2008 Challenge

American Sandwich threw down the gaunlet when it reported that Americans eat an average of 193 sandwiches a year.
Ha! It won't take me a year to eat 193 sandwiches.
But how long will it take me? I propose to document the first 193 sandwiches I eat in 2008. If you're all not too bored by the time I hit the magical 193, I'll continue to keep track right up until December 31, 2008.
I am setting some ground rules:
1. I will not try to eat more sandwiches than I normally would eat.
2. I will not stretch the definition of what makes a sandwich to include questionable entries like tamales, spring rolls, and the like. I think I can make it without counting those tasty treats.
3. If I have a question about whether something counts as a sandwich, I will seek your opinion through the nifty sidebar poll. Popular vote wins. Unless I disagree.
4. And yes, there will still be Sandwich Night. Looking at the dearth of interesting television programming in the upcoming weeks, we may consider movie Sandwich Nights. Sound good?

Thanks Kate!

Look what Kate gave us for Christmas!
Ooey gooey deliciousness. Can't wait to try some of these crazy sounding recipes!

Merry Christmas!

And welcome family! My page for the family calendar this year (September) is all about sandwiches. Surprise! Come back and check my blog again--so you can keep up with what I am eating. It's fascinating, to be sure.

And I do enjoy reading comments...

Meat attack!

We had our muffuletta night on Sunday. For once, I actually followed a recipe (mostly) and I think we might have regretted it. There was actually too much meat on the sandwiches! Jane, Karen, and Kate came over. Jane had to take some meat out of her sandwich just to finish it. Karen had to take some out just to balance the ratio of cheese to meat to olive salad. Kate, Beth and I soldiered through but it took us a while to finish!.
I combined the recipes for muffuletta from American Sandwich and Roadfood Sandwiches. Each called for heaps of meat, some cheese, and the olive salad to be piled on a round Italian loaf. I made the olive salad with lots of green and calamata olives, plus celery, carrots, cocktail onions, capers, giardiniera peppers, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. That marinated for a day.

Then we had to make a trip to Cossetta's for the rest of the ingredients. We got Genoa salami, mortadella, capicola, smoked ham, mozzarella and provolone. They slice the meat so thin there, you can see through it. It's awesome. And they lay it out all pretty on paper. Luckily they had 2 Italian round loaves left for our feast. Armed with all of our delicious purchase, we pushed our way out the back door, like salmon swimming upstream against a current of girls and their parents grabbing a slice before the matinee of Disney's High School Musical on Ice. Fun.

The Roadfood Sandwiches recipe recommended slicing the loaf in half, then digging out about half the bread from the interior. Good idea, except you can't really tell just how much meat you have layered on the bread, when it's stacking up into a hole. I layered meats and cheeses, then piled some marinated onions (at the suggestion of American Sandwich) and the olive salad on top. I put the top of the bread on and squished it down. Then we went to watch the first half of the ANTM finale.

After bidding toothy sarcastic Jenah farewell--good luck, you might actually have a modelling career if you never speak or show your teeth--we cut into the monster. We were shocked at the enormous pile of meat that fit into the sandwich. Following the recipe, we cut those suckers into quarters and settled down for the second half of ANTM. (And the beginnings of gout from all the cured meat, most certainly.)

The sandwich was pretty tasty. Not the greatest, but tasty. Since I've been eating the leftovers for a couple days now, I will say that it improves with age. And it is better when cut into 1/8ths. We were sad that Angie couldn't make it, since this sandwich is right up her alley. Perhaps we can have a reprise, and make it two days beforehand, and cut it in smaller pieces. Oh, the possibilities!

Sandwich Night--change of date

I forgot to look at Beth's hockey schedule before we planned the muffuletta night. Whoops. Her team, Chaos, plays Anarchy at 9:30 on Monday the 17th. I love it when Chaos plays Anarchy. Anarchy usually wins. But Chaos has more fun.
I digress.
We can't send Beth to face Anarchy with a belly full of cured meats and olive salad. Nor can we exclude her from the festivities. So, we are moving the next Sandwich Night to Sunday the 16th. We will still eat muffuletta. We will still watch the season finale of ANTM on tape. Join us!

More Sandwich Cookbooks!

My friend Amy surprised me with this little beauty on Sunday. There's one sandwich from every state. It's a little more academic than Roadfood Sandwiches, but they make a nice complement to each other. And American Sandwich puts two kinds of cheese and more meat on its muffuletta, as well as the unorthodox addition of marinated onions. A book after my heart!
It also includes the statistic that each American eats 193 sandwiches a year. Now there's a challenge!

