The Chronicles of the Grand Sandwich
I spent the summer after my college graduation as a program assistant for a language program in Beijing. As a thank you to me for bringing her to the hospital for an injured toe, my then-charge-now-friend Julia bought me a baguette and a block of Land O'Lakes cheddar cheese. I made a long cheese sandwich and we came up with the first of many of restaurant concepts that have (surprisingly!) not yet come to fruition: Lucy's Long Cheese Sandwiches. Yum so good.
For Christmas 2014 she sent me a handwritten cookbook "三明治*, The Chronicles of the Grand Sandwich," an amalgamation of sandwiches and recipes that she either grew up with or came up with. I will work my way through the recipes, visualize the results, and (finally) send back the cookbook, complete with imagery and reviews.
*san-ming-zhi, the Chinese translation of "sandwich"
The Polish Kanapka
1. Take a piece of bread and apply unsalted butter on one side.
2. Place a piece of medium-sliced Polish cured meat (ham, Canadian bacon, etc...) or cheese on the bread.
3. Slice a half tomato thinly and place on meat or cheese. Finely chop green onions and sprinkle on top. Alternatively, finely chop onions, or slice, and place on top.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and eat radically open-face.
Salads. Veggie.
I find the joy in the recipe in either preparing it or consuming it, but never both on the same day. Spending well over an hour meticulously cooking and cubing ingredients of different textures is a great stress reliever. Having all of the subtle flavors on your palate in one homogenous bite is satisfying, especially when you like to take small bites. But as with most dishes, it somehow tastes much better when someone else makes it or when you're enjoying it the day after.
1. Chop cooked eggs (3), potatoes (3), carrots (2), and fresh onion (1). Make sure it's fine. Texture is key.
2. Mix together with a can of peas and enough mayo so it sticks.
3. Add mustard (tangy French kind) till it's tangy.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. (OPTIONAL) Add curry powder to make it exotic!
The Sickwich
I love French bread. I love butter and cream cheese. I love garlic. My love for these three ingredients made the decision to assemble a Sick-wich from Julia's cookbook a no-brainer when I was feeling under the weather last week. The harsh rawness of the garlic (and its effect on my breath) was, to a certain degree, diminished by globs of cream cheese and the fact that I was basically eating a cream cheese sandwich under the guise of "medicine" made it all the more bearable. And you know what? I'm feeling much healthier these days.
1. Butter a piece of bread.
2. Thinly slice a garlic clove and layer on bread.
3. Try to mask garlic w/tasty cream cheese.
4. Eat and feel your immune system revitalize!