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Welcome to SUE'S KITCHEN.Accessible recipes, useful information & tips on cooking for blind & visually impaired people, by Sue Pallett. Last Updated 2010! |
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"How Do I Do That?" Pages: Making Sandwiches. |
Ham sandwiches were the first things I ever made when I began to learn to cook at the age of eight. Even more exciting, was the thought of eating them right there and then, as an added extra to my school meals.
Sandwiches, with their breaded carbohydrate outer, if filled correctly with a combination of cooked meat, fish, quorn, egg, salad, chopped fruit, chopped herbs and a tasty dressing, provide a balanced meal all by themselves. You can be as straightforward or as creative as you like with those fillings, flavours and textures. What’s more, you’re going to need very little, if any, expensive equipment to prepare these nutritious tasty treats. The advice I give here on making sandwiches can be applied just as easily to slicing, spreading and filling other bread products. All the helpful suggestions and preparation techniques can be altered to suit your own needs.
The beauty of preparing the humble but very important sandwich is that little expensive or complex gadgetry is required.
if you prefer to eat unsliced bread you’re going to need something to slice it with , this could be a large serrated bread knife either used on its own or if you have little or no sight, in combination with a bread cutting board where an adjustable bar is set to indicate the thickness of each slice. The board is non-slip so stands safely on your kitchen work surface. This product is available from the RNIB’s Online Shop. Please contact them for more details.
The RNIB online shop is at http://onlineshop.rnib.org.uk/
Direct Link to the RNIB bread cutting board
Visit good cookware shops to investigate their full range of products, but please be very careful when examining knives or any sharp manual or electric food slicers. Most knives on display in shops have protective plastic sleeves over their blades, however, it might be necessary to ask someone with sight to help you who can not only give informed and comprehensive advice in describing knives and slicers to you, but insure that you don’t accidentally touch anything sharp.
All large, long sharp knives should be safely stored inside an enclosed freestanding or wall mounted knife block where all blades, when slotted into it, are completely covered and protected so that they can never be touched accidentally. Buy your knife block straight away at the same time as your knives to ensure that it is large enough for your needs.
If you’re planning to slice your own bread, please buy a sturdy, good quality serrated bread knife. If you ask for one by name the blade will be long enough to cope with slicing a large loaf. The handle will be the right length to sit in the palm of your hand so you can extend your fingers along it to grip it safely and securely without any chance of them coming into contact with the blade. It would be helpful if the knife handle was slightly shaped, patterned or textured to make it easily recognisable, so that, whenever it is taken from the knife block, you know, straight away, which side of the handle relates to the sharp edge of the blade. Alternatively the handle can be marked tactually or visually with either a bump on sticky dot, adhesive tape, a small dot of contrast coloured glue or anything suitable to indicate the edge relating to its sharp serrations.
A bread knife needs to have lots of close serrations to cut through a loaf evenly.
Buy a small kitchen knife which isn’t serrated, to prepare your sandwich fillings to slice or chop meat, vegetables and salads. Select one with a blade that’s no more than three to 4 inches in length, this will ensure that the blade is long enough to chop and slice those smaller ingredients without being heavy to hold or feeling unwieldy to use. Once again, as with the bread knife, try to find one with an easily recognizable handle, that’s shaped or has room to be marked in line with the sharp cutting edge of the blade. This small kitchen knife should also have a pointed end to the blade for easier slicing and chopping. A pair of kitchen scissors with large, easy to grip plastic handles can be used to snip salad leaves and herbs
(Please see my other pages for helpful hints and tips on preparing fruit and vegetables).