Eggy Cheesy Goodness

Karen hosted the first Sandwich Night on the Road last night. The fried egg sandwich was raised to new heights of deliciousness, due largely to her shopping spree at Trader Joes. There were so many cheeses and breads from which to choose! The big hits included mini bagels (genius), brioche rolls and cheddar cheese with Moroccan spices. Kate rummaged through Karen's herbs and spices and came up with the inspired addition of herbs de Provence to her sandwich. We all followed suit. Fantastic.
Beth channeled her days as a Denny's cook and cooked our eggs up right, including scrambling Kate's eggs. Hey, fried eggs aren't for everyone and Sandwich Night is about breaking the rules, man!
We did have a narrow brush with tragedy, however. When Beth and I went to Everett's to pick up bacon on Saturday, they had run out. What???? We weren't the only confused and disappointed customers in the store, that's for sure. When I stopped by after work on Monday, they had mercifully restocked. The cashier said people had been coming in all day just to get bacon. Kind of like a run on the bank. The salty smoky bacon bank, that is.

We all made two sandwiches--why not with all the bounty? This is my favorite: mini bagel, over medium egg, co-jack, brie, herbs de Provence, bacon. I also made the one pictured at the top:brioche roll, over medium egg, Moroccan cheddar, Canadian bacon, and Thai chili garlic sauce. Yum. Around the world on a bun.

I don't know whose sandwich this is, but isn't it pretty?
We gobbled our sandwiches down before Heroes started so we could focus on the shocking mid season cliffhanger. I wonder what will happen next? Will the writers reach an agreement on DVD and internet royalties in time? Cross your fingers!

And we could hardly take our eyes off the cover of Roadfood Sandwiches all night, so we're having muffulettas next. Monday the 17th at our place. We're watching the America's Next Top Model finale on tape, so we can heckle more effectively. Join us!

Oh yeah,

Eggs Benedict is not a sandwich.

Sorry Jane.

Look what I found

It was just sitting in the new books display at the library, calling my name.
Is it fate?

I love the Google

While doing some terribly important research (sandwiches and travel, of course) on the internet, I came upon an astounding discovery. I was searching on the Roadfood website for places to eat in San Francisco and Portland, since Beth and I were heading there over Thanksgiving. To my pleasant surprise, the featured Roadfood of the day was a Fried Egg Sandwich! Cool! The reviewer described a fancy egg sandwich from a fancy sandwich place called 'wichcraft in New York City. Since I am a slave to sandwich night research, I had to check out their site. Lo and behold, they have a store in San Francisco!

We had lunch there on Monday--the fried egg (toasted ciabatta, over hard eggs, vinaigrette dressed frisee, bacon, gorgonzola cheese) as well as the roasted turkey (toasted ciabatta, real turkey, avocado, bacon, onion relish). Both were pretty phenomenal. As a bonus, they came with delicious Tim's potato chips. The only improvement on the fried egg would have been an over medium yolk, like the Roadfood site described. Are Californians afraid of undercooked yolks? The turkey sandwich was pretty much perfect. Check out their menu for some more awesome sandwich ideas. I wish they would open in downtown St. Paul, how cool would that be?

What's on YOUR fried egg sandwich?

First of all, that question is one of the greatest conversation starters of all time. Seriously. Try it. No one gives the same answer. It's amazing.

Karen and I have been collecting fried egg sandwich ideas from everyone we talk to. The variety is staggering.

To start with there's the wide spectrum of yolk hardness from over easy to fried hard to broken.

Here are the bread choices we have collected:
white toast, wheat toast, ciabatta, English muffin, Italian bread, bagel, croissant, biscuit, brioche, rye, cracked wheat

And the cheese:
provolone, cheddar, gruyere, gorgonzola, brie, swiss, American

And the meat:
bacon, Canadian bacon

Veggies:
arugula, tomato, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, caramelized onions, parsley, fresh herbs

Condiments:
ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, butter, harissa, tabasco sauce, horseradish, truffle oil, Hollandaise, Bearnaise

Holy Sandwich Batman! How will we choose?

Next up: Sandwich Night goes on the road

Karen is hosting the next sandwich night on December 3 at her sweet new pad. Email me for directions.

The sandwich will be.........

Fried Egg!

Oh the possibilities...what's essential for your favorite fried egg sandwich?

Ooh la la!

Last night was French Dip and they were delicieux.

I made my regular roast beef--take a rump roast, trim off most of the fat, cut slits in it and stuff garlic cloves in the holes, then cover the whole thing with lemon pepper. I roast that on a rack in a pan for 1-2 hours, depending on the size and shape of the meat. This method, guaranteed to make a tasty roast, unfortunately turns the pan juices to carbon. So this time, I transferred the roast to a dish when it was done and collected all the juices that came out while it was resting.
Then on to the dip part of the French Dip--to make au jus, I read a bunch of recipes on line and settled on a mixture of styles. I minced an onion and 4 gloves of garlic and sauteed them in butter. Then I added a little dried thyme and rosemary. I added a healthy slug of red wine, the collected juices, and a quart of Swanson's beef broth. I let it simmer for about an hour while I sliced the meat. Yay meat slicer!
To serve, I put the sliced meat in a pan with some of the jus to heat up. Then I put some jus in a frying pan so we could dip the bread in it during the assembly. The rest of the jus went in a saucepan, to serve out into ramekins for dipping.
The sandwiches went together beautifully. Pieces of baguette, sliced lengthwise, then dipped cut side down in jus. Then meat, horseradish and cheese (provolone or Swiss) if desired. I made two smaller sandwiches--one with and one without cheese. It's hard to pick which was better.
And what do you serve with French Dip? French fries, of course! And Peru!


