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| The recently refurbished The Ivy Restaurant in London is where you'll find a splendid Club Sandwich by Executive Chef Gary Lee. |
Editor’s note: In its
July, 2015 edition, staffers of Club Magazine, the monthly inflight magazine of
British Airways asked Chef Gary Lee, the Executive Chef at recently reopened
The Ivy Restaurant in London for his personal spin on what makes a world class
Club Sandwich.
The
Ivy, favourite haunt of celebrities (and still serving its famous signature
shepherd’s pie), recently reopened with a new menu after a major refurbishment.
Thanks, British Airways, Club
Magazine and Chef Gary Lee for sharing another delicious and intoxicating club
sandwich recipe.
GUEST BLOG—By Chef Gary Lee--If you’re nervous about unusual
food abroad, the Club Sandwich is like a port in a storm. I last had one in
Dubai – though it probably wasn’t the right thing to order on a boiling hot
day, sitting in a restaurant overlooking the Burj Khalifa... They also used
processed vegetarian ‘bacon’, so it didn’t really hit the spot.
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| Executive Chef Gary Lee Image courtesy of British Airways |
I encourage
all Club Sandwich makers to think long and hard about ingredients. Use the
freshest bread, and don’t bother cutting off the crusts. I’ve never been too
sure about the little stick holding the sandwich together; I realise the
importance, but it’s a bit fussy for my taste.
We do a
great Club Sandwich at The Club at The Ivy. It’s very popular and goes down a
treat for Saturday breakfast. My twist would be to use Burford Brown eggs,
slow-cooked tomatoes and maple-cured bacon.
Gary Lee’s Club
Sandwich (of sorts)
Ingredients (makes two)
4 rashers of
maple-cured bacon
Splash of
light olive oil or sunflower oil
1 organic
chicken breast, thinly sliced into four fillets
Freshly
ground black pepper
2 Burford
Brown eggs
4 medium
slices tiger bloomer, toasted
Salted
butter, softened
2 tbsp
slow-cooked tomatoes (see recipe below)
2
dessertspoons mayonnaise
1 butter
lettuce, washed
For the slow-cooked
tomatoes:
800g baby
plum tomatoes or cow heart tomatoes
Splash of
light olive oil or sunflower oil for cooking
1 tsp cumin
seeds
1 level tsp
caster sugar
½ red
chilli, finely chopped
Zest and
juice of a lemon
1 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dark
soy sauce
Freshly
ground black pepper
4 sprigs of
basil, leaves removed and torn
Gary Lee’s Club
Sandwich without the fuss
Method:
1. To make
the slow-cooked tomatoes, wash and slice the tomatoes in half.
2. Heat a
non-stick frying pan and add a splash of oil.
3. Add the
tomatoes, cumin, sugar, chilli, lemon zest and juice, Worcestershire sauce,
dark soy and pepper and gently fry on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until
the tomatoes have broken down and the consistency is sticky rather than runny.
This can take up to an hour.
4. When it’s
ready, stir in the torn basil and keep to one side.*
5. To make
the sandwich, grill the bacon until crispy and leave to one side.
6. Season
the chicken fillets with black pepper.
7. Add oil
to a non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken slices until golden brown on each
side.
8. While the
chicken cooks, boil the eggs for 3-4 minutes (they should be soft enough to
‘ooze’).
9. Spread
all the slices of toasted bread with butter and add a tablespoon of tomatoes to
each piece, followed by a dessertspoon of mayonnaise on each.
10. Add the
chicken and bacon to each sandwich.
11. Peel the
eggs, cut them in half and place yolk side down on the meat.
12. Season
with black pepper.
13. Add 2-3
lettuce leaves to each sandwich and top with the final piece of buttered bread.
* If you
have lots of this left over, it freezes well and is very tasty on toast for
breakfast – hot or cold.
MORE IMAGES OF THE IVY RESTAURANT:
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