Welcome back to our celebration of sugaring season. Hopefully, you have visited our first three articles in the series and had a cup of Vermont Fancy Coffee, a Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl or a Blueberry Maple Power Smoothie.
For those of you who missed the start of this series, allow me to share. A couple of years ago, I traveled to Vermont with my best friend and our combined five children to visit her family. I had never been to Vermont, but I’ve long been a lover of all things maple syrup. I think I ate a “Maple Creemee” every day we were there, and I still crave them. Adding maple syrup to my homemade yogurt is the closest thing I’ve been able to do. Recently I met a woman from Vermont who is a fantastic storyteller and loves to cook with maple syrup. She offered to share some of her stories and recipes here on the blog. So in honor of the “sugaring” season, for six days, I’ll be sharing a different recipe made with maple syrup.
The recipes will start with morning coffee, followed by two options for breakfast, including a power smoothie, lunch, dinner, and dessert. If you happen to be a homeschool mom, or really any mom and would like to teach your children about maple syrup, it’s history, and how it’s made, be sure to visit my Maple Syrup Homeschool Resources post.
Now, get ready for a delicious treat for lunch.
The secrets to any good sandwich are fluffed deli meat, a solid aioli, and the bread. Having worked in a few sandwich shops these few secrets make a huge difference. Fluffing the meat makes a sandwich feel fuller, while a rich aioli can provide a fuller flavor profile. Another secret trick of the industry is to scrape out some of the bread. By using a nice fluffy baguette, one can scrape out about a quarter inch of the insides to make room for all the sandwich fillings.
Across the country variations of this sandwich can be found. We like to pair it with a kombucha from Kis Kombucha. The company is family operated on a small farm in Hyde Park, VT. Served on tap in some of the larger restaurants in Stowe and Montpelier, Kis Kombucha hopes to grow and bring healthy, carbonated, probiotic drinks to restaurants all over the state. By offering a pleasant cool beverage that has health benefits hopefully folks will turn less to soda.
Kombucha is a fermented tea, typically a black or herbal tea. The strained tea ferments with the help of a scoby. By processing the sugar into probiotics and digestive enzymes, the scabby carbonates the tea. It’s a slightly sour beverage that has a powerful impact on your gut.
We had a bit of an adventure checking out some of the sugar bushes in the Northeast Kingdom. This sandwich was a perfect take-a-long, that kept well using the Bee’s Wrap from another locally owned company. We tightly rolled the paper, then folded in, and rolled again to keep the sandwich protected as it bounced around in my backpack. It was a filling, protein and nutrition-packed lunch. an absolute favorite this time of year.
Vermont Turkey Sandwich Recipe
This recipe serves one. Easily double, triple, or quadruple for larger groups. It takes about 15 minutes to put together, with no active cooking time, unless you need to cook the bacon!
Ingredients
- 1/4 lb sliced deli turkey
- 3-5 slices of cooked bacon, thick cut is best
- 1 Tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 tsp Brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
- 3 thin slices of a large tomato
- 1/2 cup of micro greens
- 1/2 an avocado
- 1/4 lb of sliced cheddar cheese (I prefer white, no reason for food coloring)
- 1 half baguette
Directions
Whisk together the mayo, brown sugar, and maple syrup for a few minutes to make the maple aioli.
Spread thickly on the inside of the bread.
Place the turkey slices on one side of the bread, “fluffing” them up as you place them.
Lay the bacon across the turkey, then the cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and greens.
As you close the sandwich, use your thumbs to squish the fillings inside the sandwich.
Press down firmly as you cut the sandwich in half.
Enjoy with a glass of Kis Kombucha for a true Vermont experience – we like Lemon Lavender the best!
- ¼ lb sliced deli turkey
- 3-5 slices of cooked bacon, thick cut is best
- 1 Tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 tsp Brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
- 3 thin slices of a large tomato
- ½ cup of micro greens
- ½ an avocado
- ¼ lb of sliced cheddar cheese (I prefer white, no reason for food coloring)
- 1 half baguette
- Cut the baguette in half lengthwise, opening up and scraping out the inside of the bread.
- Whisk together the mayo, brown sugar, and maple syrup for a few minutes to make the maple aioli.
- Spread thickly on the inside of the bread.
- Place the turkey slices on one side of the bread, "fluffing" them up as you place them.
- Spread avocado on the opposite piece of bread.
- Lay the bacon across the turkey, then the cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and greens.
- As you close the sandwich, use your thumbs to squish the fillings inside the sandwich.
- Press down firmly as you cut the sandwich in half.
- Enjoy with a glass of Kis Kombucha for a true Vermont experience - we like Lemon Lavender the best!