To help spread your bread evenly with butter, fillings and toppings, I’m sure you’d like to purchase A small, yet indispensable butter knife. I wouldn’t be without mine so just to make sure I don’t loose it, I have several. If, for any reason, I can’t find one when I go to my cutlery drawer I have a mild panic, that’s how practical and useful I find it. I recognise it immediately by its uniquely-shaped handle. It is wedged which sits comfortably in the palm of my hand, making it easy to grip and stable to use. the thinner side of the handle has a cut out or notch in it, in line with the slightly thinner sharpened edge of the blade, used to cut through sandwiches after they’re made. The wider edge of the handle is in line with the thickest , blunt edge of the blade. As soon as I pick up the knife I know immediately, exactly which way the blade is facing. The blade is chunky, straight and wide, the tip is rounded so that if kept flat when spreading, it glides over the surface easily without digging into or making holes in the bread. The butter knife is available online from:
or, alternatively, from their cook shops in many city centres across the UK. Lakeland sell numerous other small kitchen knives, kitchen cutters , food slicers and lots more useful things to help you with food preparation.
While visiting good cookware shops, examine the various electric and manual food slicers on sale. Please bare in mind that although initially some manual types may appear useable with adjustable slice settings, protective finger guards, food pushers, and a handle to turn to operate and control the slicers, many have a circular serrated blade which is very sharp indeed. Please select carefully if you feel this type of bread cutter or slicer is suitable for you.
The same safety precautions apply if you should choose an electric food slicer.
An electric carving knife may be a good alternative to a bread knife if you have dexterity problems. When resting the knife on the loaf in the correct position to cut a slice, the depression of a trigger or button vibrates and rapidly jiggles the knife, which moves down and cuts through the loaf, with very little pressure applied. Please keep your fingers well out of the way when using this product. Also bear in mind that an electric carving knife, although cordless, has to be recharged regularly from an electric wall socket.
Buy a selection of small covered plastic bowls, these will be invaluable both for mixing up sandwich fillings and storing them in the fridge prior too sandwich making. Any fillings left over afterwards can then be stored in the fridge ready to use on another occasion. Check that lids fit snugly. Try taking them on and off several times discarding any that are fiddly or awkward to use.
You may like to buy a selection of variously sized plastic, airtight storage boxes or containers to store meat, cheese, salads etc. in the fridge rather than leaving them in plastic bags, once opened.
Buy a box or perforated roll of small sandwich or freezer bags, both for storing sandwiches in the fridge after they’re made, and to slide over opened packs of meat and cheese products before storing them in the fridge to use later. A perforated roll of Clingfilm or plastic wrap may be useful for keeping smaller items fresh and refrigerated too.
Buy airtight plastic storage boxes or lunch boxes to store fillings and sandwiches
Look at a selection of food and herb mills, small kitchen slicers, particularly for egg and tomato, invaluable for cutting through them quickly and evenly, making them an ideal shape and thickness for sandwich making.
Next, select your bread from the huge variety available at your local shop or supermarket, either choose a ready sliced loaf from the general bred section, or you could pick up an unsliced loaf at the “in-store” bakery counter where it can be sliced for you before you purchase it. Using sliced bread may be more convenient and could speed up sandwich making, but don’t be dissuaded from slicing an uncut loaf yourself if this is your preference. There are loaves specifically recommended for making sandwiches, having a uniform square or oblong shape, but if I were to give any advice at all, it would be that the bread you buy to make sandwich making easy at first, shouldn’t be a strange shape as this will make slicing or sandwich making fiddly. Don’t buy bread that’s sliced too thinly or be the kind specified to make toast. The former is more difficult to spread and may not hold a filling without going soggy and falling apart and the latter tends to have a doughy texture with little flavour. Nutritionally there is very little difference between breads, although wholemeal or multi-grain loaves have a better fibre content, are full of flavour and more satisfying to eat. . If you have a wheat allergy gluten-free breads are also on sale.
