Cubano!

We had a small sandwich night on Wednesday: Cubans and ANTM. And Karen!

We didn't chose Cubans in honor of Castro stepping down. Mostly I had a pork loin in the freezer and I've been a little Cuban obsessed lately.

I rubbed the pork loin with a mixture of crushed garlic, dried oregano, black pepper and salt. Since the loin was in two long pieces, I rubbed the mixture between them and tied them together. Then I spread the rest on the outside and roasted it in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. Boy oh boy did the house smell great!

I decided to buy a small ham rather than buy sliced ham from the deli. Sometimes deli meat can be so slimy. Yuck. (It was a good decision--the freshly sliced ham tasted so much better!)

On sandwich night I got out the slicer and sliced the pork loin and the ham. We sliced up swiss cheese and homemade dill pickles as well. I got out both yellow mustard and Dijon mustard to try. Most recipes call for yellow specifically, but Dijon is just so tasty. I got French rolls and a sourdough baguette, since that's all that was left at the New French Bakery by the time I got there.

We piled up the ingredients and squashed them in the panini press, of course! (That machine has truly changed our lives.) I tried a couple combos with the different breads and mustards and I'd have to say that French bread/yellow mustard was my favorite. Wow!

I made some tropical fruit salad to go with the sandwiches and we even made chocolate sorbet in the ice cream ball for dessert. Not a bad night!

TV was good too--we got to see my cousin's husband's climbing gym on Supernanny and then we watched the first real episode of ANTM. It should be an entertaining season, even though the dumbest of all dumb blonds kicked herself off before Tyra could do it. Waaa waa.

Bahn Mit!

I had to run an errand at lunch today so I decided to stop and pick up some Vietnamese sandwiches (Bahn Mit) since I would be driving past half a dozen purveyors along the way. I stopped at Saigon Restaurant where they have a counter set-up and an extensive sandwich menu. It had been awhile so I played it safe and got the "regular": roast pork, pork loaf, pate, mayo, veggies. One is never enough so I picked up a veggie one, too. They really are good--French bread, mayo, mystery meat (or not), cukes, pickled carrots, fresh jalapenos and cilantro. And the price is right. Those two sandwiches ran me $3.25. Nice!

Next Sandwich Night(s)

First: Cuban sandwiches this Wednesday for ANTM.
Second: Gyros for Kate on Wednesday, March 12, with ANTM.

I'll tape the show, so we can watch it at our leisure after 8:00, with as many pause, discuss, rewind moments as necessary.

Redeemed, a little

I had a good cheeseburger on Saturday at the Gunflint Tavern in Grand Marais. Yes, it was on the way home, but we didn't have the usual desperation for something good since we had just spent a couple days in the lap of luxury at the Gunflint Lodge. I can honestly say it was good! It's the Tavern Burger--try it next time you're up north.

Shamewiches

Last Thursday was a rather inauspicious day for sandwiches. We started the day at the crack of dawn, driving up to the Gunflint Lodge to spend a couple days of R&R with our friends Ben and Amy. We started way too early to eat breakfast (at least for me) which is how we ended up stopping at a Burger King (yuck) in Hinckley (double yuck) and eating a ham and egg biscuit (YUUUUUUUCK!!!!).
We continued on with that gut bomb in my tummy, my unfortunate choice for sandwich #50.
We stopped in Grand Marais for lunch before we turned up the Gunflint Trail. We went to My Sister's Place which we usually like. I had a mediocre cheeseburger on a cold bun, pressed preformed patty, not quite melted cheese. Ugh. I realize now that we have always stopped at this place after we've been in the woods camping or skiing and anything tastes good. I'm sure I'll be back there some day--remind me to skip the burger!
There it is--shamewiches. Empty greasy calories you wish you had never eaten. Not like the empty greasy delicious calories I usually like to devote myself to.

#49

Today I went on a field trip to St. John's University to see the St. John's Bible. It's really an amazing thing--the first hand written bible in 500 years. We got to see pages from the Wisdom and Prophets books. Our gracious hosts even set us up with lovely sandwich buffet where I made this sandwich:

They bake that bread at the Abbey. It was yummy. I copied an idea from my co-worker Joe, a true sandwich artist, and spread some of the red pepper veggie dip on the bread. Then I put on co-jack, pepper jack, turkey, ham, lettuce and tomato on it. Delish! A little chicken dumpling soup, chips, veggies, and a pickle completed the feast.

Sorry for the blog frenzy...

But our internet is out at home and I'm trying to squeeze these all into my one freeish lunch hour this week.
Today marked my final peanut butter and mustard sandwich. Yup, the apricot ginger mustard is finally finished. It helps with the not resolution to finish up condiments but I'm a little sad about it.
On the upside, I was able to share bites of it with all my lunch companions today (including Karen) and they all thought it was pretty good, too. Except for Mike, who filed it under "interesting". (Which is not as deadly as "different" in Minnesota-speak.)

We couldn't wait...

Beth and I tried out the Spanglish BLTs on Sunday for brunch. They were delicious! So delicious that we repeated the effort last night.

