Head outdoors with snacks built to take the heat, including a triple-decker club sandwich, a non-traditional pan bagnat sanger and a Korean-inspired potato pancake.
Snacks eaten at a picnic, on the beach or poolside need to check a few boxes to be successful. They must be able to tolerate several hours in the sun, yet remain delicious and relatively food-safe.
I’ve chosen these three recipes for their ability to either evoke a sense of holiday bliss, stay crisp and delicious, or become more delicious with time. Nothing against fish and chips or a sausage roll from the kiosk, but these recipes will be a hit when you’re fresh out of the water on a hot day.
Pan bagnat (kind of)
This lovely sandwich from the French city of Nice was originally crafted as a Nicoise salad enclosed in stale bread. It is a perfect make-ahead sandwich, as the bread needs time to soak up the rich olive oil and tomato juices. The process is helped along by tightly wrapping and firmly squashing the sandwich. The result is glorious, with the flavours intertwining through those salty, rich mouthfuls.
A stale loaf is preferable as it can absorb flavours better than a fresh loaf. In some versions of this recipe, the bread is rubbed with garlic and the whole thing is drizzled with olive oil, salt and vinegar. But I prefer to spread a herby green sauce over the base to season each bite evenly.
My addition of fish sauce and Thai basil is unorthodox. But I think fish sauce adds a bright, savoury saltiness without the murkiness you’d get by adding more whole anchovies, and the slight licorice warmth of Thai basil pairs incredibly with green olives. Use regular green basil, if you prefer.
INGREDIENTS
Green sauce
- 2-3 anchovies in oil, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 35g), finely chopped
- 5-6 pitted green olives, sliced into rounds
- 2 tbsp capers, rinsed, drained and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp white wine or champagne vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- black pepper
To assemble
- 2 crusty bread rolls or 1 baguette, lightly toasted
- ½ bunch Thai basil leaves (about 35g), torn
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
- 1 large heirloom or beefsteak tomato, sliced
- 2 x 125g cans sliced smoked mackerel or tuna
METHOD
- Mix the anchovies, garlic, parsley, olives and capers with the vinegar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Allow them to sit for 5 or so minutes to allow the flavours to meld, then stir through the fish sauce, olive oil and chilli flakes. Taste and season with salt and cracked black pepper if required.
- Split the bread lengthwise, leaving a “hinge” on one side so you can open the two halves out like a book. Generously spread a few spoonfuls of green sauce over the base, then layer on the sliced tomato, boiled eggs, mackerel and fresh basil leaves. Drizzle a little more green sauce over the filling, then season with salt and pepper.
- Tightly wrap the rolls in foil, baking paper or cling wrap, squashing them down. Place in the fridge for at least an hour, weighed down with something heavy like a cast-iron pan, so all the flavours meld.
Serves 2
Garlic bread club sandwich
The club sandwich came back into my life recently via my friend Paul Bentley, the chef at Casa in Perth. On my last visit, I rocked up to the restaurant a tiny bit tipsy with a bag of supermarket ingredients and presented it to Paul. After a short while, the greatest club sandwich I’ve ever had appeared on the table. Featuring layer upon layer of thinly sliced chicken, crispy bacon, drippy egg, and chiffonnade lettuce in green goddess dressing, it was a triumph.
A few attempts to recreate that golden moment has led me to this sandwich. I’ve switched his green goddess for a delicious peppery mayo, and fried the bread in garlic butter because why not? I’ve layered grilled chicken, cold sliced turkey and crispy bacon, but add or subtract as you please. The runny-yolked egg is an absolute must, though. It brings the whole sandwich together. Frilly toothpicks optional, but highly recommended.
