Rustic Open-Faced Sandwiches

It's that time of year when delicious spicy peppers abound!  Whip up a batch or two of hearty jalapeno cheddar bread and you'll have the starting place for lots of delicious lunches.  Even my little girls enjoy the jalapeno cheddar bread when used to make open-faced sandwiches.  Enjoy!

Gluten-free Rustic Open-Faced Sandwiches made on Jalapeno-Cheddar Bread. Yum!

Rustic Open-Faced Sandwiches

Make 3 mini loaves of the Hearty Jalapeno Cheddar Bread.  Once cool, thinly slice. (This bread freezes really well after slicing, so you can make it in advance to pull together a quick dinner later!)

Preheat oven to 375F.  Or you can heat/toast these on the BBQ if you have a mesh pan so the slices don't fall through.

Arrange thinly sliced hearty jalapeno bread on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Atop each piece of bread add:
1-2 thin pieces of ham, turkey or chicken
1 thin piece high quality cheese (thin slices, since you already have cheddar in the bread)
3-4 pieces thinly sliced cherry tomatoes (in different colors, if possible)

Heat in oven ~8 minutes, until cheese is nicely melted and bread is just crisping around edges.

Serve hot.  Great with fresh arugula or other greens alongside.  Enjoy!

Jalapeno & Cheddar Bagels

All I can say about these is they are fabulous!  Fresh out of the oven, you can eat them plain and they're so delicious.  They're also great toasted with cream cheese.  I find jalapenos vary in terms of how spicy they are, so you may want to nibble a piece before you add it to the dough.  If it isn't a very spicy one, you can add some of the jalapeno seeds into the batter as well.  (Seeds from a chili pepper tend to be where the spice really is).  These bagels are so easy to whip together and so delicious. Enjoy!!!

Jalapeno & Cheddar Bagels

Makes 6 bagels (you can easily double the recipe)

 

Line cookie sheet with silicon mat or parchment paper.

 

In a 1 cup measuring cup mix and let rest 5 minutes:

2/3 cup warm water

4 Tbsp honey

2 tsp rapid rise yeast (quick-rise yeast)

 

Add to yeast mixture:

2 egg

4 Tbsp oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

 

Set liquids aside, and mix together in a mixer:

1 1/3 cup tapioca starch

1 cup brown rice flour

5 Tbsp potato starch

1 ½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

 

Add liquids to mixer.  Mix on low, until combined.  Then mix on medium speed, scraping occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.  Batter will be nice and smooth.

 

Fold in:

2 Jalapenos, seeded and diced (seeds add extra spice, so if you want spicier bagels, keep some of the seeds)

I use the mixer to just mix in quickly.

 

Put batter into a Ziploc (I like the freezer bags because they’re stronger).  Cut 1” off one corner.  Pipe 6 bagels onto prepared cookie sheet.

Don't worry about them being perfect, just try to make them evenly sized.

Using wet hands, spread bagels so the holes are nice and big. You can also smooth out any areas that are a bit lumpy. 

Smooth with wet hands. Imperfections will be hidden once they rise and have cheese on top, so don't worry too much about making them look perfectly smooth.

Let rise in a warm location for 30-40 minutes.  They’ll look a bit puffier, but won’t fully double in size.

Nice and puffy, ready to top and bake!

Sprinkle generously on top of bagels:

½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Mmm.. don't those look good.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until browned.  Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. 

Fresh out of the oven. Yum!

Once cooled, you can slice and freeze if you aren’t planning to get them right away. These are great toasted with cream cheese.

Enjoy!

 

A top-view.

Sliced and ready for toasting or topping.