We hosted some sandwich night newbies--Beth's coworker Jennifer and her two kids, Anja and Ben. Anja loves to bite things--including sandwiches larger than her head! Jennifer's husband Steve couldn't make it--he became the second recipient ever of a Sandwich Night to-go order. I'm told was gratefully received.



Karen and Kate came, too. Kate said she had been craving the French Dip ever since it was a poll option a few weeks ago. I hope you're happy now, Kate. We also had a double feature viewing of Heroes and last week's America's Next Top Model. And Kate brought apple cake. Truly an epic night.

Banner Sandwich Day

Today was quite the sandwich-o-rama.
First Tony (my pest control guy and frequent SIHL commentor) took me the the famous Gopher Bar for Coneys. These are REAL chili dogs!

They use hot dog rolls, rather than buns, and they grill them so the outside is greasy and crispy and fantastic. The dog is just a normal dog and the chili is quite simple. They spread mustard on top of that, then smother the thing in chopped onions and shredded cheese. I'm not a huge fan of raw onions, but in this application, they rocked. Dare I say, gestalt!

Plus, I admired the sheet of wax paper and the fork the server dropped off before the coneys came up. Just right for catching all the inevitable drippings. I'm not even going to start on the ambiance of the place. Just go there--it's an original.

For dinner tonight I made roasted vegetable sandwiches. I roasted portobello mushrooms, red peppers, zucchini, and red onions. Then I stacked them on olive oil rosemary bread with some goat cheese. I put them in the oven to melt the cheese and settled in with my honey to watch Kitchen Nightmares. Why? Because they were at a restaurant less than a mile away from where I grew up. And because it was the most profanity filled episode ever filmed. A 47 minute long bleep fest. For the record, the sandwiches were awesome and we're never going to eat at that jerk's restaurant.

Next Sandwich Night!

Monday, November 12.
French Dip.
Be there.

Happy Halloween!

No sandwich news. I've been too busy creating this.

Just like Scarlett O'Hara and Maria Von Trapp, I made it out of old curtains. Crazy scary curtains from my friend Marcia's crazy scary new house!

Monday is for Sandwiches, even when it's not

Sorry folks, no Sandwich Night tonight. We are reviewing the availability of some of our favorite sandwich guests and will post the date for the next night--FRENCH DIP!--soon.

So let me reminisce about recent sandwiches I have loved, to fill your sandwich yearnings. I got a great one at the Holy Land Deli:The Falafel Combination. A big pita bread, stuffed with falafel, fried cauliflower, zucchini, and some other delicious things. I got it with tahini. It was so big that Beth and I ended up sharing it for dinner. Yum! Plus I got the bonus cultural experience of seeing the place packed out with people enjoying the dinner buffet for Ramadan. Beth and I went back a few days later and had the buffet and it was fabulous. Not sure if it's as extensive after Ramadan....that will take another trip!

Which takes me back to one more sandwich memory (bear with me--I could give my whole life history in food.) When I studied in Senegal during college, I participated in the Ramadan fast for most of the month. It seemed like the right thing to do, plus it gave me a better understanding of how people feel after they've fasted all day. My host family had a daily small meal to break the fast that started with dates (just like Mohammed is said to have done) and Swiss cheese sandwiches on French bread. Just super fresh baguette, spread with butter, and topped with a couple slices of Swiss cheese. Light. Delicious. And it totally holds you over until the real feasting begins at supper! I'm not a huge Swiss cheese fan, but one taste and I'm back at the Ndiaye family house in Dakar gratefully sucking down ice cold water and cheese sammies at the end of a hot day. The dates were pretty awesome, too.

Coolest super power EVER

I know this isn't sandwich related, but how cool is the newest super power revealed on Heroes? The girl who can do anything she sees on TV? How cool is that?

In other news, Kate's coming over to watch America's Next Top Model tonight. The menu has not been set, but will definitely be takeout. Sandwiches, perhaps? Pizza most likely? Do two pieces of pizza faced together and eaten crust-side out form a sandwich?

Holy Chili Dog Batman!

