- [Sara] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by... - [Announcer] Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery.

From shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions to our hands-on cooking school at sea, our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises epicurean experience.

(serene music fades) (bright music) - [Sara] And by USA Rice.

(bright music fades) (energetic music) - [Sara] Who doesn't love a good sandwich?

Me, for one.

But you know where they really love sandwiches?

Porto, Portugal.

- We sell 800 of these a day.

- [Sara] If you're wondering why, I've got you covered.

I tried every kind of sandwich in Portugal, including the granddaddy of them all.

- That's a Francesinha.

It's a sandwich that Portugal is known for.

I'd say a gastronomical icon of the city as well.

- [Sara] Did I stop there?

I did not.

I made this monster Porto sandwich with a local chef and a ton of ingredients.

- He has a beautiful sauce on top.

- This is gonna be ridiculous.

Makes you yearn for something with just five ingredients.

I've got that too, thanks to my granny.

Wow, this is genius.

Cheese sandwich souffle.

It's a perfect weeknight meal.

And then, has this ever happened to your bread?

It's hard as a rock.

It's only good for home renovations or as a lethal weapon.

Well, don't worry.

I have a trick to bring it back to life.

So many sandwiches.

Let's tackle this boy, this manly sandwich.

Today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(energetic music fades) (tranquil music) In Porto, the sandwich culture is something like a religion.

- It's a gastronomical tradition that we foster.

André Apolinário is a Porto native, founder of Taste Porto, and a sandwich super fan.

We're in Talhasca, one of the lunch bars that defines this port city.

So I have to ask you, what is the big deal with sandwiches in Portugal?

- Well, sandwiches are deep in our DNA.

During the Industrial Revolution days, Porto was an industrial city.

I would say that the industrial art of Portugal, north and east side of the city packed with factories.

And the working-class families would start working really early in the morning, like 5:00, 6:00 AM in the morning, and nonstop until they were out, 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon.

And on the way back home, they would go for an affordable meal, a sandwich and a glass of wine to go for.

- But we're not talking about boring cold cuts on white bread.

I mean, look at this.

Tell me about this.

- Well, that's a proper Bifana.

Bifana is pork leg thinly stripped and then marinated overnight: beer, tomato sauce, piri-piri, chili peppers, garlic, bay leaf.

- Yum.

- And then just a handle because the bread here is just to serve as a handle, almost like a tiny napkin.

- Oh, but that looks... it's not tiny.

It looks yummy.

Shall we try it?

(light music) - Mmm, mmm.

- Bit spicy, but not too much.

- I don't know.

I like spicy.

- Oh, me too.

- Mine is so good.

- What are we drinking?

- This is a Porto Tonic.

- A Porto Tonic.

- Yeah.

Extra dry white port, some tonic water, ice cubes, lemon.

- Toast?

- À nossa.

- À nossa.

- À nossa.

(light music continues) - Mmm, that's really refreshing.

A little sweet, but a touch of citrus.

Very nice.

And when do you drink this kind of drink?

- Oh, it's seasonal.

So I'd say spring, summer, winter, and autumn.

- Okay, all seasonal.

I get it.

I get it.

(André laughs) So tell me about this place.

- This is definitely a neighborhood place.

You come for a late lunch, a really early dinner, and then you just hang out here with your friends.

Ask for a sandwich, maybe some wine, maybe some beer, and all of a sudden it's- - Just a great day.

- 9:00 AM in the morning.

- Yeah.

There you go.

Well, I'm gonna take another bite.

But I understand we're going elsewhere for more sandwiches?

- Yeah, more sandwiches coming in our future.

- Mmm.

- Mmm.

(upbeat music) - Our next stop is Gazela, an iconic snack bar known for delicious sandwiches in a vibrant neighborhood scene.

- It's a truly local place.

And it's a place that we come to mingle with our friends and also to do our version of tailgating.

Yeah, we ditch the car.

We just come to places like this and focus on the food.

- Ah, forget the car.

I like that.

- Yeah.

- Just come here, fuel up, drink up, and then go to the game.

