Delicious at Home! Let's Make Hot Sandwiches

Super easy

For when you're a little hungry.
Thanks to this, my quality of life has skyrocketed.

Everyone loves hot sandwiches.

Just sandwich some ingredients and grill them.
They might even be better than at a cafe.
Every time, I think it's the best I've ever tasted.

I once talked with some people I met at a campsite about the "world's most delicious camping food," and everyone unanimously agreed that simple grilled food was number one.

Just grill meat or vegetables.
Then add salt or sauce and stuff your face while it's fresh off the grill.

Anything is best right after it's grilled.
That's why home cooking, with the shortest time lag between grilling and eating, is the best.

Hot sandwiches follow the same principle.
Freshly grilled is best.
So eating at home is number one.

Just sandwich the ingredients you want to eat and grill

Just pop whatever ingredients you have in the fridge into the bread and grill it. Even if you combine ingredients randomly, it's always delicious.

Use 8-slice bread.

Regular bread is delicious enough.
I love using the kind that costs about 100 yen per loaf sold at drugstores or convenience stores.

8-slice bread is easy to sandwich.

If you want a hearty meal, use 6-slice bread.
It gets compressed tightly and is dense and delicious.

Put leftover bread in the freezer.

Serve it up quickly whenever you want to eat.
You can use it right away without waiting for it to thaw.

First, cheddar cheese.

This has been my go-to lately. It's rich and delicious.

Ham and bacon.

I happened to be out of these this time.
Personally, I like the ham and bacon sold at the butcher shop.

Instead, I used potato salad for the sandwich.
I always reach for it when I see it in the deli section. It's even better if it's a set with macaroni and potato salad.

If the timing is right, adding homemade potato salad lets you enjoy that chunky potato texture.

If you have time, add a fried egg.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add four eggs.
Once the whites start to color, add water and cover with a lid. It's done after steaming for three minutes.

Use one of these for the hot sandwich.
Transfer the remaining three to a plate. Save them to top your next yakisoba or pasta.

All that's left is to sandwich it in bread and grill it.

Place it on the gas stove over low heat for three minutes.
Flip the hot sandwich maker over, open the lid, and check the browning.
If it looks good, do the other side for three minutes as well.

Once you get used to it, you can tell how well it's cooked by the smell.
If the heat is too high, you'll smell the bread burning before the three minutes are up.
Don't panic, just adjust the heat. Flip the hot sandwich maker over.

With a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

I'll even brew some coffee while it's toasting.
I've been hand-dripping for 10 years.
But now, he's the one who brews it for me.

The problem of a chlorine smell when you use a coffee maker after a long time. In that case, fill the tank with water and run it through a few times.

There is also the rabbit hole of home roasting for coffee.
It takes a little effort, but it's actually quite easy.
The supreme luxury of drinking freshly roasted coffee.

Summary

Sometimes there are items that are god-tier value for money, aren't there?

For me, these are the kinds of items.

Electronic dictionaries from around 2010. Available from 1,000 yen.
You can easily create an offline environment that has become rare.

A 20-year-old Nikon DSLR. This also doesn't break, just like a Japanese car. There are colors you can only experience with rare CCD cameras. Even with low pixel counts, you can use them minimally. Because they are minimal, they are easy to handle.

When it comes to kitchen appliances, there is no end to collecting convenient gadgets.

For example, a pressure cooker. It's convenient for stews, but you can substitute it with an IH rice cooker.

But you know, a hot sandwich maker is a winner.

There is a deliciousness you can't get with a toaster.

By the way, vertical toasters are space-saving.
The heat efficiency of the upper rack is also good and convenient.

Keep bread in the freezer.

If you always keep some tucked away, you can enjoy infinite combinations with the ingredients in your fridge.

If you have cheese, it's delicious just as it is.

You can also enjoy changing the flavor by adding ketchup or mayonnaise.

Hot sandwiches are a recipe that doesn't stand out much.
But a dish like this can be exceptionally delicious.
That is a happy thing.

Today's bonus

Recommended cooking goods.

As long as you don't use high heat, Tefal frying pans are a sure bet.
We've been using ours for 10 years and it's still fine. The frying pan we use most often is now our second one.

Since the handles are interchangeable, it saves space.
Above all, they are easy to wash. They are non-stick, require less oil, and aren't heavy.
I wonder if there's a better frying pan than this.

I also added an egg pan.

Yamaki's flying fish dashi has a strong flavor.
It's delicious even when used in small amounts. It's also cost-effective.

I want you to try it at least once.
It goes especially well with sashimi.
Yamaki's flying fish dashi, bonito flakes, and this soy sauce are the holy trinity of Japanese seasonings. It's culinary magic.

Transfer bonito flakes to a plate and microwave for 40 seconds to make instant furikake.
Natto, Japanese-style pasta, chilled tofu.
Just by sprinkling it on, the flavor is transformed into a two-star upgrade.
It's easy, so give it a try.

My first Tefal electric kettle's switch broke in less than a year.
But the second one has had no issues and I've been using it for over 10 years.
It's convenient to have. Or rather, it's a necessity.
For appliances like this, simpler is better and less likely to break.

A handy item to have in every home.
It's smaller compared to overseas products. That's why it saves space.
It has plenty of power.
For hamburger patties, grated daikon radish, and making homemade sauces.
I've been using this for 10 years too, and it's never broken. As expected of Panasonic.