Recipes
BLT Potato Sandwich
This recipe was brought to you by Mandy Van Zanen.
Mandy has always been a foodie but has never considered herself to be any kind of cook until she got roped into all this by me! You’ll see that she’s pretty awesome in the kitchen, but her true creative talent lies in music – she has a music degree in classical singing from the Melbourne Conservatorium, and not only does she sing all sorts of pop music, she also plays the drums, orchestral percussion, and the clarinet as well!
Ingredients
- ½ quantity of Marinade (page 4)
- 150 g (51/2 oz) tempeh
- 2 small potatoes, for the ‘sandwich’
- ½ teaspoon vegetable stock powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
To serve
- mashed avocado with a squeeze of lemon to avoid discolouration
- thinly sliced tomato
- crunchy cos (romaine) or iceberg lettuce leaves (as many as you can handle)
- oil-free barbecue sauce
- mayonnaise (see page breakout box, left) or garlicky aioli (see page 11) without the tarragon
Instructions
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Step 1
Put the marinade in a small airtight container.
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Step 2
Cut the tempeh into thin slices (imagine how you’d like them on a sandwich), place in the marinade and gently stir to coat. Cover with a lid and leave to marinate for as long as possible (several hours, or overnight) to develop the flavours.
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Step 3
Grate the potatoes and spread them out on a plate. Microwave on high for 1 minute, or until they become sticky from the starch.
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Step 4
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of water with the stock and onion powders and dried parsley. Mix well.
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Step 5
Add the potato and stir until well coated. Heat a frying pan or grill to medium heat.
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Step 6
Divide the potato mixture in half and place in the pan, forming two round ‘pancakes’. These will become your sandwich. Flatten them a little with a spatula, but try to keep them dense so that the potato sticks to itself. Don’t make them too thick either, or they won’t crisp properly.
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Step 7
Cook for about 5 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom, then turn them over gently and continue cooking for another 5 minutes on the other side. If you try to turn them too soon, they will fall apart.
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Step 8
Once the potato pancakes have become fairly stiff, remove them from the pan and set aside to cool. When all the moisture from the potatoes has been absorbed, they should slide straight out of the pan. This means they’re ready.
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Step 9
To cook the tempeh, you have three options:
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Step 10
1. In the oven – Cook the tempeh for 10–15 minutes at 180°C (350°F), keeping a close eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn.
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Step 11
2. In a non-stick frying pan – Fry the tempeh (no oil) over a medium heat for 5 minutes, then over a high heat for another 1–2 minutes, or until any visible moisture is gone.
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Step 12
3. In an air-fryer (my preference) – Cook the tempeh in an air-fryer at 200°C (400°F) for 5–7 minutes. The slices should come out slightly chewy in the middle and crispy at the edges.
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Step 13
To assemble your sandwich, I prefer this order: sandwich slice, mashed avocado, tempeh, sliced tomato (add some pepper here), lettuce, barbecue sauce and mayonnaise spread inside the top potato sandwich to reach the edges.