There is a huge selection of other bread products to try including bread rolls of all shapes and sizes, continental breads, those with world wide notoriety and so many more. When you’re confident and practised in sandwich making, Why not be a little adventurous and try a naan bread, French stick, or a flavoured or seeded loaf. Many breads freeze well if frozen on day of purchase, but remember to allow those baked in-store to cool completely first to prevent any mould build up in the wrapping. You may find it helpful to divide a sliced loaf into what you may need each day, placing the bread into clean plastic bags then tying the top of each one securely with a plastic tie or knot. The bags can then be stacked inside another larger plastic bag in the shape of the original loaf with the top of that bag also knotted or tied to prevent the bread falling out. This will not only keep it together but also save on freezer space. Most bread products can be frozen for several weeks without any deterioration in quality, but smaller bread rolls baps or cobs tend to dry out, feeling hard when defrosted if stored in the freezer for too long.
Should you buy low-fat, a dairy-free Soya based product, a spread with added omega3, an olive oil healthy alternative, or simply buy full fat dairy rich butter. There are salted or unsalted, saturated or poly unsaturated and so many more. The choice is yours! If I were you I’d just try a few then choose the one with the right flavour, texture and softness. Most are sold in various sizes and come in re-sealable plastic tubs or containers. Most dairy spreads butters and margarines are formulated to be soft enough to spread straight from the fridge. They should always be kept sealed and refrigerated when not in use. It will be necessary to remove some harder butters from the fridge half an hour before their needed so they soften slightly but always keep them at room temperature then seal and refrigerate immediately after use. Many products have a long shelf life for convenient storage in your fridge.
Whichever spread you choose, remember that fat, particularly the saturated kind found mostly in butter, is bad for us if eaten in large quantities. Only a little spread is needed to moisten the bread providing a seal to protect it from moisture in the filling as well as adding flavour to your sandwich. Of course, if you don’t like butter, spread or margarine, there is no need to use it at all.
Finally you have the task of selecting your fillings. Your local super market will stock a good selection of cooked, ready sliced pre-packed meats and meat-free alternatives. Why not buy a cooked chicken which can not only be used for making sandwiches but for your main meal too! You can choose from a wide selection of chilled sandwich fillers, ready prepared in small tubs. Cheese comes ready sliced or grated as well as in sealed packs with low-fat alternatives, or there is always plain or flavoured cottage cheese. Tinned fish, the oily kind which is so good for us, like sardines, pilchards and mackerel can be drained, chopped and blended with sauces and dressings. Don’t forget to buy a selection of either ready washed salad leaves or something to add texture and crunch like carrot, celery and cucumber. Fresh tomatoes add moisture and flavour. Ready grown fresh herb leaves snipped from chives, basil or mint add interest. Buy a salad dressing, salad cream or flavoured mayonnaise in a convenient plastic flip top squeezy bottle making them easy to store and dispense. There really is no end to the choice of sandwich fillings on offer.
Before You Start.
First of all make sure you have a cleared clean area of worktop, counter, surface protector or breadboard on which to slice, lay out and spread your bread. You’ll also need another clear work surface close at hand to prepare and set out your sandwich fillings.
It might be helpful to prepare and refrigerate your fillings for later use or convenience, before you slice or spread your bread, particularly if you’re going to slice a loaf yourself. preparing some fillings is likely to take some time.
Remember, if your sliced, unspread bread is left uncovered for any length of time, it may tend to dry out.
Make sure that your hands are clean.
Cutting a straight slice of bread can be quite difficult for anyone, but if you have little or no sight, and have never handled a carving knife before, its very important to use it safely. Allow yourself plenty of time, work carefully and methodically. If you have any doubts or worries at all, just buy your bread ready sliced. It is possible to slice a loaf if you use a safe technique but it will be very much a case of trial and error to cut the right thickness to begin with. Using the RNIB’s bread cutting board which enables the thickness of slice to be selected and helps keep the knife straight as you cut down through the loaf should give a fair degree of success. Many people find that an electric carving knife needing very little pressure to operate cuts a fairly straight slice. With great care and practice it is also possible to use a food slicer with serrated blade and finger guard protection.