We had a quiet night with our chili dogs. Since no one was able to join us, just Beth and I hunkered down with our cheesy greasy treats.
Which is a bummer since I made a huge vat of chili (is there any other way to make chili?) I got the recipe at the State Fair from some corporate food exhibit. It looked interesting, had ancho chilis and a secret ingredient, Coca Cola. The end product, even though it was full of chilis and jalapenos, was surprisingly bland. I spiced it up which helped. It was chock full of ground beef and pork, though. That made it a good thick greasy consistency for pouring over a hot dog. (But not the kind of thick greasy consistency you would find at Tommy's in LA. Which is scareee, but addictive.)
The dogs we got from Everett's. Of course. If you get hot dogs from Everett's, be sure to ask for the "coarse ground wieners." They are fantastic. The texture is a little chewy, so you think you are actually eating meat (which you are, since they make them right there.) And they have natural casings that snap when you bite into them. Yum.
We took a pretty conventional approach to the chili dogs. Cheddar cheese, chili, chopped onion, hot dog, bun. They were alright. We had them for leftovers last night and I added sliced avocado to the mix, which was pretty good. I think pickled jalapenos would have been the perfect accompaniment. Next time!

Chili Dogs it is, then!

The readers have spoken and Chili Dogs win in a close race.
I know Eric was rallying folks at Homeline to vote for gyro...better luck next time, my friend. Because gyros are also delicious.
So Chili Dogs. Monday, October 8. (which is also Columbus Day, you know old Chris loved him some chili, cheese and onions on a hot dog, right? Nice break from hard tack and all.)
Be there!

Yatta!

The long awaited Heroes season premier/calzone sandwich night arrived!
I'm skipping the "are calzones really sandwiches" question. They have bready stuff on either side of filling. Enough said.

First, the ingredients: I went to Cossetta's, of course. I got the dough, pizza sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and olives there. Their pizza dough is so good, I don't know why you would even bother trying to make your own. Homemade dough always tastes so yeasty, unless you put a couple days into it.
I also picked up spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, parmesan, and ricotta. I made a lovely ingredient buffet so everyone could assemble their own concoction (that's my favorite Sandwich Night arrangement!)

Kate, Karen and Angie came. The assembly area was such a frenzy that I didn't really keep track of what anyone was putting in their calzones. I do know that Karen made two--a veggie and a meat-tastic. Which was fortunate since half of the veggie went home with Angie to give to Mandy. (Calzones were Mandy's idea in the first place!)

We tossed them into the oven in time to catch the second half of Dancing With the Stars (seriously, who are half of these "stars" who are dancing? Do they expect the magnitude of Wayne Newton to make up for the D-list qualifications of some of the others?)

Then it was on to the big event! Heroes! Calzones! Lovely!

Manny's Tortas--yipee!!

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Manny's Torta's are delicious.
I wrote a funny post about them but then Blogger ate it when I added the picture.
Trust me. They are worth the trip to South Minneapolis. Those are the Vegetariana and the Cubana. The Manny's Special is pretty good too.

State Fair not a haven of sandwiches

I know, I know. A trip to the Minnesota State Fair is all about eating. Don't get me wrong. I love the State Fair. I LOOOOVE the State Fair. I went three times this year. I love eating at the State Fair. I plan my visits around what old favorites I'm going to eat, what new things I'm going to try, etc. Surprisingly, my must eat list is pretty much devoid of sandwiches.
Why?
Are State Fair sandwiches inferior to the plethora of deep fried treats on sticks? Are they less interesting than than the abundant culinary oddities like fried cheese curds?
I think my answer is that there are very few truly unique sandwiches available. I mean Deli Express, the crappy gas station sandwich maker has a booth at the Fair. I kid you not. They even have microwaves, just like at the gas station...
So, is there room for a sandwich in the middle of the calorie fest of Pronto Pups, mini donuts, cookies, roasted corn, pork chop on a stick, malts, hand rolled pretzels, etc., etc., etc?
Yes. There is one sandwich I always make room for: the Gizmo

The Gizmo is sort of like a Sloppy Joe. But with Italian sausage and covered in melted cheese. They're awesome. This year I got it twice. The first time I shared with Beth and Karen. The second time I just shared with Beth. Next year I'm getting one all for myself!

Try them next year--the stand is way up Machinery Hill, by the end of the sky glider.

Eggplant...parmesan!

Yes, yes we did indeed enjoy the fabulous grilled eggplant parmesan sandwich a couple of weeks ago.
I went with the unorthodox suggestion of grilling the eggplant rather than frying it. Why? Because grilled eggplant is fabulous. Slice the eggplant into think slices, then salt it down and let it drain for half an hour or so, then rinse it, pat it dry and brush it with olive oil, then grill it for the most succulent, creamy and delicious thing ever.
Mmmm...
But on to the rest of the sandwich. I took an whole loaf of ciabatta, split it lengthwise and spread the open parts with garlic butter. That went into the broiler to get crispy. Beth made a light tomato sauce from all the stuff we had canned lately. We spread a little tomato sauce on the bread, layered on some eggplant slices, then more sauce and provolone and parmesan cheese. Rinse and repeat, then top with the rest of the bread. I wrapped the whole thing in foil and put it in the oven to melt. Then we sliced it into pieces. Yum!
I served it with a salad made with cantalope, onion, feta cheese and lettuce with an herb vinaigrette. Really, it was the perfect late summer sandwich meal.

