Wednesday, June 25, 2008

the southeast connecticut grinder

A grinder (also known as a sub, a sandwich, a hero, or a hoagie) is basically the best invention of mankind.

I returned to my homeland of SE Connecticut last weekend and I was excited at the prospect of consuming a grinder. Not a sub. A grinder. So on the last day we were there we stopped by the grinder shop we used to go to all the time when I was little and we went to the beach.

renaldi's one stop grinders

In retrospect I am terribly sad that I didn't get a photograph of the inside of Renaldi's One Stop Grinders, located at 588 Hartford-New London Tpke in Oakdale (my hometown). The inside of Renaldi's is hilarious. Its a tiny tiny little shack located next to the package store (same name, Renaldi's). At the register, I kid you not, they sell smoking paraphernalia. Only in Oakdale, guys. Only in Oakdale. The old glowing Pepsi menu with the list of their types of grinders is to the right of the register. Victoria and I order a turkey grinder and an italian grinder.

We made our way to the beach and decided to eat our grinders before we got sand all over them. What can I say. Grinders are somehow different then the subs here in Wisconsin. The bread is fluffier and despite that its always white bread its somehow very flavorful. Shredded lettuce, tomatoes, a little american cheese, and whatever kind of meat you decide to get. We opted for oil over mayo as we were going to the beach without a cooler. Basically grinders (and Renaldi's grinders in particular) are the best kind of sandwiches. In my opinion. So simple yet somehow completely delicious in everyway, shape, and form.

a grinder

Monday, June 23, 2008

Summer Sandwiches of the late 70s, early 80s

Three sandwiches I remember growing up, often made when Mom wasn't home or paying attention, that I think of fondly in the summer months. All on white bread, all with pretty much zero nutritional value

I think of them in the context of Saturday morning cartoons. Wearing those awesome super lightweight summer pajamas or underoos while sitting in front of the TV with the sun leaking in through the blinds.

The best one was the Sugar Sandwich. To make this one, you need some slightly soft butter. Back then Mom used to leave the butter on the counter so it was the perfect consistency. And you gotta use the real shit, no margarine, Smart Balance, or any of those other poor excuses for butter. Spread the butter onto a slice of white bread. Spoon as much sugar as you can onto the butter. Shake the excess sugar back into the sugar bowl (try to avoid adding breadcrumbs to the sugar bowl). Repeat sprinkling and shaking until every millimeter of the bread is saturated in sugar. Eat the crusts first then role the rest up into a "cigar". Savor every delicious, crunchy, creamy, sugary bite.

The next best was the Chocolate Chip Sandwich. This one sort of fills the pre-Nutella niche. Fill a bowl with milk chocolate chips and microwave them until they have a fudge-like consistency. Spread on a slice of bread and cut into small pieces. Eat with a toothpick like a movie star.

The third sandwich was more for later in the day, lunchtime, after the cartoons, the Potato Chip Sandwich. Toast two slices of bread and spread with mayo. I'm a Miracle Whip girl but use whatever you like. Stack potato chips -the classic Ruffles work the best- on top of each other on one of the slices. Stack them like ten chips high. Cover the pile with the other slice and smash the hell out of the sandwich so that the chips crumble. Enjoy it with Pepsi over ice.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Awful Sandwich Mistakes

Dudes. DUDES. I was at Panera yesterday and I ordered a Sierra Turkey sandwich and I got home and it was TUNA. Goddammit. I HATE tuna.

This is the worst sandwich mistake you can make in my world. Besides...I don't know. A sandwich made of raw chicken.

BARF-O-MATIC!!!!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Where's the Avocado, Atlanta?

I have to take a moment to register my Extreme Sammich Outrage- ESO for short. Not once, but twice in the last week I have ordered what promised to be delicious sandwiches at Atlanta restaurants and have been sorely disappointed.

The first time, I was at the Corner Tavern, the newish one in the Old Fourth Ward. I debated between ordering the delicious Asian Tuna steak Burger (with red cabbage slaw and sesame dressing) or the Super T which said it was a "steamed sandwich" (steamed hams?) turkey, jalapeno jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado and vinaigrette on a baguette. The tiebreaker for me when faced with decisions like this tends to be the presence of avocado. Girl, I love me some damn avocadoes. So the Super T it was and boy was I hungry!

