Delicious Sandwich
Sandwiches are a conundrum for me. All that bread gets in the way of what I really want: the bright yet rich, crunchy yet smooth filling that goes in the middle. But I don't usually want a salad made of just the filling ingredients, either. Something about the way the bread mashes everything together makes the whole so much greater than the individual parts. Even better is when someone else makes the sandwich for me. I have vivid memories of my mom's putting together the humblest ingredients: mayonnaise, processed cheese slices, iceberg lettuce, and Wonderbread together melded to make the most soothing and wonderful sandwich mush in the lunchbags of my youth.I can appreciate the simplicity of a pressed media noche, dripping with margarine and pickles, and the extravagance of sirloin steak and caramelized onions that you eat with a knife and fork at the Union League. One of the best things I ever ate was a sandwich of sopressata, salami, mozzarella, marinated anchovies, and a lot of vinegar and oil at Genova in Oakland. But your standard turkey/Swiss/mayo on a Kaiser roll is never what I want for lunch.
That said, I made myself something simple and delicious tonight, to eat over the sink while poor Andy slept off his 24-hour flu bug. Take a third of a roasted garlic ciabatta loaf from Chabaso. Warm in the toaster oven and split. Add mayonnaise, if you like. Mix together a can of tuna and some of Deborah Madison's lemon vinaigrette*, spread half on the bread, save the rest for another lunch. Add some arugula leaves. Press together and eat over the sink. Perfection.
In other brief news:
- Two thumbs up to Liv's Oyster Bar in Old Saybrook, where we gorged ourselves on winter oysters for Easter dinner. The seared scallops with gremolata were also quite fine, as were the fried oysters on celery root remoulade (though no fried oysters will ever match those of the Sea Swirl, which I was chagrined to find was profiled recently on Rachael Ray's tourist show). And Andy ordered a dessert that I never would have ordered, given my usual aversion to segments of citrus fruit: blood oranges and clementines in a Prosecco sabayon. Heavenly, not very sweet, a perfect tribute to the end of citrus season.
- Damn you, Limon Fine Food, for stocking Krinos Taramosalata. I have you to thank for the extra five pounds I am sure I have gained by eating the taramosalata out of the jar, with my fingers, while standing in front of the open fridge. I don't even bother with the damn pita anymore, even though their homemade pita is the best I have eaten anywhere besides Hoomoos Asli.
- The King Ranch Chicken recipe in Cook's Country didn't quite live up to the hype. Tastes delicious -- certainly much, much better than the classic "take two cans of cream of chicken soup" version -- but overly liquid. As this is perhaps Andy's favorite dinner in the world, I am sure I will have many chances to tweak and perfect the recipe.
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 t finely chopped lemon zest
salt and pepper
about 1 t capers, minced
1 scallion (white part only), thinly sliced
a few T olive oil
Combine everything except the oil and let that sit for 15 minutes. Then whisk in the oil. Taste and add more salt and pepper if it needs it.
posted by Mrs. Delicious @ 7:07 PM
2 Comments:
I have extreme love of the sandwich. I've dreamt about sandwiches I need to make. One of the first times I considered preserved lemon, in fact, was in a dream about a sandwich.
do you like the shins?
because they sing about conundrum.
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