The company wasn't bad either--Karen and Kate (the regulars) and our friend Marcia, a sandwich night newbie who withstood the meal and our constant ribbing about her recent "not date." Yeah right. Angie, unfortunately, had to bow out with a summer cold. And I know those suck since I've got one right now.
What's next? Karen drew the next one for the Heroes Season 2 premier on September 24 and it's CALZONE!
(Take that, mr. anonymous)

Sandwich Night!!!!

So they are re-running episodes from season 1 of Heroes.
We haven't seen Angie is ages since she's been in the north woods encouraging her broken collar bone to just heal faster damn it!
Kate's last day at the museum is next Tuesday.
Why not celebrate with a sandwich and a little boob tube viewing?
I have chosen from the list--Eggplant Parmesan!
Why? Why not? I love eggplant. And I just bought a bunch at the farmer's market. And we just canned about a bazillion tomatoes. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
Monday, August 20. Wanna come?

All Hail Mustard!

I got a chance to visit the Mustard Museum in Mt.Horeb, Wisconsin the weekend before last. This place is a trip. There are thousands of jars of prepared mustard from all over the world, plus jars and tins of dry mustard. There are hundreds of mustard serving bowls and spoons. There is a French's Mustard mascot costume (it's a giant mustard container, of course). And then there is the artwork. Check out this fantastic French's Mustard magazine ad depicting all of the sandwiches you can make with their mustard!


Check out some of those combos: "Southern Ham" contains deviled ham, sweet pickles, mustard-mayonnaise and peanut butter? Hmm....I think I'll reserve judgement.
The other half of the Mustard Museum is a giant store selling hundreds of mustards, hot sauces, salty snacks and "Poupon U" t-shirts.
My friend Amy (different from the Heroes finale Amy--half of my friends are named Amy) and I spent a good amount of time browsing mustards. Then we found out you could sample any of the mustards before you buy them. Well, that was a fun activity! Some were great, some not so great. I ended up buying Apricot Ginger Mustard, Walnut Dijon, and Country Garlic Mustard.
Amy went nuts and bought half the store, including Chocolate Merlot Mustard (fantastic on pretzels) and Chili Dog Mustard (which would be good on chili dogs, I guess?)
We spent the drive home sampling mustards with pretzels and then I had the brilliant idea (bear with me here) of combining the Apricot Ginger Mustard with chunky peanut butter on a flour tortilla. It was incredible! My new favorite sandwich! It's good on wheat bread, too.
So I guess I had better try the Southern Ham, huh?

OK

It's been a surreal week here in Sandwich Land. Beth had a close call, driving over the 35W bridge moments before it collapsed. She actually saw the huge cloud of dust from her rear view mirror. We're both okay, just shaken a bit.

So, please be patient while I prepare the next post about my trip to the mustard museum last weekend. I promise it will be worth it.

New LOVE

Something new has eclipsed my favorite Buon Giorno sandwich, the North Beach.
Yes, it is ....... the South Beach!
What's different?
While the North Beach is on French Bread with turkey, bacon, fontina, romaine, tomato and aioli, the South Beach is on ciabatta with turkey, ham, bacon, fontina, romaine, tomato and aioli.
And I thought you couldn't top the deliciousness of the North Beach. Well, you can.
Try it if you are in the neighborhood!

Best Pork Sandwich?

Beth is out of town this week—she and our friend Ben are on their epic bicycle tour of Wisconsin, AKA “the ride for beer.”
So, I figured I would settle into doing what I usually do when I’m single for the week—eat take-out junk food and watch tv. (I finished Harry Potter already.)
Yes, I know that it may seem like that’s all I do from reading my blog, but it’s not, I swear!
When I drive home from the gym, I often pass a drive-in place called Porky’s. This is the kind of place where classic car people gather on Friday nights and ogle each other’s chrome plated engines while eating cheeseburgers. It is also the place that proclaims from a large sign in front to have the Twin Cities’ best pork sandwich.
You can imagine that I have been intrigued.
I have managed to resist all of these years since Beth is not really a pork sandwich fan and I can’t really come home with a sammie for myself and no dinner for Bethy, can I? Also, it feels super duper naughty to pick up a pile of cholesterol on your way home from a workout, doesn’t it? At least from the half-assed workouts I engage in these days.
So here’s how it went down:
I pulled up to the drive in speaker and commenced the following exchange:
Speaker: wahwahwahscrhehcnewahwa
Me: silence (was that “just a moment?”)
Speaker: wahshcehrwahshrcherwah?
Me: I’d like a pork cutlet sandwich with fries and coleslaw, please.
Speaker: schewahwahcrrshwah?
Me: (thinking I’d been asked if I wanted anything else) No, that’s all.
Speaker: whashcrwahscherchchcwashnine
Me: Thanks!
I pull forward, ready pay some amount ending in nine. The woman at the window is frazzled and not much more intelligible. I pay her, pull forward, and get my food. At the next red light, I peek at the sandwich (after jamming a few lava hot French fries down my gullet) and it’s a breaded pork cutlet, between two pieces of white toast. There’s an onion ring on top. That’s it. No condiments? Does “schewahwahcrrshwah?” actually mean, “would you like anything on your sandwich?” Do they always serve them dry?

