I was doing a vanity search of the Boards (pathetic) and stumbled across an old thread about Loves Lost, which was, just before the end, morphing into a thread about sandwiches. Although I dunno nothin’ 'bout love, I can talk about sandwiches.
I think my favorite sandwich is ham salad. Fresh ham, run through the grinder (ours is a hand-cranked version), along with plenty of de-pimentoed green olives, mixed with a bit of mayo and some sweet hot mustard. Whole wheat bread, with real buttter (we had margarine all the time when I was a kid, and one of my firm resolutions when I moved out was No More Margarine Ever); a sandwich fit for the Gods.
Or boiled-egg and anchovy: Thin-sliced boiled egg, anchovy fillets (or anchovy paste, but there’s something satisfying about laying out the fillets one by one ever so neatly), maybe just a touch of butter, maybe not; whole wheat again. Oh man. Brings back childhood memories; my mother, passed away a year ago, loved boiled-egg-and-anchovy.
My daughter Littlest R (not so little any more; she’s 14) loves a BLT. Amazing how such simple ingredients can blend so nicely. She has it plain, no condiments–she’s a purist.
Any other favorites out there? Any little-known recipes for sandwich bliss?
Thinly sliced chicken breast, onion and avacado on a poor boy bun that has been toasted in basil, pepper and olive oil. Then spread lightly with mayo. Man! Does this rock!
Genoa salami, provolone cheese, prosciutto, spicy brown mustard, thin-sliced tomatoes, onions and peppers (a blend of sweet and hot), a dash of balsamic vinaigrette dressing, fresh basil, all on a good onion roll or focaccia bread, and then grilled like a panini. Can’t go wrong with that.
Lox, cream cheese, sliced onion, and sliced tomato on a toasted bagel or bialy.
Hot roast beef or smoked turkey breast, melted cheese (cheddar and pepper jack), onions, peppers, and lots of barbecue sauce and honey mustard on a good hearty sub roll.
Pulled pork shoulder or sliced barbecue brisket with lots of sauce and creamy, cool cole slaw on garlic bread or grilled Texas toast.
My all-time favourite would be a simple open sandwich consisting of a thick slice of granary (or second choice some kind of multigrain wholemeal), spread generously with chilled butter*, heavily loaded with flakes of hot baked mackerel (as a second choice, hot smoked mackerel). Hot horseradish on the side.
Next up would probably be a good chip butty; hot, thick chips (that’s British chips, roughly, but not entirely, analogous to ‘fries’) sandwiched between thick, fluffy white bread, or in a large bap(soft, floury white roll) which, again, is spread with chilled butter.
*The whole idea of the chilled butter is to make it spread unevenly, so that when you eat the sandwich, you get some bread soaked with melted butter, but some nuggets of cold butter mingled in with the hot fillings. Hot+cold in the same mouthfull is really good
Finally, sausage and marmalade - might sound odd (actually, probably is odd), but really nice - good old bangers, cooked nice and gently/evenly; sliced onto any kind of bread and daubed with bitter orange marmalade. Nice.
My standard weekday breakfast used to be four half-slices of French toast and four slices of turkey ham from a local restaurant. If there weren’t enough French toast left by the time I got there, I’d either use three halves and make a big half-sandwich or a croissant.
Tongue. I completely forgot about tongue! Mrs. R and the Little Rs despise it, but man, there is nothing like a tongue sandwich, bit of mustard. God, it’s been ages…
And I agree with liverwurst. Haven’t tried it on raisin bread, which sounds intriguing. Again, that’s something the other Rs won’t touch, so it doesn’t appear very often at our house.
I’m hooked on Genoa salami now. I used to only eat Volpi, but that’s now changed since I tried the Genoa. I just never gave it a chance until a week ago. Now, look out. I’m hooked.
I just had a sandwich that consisted of Genoa salami, Provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and spicy brown mustard. VERY tasty.
I’ve always loved genoa salami, although I must admit I’m unclear on the difference between that and “hard salami,” which seems extremely similar (only perhaps a bit smokier).
I’m a big fan of turkey sandwiches. All kinds of turkey, on all kinds of bread. My blood type might just be turkey club. Turkey wraps are excellent, too (just finished one, as a matter of fact).
That said, the other week I had a craving for some “comfort” sandwiches: I made Fluffernutters, and bologna & mayo sandwiches. All on Wonder white bread, of course.
My favorite would be four or five slices of different kinds of sandwich meats, use whatever you like, mustard on top, a slice or two of your favorite cheese (I use medium cheddar or provolone), a slice of tomato, salt and ground pepper on top of that, a thin slice of Spanish onion, and lettuce on top of the works, on a big, bakery-fresh crusty bun.
I haven’t had one in seven years, because down here they don’t make big, bakery-fresh crusty buns, and I can’t find Spanish onions anywhere. So I make substitutions. It’s not the same, but it’s pretty good. My wife calls me The Sandwich God.
If i have the time to bother to cok some bacon, a BLT is perfect. But usually all my time allows is honey roasted turley, provalone, and a smidge of Miracle Whip (yeah, I know, it’s crap…well go to hell, I llike it ) on a multi-grain bread (as of now, I use Arnold’s 12-grain.)
A good roast beef with a horseradish sauce it also very good.
The crab sandwiches at some old place in Oakland whose name I can’t remember. Lots of real crab meat with a bit of mayonnaise, onion and celery on sourdough, buttered and toasted on the griddle.
) on a multi-grain bread (as of now, I use Arnold’s 12-grain.)