KITCHEN ADVENTURES: ‘WICHY WOMAN. So, inspired by this “Top Chef” episode, I’ve been trying out a passel of sandwich ideas–a change from my ol’ favorite. These are all hot sammiches:

Mushrooms, bacon, gruyere, balsamic vinegar: Heat oven to 375. Take a largeish roll, split it down the middle, then cut the halves lengthwise. Put the bottoms of the roll halves on aluminum foil. (Do that for all of these recipes, except for the french toast one.) I used a mealhada roll for this. Any relatively plain roll would work–portuguese, for example. Slice mushrooms and yellow onion, and cut two bacon slices in half. Layer mushrooms, onion (drizzled with balsamic vinegar), and bacon on the roll-half bottoms, top with sliced gruyere, and cover with the roll-half tops. Wrap in foil and bake 15 minutes. …The verdict: Neh. Tasted indistinct and weirdly antiseptic. Not sure what the problem was–possibly the vinegar?? Caramelized onions might work better.

Rosemary roll, bacon, and fontina: Oven to 375, foil, open rosemary roll. Fill it with thinly-sliced mushrooms, tomato, and red onion, then bacon and sliced fontina; cover with roll top, wrap in foil, cook 15-17 mins. The verdict: Fine, but not a standout or showstopper. The red onion was probably the best part. The fontina didn’t seem to add much–probably overwhelmed by the high roll-to-cheese ratio. Would have worked better as an open-faced sandwich cooked in the toaster oven.

Mushroom, yellow pepper, and munster cheese: Roast a couple ‘shrooms on a foiled baking tray in the oven–about 15 mins. at 375? Then prepare a mealhada (or whatever) roll as in the first recipe. Fill it with sliced vegs: tomato, roasted mushroom, red onion, and yellow bell pepper. Top with munster cheese, cover with tops of roll halves, wrap in foil, bake 15 mins. at 375. The verdict: This was really yummy. The pepper was especially delicious. Yellow pepper would work really well in these toasted sandwiches in general, I think.

Chopped fresh cilantro should also work here (on top of the cheese), and in the recipe below. Sort of like Mexican Radio Sandwich, which is delicious and which I ate practically every day for a week or two last year.

Pinto beans, bacon, yellow pepper: Exactly like the sandwich above, except using a rosemary roll layered with canned pinto beans (very easy–only slightly goopy), tomato slices, onion slices, bacon, yellow pepper, and munster cheese. The verdict: Good, but not great. Maybe would have been better without the bacon? (How can that be???) The pepper was, again, delicious.

And a breakfast sandwich: Make two slices of french toast in whatever way is your favorite. Drizzle with maple syrup and fill with crispy sliced bacon (cooked 1 1/2 mins. on paper towels in the microwave). Verdict: This was yummy, but needed maybe one extra component–a slice of fontina, say, or a fried egg. (Or both, if you typically use challah or another thick bread for your french toast. I make very thin french toast.) I’d also be interested in possible herbs for this, like rosemary.