Steak and Blue Cheese Sandwich

Super-indulgent, super-fast Sunday lunch!

Ingredients

• a medium porterhouse or rump steak
• a large bunch of spinach
• a medium wedge of blue cheese
• fresh granary bread

Season the steak on both sides, then pan fry in a smudge of oil until rare (90 seconds per side). Set aside to rest. Meanwhile, wash the spinach thoroughly and remove any tough stalks. Place in a large saucepan, still wet; cover with a lid and steam in its own juices for 2-3 minutes, until wilted. Remove and put in a colander; squeeze out the water with a spatula, or, when cool enough, your hands; finely chop. Cut the warm steak against the grain into thin slices.

Reheat the steak pan and, using the oil still in the pan, lightly toast each slice of bread on one side. Onto one toasted side, slice pieces of blue cheese, then top with spinach and steak; close with another toasted side facing in. Repeat for another sandwich, or two. Slice diagonally and serve immediately!

The Special Sandwich

This has been my favourite sandwich since I was a tiny child. I was very set in my ways and would always have tomato-and-cream-cheese or cucumber-and-cream-cheese at school, but at the weekend when I ate lunch with my parents, I would absolutely demand 'the special sandwich'. I now use cheddar instead of Monteray Jack; I'm sure if I could source the latter here in the UK, I'd be instantly transported back to the kitchen in Houston two decades ago.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of granary or wholemeal bread, preferably home-made
• 2 tbsp (approx) of Helmann's mayonnaise
• 4-5 slices of pastrami
• a handful of grated cheddar cheese
• 3 fluffy leaves of lettuce, washed and spun

Spread the mayonnaise over one side each of the bread slices (not all on one side!). Fold the pastrami slices into attractive fluffy wiggles on one piece of bread, so they are well aerated - this gives the sandwich more air and I reckon it makes it taste even better. Add the grated cheese, and then the lettuce leaves, and then the other slice of bread. Slice diagonally (sorry, Doug!) and serve with cherry tomatoes.

The greatest sandwich of all time.

Portabella Bun with Taleggio

I popped into the Cambridge Cheese Company at the weekend, and bought some painfully expensive but excellent taleggio, partly inspired by the Stickybeaks supper club I attended a few weeks ago. I thought it would go very well on a couple of juicy portabella mushrooms in between some soft buns. I was right!

Two buns served me for dinner, and one would serve one person for lunch. Very hungry people might want some chips and/or salad on the side.

Ingredients:

• 2 large portabella mushrooms (they shrink when cooked)
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp water or chicken stock
• a few thick slices of taleggio
• lettuce, tomato, or your favourite sandwich leaf
• nice soft buns or ciabatta rolls
• HP sauce (optional)

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, herbs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and water or stock, and pour over the two mushrooms; marinade at room temperature for at least half an hour, preferably more.

Preheat the grill to a moderate heat, then grill the portabellos about 5 minutes each side: do the round sides first and finish with the gills upright, so as to capture the juices. I've tried frying them in the past, and it works ok but tends to sear the outsides before the inner meat is properly cooked.

Combine on a toasted bun with the rest of the ingredients; I know my youngest sister would then slather with HP sauce and I can't say I blame her :)