Are hot dogs sandwiches?
The great John Hodgman and I are embroiled in a feud over that very question. I say yes, he says no. He’s even talked trash about me on his podcast.
On November 10 at the Bell House in Brooklyn, we’ll meet face-to-face for the first time to settle this once and for all, in a debate moderated by WNYC’s Brooke Gladstone, host of On The Media. The debate will be taped for a future episode of The Sporkful podcast.
Posted in Link to article
Tagged Brook Gladstone, Dan Pashman, Hotdogs, John Hodgman, Sporkful, The Bell House
The takeaway:
“I just don’t think that sandwich makers are trying to impress people all that often.”
Best sandwiches from Serious Eats
All 31 Sandwiches
I can hear the collective groan. Oy, another list. Take it with a grain of salt and a spoonful of pork fat, put it between bread and rejoice.
Tipsy Texan at Franklin BBQ (Austin)
Any of the Daily Specials from Pal’s Takeaway (San Francisco)
The Paesano at Paesano’s (Philadelphia)
Oyster Po’ Boy from Domilise’s (New Orleans)
Cheesesteak From Dalessandro’s Steaks & Hoagies (Philadelphia)
The Chile Relleno Torta from La Verdad (Boston)
Banh Mi from Pho Lang Thang (Cincinnati, OH)
The Bobbie at Capriotti’s (Wilmington, DE)
Cold Fried Chicken from Ink.Sack (Los Angeles)
Muffuletta from Cochon Butcher (New Orleans)
Campanile’s Grilled Cheese Thursdays (Los Angeles)
Italian Hero from Ken’s Artisan Bakery (Portland, OR)
Caprese Sandwich from Pane Bianco (Phoenix, AZ)
Pork Rabe Saturday Special from Cutty’s (Brookline, MA)
Chopped Barbecue from Lexington Barbecue (Lexington, NC)
Flour Bakery’s Roasted Lamb with Tomato Chutney and Goat Cheese (Boston)
Chorizo Torta at Xoco (Chicago)
Reuben at Jake’s Delicatessen (Milwaukee)
Godmother from Bay Cities Italian Deli (Santa Monica, CA)
Bacon and Egg Fancy from Mike and Patty’s (Boston)
Chopped Pork Sandwiches from Payne’s (Memphis, TN)
Loaded Roast Pork from DiNic’s at the Navy Yard (Philadelphia)
The Golden Gate at Back Yard Kitchen (San Francisco)
Lobster Roll from Harraseeket Lunch (South Freeport, ME)
Chivito from Fast Gourmet Inside a Gas Station (Washington, D.C.)
Cuban Roast Pork at Paseo (Seattle)
The Fried Tomato Special from Chickie’s (Philadelphia)
Breakfast Sandwich from 4505 Meats (San Francisco)
Porchetta and Fennel Sauerkraut at Wildwood (Portland, OR)
Cemitas from Cemitas Puebla (Chicago)
Beef Brisket Barbecue at Smoque (Chicago)
The magazine had me up to Baltimore for the cover – with Scott Suchman behind the camera – at Petit Louis Bistro – Hotcha! – but, alas, not for the Smoked Salmon BLT at Neopol Savory Smokery.
Holy smokes, I gotta get over there for a BEE ELL TEE, and pronto. Thank the lord of the sandwichdance, there is a Neopol at Union Market in DC.
Posted in Baltimore, BLTs, Sandwich Joints
Tagged Baltimore Magazine, Neopol, Neopol Savory Smokery, Petit Louis Bistro, Scott Suchman, Smoked Salmon, Union Market
So, found an interesting new-to-me product and a luxe sandwich while at my day job. Kewpie Mayonnaise gave me that never-seen-it/now-it-is-everywhere experience.