I waited to try it until I got home (no camera in the car, the lengths I go to for my public!).
Best Pork Sandwich? I don’t know. The cutlet WAS lovely. Tender and juicy with good seasonings in the crispy breading. But totally boring on plain white bread! I added some mayonnaise and lettuce and it was pretty good. Until I find out if they serve it any other way I will have to reserve judgement. The French fries were fantastic, though.

Busy...

I got my copy of Harry Potter on Saturday (even though I opted for the free shipping from Amazon. Whoopee!)
I've been trying to be a good girlfriend and pay some attention to Beth during all of this. Which means I haven't finished yet.
So no new sandwich entries until I get the HP monkey off my back.
Gestalt! (That's for "anonymous," Ethan.)

Recent Sandwiches of Note

Beth and I just got back from a two week tour of South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. In short, we had a blast, got to see my aunt in Hamilton, MT, and spent lots of time geyser gazing (but not Geyser Gazing) at Yellowstone.
We didn't have too many memorable sandwiches along the way, but I have two of note.

I know, that's not a sandwich! Rather it's a lovely city park in Sheridan, WY where we ate sandwiches I made in the car from Everett's sliced roast beef, dill havarti, and Trader Joe's ciabatta rolls. That's it. I made them while Beth was driving, then we decided to drive around Sheridan to find a park where we could picnic and stretch our legs. By the time we had located said park, they had been sitting on the sunny dashboard for about 20 minutes. Which was perfect. Mmmm..the cheese had softened up, the meat had lost its chill from the cooler and the ciabatta was the perfect container to get all that melty goodness to our mouths. Try it. Better than cooking a brisket on the exhaust manifold!

Once we got to Hamilton, I tracked down the BACK DOOR DELI! That's the birthplace of my sandwich love! And it's still there! Beth and managed to swing by one afternoon before it closed. I didn't want to jinx my memory of the perfect pastrami sandwich so we ordered the Bacado instead.

That's freshly microwaved bacon, swiss cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a wheat sub roll. Pretty close to perfect, if you ask me. It was fantastic--one of those sandwiches where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Gestalt!

Introducing Sandwich Lunch Club!

My friend Karen took me to a fantastic sandwich place yesterday. We convened what could become the Sandwich Lunch Club. Kate(back from Israel, yay!), Karen(of course), Ethan(he of great sandwich exactitude), Kristi and I took off for the fabulous Signal Hills Mall in West St. Paul at lunchtime. Yes, the old Signal Hills Mall has a great sandwich place. I didn't believe it at first either. It was great to get out of the museum for a change, now that Pompeii is open and the frantic work pace has slowed a tad.

So here's the place--it has a few names, as you can see. Kallyste Chocolates, The Real Cafe, maybe some more. It is run by a French guy who wanted to get fantastic flavor combinations out to the people in a convenient package, i.e. sandwiches! He sells fudge, chocolates, and ice cream as well as salads, crepes, and dinner entrees.
There's the background. Now here's the sandwiches. There's a HUGE list of hot and cold sandwiches. There are lots of interesting combinations of fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses. It took us ages to choose!



Kristi had the Parisien (left): It calls for a couple kinds of cheese, butter, sour cream and ham. Since she's a vegetarian, she asked him to skip the ham. He offered to put some veggies in instead and she let him choose. Good choice! He added avocado and red onions. Yum! I had the monthly special (as yet unnamed, on the right) Chicken, fresh mozzarella, pear, and chocolate sauce. Insane! The cheese was just salty enough to play off the pear and the chocolate was genius.

Kate had the cheese sandwich, which included feta and swiss among other cheeses and had garlic and lettuce.

Ethan chose the Exotic: Turkey, spinach, mango, and swiss cheese.

Karen's sandwich (I can't remember the name!) had mandarin oranges, shrimp and goat cheese.
Ethan and Karen also had pear smoothies and I had some great iced tea.
Wow--I need to go back, of course, and eat more unique gourmet sandwiches. You should go, too. Check it out! He's looking for a place in Woodbury that will be more visible.
Speaking of visibility, Beth and I will be heading out for a driving vacation in Montana and Wyoming for the next couple weeks. I'll be back online in mid-July with sandwich updates. Maybe I'll revisit my seminal pastrami sandwich place in Hamilton, MT if it's still there!

Philly cheese steak--sort of..