Boy was I bummed when I got the sandwich and it was thickly sliced turkey (yeck!), shredded iceberg lettuce and a pinkish tomato all on a soggy-ass hot dog bun (probably the effect of the steaming). And NO AVOCADO TO BE FOUND. What the eff Corner Tavern? Don't make promises you can't keep, jerks.

Then on Friday night I was at Apres Diem in Midtown. It was 10:30 at night and still 90 degrees in Atlanta, so I was a little pissy to begin with. And sweaty. And a little heat burned due to some uh, delicate waxing earlier in the day. You know, all the reasons a girl might crave and deserve a damn good sammich.

My honey got the Roasted Portabella Sandwich which features grilled portobello mushroom and eggplant, roasted red peppers, and Feta cheese served on focaccia bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and sun-dried tomato mayonnaise. He had them replace the feta with herbed goat cheese and it was ridiculously good.

What did I get? The Veggie Melt which promised to be thinly sliced roasted yellow squash, zucchini, red onions, and portabellos with avocado to top all under a blanket of provolone. What did I really get? A limp soggy sandwich that was missing not only the avocado once again, but the portabellos too! OMG, Apres!?!

The silver lining in all of this is that my smarty sweetie brought me 4 avocados from the Farmers Market yesterday so at least I have some delicious avocado sandwiches in my future. But in the meantime, I'm giving Corner Tavern and Apres Diem two knuckle sammiches in their ever-loving, avocado-lacking faces!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

More Fantastic Sammich Ideas

Sarah
Ok. I know we've discussed how hard it is to get a good sandwich in NH. But today that has changed, my friend. I got the best sandwich: oatmeal bread, mayo, lettuce, tomato, chedder, red onion, cucumber, more chedder, bread. so good! and very tall.

Gwen
bread, bacon, spring mix greens, provalone cheese, smoked gouda, chipotle mayo(A LOT) and bread i made it myself

Ben
Best Sandwich (in order of layers): 1 slice of wheatberry bread 1 generous layer of extra crunchy peanut butter 1 generous layer of Welch's grape jam (NOT JELLY!) 1 layer of Nacho Cheesier flavored Doritos 1 slice of wheatberry bread in yo face...

Tara
oh my god, the best sandwich is the King Club from Mermaid Cafe in Madison. It's got the best turkey and ham and lots of it, and tons of bacon which is key! no skimping and its crispy! lots of mayo and its on foccacia bread. comes with chips and pickles.

Lia
white sub roll bottom, provolone, salami, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, oil, vinegar, spices, mayo, spicy mustard, and white sub roll top. you must use 2 hands at all times or it is a huge mess


Andrew
A sub from subway cut the old way like a boat. swiss cheese..chicken breast. jack cheese. all the veggies, but no pickes. mayo, yellow mustard then peppercinis jalapanos..drizzled with feta cheese crumbles and toped with extra oil and vinegar.


Amy
from the bottom up: dark rye. turkey. bacon. provolone. bacon. tomato. bacon. lettuce. bacon. mayo. dark rye.

thanks e6 townhall

all of these recipes were stolen from the best thread of all time. the elephant six townhall has come up with some BOMB ass sammich ideas.

Grilled Peanut butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich
- Peanut butter
- Jelly
- Bananas
- Bread
- Butter

Spread chunky peanut butter and jelly generously on two slices of bread, coat each with slices of banana, butter the outsides, place in a frying pan and flip after two minutes. Give it a minute to cool off and enjoy. Warning: This sandwich is messy.

The Best Motherfucking Sandwich Ever Made
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Avocado
- Grilled Chicken Breast
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Tomato
- Russian Dressing
- Carrots

Begin by coating each slice of bread with russian dressing and placing avocado slices on one of the pieces of bread and carrot slices on the other. Place the grilled chicken breast on top of the avocado side and put the rest of the ingredients on top of the carrots. Butter the outsides of the bread and grill for four minutes, flipping half way.

