If you’re going that route why not just roast a turkey breast or make a small ham yourself and slice it for sandwiches? I’ve been doing it for years - WAY better than anything you’ll get at the supermarket deli and way cheaper to boot!
With beef, I like guacamole as a spread. YUM!
Oh, yeah! Pork shoulder is cheap as hell. Season lavishly with salt, pepper, and garlic, roast in a slow (250) oven for many hours, baste occasionally with a vinegar-hot pepper mop sauce.
Let it cool, pull off most of the fat if you hate fat, give the bone to the dog.
Pulled pork sandwiches for DAYS.
Also, elemenopy’s beef spread sounds fucking delicious.
I love roast beef sandwiches. We always slice left over roast and freeze in small portions.
Take a packet out of the freezer the day before to thaw in the fridge. Bring to work the next day. I microwave it at work and make the sandwich.
Chicken loaf is good too. My mom’s recipe was breasts chopped up in the blender, eggs, breadcrumbs, onions, watercress. Baked covered in a water bath. It can be a little dry but mayo would take care of that!
If you have any local farm markets, talk to the meat vendors there. I get great thin-sliced ham from one farm and braunschweigert (liverwurst) from another. I’ve also made sandwiches of bulgogi (Korean barbecue) leftovers that were fantastic. Try cheese and pickle (this isn’t American pickles, but Indian relishes). Some days, fresh hummus and naan is enough, others I could eat a whole bahn mi sandwich. Yum.
Curious: why the water bath? You would get no yummy crust.
I’ve made loaves of ground turkey or chicken and baked them like any other meat loaf.
(I like the watercress idea. I’ve done chopped spinach, and I liked it)
The Polish and Russian delis in Brooklyn smoke a ham that melts in the mouth. My regular place slices it thin like tissue, which makes a fabulous sandwich.
Last week I was in Bay Ridge and asked for a half-pound of the house-smoked ham, and got four thick slices. Instead of sandwiches, I tossed them in a hot skillet, browned them, and put a fried egg on each slice. Also fantastic.
Bahn mi: I alternate between “traditional” and sardine-in-tomato, both ordered “extra spicy.” Never tried the pork or chicken cutlet or anything else because these two are so good.
It’s mom’s recipe and I follow it to the letter 
It’s also wrapped in wax paper and foil so I guess the idea is to give it more of a poached/boiled kind of effect?
The watercress is key – it gives it a lighter summery feel and you can serve it cold on a hot day.
I’m hungry now. 
Well, turkey ought to be showing up in force in the next couple of weeks, so I’m buying a half breast this weekend and roasting it. I’ll also try to find a high quality ham steak so I can whir it up in the food processor with mayo, mustard and dill pickle. That ham spread sounds yummy to me.
Also important is to make sure one has appropriate bread around. I don’t care much for Orowheat, so I’ll look out for some good torpedo rolls. I haven’t seen a decent loaf of corn rye in years and I’ve pretty much forgotten what good crusty rye bread tastes like. Anyone in New York care to mail me a couple of loaves?
All right. Look, I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you $50. Now, be reasonable; you cannot turn down $50 for a $6 rye.
I don’t know what is easy to get at the supermarket where you are but here in Australia I am a big fan of the dips that are readily available. These kinds of things or hommus. I grab whatever is cheap and use them as spreads or to toss cooked vegetables in or thin them out with water/lemon juice/yogurt as salad dressings. I add hot sauce if required. Many of them contain no unidentifiably food ingredients. I often have a dollop of hommus and a splash of hot sauce on my steak at a bbq.
This sounds awesome!
If you don’t mind my asking, could you post what seasonings you use and approximately how much liquid smoke and seasonings you use?
Thanks!!
Rillettes are classic meat spreads made from pork belly, meat, fish or game. Not too hard to make (pork belly is recommended) and last for months. A bit like pate (useful if you enjoy banh mi sandwiches) or, if you live in Quebec, cretons.
Meatloaf sandwiches are great, though, as is meatloaf.
Better to roast a chicken or get a rotisserie chicken than to buy crappy cold cuts.
Cheaper, harking back to my many years as a student, to make a big roast beef every Sunday (brining a cheap cut) and using it for sandwiches, crockpots, stir fries, in pasta sauce and added to ramen.
As for good recipes, search epicurious.com for:
Duck pate spread
Old fashioned meatloaf
Goat cheese and pistachio spread
Chickpea spread
Salmon and dill and cream cheese spread
Roasted red pepper and walnut
Now you’ve made me hungry.