To my good fortune, Meat and Livestock Australia– think super high quality lamb, beef and goat meat, used my foodstyling services this summer to help put together fifty images of fifty recipes. Working with recipes, rather than simply products, is always a learning experience for me and gives me a peek into other cook’s mindsets. The experience varies, which is probably part of the definition of experience.
| Grass-fed Bulgolgi Style Beef Banh Mi | |||
| Yield: | 4 servings | ||
| Portion Size: | 1 sandwich | ||
| Alternate cuts: | |||
| Amount | Prep | Ingredient | |
| 4 loaves | sliced | Baguettes | |
| 1 cup | prepared ahead | Liver Spread | |
| 2 pounds | 1/4” thinly sliced | Australian Grass-fed Strip Steak | |
| 12 each | ¼” thinly sliced | Brie Cheese | |
| ½ cup | picked | Red Ribbon Sorrel Leaves | |
| ½ cup | picked | Cilantro Leaves | |
| 1 cup | pickled, chopped | Mix of Carrot, Daikon and Bell Pepper | |
| ¼ cup | sliced | Jalapenos | |
| ½ cup | Kewpie Mayonnaise | ||
| Method of Preparation | |||
| 1. Toast the sliced open baguettes until slightly crisped in a toaster oven, around 1 minute at 350F
2. Spread the liver pate evenly on the bottom side. 3. Add the sliced brisket, around 4 0z worth and spoon a little bit of the sauce that settled. 4. Place 3 slices of the brie cheese over it. 5. Add the Jalapeno, cilantro and pickled vegetables. 6. Spread the kewpie mayonnaise on the other side of the bun. 7. Season with salt and pepper and serve
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Posted in Uncategorized
Poland’s National Obsession with Sandwiches
Foreigners, especially those from Anglo-Saxon countries, are often taken aback by our “kanapki”. These open sandwiches we eat at every possible mealtime leave the “filling on top” exposed to the elements, unlike in so-called “normal” sandwiches.
Kanapki (from the French word “canapés”) appeared in Poland at the end of the 19th century thanks to French cuisine. Smaller open sandwiches, or canapés, were actually called “tartinki”. The names have a certain irony here though, as “tartines” in France are actually large open sandwiches, while, as everybody knows, canapés are bite-sized.
Read on here.
Tartinki. What’s not to want? Such a sweet and appetizing-zing word. Not to be confused with open-faced Chinese poker.
Smørrebrød, the open-faced Danish sandwiches that truly are a part of everyday Danish life, are relations to tartinki, of course. There is no escaping all of our connections, culinary or otherwise. The indigenous foods of Poland cannot be much different from those of lower Scandinavia. Take away the man-made borders and you get earth made connections of climate and soil. Right? Right.
Denmark’s sandwiches are those that I know best, but I would bet my bottom pound of butter that there are chain-strong links all across northern Europe that make a dot-to-dot map of open-faced sandwiches, using many of the same or similar ingredients – butter, shrimp, eggs, cheese, smoked fish, caviar, cucumber and all the other abundances of cool, four-season climates.
The urge to visit Poland never hit me so hard as it did when I read about a shared obsession. After food, what binds us the most? Desire, disposition, oh my.
Soup and sandwich, one of the pinnacles of modern pairings.
Today is my mother’s birthday and she turns 88. Still cooking, still frugal, still sharp as a tack.
Recently, I asked my mother about a soup she made often when she had kids at home, Calico Bean Soup, something I loved, something that may not be such a hit with kids – the ones I know – these days. What has changed? I do not know. Still, I’m going to make it when the weather turns cold again, upping the ham to win over the teenage boys around here.
There are lots and lots of Calico Bean Soup recipes on the internets. Did you know it was a thing? I did not.
In my mother’s words:
I made that bean soup here (in Alexandria, VA after we moved from Wisconsin in 1966) because the church sold the packages of beans.
I called two old members of the church, each of whom remembered something. One informant thought there were 13 kinds of peas and beans, but no one is sure anymore. It was called Calico Bean soup and had the following: at least 2 colors of lentils, kidney beans, lima beans, Great Northerns, pea beans, black beans, adzuki beans (hard to find and not many used), maybe yellow peas, maybe green split peas.
They went to a health food store in Alexandria to buy the beans/peas, then mixed up the beans in a big garbage can, packaged them, and included a recipe using a ham bone and an onion.