The original sandwich from the movie is sourdough, mayonnaise, bacon, tomato, fried egg, butter lettuce and jack cheese. Here's a picture from the DVD extra on how to make it:

Here's what we did on Sunday (pretty much the same thing):

And last night we added some brie to the mix and it was even better!

Be'wiched!

I've been reading about a new fancy sandwich place in Minneapolis called Be'wiched for a while. They cure their own pastrami in house. Yum! Beth and I managed to swing by on Saturday afternoon and I can report that their pastrami is indeed delicious. They serve it on rye bread with pickled cabbage and nose hair curling coarse ground mustard. Fantastic.
We got a roast beef sandwich as well and we both thought it was even better than the pastrami. Delicious garlicky roast beef with dill havarti and onion jam. So good! And there's so many more sandwiches to try! Don't worry, we shall return!

Is it a sandwich?

There's a new menu in the cafeteria at work and it's full of sandwiches. Yay! One of them is called the Greek Chicken Sandwich. It's a pita with marinated grilled chicken, chopped tomatoes, lettuce and a yogurt herb sauce. It's pretty tasty, even if some people don't think chicken wrapped in a pita makes a sandwich. Luckily for me, some people don't have time to read my blog and thus have no say in what I call a sandwich. Ha!

Sandwiches from the strangest places

One of the volunteers at work told me I had to watch Spanglish, since it had the greatest sandwich ever in it. Plus, there's an extra on the DVD where they show you how to make said sandwich.
What could it be? I had to find out! Luckily, my local library had a copy of Spanglish so I didn't have to hunt down a video store. (Our local one closed and we haven't succumbed to the temptation of Netflix yet.)
The movie was cute and the sandwich definitely sounds like a winner: Late Night BLT with Fried Egg and Cheese. It's on pain de campagne (that's a fancy name for sourdough) with melted jack cheese, bacon, tomato, butter lettuce and an over easy egg.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Sandwich Night? I promise we don't have to watch Spanglish!

Oh yeah,

The yesses have it. A hot dog is a sandwich.

Also, when your crazy friend Amy comes over and makes you buy a million donuts, then has to make a panini to cut the sugar, trust her. For she came up with a ciabatta, avocado, tomato, sharp cheddar, mozarella and dijon mustard panini and it was fantastic.

Jucy Lucy!

We went out to Matt's Bar Thursday night with our friends Jane and John. Of course. a trip to Matt's means only one thing: sandwich #39, the Jucy Lucy!

Aaah Lucy, it's been awhile. You taste so good. Especially with a pitcher of Summit Extra Pale Ale.

Observe Beth's signature squeeze maneuver. Mmmm--cheesy goodness!

Paninis again?

Well, they do make a perfect pre-caucus meal. Last night's was sharp cheddar, goat, and blue cheese with almost caramelized onions (I got impatient). Thanks to Beth's co-workers for providing me with stylish eyewear to convince the other caucus goers that I'm awake and interested in what they have to say.

Maverick's Pictures!

Thanks Karen, for sending these along!
I like that each sandwich come wrapped in "delicious" foil. So true
Mmmm...roast beef.....so pink and pretty

Check out this baby--the brisket sandwich

And the paninis keep coming...

This morning I tried a new one on the panini press. It was sort of a stuffed French toast. I took two pieces of Tuscan bread and spread one with raspberry jam and the other with goat cheese. I put them together and then I dipped the whole works in French toast batter. Then it went onto the panini press for a few minutes. The result was super yummy and it gave me some good ideas for the future....panini brunch, anyone?

Maverick's Roast Beef!

I've been meaning to try out the famous roast beef sandwiches at Maverick's in Roseville. Both Amy B and Karen have sung their praises to me. Plus, they always come up on food writer's lists in the paper, etc.
So, on Saturday, Karen and I made the trek to Larpenteur and Lexington. She agonized over whether to get the brisket or the roast beef sandwich all the way there. In the end, she decided on the brisket (and had me convinced to get one too) and she talked me into sharing a roast beef with her as well. Hee hee!
When you get your sandwich there, it's just the meat (which they weigh out on a scale) on a bun. Then you go over to the condiment bar and choose from a bunch of toppings including prepared horseradish, sliced onions, pickles, barbecue sauce, pickled peppers, etc.
I added lots of horseradish to my sandwiches, plus sliced onion to my brisket. I experimented with barbecue sauce and pickles on a couple bites of both . It's better with the brisket. But so not necessary.
I'll be returning to Maverick's, for sure. Next time I want to try their Italian beef or French Dip!

Better hot than cold

I'm reaching the conclusion that most sandwiches taste better hot from the panini press than cold.
Case in point: today's prosciutto, mozzarella, fig jam and radicchio on Tuscan bread. It was a tasty cold sandwich (well, room temperature, actually) but it didn't hold a candle to the panini version. I thought adding the raddichio would liven it up a bit, but it wasn't a significant difference. The one thing it had going for it was the prosciutto. Now that's tastier cold than hot. Unless it's fried, of course. Mmmm...