It was so exciting to finally have Jane over for a Sandwich Night. We chose Philly Cheese Steaks and we made sandwiches that featured beef, onions, cheese and bread. I think if I called them Philly Cheese Steaks to a less forgiving Philadelphian than Karen, I might get smacked. But here's what we did: I thawed out the leftover roast beef from Italian Beef sandwiches and sliced it thin and heated the slices up in the pan juices (which we froze with the roast). I grilled onions on a flat griddle (perhaps the most authentic part of the sandwich!). Then we melted cheese on top of the onions (provolone and mozzarella--not cheez whiz. Jane even slipped some goat cheese on hers!)

I got supermarket french bread, which wasn't my first choice but it worked okay. We assembled them by pouring pan juices on the bread, then meat, then the onions and cheese.
The verdict--delicious! Who cares how authentic they are, if they taste good, right?

And we couldn't let Jane escape bad tv, so we made her watch America's Got Talent. The verdict--America does indeed have talent. And David Hasselhoff is a boozebag.

Philly Cheese Steak!

We're planning a sandwich night for my friend Jane Tuesday night. (She always used law school and working for a state senator as an excuse not to come over on a regularly sandwich night. Silly.)
As the guest of honor, I asked her to choose a sandwich of her liking for us to tackle. So, cheese steak it is!
I've been doing a little research (ok,I had lunch with Karen and pressed her for details) I'm going to use roast beef, sliced thin, then grilled onions and provolone cheese. So not a classic Philly cheese steak, but Karen gave me her blessing as a former Philadelphian to pursue this rather unusual route. I'm sorry, but I like real cheese better than cheeeez. And I have half a roast beef in the freezer. So there.
Look for an update on cheesy meatiness later this week!

Recent sandwich happenings...

I had a great porketta sandwich with hot giardinera peppers from Buon Giorno on Friday. They cut a slit in the side of a crusty hoagie roll and stuff the sliced porketta, au jus, and peppers into it. That way, the outside of the bread remains hard and the inside gets all delicious and squishy. As long as you eat it promptly, of course.

Yesterday I made BLTs from Everett's bacon (of course), hydroponic tomatoes from the farmer's market (I sliced them, then salted and peppered them before I put them on the sandwich), red leaf lettuce and the fancy garlic herb mayonnaise from grilled vegetable sandwich night. I put the whole works on toated English muffin toasting bread. Yum!

And finally, I made some lovely chicken sandwiches from leftover rotisserie chicken, sourdough bread, the super hot Trader Joe's Dijon mustard and red leaf lettuce. We are sadly out of the Trader Joe's mustard now. Hopefully they will still be stocking it next time we make it out there!

I am now resolved to photograph some of these sandwiches before I eat them, so you can see them! Aaaah, the lessons I learn...

I love cheese!

Here's some fancy sandwiches I made for a party a couple weeks ago. I got the recipe from the newspaper (yes, we still get the newspaper-how else would we do Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz?) You take white bread, cut the crusts off, brush the slices with melted butter and place them on a griddle. Then add gated gruyere and sharp white cheddar cheese. Grill on each side until lightly browned, then put the sandwiches on a cookie sheet and finish the melting in the oven. Cut the sandwiches into triagles for serving. You make a dipping sauce for the sandwiches by reducing balsamic vinegar by half, then stirring in some butter to thicken it. Yum! Fancy!
I continued down the cheddar and gruyere road the other day with the leftover cheese. I made a sandwich with gruyere on one side, sharp white cheddar on the other and caramelized onions in between. I made it on wheat bread because that's what we had. I think white or sourdough would be even better. Beth said it tasted like French onion soup. So there-French Onion Sandwich! Try it!

The GIANT Hero!!!

There it is! Here's how we made it: I bought two loaves of Vienna bread from Cossetta's to start with. Then the meats: Porketta, Italian Roast Beef, Prosciutto, Hot Soprasetta and Pepperoni. The cheeses: Provolone, Mozzarella and Parmesan. The veggies: roasted red peppers, tomatoes (I seeded them, then salted them to draw out moisture so the sandwich wouldn't get soggy), red onion, roasted portobello mushrooms, sliced peperocini, marinated artichokes and Italian seasoning. I layered everything up and squished together. Then I wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. Then it went into the fridge to rest overnight.

Oh, it was lovely!

And, yes, I did make a veggie version for Mandy, with no meats.


Here's the pretty potato salad Amy made. See the flowers made of eggs and red peppers?

All in all, it was great night! I'm looking forward to some irregularly scheduled Sandwich Nights soon!

Best. Sandwich Night. EVER.

(I'm crazy busy hosting a conference at work this week so this will be short. Look for more details and photos in a few days!)
It was the best Sandwich Night yet. We assembled the giant hero from essentially the same ingredients as the original hero. Only this time, I made it the night before and let it sit in the fridge all day to let the flavors meld into new deliciousness.
We had a houseful of people including sandwich night regulars Angie(of course, no excuses this week!), Mandy(who ate a sandwich!), Kris and Doug, Karen, and Beth and me. My friend Amy finally came to a sandwich night and brought her three kids. (Kate couldn't make it--she's in Israel digging up dirt, hoping to discover the next big thing in Roman archeology.) Everyone brought treats. Amy-Potato Salad. Kris-Rhubarb Cake. Karen-Cupcakes. Angie-Beer!
Everyone loved the sandwich. Angie kept guessing ingredients which weren't even in it, like sun dried tomatoes. Even the kids ate it!
And, the Heroes finale was pretty spectacular.
All in all, a great night!
So-Sandwich Night as a regularly scheduled event is going on summer break. The blog isn't. We'll have Sandwich Nights as the inspiration hits. And, we may even have Sandwich Lunches at work....interested anyone?