- Precisely, or after a game to soak our sorrows or to celebrate.

- I like it.

All purpose.

Okay, so start with this sandwich.

- Well, this is cachorrinho, their version of a hot dog.

They sell 800 of these a day.

- What?

- Yeah.

- The cachorrinho starts with a long Portuguese roll that's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

It's stuffed with sausage, linguiça, ham and cheese, and then pressed on a grill.

The final touch is Portugal's signature hot sauce, piri-piri, that's generously brushed on top; served in slices, it's perfect for sharing and dipping.

- Finger food, right there.

- That's what you think.

One bite, and I don't know.

- One bite.

(both murmur) - I'm sorry, that was two bites.

So tell me about this sandwich.

- So that's what we call a prego.

There are a lot of fairy tales about the origin of the name.

I'm not gonna bother you with that because the food is just too delicious.

So it's a tenderloin steak, just seared with some salt and black pepper, then cheese and ham in a soft bun.

- [Sara] Okay, okay, gotta try it.

- I'm gonna grab one.

(patrons chatter) - It's very nice.

It's very simple.

- So simple.

You feel the black pepper there, right there.

- I love the black pepper.

Mmm, yummy.

What is the right drink to have with this?

- Definitely beer.

- Okay.

- Beer is just perfect.

Light, these are pilsners as well.

So really light, low alcohol.

- Bubbles.

- Yeah, bubbles and just cleansing the palate, not adding too much information to it.

- Yeah, let's cleanse our palate.

And then I have to ask you about that behemoth over there.

So what is that?

- Well, that's a Francesinha.

It's a sandwich that Portugal is known for.

I'd say it's a gastronomical icon of the city as well.

This is gonna be my dessert.

Because I know that you're gonna meet a dear friend of mine, Guilherme, and you're gonna cook one of these with him.

- Well, I can't wait.

But in the meantime, thank you so much.

- Thank you, Sara.

- This is so much fun.

- Thank you.

- I mean, sandwiches are wonderful.

I always say sandwiches for supper too.

Why not?

- Why not?

Definitely.

- Yes.

- À nossa.

- À nossa.

(light music fades) A giant sandwich demands a heck of a teacher, one like Portuguese chef Guilherme Gaspar, renowned for his restaurant work and fun cooking classes in Porto at his hip atelier.

(bright music) And here I am in Gui's delightful downtown Porto apartment.

Wow.

- Hello.

- What a place you have here.

Hi.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- Hi, Sara.

- Okay.

So we are making this amazing sandwich that's called... - Francesinha.

- What is it?

- Basically, it's chorizo, it's ham, it's steak, and it has a beautiful sauce that we're trying- - A sauce.

- to stir here.

- Oh, so we're starting with the sauce.

- Yes.

- So what do we got in there?

- Basically, here, we're just frying the lard, the chorizo, the garlic, and the onions.

- The fat.

- Just to render a bit the fat.

And we have to add the paste.

And basically we have all these paste here.

We're gonna start with tomato paste, okay?

We will add in a bit of this tomato paste.

After this, we will add in the bell pepper paste, okay?

This is extra salty, so be careful with the sauce.

- It's salty.

I just want to say, don't worry, all the amounts are gonna be on the website.

- So keep going on to piri-piri paste.

- Piri-piri is a chili, right?

- Yeah, exactly.

Just a bit, because this is extra spicy.

We're just gonna give a bit of a seasoning here with the white pepper and salt and the bay leaf.

Okay?

- Got it.

White pepper.

Why?

- White pepper gives you a bit of a depth in flavor.

- Okay.

This is all alcohol?

- Yes.

This is the strongest one to the weakest one.

- All right.

- Okay.

And we're starting with the brandy, okay?

(alcohol sizzles) - Wow.

- What a smell.

- Yes.

- Brandy and port wine are mostly for aroma.

Like, white wine, it's more for acidity, and beer, it's taste-wise.

This is a ruby port.

(alcohol sizzles) - Oh, so the idea is to burn off each, as we add them, to sort of get rid of that raw alcohol taste.

- [Guilherme] And next up, we're going to the red wine.