Unwrap your uniformly shaped loaf and examine it carefully. You’ll probably find that it has a slightly curved top crust, making it a bit lower at both ends and higher in the centre, this is due to the natural rising process during cooking. Put your loaf on a clean, clear bread board or work top, crust uppermost so that its length is running across from right to left inn front of you. Take your bread knife from the knife rack by its handle and lay it down on the board or surface nearest to the end of the loaf where you prefer to start slicing from, depending on whether you’re right or left handed. Keep the handle facing you. Examine the shape of your loaf thoroughly. You’re going to cut the first slice from that end of the loaf. trace the approximate thickness of a slice on the top crust with the fingers of the hand which won’t be using the knife. Now, keeping them flat on the top of the loaf just after where you think the correct thickness of slice should be, pick up the knife by its handle with your other hand, keeping the serrated edge facing down towards the worktop or breadboard and your fingers on the top edge of the handle. Slide the knife up and over the top of the end of the loaf nearest to where you’re going to cut the slice. Gently slide the serrated edge of the knife along toward where your fingers are marking the correct thickness of slice, and when the side of the blade of the knife touches the side of your fingers, move that hand out of the way and rest the serrations in that spot, in other words, the edge of the knife replaces your fingers so its resting in the correct place to cut that slice. Move your free hand to the other end of the loaf furthest from the knife and hold it firmly to prevent it moving or sliding around. You won’t be in any danger of cutting your fingers if you follow this safe technique. Don’t ever cut a slice with both hands close together, if either the bread or the knife should slip, there is a real danger of sustaining a cut finger or hand or cutting a jagged, uneven, uneatable slice.
With your free hand and the knife in their correct safe positions, grip the handle of the knife firmly, keeping your thumb on the underside of the handle well away from the blade and all fingers curled over the top of the handle at all times, never be tempted to use your fingers to feel or check where the knife blade is while you’re slicing, or to feel how thick the slice of bread you’re cutting is until the loaf has been completely cut through. Now, begin to slice with a sawing action, by moving or pushing the knife back and forth across the top of the bread. Pushing the knife away from you and then pulling it back toward you, applying a gentle even downward pressure. At the same time apply just enough pressure to the loaf with the hand that’s on the furthest end of the bread, to prevent it from moving or sliding around. You’ll hear the knife cut through the crust then into the bread as it works its way down through the loaf. Eventually the sound will change as it touches the board that the loaf is resting on. The knife will feel lighter and move more freely as the last lower crust separates the slice you’ve cut from the loaf. The slice will probably fall or drop to one side. Lay the knife down, with the handle toward you and the blade facing away. Move the cut slice onto a clean plate or a clear clean worktop ready to spread later. Carry on slicing using the same safe technique as before, taking care never to cut a slice of bread with your hands positioned close together or with your fingers anywhere near the knife blade. Please be especially aware that a knife can slip very easily and very quickly without warning. The closer your hands are to the blade the more chance there is of sustaining an injury. Never slice the last piece from a loaf with both hands too close together.
Put your stack of sliced bread on a plate or clear clean work surface, push it toward the back well away from the edge, you don’t want it to get in the way when you’re spreading or filling your sandwiches but it does need to be easy to locate and be within easy reach. Remove your butter or chosen spread from the fridge, I’m going to call it butter here so as not to cause any confusion with the description of spreading bread. take off the lid and discard any protective foil or greaseproof paper covering, put the lid in a safe place so you can find it easily later. Put the tub of butter on the worktop in front of the sliced bread. Fetch your butter knife or spreading knife from the drawer and lay it next to the opened tub. Lift off one slice of bread and place it flat on your clean surface nearest to you so that the knife and tub of butter are next to it. Pick up the spreading knife, hold it so the handle’s resting comfortably in the palm of your hand. Find the top edge of the tub of butter with your other hand. Rest your fingers lightly on the surface of the butter, bring the tip of your knife up to rest along side your fingers, then gently dip the tip of the blade into the butter then push or lever the knife up and lift it out. In other words dip the tip of the knife gently into the top surface and as you push the end of the blade up and drop the knife handle down you should lift out and have a small amount of butter on the top surface of the end of the knife blade. . Gently Touch the butter on the end of the knife to feel how much there is. If there seems to be too much, just push a little back into the tub with a finger. You’ll soon become familiar with the correct amount needed to lightly coat or cover one strip or section of your slice of bread. You don’t need too much at once, its easier to add a little more butter later.