I am the cheese

I learned three things tonight:
1.) Don't microwave baked beans. Especially without something covering them.
2.) Smoked Gouda doesn't really melt, although it is delicious.
3.) Sometimes Little Angie needs the night off.
I've been officially stood up twice this week by our former squatter. I forgive her. She's suffering from end of the season rugby fatigue, with which I'm very familiar.
I was also ditched by Beth tonight since she had a hockey game.
Yes, I am the cheese and the cheese stands alone. Or, in my case, sits on the couch stuffing her face with an even better barbecue chicken sandwich while enjoying the season finale of America's Next Top Model alone. I had my fantastic Summit ESB for company (they made it part of the permanent line! Yippee!) I had Mickey Mouse as well (he has a sandwich too!)

So here's what I did to make the sandwich even better: I got onion hamburger buns and I put the chicken on the bottom bun, topped with a piece of smoked Gouda. Then I put that in the oven for the cheese to melt (which it didn't, but the chicken soaked into the bottom bun nicely). I toasted the top bun, put yellow mustard on it and then I sliced hot dill pickles onto the sandwich. Delicious.
A quiet night, but all in all a good one!
And I totally called a Jaslene win for ANTM, just in case anyone's keeping score!

Two part Sandwich Night?

Yup.

Angie couldn't make it tonight. (She had to go to a funeral.) But Sandwich Night was already in motion so Beth and I carried on. Angie's coming over Wednesday night to watch the ANTM season finale and eat the barbecue chicken sandwiches instead.

Aaah, barbecue chicken. So delicious. I don't have a smoker or a barbecue pit so I decided to keep it simple. I poached boneless chicken breasts, then shredded them and let them simmer in the barbecue sauce for a while. I did, however, make my own sauce from a recipe in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. It turned out pretty well. And it was surprisingly easy. I whipped it up while I was waiting on the coffee to brew this morning!

To assemble the sandwiches, we toasted hamburger buns, then piled on smoked gouda, the chicken, sliced bread and butter pickles and yellow mustard. It turned out very nicely. But I think next time I will leave the cheese off the bottom. I'd rather let the sauce soak into the bun. I'll try that Wednesday!

Beth and I decided we needed good sides for the sandwiches as well. I cooked up some collard greens and we got a can of baked beans. They were fantastic with the barbecue! And the iron! My mother would be proud.

Remember, next Monday with be both the Heroes season finale and the Sandwich Night season finale. Come over!

And have no fear, I'll still be blogging about sandwiches and be open for suggestions for new uncharted sandwich territory. Oh, the freedom!

Veggies + charcoal = yum!

Vegetables are so delicious when you brush them with olive oil and grill them. Which is exactly how we started making the grilled vegetable sandwich. I grilled up eggplant, zucchini, yellow bell peppers, portobella mushrooms, red onion, and jalapeno peppers.
We had an avocado, so we had to put that on. Same with fresh basil and lettuce.
I wanted to get foccacia as the bread but they didn't have any at the store and I was in a hurry, so I opted for a loaf of ciabatta and some bolillo rolls. Bolillo rolls are those Mexican sandwich rolls that are pretty soft and dusted with flour.
Cheese was a no-brainer for me. Chevre, all the way. Angie, however, is not such a fan of the goat cheese so I got some Meunster as well. To that I added fancy garlic herb mayonnaise and we were set!

The blending of the warm grilled veggies and the goat cheese and the fancy mayo was awesome. I had to do a little happy sandwich dance! The bolillo roll was great. I had another grilled vegetable sandwich for lunch today (post Sandwich Night perk!) on ciabatta and I'd have to say that the ciabatta was even better. More nooks and crannies to hold big chunks of chevre!

We were very excited to host our youngest Sandwich Night guest yet. Beth's co-worker Eric (he suggested Grilled Vegetable for the hat) came over with his son Lyndon. Lyndon had squash, bananas, and teething biscuits but he really wanted a piece of his dad's sandwich!


Two more weeks of Heroes means two more weeks of Sandwich Night! Eric graciously drew the next sandwich from the hat: BBQ! We're thinking chicken, with mustard, pickles and smoked cheddar.
The week after next, in honor of the Heroes season finale, we are going to reprise the original hero sandwich, but make it bigger and better. Yup. You heard it here! Come on over--it's going to be a party! A big conspiracy theory to blow up the world party? Nah, a sandwich party!