Jo Jackley said that once it began to cook, all the beans turned the same color, but the shapes and sizes were different. Bea Bobotek still has a package from some years ago.
From A Hollin Hall Sampler” page 14, available (still!) at Amazon
This is a good basic recipe which you can vary to suit your own tastes. One of our church cooks uses 2-3 pounds of beef short ribs instead of the ham bone, also adding 1 can of beef bouillon for more beef flavor. Toward the end of the cooking time, she adds cut-up vegetables, carrots, celery, and onions and pops in some pasta at the very end.
Package of beans sold by church, containing 15 kinds of beans, both plain and exotic.
Wash beans thoroughly. Place in a large kettle, cover with water. Add 2 Tbsp. salt and soak overnight. drain in the morning.
To the beans, add: Ham bone or 2 ham hocks and water to cover.
Simmer slowly 2 1/2 -3 hours.
Add: 1 large onion, chopped
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 large pod red pepper (optional) or 1 tsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Few dashes Tabasco (optional)
Simmer another 30 minutes or so.
Approaching a decade birthday I sometimes feel that I’m taking a slow walk to the gallows. Approaching the same birthday I sometimes feel I’m leaping into ecstasy, exaltation, euphoria, the essence. Pulled. In. Two. Directions.
Simultaneously, I’m enduring the most isolating stretch of parenting – shepherding a teenager. Maybe it’s not the most isolating – could there be a tougher stretch upcoming? – but it feels that way.
My parents are elderly. I’m fortunate (gross understatement) that not only are my parents alive, but we are close, they are flourishing, they live near by, love my son and are people I admire and respect. I’m grateful, thrilled, glad.
Sometimes I am distressed, distraught, discouraged, despondent. Simply put, looking at the beginnings of old age, loving parents who are in old age, loving a child who is (as he should be) scaring the living daylights out of me while blowing my mind with his wisdom, wit and wonder, feels like a leap into the wild blue yonder. AND like being smashed between two pieces of firm bread.
Guess what, there is a name for people like me. We are a demographic. Of course we are. The sandwich generation.
Posted in Uncategorized
So yeah, I made this. The first one was too big and I couldn’t get it out of the waffle iron in one piece. I ate it anyway. The second one was smaller and more manageable. Aesthetics-wise it was better, too – not broken.
Waffled Mac’n’Cheese Ham and Cheese Sandwich
Macaroni and cheese – a normal batch, about 4-6 cups, or whatever you have leftover
Cheese slices of your choice – I like sharp cheddar, but fontina, mozzarella, brie – anything that melts is good
Sliced ham
Spray a sheetpan with vegetable oil cooking spray, or cover it with a non-stick baking mat, and spread the macaroni and cheese on it, making a large rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.
Preheat the waffle iron.
Cut the macaroni and cheese into squares or rectangles that will fit easily into your waffle iron, with room to spare. (If you make them too big the iron will not close.) Use a spatula to lift one macaroni and cheese piece onto the preheated waffle iron. Cover it with sliced cheese and ham. Top with a second macaroni and cheese piece.
Close the waffle iron and let your sandwich cook until very, very crispy. Let it cook a long time – like 10 minutes – or it will not lift out in one piece. Lift out carefully with a thin spatula and eat while hot. It will be DELICIOUS!
Posted in Mac and Cheese, Recipes
Though the whole women-making-sandwiches thing can sometimes feel like a truly archaic stereotype, the whoopie cushion of sexism, it apparently isn’t dead yet. Just ask Fox News host and former Real World cast member Rachel Campos-Duffy and co-host Andrea Tantaros, who think that offering your husband grilled cheeses on the reg is the key to preserving your marriage.
A few weeks ago, Tantaros received flak for recommending that women make sandwiches for their men after sex. “After you engage in a little horizontal hula, make him a sandwich,” she argued. “That’s not called the 1950s! That’s called kindness!”
Read on (if you can stomach it) here.
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The Lunch Encounter 