- Okay.

- And basically just adding in.

- [Sara] And this is, I assume, a full-bodied red?

- [Guilherme] Yes.

So now the white wine.

- And this is a dry white?

- [Guilherme] Yes.

- What kind of beer?

- [Guilherme] This is a plain pilsner.

So basically we just add the beer.

And we need to reduce this.

And after we reduce this, we just need to add the meat stock.

- So how did the sandwich come about?

- So this is not a traditional dish in Portugal.

This is a popular dish.

So basically it's from a city, it's from Porto; and specifically snack bars from from Porto, they started doing this.

A croque monsieur, it's very close to a Francesinha.

Add in some charcuteries, a beef, a beef steak, and basically we just dress up with some cheese on top, some Flamengo cheese.

And Francesinha, the direct translation of it, it's "little French girl," so we can see that she will be well dressed, for sure.

- And it's also topped with a sauce.

- Yes, And this sauce will just be poured over, last minute, (indistinct).

- And what kind of meat stock are we adding?

- [Guilherme] It's a basic pork stock.

- Okay.

- Okay?

Just adding the meat stock.

And then we will just simmer this for about 20 to 30 minutes.

While this stock is simmering here, we're gonna assemble the sandwich.

- Now, what have you done to that?

You don't buy bread like that.

You already grilled it.

- [Guilherme] Just white bread with a bit of butter, and then we toast it.

Done.

- Okay.

- So now it's the assembling part.

Basically, we have here a beef tenderloin.

Okay?

- Oh yeah.

- And here we have this spicy sausage, okay?

This is a fresh sausage, but it was seasoned with a bit of a piri-piri paste.

- Okay?

- Okay.

- Putting the sausage.

- Whoa.

- Beefsteak on top.

- This is gonna be ridiculous.

- Yeah.

So this is chorizo, but from pork neck.

And a good ham, a smoked ham.

And now on top of that ham, the other slice of bread.

So what I like to do here first is to toast it all together like so.

And afterwards, I just trim a bit.

- [Sara] So you mean just the stuff that's hanging out?

- [Guilherme] Exactly.

Okay, so now we just need to fry this egg.

(light music) (egg sizzles) - [Sara] Ah, I love fried eggs.

- [Guilherme] So.

So now I'm just gonna trim.

(knife slices) I like my sandwiches trimmed.

Do not take too much off.

(knife slices) Okay, and we're ready for this egg.

- I love how crispy it is around the edge.

- [Guilherme] I love it too.

That's a nice touch.

- [Sara] I know that's not all.

- No, no, no, still misses the dress that I told you about.

- Okay.

- So basically, now we just grab each slice of this cheese.

What kind of cheese is that?

- [Guilherme] It's Flamengo cheese.

This is a cow's cheese that basically just melts very well.

- So I guess, in the United States, we could use provolone, we could use Hardie.

- Yes.

- Swiss cheese you can use.

- Swiss cheese.

- [Guilherme] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Sara] Wow, that's a lot of cheese.

- I just like this princess dress to be well covered.

You know?

- Okay.

- So now it's ready, and we just need to to heat it up in an oven.

So we're getting this stock, that it's already reduced.

- Wow, that really reduced.

- [Guilherme] And now we just need to- - Strain it.

- Strain it.

So slowly.

I like to pass this through a fine mesh because our sauce has to be beautiful, silky.

(utensils clatter) So we just have everything.

- Oh, wow, that's a beautiful color.

- So right now we have the strained sauce here, and we just need to finish it up with some cornstarch and water.

- And water.

Yeah.

- Okay?

Just add a couple of drops, don't need a lot.

And turn it to a boil.

So after this boils, we get the right texture.

And it's boiling already.

- Yeah.

- Okay?

And we just need to take the sandwich off and serve it on top.

- Okay, great.

Wow, look at that beautiful dress.

- That's it.

- Yeah.

- So right now, let's go and pour some.

- Phew, that is just a thing of beauty.

I think it's time to eat, don't you?

- Oh, yes.

- This is too exciting.

- Go ahead.

- Oh, I get the first bite?

