Grilled Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches on Anadama Bread

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This sandwich is made with Anadama Bread. Anadama is a fun bread. It has Old English origins and has been around for a couple of centuries.  

At least, in how we make it today, it's made with a mixture of bread flour and cornmeal. It's more bread than cornbread, but the cornbread heritage is significant. The cornmeal gives it a bit of crunch. Grilling increases the crunch.  It's one of my favorite breads for sandwiches. 

These sandwiches can be made grilled, open-faced, or panini style.  The caramelized onions accent the sandwich as relish might.   The secret ingredient in the sauce is apricot jam.

We used anadama bread, and it was perfect, but any quality, hearty bread will work.  These sandwiches would also be good with deli roast beef or ham.

Ingredients

2 large onions, cut into slices and then cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup water
dash garlic powder
dash ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper

12 slices Anadama Bread (6 thick slices if you are doing open-faced sandwiches)
1 to 1 1/2 pounds deli turkey meat
3 medium tomatoes, sliced
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, sliced

Directions

In a skillet, sauté the sliced onions in the butter until translucent.   Add the soy sauce, jam, sugar, vinegar, and water.  Add the garlic powder and ground ginger.  Simmer the mixture until the water has nearly evaporated and the onions are in a caramelized sauce.  Stir in the salt and pepper, adding more to taste.  Set aside.

For open-faced sandwiches cooked in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place 6 thickly-sliced bread pieces on a large baking sheet.  Spread a layer of onions on each slice.  Top the onions with deli meat, then Swiss cheese, and then slices of tomatoes.  Salt and pepper the tomatoes if desired.  Put the pan of sandwiches in the oven and cook just until the cheese melts and the sandwiches are heated through.

For panini sandwiches:

Set out twelve slices of bread.  Layer the sandwiches as above but add a slice of bread on top of each. Butter both the top and the bottom of the sandwiches and follow the panini pan maker’s instructions to cook.

For grilled sandwiches: 

Make the sandwiches as you would panini sandwiches, including buttering the bread. Cook in a skillet or grill pan.