Mexican-style sandwich tastes as if it took hours to make
Special To The Washington Post
Simmering port wine with orange, cinnamon and honey into a luxuriously syrupy sauce is just the thing to tame a medley of crisp fall fruit into an elegant dessert. Be sure to use a ruby Port, as opposed to a tawny, because the sweetness of the former is essential for the accompanying recipe.
Once the plush purple liquid is boiled down, you cook the fruit — first the apples and grapes, which take a little longer to soften, then the pears. In just a few minutes, the fruit yields to the warmth, its cool crunch relaxes, and it becomes tender while the fruit also absorbs the liquid’s flavor and color and releases its own juices into the mix.
The fruit and sauce can be served warm or chilled, on its own or with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. But my personal favorite way to enjoy it happens to also be the most healthful: over a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.
Sandwiches can be fabulous vehicles for repurposing leftovers — the roasted vegetables from last night’s dinner, plus a little cheese and/or pickles from a jar, plus a condiment made from the weekend’s salsa. Or they can be as from-scratch as you dare, based on a new round of roasting, braising or stir-frying, plus a DIY aioli, homemade pickles or even your own freshly baked bread.
In between is a sandwich like this Mexican torta from Christopher Kimball’s new book, “Milk Street Tuesday Nights” (Little, Brown and Co.). You lightly toast store-bought kaiser rolls, mash and season avocado to slather on one side of the rolls, refry some canned pinto beans for the other and stirfry mushrooms, poblano chilies and onions to go in between. Chopped pickled jalapenos and some of their juice add acid to the refried beans, and slices of pepper jack cheese add richness plus another hit of spice and tartness.
It’s a winning combination, a generously stuffed sandwich with one of the best qualities of all: It doesn’t taste as if it came together as quickly as it did. I won’t tell if you won’t.