My Eighty-first - Hot Pastrami Sandwich -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eighty-first - Hot Pastrami Sandwich -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

I've always been a huge fan of Pumpernickel bread, and I know a lot of people are die-hard Rye bread fans - so let's just agree to disagree.

My son and I are the two that love pastrami and corned beef in my house.  So when he comes home from college, I like to purchase it and send him back to school with the extra, which never happens, because we will gladly eat the meat without any bread, mustard, or sauerkraut.  This is why it makes the list of 100 meals you never thought you would eat pureed.


2 parts bread (toasted)
2 parts Pastrami
dash of course mustard
2 parts sauerkraut/coleslaw
1 part cheese
Hot Water


HOT WATER
This meal is mostly about aroma, and the hot water releases the aroma of the meat, cheese and mustard.  You can use warm water if you pre-steam the meat.   

MUSTARD AND VINEGAR WARNING
Just a reminder, the vinegar and mustard can burn a mouth with sores.

CHEESE
Although I prefer Swiss cheese, because it is aromatic, you can also use Havarti and American cheese.  The hot water also helps the swiss cheese be more aromatic.  

TOAST
There is a certain extra yum about bread being toasted that seems important in a puree.  If you are the type of person to grill your sandwich - do it.

CABBAGE
Cabbage "in a form" is key to a great pastrami sandwich.  Sauerkraut is the top option, although it might burn your mouth, which is why I mention coleslaw, which can be made without a vinegar ingredient. I've even used sliced red cabbage without seasoning.  

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My Eightieth - American Goulash or American Chop Suey -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eightieth - American Goulash or American Chop Suey -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Always popular in American school lunches because it is easy to make a large pot and slop it out onto the trays.

Both dishes are similar and there are hundreds different variations.  If you haven't heard of either of these before they are basicly macaroni, tomato sauce, and typically ground meat.  Seasoning ranges from Italian to Hungarian spices.  

I view it as that pasta version of chili.  The biggest difference between Hungarian Goulash and American Goulash is stewed meat vs. ground beef.

This is my GO TO when people are having pizza, because pizza is very hard to puree easily.

1 part Goulash/Chop Suey
2 parts Warm water

Option
1 part Sour Cream

WARM WATER
Yup this one need to be served warm.  Not only for the comfort, but because there is typically cheddar cheese, and you want to make sure it doesn't stick to your mouth or the tubing.

TOMATO WARNING
Just a reminder, the tomato sauces can be a problem with both mouth sores, and stomach upset.  Make sure you have no mouth sores.  If you are not sure, don't do it.  Tomatoes have a way of finding sores you didn't know about.

CHEDDAR CHEESE
Go light on the cheddar cheese, a little cheese goes a long way on strong taste.  I always recommend sharp cheddar, so you can use less, for the same taste level.

SOUR CREAM

Just to add a little fat in your diet.  I also finds it helps calm my stomach.

ADD MEAT LATER
Turns out I make a lot of meatless dishes, and then add my own pre-cooked meat later.  Last night, I added pre-cooked swordfish to my Goulash.  It was a nice change of pace.

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My Seventy-ninth - Chicken Marsala -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Seventy-ninth - Chicken Marsala -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

So, in cleaning out the kitchen cabinets, I found a bottle of Marsala wine in the back.  It has probably been there for over 6 years.  I haven't made Chicken Marsala since well before my first oral cancer treatment in 2010.  I love chicken Marsala.  But, I'm the only one in my house that does.  As I held the bottle in my hand, I thought about all the meals that require a little bit of liquor / liqueur like cognac, Cointreau, red wine, beer, etc.

For many cancer treatment people, these are strictly forbidden, because of the alcohol.  However, for cooking there are often non-alcohol alternatives, like flavored extracts, or non-alcoholic beer and wines.

Marsala does not have an alternative. But you can cook the alcohol out of it. by boiling the water on the stove, and add the Marsala wine to boiling water, and turning the heat off, and letting the water cool down a bit before adding it to the blender.  There is a little magic required trying to estimate how hot the water should be compared with the cold items in the blender.

This recipe is for people like me, where no one else in the house will eat it.

1-part pre-cooked chicken

1-part starch

1/2-part mushroom

1-part cream

4 parts warmed chicken stock 

warm water

Dash of Marsala wine

WARM LIQUID

The key to this dish is to make it warm enough that the Marsala wine gives a nice fragrance.  It is also a dish, where you need to feed it to lip sippers in a small portion, so that you can make sure that they always have a warm cup in front of them.  It will lose all its charm when it is cold.  Yes, I would not start with this dish, as the first one I make for a patient.  Maybe the twentieth and thirtieth, once I've gained their trust.

PRE-COOKED CHICKEN

This is a perfect example of a dish where I keep unseasoned pre-cooked meat in the refrigerator. Some call it leftovers, I call it life.  When I cook myself a meal, I typically cook the meat unseasoned, and then pull half of it out and store it in the refrigerator for a meal for the next day.  Most of the issue with pre-cooked meat, is the texture - pureeing solves that problem.

LIQUEUR

The beauty of liqueur is they add a lot of aroma.  Liqueurs remind the patient of good times, and good days.  

Remember, it takes very little liqueur to add a lot of flavor.

STARCH

Some like Chicken Marsala with rice, others with pasta.  I like mine with egg noodles.  It's a personal preference. 

CREAM

I've had chicken Marsala without cream - it is a little too intense of a flavor for my taste.  Typically, the patient needs to put on weight, so cream is good.

COMMENTS

Please add your comments and suggestions to my blog.  Nice to see people from around the globe reading my blog.  Please follow you want the latest recipes.

FACEBOOK
I have created a companion page on Facebook called: 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors.  Sometimes it is easier to share a FB page than send a blog address.