Okay.

I hope it happens.

Here we go.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Oh my God.

- Can I have some, please?

- Oh, yikes.

Wow.

Yeah, there's so many things in there.

Wow.

Mmm, mmm.

- Do you like it?

- No, I love it.

Are you kidding?

- No.

- Oh, the husband would love this.

- For sure.

For sure.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's go again.

- [Sara] Let's tackle this boy.

This manly sandwich.

- [Guilherme] Exactly.

(subtle bright music) - Has this ever happened to you?

You bought a beautiful piece of French bread, and you were gonna serve it with your yummy stew at that dinner party, and somehow you forgot it.

And the next morning you wake up and you're like, "Oh no," because, at this point, it's hard as a rock.

It's only good for home renovations or as a lethal weapon.

Well, don't worry.

I have a trick to bring it back to life.

I'm gonna get it completely wet while I preheat the oven to 375.

(water gushes) It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold; it just matters that you get it completely wet, but don't soak it.

I'm gonna put it right on the middle rack and give it about six minutes.

So why does French bread get so hard so quickly?

It's because it doesn't have a lot of preservatives that retain the moisture.

And as it sits overnight, all that moisture goes poof into the air and it becomes very dry.

So by doing this, by wetting it and putting it in a hot oven, you create a steamy environment so that the moisture goes back into the bread, making it soft inside again, and it still has its nice hard exterior.

Okey dokey, it is ready.

Look at this.

It's nice and soft.

And all I have to do is slice and eat.

So much fun.

Yes, look at that.

I can't kill anybody with it anymore.

Oh, yes.

Mmm, mmm.

See?

Your French bread too can have a second life.

(subtle bright music continues) Several years ago, I was rummaging through this recipe box at my family farmhouse.

It was my grandmother's, Ruth Moulton, and she was a fabulous cook.

She went to cooking school in Boston, but she was mainly a ye olde New England kind of cook.

However, I came across this card that said cheese sandwich souffle.

I was like, "What?

That's fancy for granny."

I don't know how that happened.

But I looked at it and I started to think, "Wow, this is genius."

So I'm gonna show you how to make cheese sandwich souffle.

It's a perfect weeknight meal.

I've buttered a square pan, and I've got eight slices of bread.

Now, this is white bread.

You can use whole wheat bread.

You could use sourdough.

You could take this and run with it anywhere.

And we're gonna put four slices down in the bottom.

You have to trim the bread to fit the pan, squish it in a little bit if you need to.

And then, very complicated, we are gonna top the bread with four ounces of cheddar cheese.

You could use mozzarella, you could use provolone, you could use feta, whatever makes your family happy.

And you could also customize it.

Each person could do their own sandwich.

And then we're gonna top it with some protein.

So I am using just plain old ham, two ounces of ham, but you could use prosciutto, you could use smoked turkey, you could use smoked salmon or some grilled eggplant, and that would be great too.

And then we're gonna put on the top four slices of bread.

See, this is really not rocket science, yet it's such a crowd pleaser.

Okay, so now we're gonna make the batter.

So our batter consists of three eggs (tranquil music) and some milk.

I'm using whole milk.

You could use cream if you really want to be fancy.

But you could also just use 1% or even skim milk if you want, no fat milk.

A half a teaspoon of salt, important to have it be seasoned.

I'm gonna whisk that up.

There's a thing about eggs.

When you bake them, they puff up.

And you don't even have to separate the yolks and the whites.

They're still gonna puff up.

It's very dramatic.

Okay, in goes the two cups of milk.

This is a plan-ahead dish because the bread has to soak in the batter for one hour.

So you have to just plan ahead that much.

Now, look at how that looks like a wet mass, doesn't it?

I already have a batch that I put in the fridge an hour ago, and you're gonna see what it looks like after it's done with its absorbing trick.

Let me just pop this guy in.

And then I'm gonna put my soaked bread in the oven, soaked sandwiches.

Okay, this is ready to go in the oven.

350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until it's puffed and golden and all melty.

While that's baking, I'm gonna make this wonderful summertime side dish.