The Super Cheese Cheese Cheesewich:
- Sourdough Bread
- Mustard
- Mayo
- Chipotle Sauce
- Guacamole
- Provolone
- Mozzarella
- Swiss
- Cheddar
- Monteray Jack

Peanut Butter, Fried Egg, Banana and Roasted Peanuts Sandwich
Crack 2-3 eggs into a bowl and whip them with some milk. Toast two pieces of wheat bread and thinly slice two bananas while bread is toasting. When bread is finished toasting spread thick layer of peanut butter on. You can start frying your eggs now. Fry them as long as you want. While eggs are frying place your two thinly sliced bananas evenly covering both pieces of bread. Next sprinkle your peanuts on top of bananas (You can use chunky peanut butter, but I prefer crushed roasted peanuts). When eggs are done frying put them in between bread slices. If you let this sit for 30 secs before eating the peanut butter will melt and it is delicious!

Avocado and spinach
- Wholemeal bread
- Wholegrain Mustard on one side of the bread (none of that bright yellow hotdog muck).
- Pine nuts sprinkled on the mustard side.
- Sliced avocado on top of the pine nuts.
- Baby spinach leaves on top of the avocado.
- Spread mayonnaise (vegan mayo to make an awesome vegan sandwich) on the other side with any seasonings you like.
YUM.

Avocado and lemon
- White bread.
- Avocado sliced thinly.
- Crushed black pepper.
- Lemon juice squeezed over.
- Grated carrots.
YUM.

My ultimate grilled cheese
butter, american cheese, ham, salt, pepper, lettuce, pickles, mayo.
-Butter two slices of bread
-put mayo, ham and a slice of cheese in between and grill (on low heat!) until golden brown
-after its done, open it back up and put lettuce, pickles and salt and pepper on

Really simple and so much better than a normal grilled cheese.

meat-y bagel
you take a sundried tomato bagel, put on some ham, turkey, pepperoni, tomato and provalone cheese (or whatever cheese of your choosing, swiss is pretty good too) then toast (or grill). then top with ranch dressing.

easy version of the classic peanut butter and jelly
spread peanut butter (i like crunchy) and strawberry jelly on bread. then slice a few strawberries really really thin and place on the sandwich. it's like a strawberry explosion!
you probably could do this with just about any fruit.

Best universal sandwich sauce
2 parts mayo
1 part sour cream
Add your favorite vinegrette (Just balsamic vineger and olive oil is fine if none is available)
Add mustard to taste

mozzarella prosciutto
get a good loaf of french bread
some prosciutto
mozzarella cheese
mustard/mayo
sprouts
roma tomatoes
then bust out the old panini press (if you are a bastard and own one) and heat that shit up

spaghetti sandwich:
spaghetti + toasted bread (garlic bread works well) = heaven

the classic tomato basil mozzarella done up properly:
chop up some garlic and grate some parmesan (sp?)
put garlic, then cheese on both sides of a baguette
toast baguette or broil in oven until the cheese is bubbly and almost golden
chop up tomato and fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in the water),
layer on baguette with basil in between and put a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top

these are especially good in the summer when heirloom tomatoes are available at your local farmers market.

Well here's what i like to do:

Step one - Make brushetta. Usually i just wing it but here are the basic ingredients. Make sure you don’t add too many liquids. That will make things soggy.

Ingredients - Tomatoes, onions, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, cottage cheese, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

It's great if you let this sit for a day before eating it but that rarely happens.

Step two - Take bread of choice (a bagel would be fine too) and toast it. Then put under the broiler with some parmigana and/or romano cheese until crispy. This will prevent the juices from penetrating the bread

Step three - Put brushetta onto the bread then top with some mozzarella and put back in the oven. Take it out when everything looks delicious and consume.

roast beef
So mine is just a roast beef sandwich on a garlic bagel (how do you spell bay gul lawlkbb) with mustard BUT it sounds nasty but if you put honey roasted peanuts on nnnn ITS REALLY GOOD