For the love of sandwiches...

Ok - so man of my life is heading out of town, busy - can't grab something to eat before he leaves - so what do I do - promptly pipe up ready to show love & bring food!

There's a huge correlation between people who love & people who love to eat. Don't believe me - check this book out, "The Sex Life of Food" is written by a pastry Chef and cookbook auteur called Bunny Crumpacker. I thought this was great reading & served to reinforce my fears about people with empty refrigerators by choice (enough said). Note to self - I now want to interview Bunny Crumpacker...gotta find her first though...

But the question is - what is convenient, tasty, filling & not going to require cutlery, and a whole lot of jazz - not to mention be easy to eat on the go...Any guesses? No kids - not that vile "Soup in a Cup" (besides it's summer) stuff ...I'm talking about ye ol' sandwiches...but not just ANY sandwiches...

We're talking sandwiches - Glitzy girl style ;)

What exactly does this mean...?

You know me and my love of Wikipedia - they've got a great entry on sandwiches - click here to read.

Well - Let's dissect a sandwich & piece by piece - I'll show you how easy it is to take the simple & make it sublime...I unlike Arlene - do not photograph my work...why? I'm a crappy photographer...suffice it to say I am way better at describing with words, cooking or eating than I am playing fooderazzi (uh...food photog). God bless her though as without her, we might not have ANY original images on the blog! Shout out to Arlene & personally, for what it's worth - I would have preferred to hear about Arlene and Anne Marie - than Julia & Julia...( I don't know either Julia but I DO know Arlene!)

OK - I'm digressing...Where does it all start? The bread.

Think of the bread as your plate for the rest of the concoction you're building...it's important...make one wrong move here and everything - falls apart, literally!

So - why start with boring sliced bread...pick something daring, something with gusto - today that happened to be a perfectly baked sourdough sub roll...Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

First tip - At all costs prevent soggy bread!

Basic thing to do is use either a light (operative word being light) coating of Extra Virgin Olive or a small spread of butter. Don't even go to the "almost butter, healthy "spread" stuff...from the ground up if you start with pooh pooh - you'll get er...pooh pooh...Got it?

The barrier created by a light coating of either oil or butter - helps the bread repel excess moisture. What does this mean for you? It means you can pile on the condiments with greater confidence...and a great sandwich demands great condiments.

Second Tip - Ensure a contrast of textures!

OK - what next? I like to put an "added layer" of sog prevention by placing some lettuce (I like curly red, or green for this purpose but don't let that limit you, watercress, lamb's lettuce, bibb, Boston, all do great) on top of said "sog barrier".

OK - why add lettuce you ask? Because it counter balances fillings well - depending on what kind of sandwich you're making...You see a sandwich should be a symphony of textures, of tastes that all come together to say "hello - your mouth is very happy right now".

Third Tip - Consider a Sandwiches flavors like the composition in a flower bouquet - Opposites attract but there should be some harmony going on...

After lettuce, I decided to go the old mixed cold cuts & cheese to keep it simple. But not just any cold cuts...here's where it pays to go premium. A little goes a long way.

I layered premium pepperoni, house smoked black forest ham & real hickory turkey breast...lovingly massaged that with some horseradish mustard & added a layer of Swiss followed by some "hots" (crushed red pepper relish) & some mayo...the result - heaven on a bun!

Well kids, I'll report back how lunch was received...in the meantime...

Food & Kisses!

M