My top ten sandwiches (in no special order)

[No Elephants]

Mine are not very exotic, I'm afraid, unless you think mayo or Italian sandwiches are exotic. ( grew up in a neighborhood that was close to 100% Italian descent.)


1. BLT I am not a big sandwich person, but my one of my favorites still has to be the garden variety BLT on white toast with mayo, hot bacon and toast, cold everything else.

I'd probably use a whole wheat white bread with the fewest additives now. And, nitrate-free bacon. I might even throw in a touch of very thinly-sliced bufalo mozzarella, just to see how it changed the experience.

2. Egg salad Egg salad on white toast, with sliced tomato, iceberg lettuce and may, same way I first tasted it.

3. Turkey or chicken breast-Leftover home roasted chicken or turkey breast (off the bone, not the deli stuff), salt, cracked pepper, mayo, whole cranberry sauce (iceberg lettuce optional) on a baguette.

4. Meatloaf Leftover meatloaf, sliced no gravy, and catsup on white or a baguette.

5. Corned beef. Leftover corned beef from that homemade corned beef and cabbage meal, sliced not too thinly, with Maille Old Style mustard on white or rye or sisal. Maybe even pumpernickle! On the side, everything else from that pot, warmed up or cold--potatoes, cabbage, turnips.



Now, we're off to Italia.



6. Salami Genoa Salami, very thinly-sliced, with slices of tomato and a little bit of very thinly-sliced red onion, Maille Old Style Mustard and a drizzle of olive oil, with a drop of red wine vinegar, on an excellent French or Italian baguette.

I recently learned that salami contains nitrates, though. I learned that because one of the Italian vendors in my neighborhood began offering "nitrate free salami" at about $22 a pound. Why does anyone add carcinogenic nitrates to something that hung from the ceiling of Italian groceries, with no refrigeration, for weeks, maybe months, without spoiling? Beats me.

Prosciutto di Parma has been over $20 a pound for years in my neighborhood. Therefore, I was happy to read that curing prosciutto with nitrates is forbidden in protected designation of origin curing, as in Prosciutto di Parma or Prosciutto di Danielle. I don't get, though, how salami can compete with proscuitto at a similar price?

7. Prosciutto For me, prosciutto, a teeny bit of well spread mustard and a baguette. Full stop. Some like to omit the mustard and add some roasted red peppers, mozzarella and olive oil.

8. Scrambled eggs and... Green peppers and eggs (with or without onions) or potatoes and eggs with salt and pepper (and that's all) on a baguette

9. Meatball Italian meatball sandwich with a good gravy (aka meat sauce) on a baguette, with or without melted cheese. Like my leftover meatloaf on white, but with an italian accent.



And, on the way back home from Italia...



10. Nostalgia When I was a kid, we buy from a Swiss baker a delicious hard roll that made great sandwiches, but I have not seen one since I was tiny. Today, my favorite sandwich by far would be almost anything edible on that roll.



Anyone else have one or more favorite sandwiches?

[formercia]

1. Will you Marry me?

I'm 100% on board with your choices, but I do like the roasted Peppers and Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a slice of Provalone. :)

I remember hard rolls like you described, with Poppy Seeds on top. It's much easier finding decent bread these Days, but there's nothing like the New Immigrant, Old-World style Deli, with the Salamis hanging from the Ceiling and the Aroma that hits you like a Baseball Mitt when walking in the Door.

[No Elephants]

4. Why, thank yuh, suh. I certainly would marry you,

but I think that would be considered cheating. Even cyber marriage. Or, so I've been told.

The rolls. Did you get them from a Swiss bakery? I would give a lot for two of those rolls, freshly baked. Maybe I will look online for a recipe, but I tend to mess up (very badly) anything with yeast.

There are several delis in my neighborhood that have salamis and cheeses hanging from the ceiling. However, it's most for show and tourists.

[Enthusiast]

2. No Elephants, you are a culinary delight!

I can taste those sandwiches on my mind's tongue. I remember well the days before the gluten thing.

We have no great sandwich tradition here in the wilds of Oh-io. But that never stopped me from seeking them out in the urban areas of the state.

The BLT is where the sum of the ingredients become a special interaction. Bacon does that for a lot of stuff.

My meatloaf lends itself to the creation of some wonderful sandwiches. My meatloaf is always based on lean ground venison. Because venison tends to be dry if overcooked in the slightest, I always add an entire jar of quality salsa to the mix to make it extra wet.

[formercia]

3. Makes me extra Wet too...

:rofl:

[Enthusiast]

6. You are bad, formercia.

:spank:

[No Elephants]

5. Thanks. I always felt that making a sandwich is taking the easy way out of

putting a meal on the table. My mother never did it, except once in a great while for lunch.

Ah, bacon. I am glad my market offers a nitrate-free version. Well, no added nitrates, anyway. Bacon may have some naturally.

I used to put bacon into a lot of things, like twice-baked potatoes and mini bacon quickbreads.

Now, I mostly use it to start off beef stew and some soups. Sigh.

As far as the meatloaf, my goal on all the comfort food sandwiches is to replicate as closely as I can what my mom served me when I was little. And, she did not use salsa in her meatloaf. Besides, I rarely find a salsa that is mild enough for my tummy, even the ones labeled mild. I do love it because tomatoes are a weakness of mine.

My meatloaf usually comes out tasty, just not the same as mom's. Every cook puts his or her own stamp on a dish, unless using a recipe and following it to a T. My mom never used a recipe, so I was never able to raid her collection. More's the pity.