Someone give that girl a sammich
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 2:00AM | Seeley deBorn No, I dont' think it's quite over. The Mayhem that is. This is one hell of a long month.
Taneasha is still on the road, still plagued by the strangest weather. Srsly, the woman is like some kind of tornado magnet. Me, I've decided that working full time over the summer isn't enough. I have to do school too. Evening calculus, here I come. Well, I do school full time and work part time the rest of the year, I should be able to pull this off, right? Right??
Feeding myself in the 45 minutes I'll be home between work and school three nights a week for the next 8 weeks is gonna be fun. I'm going to do a bunch of cooking ahead, have actually started with that and no, Taneasha, I didn't remember to take pictures /hangs head in shame/. I do however have pictures of a meal that commonly goes unappreciated.
The sammich.
Humble, yet satisfying, and creators of very few dirty dishes, these things have for some reason become some kind of good-enough meal, something we sigh and resign ourselves to. But really, what beats a couple slices of bakery fresh bread made with locally grown organic whole grains with a crusty exterior and tender inside carefully cuddling an infinitely variable collection of delectible meats, savoury cheeses, perfect veggies and just the right amount of condiment. Ha. Who says purple prose is dead?
Fresh bread is an absolute requirement for me and sammiches. I'll give it two days and then the rest of the loaf is relegated to toast (now there's a meal to sigh about). Besides, when you're craving egg salad, you really need fresh soft bread. It's squishy and gooey and way too likely to ooze all over your palms if it's not on the right kind of bread.
And I was craving egg salad. And I am completely unable to control cravings. And because of that I sometimes don't take anywhere near enough pics. But, I mean, it's a freaking sammich, I think you can figure it out without the visual aids.
Egg Salad Sammich
What you need:
- 2 slices of the freshest bread ever
- 1 egg, boiled for about 10 minutes
- 1-2 tbsp mayo
- salt & pepper & butter
- Optional, at your discretion, to your taste, and depending what you happen to have in the fridge at the time:
- minced chives or green onion
- red onion
- pickled onions
- pickled asparagus
- hot pickled beans
- picked pickles
- olives, black or green
- dill, thyme, basil, tarragon, marjoram
- chili powder, cumin, caraway, paprika
- bacon
- horseradish
- ham
- capers
- sundried tomatoes
- jalapenos, pepperoncinis, banana peppers
- what else is in your fridge?
What you gotta do:
Peel and mash the boiled egg. Mash it first. Don't add the mayo yet, you don't know how much you need!
Add the other stuff to the bowl. I had some cipollini onions in balsamic vinegar (if you've never had them, find them, they're fabulous),
bacon of course, and some dill that I'd dried and jarred last summer.
Once you've got all your goodies in the bowl with the egg, start adding the mayo. And by mayo I mean real mayonaisse, not some kind of weird whipped salad dressing. And by start, I don't mean plop it all in there. Too much mayo will totally kill an otherwise awesome egg salad. And once it's in there, there's no getting it out. Start with a teaspoon or two and mix it in completely before you add the next one. For once I'm going to say that wetter is not better. You don't want the creamy goodness on your hands as you're trying to eat.
Shred yourself some lettuce. Shred. Don't try to lay a whole leaf of iceburg on top of egg salad and expect it to work. For one, iceburg is useless and flavourless. At least use romaine. And shred it as finely as you can. Stack them, roll them, and slice them into tiny hairs of lettuce. Egg salad is actually one of the more delicate things you can put between sliced bread; you don't want to go overpowering it with huge crunchy chunks of leaf.
The matter of butter on bread is one of great debate. Some need it, some hate it, some want it on one side only, some only need it if there's no mayo... holy crap. Do what you want. Me, I need butter on sammiches and on toast. Regardless of what else is on there, I need the butter. You, you do whatever your little heart desires. This is your sammich.
Start assembling your masterpiece. Butter, mayo, whatever you want on the bread. Next, the egg salad. I don't spread mine all the way to the edge because I know it's going to squish a bit. Now, the delicately sliced (and apparently very shiny) leaves.
Cut the sammich any way you want. Or don't. This is a very personal thing and everyone seems to like them done differently. Who am I to tell you how best to arrange your meal.
The only thing I will insist on is a pickle. Every great sammich needs a pickle. Yes, you could have a few potato chips, maybe some carrot sticks, but even with those on the side, you need a pickle.
Okay, I'll admit it, that is definitely not the best looking sammich I've ever made. That was a muffaletta, which I promise to make for you some day. This though, this is dinner. No, not lunch. Sammiches are dinner too.
What kind of sammich do you eat for dinner?
Reader Comments (5)
That picture brings a whole new level to food porn.
We have all kinds of sammiches for dinner. I'll eat chicken salad sandwiches pretty much anytime, day or night. With my hubby, though, it could be leftover ham or turkey, or roast (Mmmmm dippy sammiches!), or it could be tuna salad or a hoagie. Sandwiches are easy, versatile, and yummy. And they make a nice cool meal in the summertime.
Smear cream cheese on one cracker, hot pepper jelly on the other. Mash together and eat.
Smear peanut butter (or cashew butter, or sun-nut butter) on a slice of bread (especially sweet potato bread) and sprinkle with mini M&Ms or miniature chocolate chips. Fold taco-style and eat.
Close your eyes. Picture bacon and avocado on toast.
When you have a quarter-cup of cooked tasty meat, pull it out of the fridge to come to room temp. Fry a pile of thin-sliced onions. Toast a kaiser roll or a few bagels. Smear sour cream on one piece of bread, pile chopped meat on it, and pile melted onions on top of that. Mash down with the top bread. Eat leaning over the plate. Leftovers, if there are any, reheat beautifully.
Lay down a layer of scrambled eggs (made with a heaping spoonful of well-drained chunky salsa, or with a spoonful of finely chopped leftover greens, or with mushrooms) on onion bread. Top with potato chips.
Refried beans make a good sandwich spread. So do mashed potatoes. A couple of slices of bacon, crumbled, make either sandwich much tastier. Grated Seriously Sharp cheese isn't as good as bacon, but is probably better for you.
Grilled cheese sandwiches with mushrooms are especially good with a touch of mustard.
Make your egg salad (or chicken salad) with sour cream instead of mayo for a change.
Have you tried chicken salad made with slivered toasted almonds and sour cream?
Good lord, woman. I'm stuck here in a hotel room with nothing but cereal and frozen appetizers to eat, and now I want one of each of those sandwiches. *drool*
You had me at cream cheese.
Nice sammich, It makes me want one right now!
But seriously Taneasha you have a fucked up mind.