Next, holding the knife firmly by the handle and keeping the blade flat, locate the top edge of your bread then turn the knife over, laying it butter side down, flat across the top edge of the slice. Keeping the blade flat, apply a gentle even pressure, gradually sliding the knife down toward you so that it glides over the bread. as you do this, the butter will stick to the bread and because you’re keeping the knife blade flat it will spread out evenly. You can let the fingers of your free hand guide and trace the knife’s progress as it moves down over the bread toward you. When the knife reaches the bottom edge of the bread, lift it up and take it back up to the top of the slice where the butter knife began its progress, and feel how much butter is on the bread. Use your fingers to feel if its too thick or uneven. If the butter does feel a bit too thick or unevenly spread, just take the fingers of your free hand and the knife up to the top of the bread, and, keeping the blade flat let it follow your fingers down to the bottom of the slice with the knife applying a gentle, even pressure. If the bread is still a bit dry in places, lift a little more spread from the tub, keep the fingers of your free hand on the area which needs a bit more spread then lay the knife blade, butter side down, flat on the bread and gently press and slide it toward you again to even out the butter.
Now, once you’re happy that that section or strip of bread is coated evenly, give the slice a quarter turn on your bread board or worktop and, after having lifted out another small amount of butter from the tub, laying the knife horizontally across the top of the bread, butter side down, as before, repeat the spreading technique again, keeping the blade flat, using the knife and your fingers to detect and spread out any unevenness.
Give the bread another quarter turn, then spread it again. Now if you give the slice yet another quarter turn, you’ll be back where you started from and the whole of the slice should be lightly, evenly, coated with butter. As with any new or unfamiliar task, spreading may take a little practice. Don’t be afraid to use your fingers to help detect uneven spread and track the knife’s progress.
Carry on spreading each slice in the same way, remembering not to stack the buttered slices directly on top of each other, but to fan them out so that they don’t stick together. Put your butter knife in a convenient place so that its easy to find later.
Now that you have a light coating of butter on your sliced bread, you’re ready to add the sandwich fillings which you have prepared and put on one side or taken from the fridge.
Lift one slice of buttered bread from the stack or pile, lay it flat on a clear area of bread board, work top or surface protector buttered side up. Let’s say your simply going to make a meat or sliced cheese sandwich, unwrap or unseal it, this is where a good pair of scissors or cutters will be useful, lift off the top slice being careful to check for any interleaving of plastic or greaseproof sheets sometimes included to prevent it from sticking together or any outer rind found on some products. Lay one or two slices on top of the bread, matching its shape, removing or folding in any overlapping edges. Pick up another buttered slice from the pile, feel which way round your filled slice is facing and turning this piece of bread to match its shape, place it gently on top of the filling, pressing down quite firmly to make sure that the sandwich stays together. Pick up your butter knife, and holding it with the handle toward you and the blade facing away, keeping the Sharpe edge facing down, use your free hand to find the centre of the top edge of your sandwich. slide the side of the knife blade up to where your fingers are resting, replacing them with the knife. Still holding the handle toward you, gently tip the handle up, applying pressure so that the end of the blade cuts through the top edge of the crust. Tilt the handle down until its level again then press the blade through the bread, drawing the handle toward you. You will hear when the knife has cut through the sandwich as it touches the board or worktop and the two halves separate. Don’t worry if it isn’t sliced equally, your sandwich will taste just as good whatever shape it turns out to be. Transfer it onto a clean plate. You will be able to cut a sandwich through easily once you’ve mastered the sometimes difficult tasks of judging the central point, cutting through the crusts and keeping the knife blade positioned correctly.
© Sue Pallett 2010
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