INGREDIENTS
Brined chicken breast
- 50g (about 3 tbsp) salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 slices lemon
- 3-4 sprigs thyme
- 1 large chicken breast, skinless
Pepper mayonnaise
- ½ cup Japanese mayonnaise or other whole-egg mayonnaise
- 1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Sandwich and fillings
- 4 slices streaky bacon
- 2 eggs
- 30g-45g garlic butter (shop-bought, or combine 45g of softened salted butter with 3-4 minced garlic cloves)
- 6 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 6 slices high-melt cheese (such as burger cheese)
- 1 gem lettuce, shredded
- sliced pickled jalapeno to serve, optional
- 100g turkey breast slices
- ½ tomato, thinly sliced
- ½ ripe avocado, thinly sliced
- dill pickles and chips to serve
METHOD
- To brine the chicken, combine the salt, sugar and 2 cups of cold water and stir until completely dissolved. Add the garlic, lemon and thyme and refrigerate. Slice the chicken breast horizontally into two thin slices, then submerge them in the brine for 30 minutes. Remove from the brine, pat dry and set aside.
- To make the pepper mayonnaise, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- To prepare the sandwich, start by cooking the bacon. Place the bacon in a cold frying pan over medium heat without oil. Allow the fat to render and fry the bacon to a crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside on a tray covered with paper towels. Leave some of the bacon fat in the pan, and set the rest aside for use later.
- Using the same pan, turn the heat to high, and sear the slices of brined chicken breast until completely cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set aside with the bacon.
- Pour the rest of the reserved bacon fat into the pan and fry the eggs over easy (cooked on one side, then flipped and cooked briefly on the other side, leaving the yolks runny), then remove them from the pan and set aside.
- To make the garlic bread, melt a little of the garlic butter in the pan and fry the bread, two slices at a time, on both sides until golden. Add a little more garlic butter with each batch. Turn off the heat, then place a slice of cheese on top of each piece of garlic bread to melt. If you prefer, toast the bread and spread each slice with garlic butter.
- Mix the shredded lettuce with a tablespoon of the pepper mayonnaise and the pickled jalapenos in a medium bowl.
- To assemble the sandwich, place two garlic bread slices on a chopping board, cheese-side up, and top each with the chicken, bacon and some of the dressed lettuce. Place another slice of bread on top of each, cheese-side up again, and top with a fried egg, turkey, tomato slices and avocado. Drizzle with a little more pepper mayo, if you like, then place the last slice of bread on top, cheese-side down, to close.
- Carefully cut the sandwiches into triangles (it helps to use toothpicks here to hold them together) and serve with dill pickles and chips.
Serves 2
Korean potato and spring onion pancake
This recipe riffs on the Korean dish gamja-jeon, the shredded potato cousin of the kimchi pancake you may know from Korean restaurants. It has roesti and latke energy, with discernible crisp threads of potato, spring onion and shiso leaves bound by potato starch. I prefer a waxy potato for this recipe for the texture. A floury potato works well too. It will crisp nicely, but you won’t get the same defined potato threads. What makes this pancake a perfect beach snack is that it stays crispy indefinitely, so wrap it in foil and pack the zippy dipping sauce so you can enjoy it with your toes in the water.
INGREDIENTS
Potato pancake
- 2 large waxy potatoes (about 250g)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp potato starch
- 2 spring onion stalks, cut into 4cm lengths
- 35g (½ bunch) shiso, leaves sliced
- cooking oil
- julienned spring onion and sliced jalapeno to serve, optional
Dipping sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp water
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
METHOD
- Shred the potatoes into a medium bowl using a knife or the coarse side of a box grater. Sprinkle with a little salt, massage it through and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Use your hands to squeeze out the excess liquid then transfer the potato to a clean bowl. Sprinkle over the potato starch, then stir in the spring onion and shiso leaves. Stir gently to just combine – over-mixing will give it a gluey consistency.
- Heat a large pan or skillet over high heat with 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil (don’t skimp on the oil – you need it to fry the pancake to a golden crisp). Pour the potato mixture into the pan, spreading it evenly, and turn the heat down to medium.
- Press the potato down using a spatula to ensure even contact with the pan and fry on medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Use a spatula and flip (or slide the pancake onto a plate then flip back into the pan), cooking for another 5 minutes. Flip it again if you feel confident, ensuring the potato is cooked through and evenly crisped.
- To make the dipping sauce, combine the ingredients in a small bowl (or in well-sealed lidded container for travelling).
- To serve, garnish with spring onion, sliced jalapeno and the dipping sauce.
Serves 3-4
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Rosheen Kaul is the former head chef of Melbourne’s Etta, author of the cookbook Chinese-ish, and a Good Food recipe columnist.
