush across top layer of crescent rolls. Unroll remaining package of crescent rolls on top of meat, cheese and eggs and brush with a bit of the saved egg mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, covered with foil. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes uncovered until the top is browned. Cool slightly to let the cheese come together and cut into squares to serve.

Note: Now you can buy crescent rolls that do not have indentations, just a solid sheet that makes it easier to place a crust on top.

Lamont thought he would like me to make this recipe. It is from the Warren Ridge Wranglers 4-H Club. It took fourth place in the main dish category.

Carpaccio Steak Sandwich on Jalepeno Focaccia Bread

2 filet mignon, seasoned with salt and pepper

3 Roma tomatoes

1 green pepper

1 small jalapeno

1 medium sweet onion

1 bunch fresh cilantro

2 loaves pre-made bread dough, thawed and brushed with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a sprinkling of salt

Bag of queso cheese, shredded

15 jalapenos, chopped or sliced

Mayo and garlic salt

Chopped lettuce and tomato salsa

Sear steak 3 to 4 minutes on each side in heavy skillet and then let rest. Dice the vegetables and mix together. Mix queso cheese and jalapenos and sprinkle on raised bread. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool and cut into sandwich slices. Spread mayo on sandwiches and sprinkle with garlic salt. Assemble with steak that has been cut into bite-size pieces. Garnish with lettuce, tomato salsa and chopped vegetables.

Here is a sandwich done dessert style by the Backwoods Gang 4-H Club. It is a peanut butter cookie filled with a creamy peanut butter filling. Just my kind of dessert. I would even consider it for a main dish sandwich I like peanut butter that well.

Backwoods Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Add vanilla and then eggs, one at a time. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add slowly to creamy mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Flatten balls with fork. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Filling:

Combine 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 5 tablespoons milk in a small bowl for a frosting-like texture. Frost one cookie and add a dollop of jam on the other cookie, if desired, and make a sandwich with the two cookies.

Note: I would press down the peanut butter dough balls with a glass that was dipped into sugar to make the cookies look more like sandwiches. Match up cookies of like size when putting them together, if possible.

I have always been a great admirer of cream puffs, not the ones overflowing with a creamy filling, just the cream puff shell as it comes off the cookie sheet. I loved when my mom messed one up so I could eat it “as is.”

The Lucky Leaf Livestock 4-H Club made an appetizer with cream puffs and chicken salad that I would like without the hard cooked eggs included in the salad. The club received first place with appetizers.

Chicken Puffs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat butter and water to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and thyme, reduce to low heat. Stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add 1 egg at a time. Drop dough by teaspoon onto a cookie sheet, greased. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cut off top third of each cream puff and pull out any filaments of soft dough. Fill puff with chicken salad.

Chicken Salad

3 pounds chicken breasts cooked until tender, 30 to 40 minutes and diced when cold

4 cups Miracle Whip

1 cup brown vinegar

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chopped celery

Yellow mustard to taste

1/2 cup sweet relish

10 eggs, hard cooked and diced

Mix Miracle Whip, vinegar, celery, sugar, mustard and relish together. Add diced chicken and diced hard cooked eggs. Mix well and fill the cream puffs.

Note: Place the 10 eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil with a lid on and turn off stove. Leave pot on the stove for 15 minutes. Run cold water over eggs then peel immediately.

Lamont liked this recipe as well. It is from the Barshoe Wranglers 4-H Club. It calls for mixing dry onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and sliced roast beef and piling it on a hoagie bun and baking it with cheese. He said yum!

Dripping Roast Beef Sandwiches with Melted Provolone with Au Jus

Package dry onion soup mix

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

6 slices provolone cheese

1 sauteed onion, optional

1 pint beef broth

1/4-pound sliced roast beef

7 hoagie buns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, add dry onion soup mix, beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Saute onions in a bit of oil, if they are used. Add to soup mix and allow to heat up for about 3 to 4 minutes. Place buns on baking sheet and add meat. Top with onion mixture and the provolone that has been cut into pieces. Bake 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Pour the remaining soup in a bowl and serve as the au jus.

(McCoy can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)

Sandwiches Iron Chef Clinic style

For many years, the Ohio State University, Jefferson County Extension 4-H has held an Iron Chef Clinic, giving 4-H teams a chance to work together on a specified category recipe and then prepare and bring it to be judged.

The judging is probably the hardest part for the participants who realize their creation will be scrutinized ingredient by ingredient in a taste test and looked over for an attractive presentation.

The 4-H members seem to thrive on the competition, however, as more and more teams from the many clubs in the county enter each year and proudly show off their creations.

This year the category was sandwiches, and they could be in appetizer, dessert or main dish areas.

Awards went up to fifth place, and there were many excited members, either winning or just enjoying the competition and tasting the food for a small fee later on.

I attended the event in 2012 but was unable to do so this year, much to my regret.

