Pub snacks made at home

Pub food has a quality control problem that home cooking can fix. The pub kitchen is racing the clock and the deep fryer is the answer to most timing problems. At home you have the time to do things properly, which means the same dishes can be twice as good for the same effort.

The toastie at the pub uses pre sliced bread and the cheese is what was open. The same toastie at home with a sourdough loaf and a real cheddar is a different sandwich. The bread structure holds the filling. The sharp cheese cuts through the butter. The butter on the outside crisps under a press. Five minutes per side, sliced into quarters, served on a board.

The breaded chicken cutlet, what the pub calls a chicken parm sub, is the best home cooking value in this entire genre. A boneless thigh, pounded thin, dipped in egg, breaded with panko, fried for three minutes per side in a shallow pan. The result is restaurant quality for four pounds in ingredients. Layered into a roll with sauce and cheese, it is a meal in a hand.

The salad has a quiet role at the pub table. Heavy main, sharp salad, the contrast keeps the second pint going down. A crispy chicken BLT with thick dressing or a Caesar wrap with anchovy in the dressing both do this job, and both improve with the home cook's time.

Five dishes the pub does not cook properly because it cannot. Cook them at home and they earn their reputation back.