You've heard of fried green tomatoes, which are tomatoes at the end of the season that haven't quite ripened, and you want to use them before the frost comes in.

But I'm gonna just go ahead and use ripe tomatoes to make my version, which is not fried, it's sauteed, but similar to the original.

So first what I'm gonna do, which I always do with tomatoes, is I'm gonna salt them.

Just taking out the core here, okay?

And the reason for salting them is just to pull out the excess liquid and concentrate their flavor.

And we usually use about two to three beefsteak tomatoes.

And we're slicing them about 1/3 of an inch thick.

And then we're gonna salt them on both sides.

If you don't do this, it isn't the end of the world, but I think you're gonna find it makes a big difference in terms of flavor.

This is a rustic dish, doesn't have to be perfect.

Okay.

And the dressing that I'm gonna make for this is like a buttermilk dressing.

And I'm gonna start with 1/3 a cup of mayonnaise.

Then I'm gonna whisk in a half a cup of buttermilk.

Okay, let me get that smooth.

And then we're gonna add a little garlic, about one clove minced and some salt.

And now we're gonna add our herbs.

We're gonna want about a total of two tablespoons.

I like to make sure that I have some tarragon in there.

And then we're gonna do some chives, which I think are also very nice in here.

And finally, a little bit of parsley.

Okay.

Oh, I forgot the lemon juice.

And we want about a tablespoon.

All right.

Let's see where we're at here.

Okay, I'm gonna make my fried tomato batter.

Fried.

They're sauteed.

And we're gonna do pretty much the same kind of batter you would do if you were deep frying them.

So we're gonna start with one egg and 1/3 of a cup of buttermilk.

This way, when you buy that quart of buttermilk and you're wondering what to do, don't worry, you'll use a fair amount in just this one recipe.

Sometimes you have some left over.

Okay.

There's one ounce of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, quarter cup of all-purpose flour, and 3/4 of a cup of cornmeal.

The important thing when you're doing this is to have a wet hand and a dry hand.

Do not go wet and dry and then wet again because you'll end up breading your hand, not the item.

I'm gonna start heating up my pan.

(tranquil music) All right, so I'm gonna pat these tomatoes dry.

Okay.

Wet hand, dry hand.

I always get confused.

(tranquil music continues) I'm done with my wet hand.

I'm gonna put it behind my back so I don't use it.

Here's my dry hand.

Yeah, that looks nice.

Now, we just want this a couple of minutes a side.

We're trying to get nice color on it, but we don't want to cook it completely because we want that nice crunch from the tomato.

I think the idea being that if you used a ripe tomato, a really ripe tomato, it just become a stew in the pan.

Okay, let me have a little peek.

(food sizzles) Ah, it's beautiful.

- Yeah, beautiful crust.

I'm gonna put a tiny bit more oil in there.

(food sizzles) All right.

Okay, let's see.

Yeah, they're looking good.

Putting them on paper towels so they don't sog up the plate.

Okay, so I'm smelling that cheese sandwich souffle.

I think I better take a look.

All righty.

Now I'm gonna start making the salad.

(tranquil music continues) And then I'm gonna put some cherry tomatoes on top because it's tomato season.

I mean, come on.

Okay, so now our buttermilk dressing.

Be generous.

There we go.

And we're gonna finish it off with some more chopped herbs.

It's summertime, after all.

And finally, okay, hopefully my cheese sandwich souffle has cooled off enough so I will not burn my mouth.

So it's sort of crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.

I'm gonna have to try it.

And I'm gonna think of my grandmother.

I don't know if she invented this recipe.

Probably not, but I'm gonna pretend that she did.

So here we go.

Oh, yum.

Mmm.

Mmm.

You gotta try this.

Cheese sandwich souffle, Ms.

Moulton style.

(tranquil music continues) For recipes, videos and more, go to our website, sarahmoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by... - [Announcer] Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery, from shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions to our hands-on cooking school at sea.

Our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises epicurean experience.

(gentle music) (light music) - [Sara] And by USA Rice.

(soft piano music) (bright music) (relaxed ambient music)