Here are some of the recipes I found to look quite tasty. But in time, I will try to get all of the recipes printed.

  • ????

The Steubenville Spirits 4-H Club put together this recipe. I don’t know if Joey Wood was part of this team or not, but he is involved in many cooking endeavors. This received a first-place award in the main dish category.

Lunch Meat Bake

2 tubes crescent rolls

1/4 pound sandwich pepperoni

1/4 pound provolone cheese

1/4 pound salami

1/4 pound baked ham

1/4 pound mozzarella cheese

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Lay out a package of crescent rolls on the bottom of a greased pan. Layer all the meats on top; then add cheese on top of the meat. Beat eggs, parmesan cheese and pepper with a fork until mixed well. Pour over top of cheese layer. Save enough to brush across top layer of crescent rolls. Unroll remaining package of crescent rolls on top of meat, cheese and eggs and brush with a bit of the saved egg mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, covered with foil. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes uncovered until the top is browned. Cool slightly to let the cheese come together and cut into squares to serve.

Note: Now you can buy crescent rolls that do not have indentations, just a solid sheet that makes it easier to place a crust on top.

  • ????

Lamont thought he would like me to make this recipe. It is from the Warren Ridge Wranglers 4-H Club. It took fourth place in the main dish category.

Carpaccio Steak Sandwich on Jalepeno Focaccia Bread

2 filet mignon, seasoned with salt and pepper

3 Roma tomatoes

1 green pepper

1 small jalapeno

1 medium sweet onion

1 bunch fresh cilantro

2 loaves pre-made bread dough, thawed and brushed with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a sprinkling of salt

Bag of queso cheese, shredded

15 jalapenos, chopped or sliced

Mayo and garlic salt

Chopped lettuce and tomato salsa

Sear steak 3 to 4 minutes on each side in heavy skillet and then let rest. Dice the vegetables and mix together. Mix queso cheese and jalapenos and sprinkle on raised bread. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool and cut into sandwich slices. Spread mayo on sandwiches and sprinkle with garlic salt. Assemble with steak that has been cut into bite-size pieces. Garnish with lettuce, tomato salsa and chopped vegetables.

  • ????

Here is a sandwich done dessert style by the Backwoods Gang 4-H Club. It is a peanut butter cookie filled with a creamy peanut butter filling. Just my kind of dessert. I would even consider it for a main dish sandwich I like peanut butter that well.

Backwoods Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Add vanilla and then eggs, one at a time. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add slowly to creamy mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Flatten balls with fork. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Filling:

Combine 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 5 tablespoons milk in a small bowl for a frosting-like texture. Frost one cookie and add a dollop of jam on the other cookie, if desired, and make a sandwich with the two cookies.

Note: I would press down the peanut butter dough balls with a glass that was dipped into sugar to make the cookies look more like sandwiches. Match up cookies of like size when putting them together, if possible.

  • ????

I have always been a great admirer of cream puffs, not the ones overflowing with a creamy filling, just the cream puff shell as it comes off the cookie sheet. I loved when my mom messed one up so I could eat it “as is.”

The Lucky Leaf LIvestock 4-H Club made an appetizer with cream puffs and chicken salad that I would like without the hard cooked eggs included in the salad. The club received first place with appetizers.

Chicken Puffs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat butter and water to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and thyme, reduce to low heat. Stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add 1 egg at a time. Drop dough by teaspoon onto a cookie sheet, greased. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cut off top third of each cream puff and pull out any filaments of soft dough. Fill puff with chicken salad.

Chicken Salad

3 pounds chicken breasts cooked until tender, 30 to 40 minutes and diced when cold

4 cups Miracle Whip

1 cup brown vinegar

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup chopped celery

Yellow mustard to taste

1/2 cup sweet relish

10 eggs, hard cooked and diced

Mix Miracle Whip, vinegar, celery, sugar, mustard and relish together. Add diced chicken and diced hard cooked eggs. Mix well and fill the cream puffs.

Note: Place the 10 eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil with a lid on and turn off stove. Leave pot on the stove for 15 minutes. Run cold water over eggs then peel immediately.

  • ????

Lamont liked this recipe as well. It is from the Barshoe Wranglers 4-H Club. It calls for mixing dry onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and sliced roast beef and piling it on a hoagie bun and baking it with cheese. He said yum!

Dripping Roast Beef Sandwiches with Melted Provolone with Au Jus

Package dry onion soup mix

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

6 slices provolone cheese

1 sauteed onion, optional

1 pint beef broth

1/4-pound sliced roast beef

7 hoagie buns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, add dry onion soup mix, beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Saute onions in a bit of oil, if they are used. Add to soup mix and allow to heat up for about 3 to 4 minutes. Place buns on baking sheet and add meat. Top with onion mixture and the provolone that has been cut into pieces. Bake 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Pour the remaining soup in a bowl and serve as the au jus.

(McCoy can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)

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