The Adjective Sandwich

I began making adjective sandwiches at the Decafe, Oberlin’s made-to-order sandwich-salad-smoothie bar/grocery store. The Oberlin Alumni Magazine did a little write-up of my creative endeavors, which was read by a glorious alum named Gwendolen Gross. After some consulting and totally excellent emails, her book The Orphan Sister hit the bookstores featuring some adjective sandwiches between its covers.

I received her book in the mail on Wednesday, July 6th, and it was chock full of thanks and wonderful things (haven’t read the book yet, as I’m saving it for a very long plane ride next week, but Ben Jones found a section full of sandwiches and read it to me), and I realized how much I missed making sandwiches.

Enter The Adjective Sandwich, a website dedicated to the creation of new sandwiches, fueled by volunteered adjectives. I haven’t stopped thinking up combinations, and while my previous eaters are now all around the world, now I can share my creations with everyone, rather than one sandwich at a time. Enjoy.

I want an adjective sandwich! How does this work?

Email adjectivesandwich@gmail.com with the following bits of information:

- your adjective,
- likes/dislikes/things you can't eat,
- vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous,
- your tolerance for spicy things.

Please add your name so I can thank you, too!

Fiercegiving Leftovers: Triple Decker Sandwich

Ali and I are the masters of Thanksgiving leftovers. Today, Ali made a toasted sourdough sandwich with a fried egg, provolone, green bean casserole, and mustard.

I made this:

Triple-Decker Thanksgiving Sandwich
Serves 1, easily multiplied

3 slices pumpernickel bread, toasted
Cooked turkey, shredded (I prefer dark meat, but white will do fine)
1 slice pumpkin pie (or a single serving of extra pumpkin pie filling that has been baked in a mini custard dish)
Green bean casserole with caramelized onions (recipe below)
Cranberry sauce
Mayonnaise
Salt and white pepper

On the first layer of bread, thinly spread mayonnaise and top with shredded turkey, salt and pepper to taste. Top with a second slice of bread, with thinly spread mayonnaise on the side touching the turkey, and pumpkin pie filling spread on the top.

Next, cover the pumpkin pie with green bean casserole, and top with the final slice of bread, that has a thin layer of cream cheese and cranberry sauce coating it. Anchor with a toothpick or two and enjoy.

Green Bean Casserole
Fills a 9x9 square baking dish

1 pound fresh green beans, cleaned and snapped into 1-inch pieces
2 white onions, thinly sliced into rainbows
1 cup stock
1.5 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam or boil green beans in salted water until tender. Strain into a colander and run under cold water to stop the beans from cooking.

Caramelize the onions in a large pan with olive oil, one tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, until the onions smell sweet and turn a creamy brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and whisk in until a thick paste forms. Begin gradually adding stock and milk and whisk until all the lumps of flour have dissipated. When the sauce becomes thick, salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat. Add green beans and stir until combined.

Pour into a 9x9 glass baking dish and top liberally with caramelized onions. Bake in a 350 degree oven until bubbly, about 30-35 minutes.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Pear Grilled Cheese

Partially inspired by Home in Disarray's grilled cheese post from yesterday, Ali and I decided on a sandwich to accompany our asparagus salad.

This is Ali, with our asparagus salad. She's wearing the best hat.

We ended up making a bacon-cheddar-pear grilled cheese sandwich as our second course.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Pear Grilled Cheese:

For two sandwiches:

2 pieces of wheat flatbread, cut in half-moons
4 piece of turkey bacon
1 Bartlett pear, cut into slices

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
White pepper

Lime juice

Toss pear slices in a bit of white pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.

Cook the bacon until brown and fragrant, peppering each side lightly. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the fat. Once cool, chop the bacon finely into pieces.

Place half of each flatbread in the pan over medium-low heat, top with some grated cheddar, then pears, then more cheddar, then top with bacon and the remaining halves of flatbread. Flip over sandwiches carefully and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the bottom later of cheese has melted.

Slice, serve, and know that if you're taking classy photos, the other diner will finish their food in the span it takes to take all the pictures. It was really freaking good.

Zucchini Frittata Sandwich

I'm reading Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft book. I am all kinds of inspired. So, sandwich day!

Zucchini frittata sandwich with spinach and tomato

For the frittata:

Grate 1 medium zucchini and saute in olive oil, a clove of minced garlic, salt, and pepper until cooked through. Equally divide cooked zucchini into a well-greased muffin tin (a six-piece pan). Sprinkle each cup with 1/2 oz of grated swiss cheese each and top with a mixture of three beaten eggs, salt, white pepper, a tablespoon of half and half and a tablespoon of water. Bake at 325 degrees until eggs are set on top. Run a thin knife around the edge of the tins to loosen. When you plan on putting the frittata on the sandwich, you'll probably need a spoon to scoop out all the creamy eggy and zucchini goodness.

Lightly toast two slices of whole wheat pane bread (it's a mildly sour Italian loaf that I got at Trader Joe's). Ideally, 'wichcraft toasts only one side of their bread, but I'm not that magical or skilled (or maybe I'm lazy and don't want to figure out all the details with my toaster oven).

On one side, thinly spread a thin layer of mayonnaise and top with 6 slices of very thinly sliced roma tomato. Salt and pepper the tomatoes, then add a three-leaf thick layer of baby spinach leaves. Top the spinach with two of the frittata pieces. Spread a thin layer of Grey Poupon on the second piece of bread and top off the frittata with this piece of bread.

**

So, this sandwich isn't really perfect since zucchini is a pretty juicy vegetable and as soon as I put the frittata on the sandwich, the weight of the egg made the zucchini juice out all over the sandwich. While this doesn't bode well for looks and cleanliness, the juiciness soaked through the bread, tomato, and spinach, which wilted the spinach and softened the toasted bread nicely.

The flavors were stunning, though. Wow.

Winter Term, Day Eighteen: Turkish Delights

Spent some time catching up on things, starting my day with cleaning and such and then making a turkey-munster-spinach-tomato-sweet-chili sandwich.




For dinner I made a Turkish inspired meal... lamb meatballs seasoned with crushed red pepper, sumac, onions, garlic, and parsley, sauteed zucchini, sauteed tomatoes, basil herbed couscous, and pickled onions.

Winter Term, Day Twelve: Quick Carbonara and Friends

Amanda demonstrates a post-dinner nap. Foooooood.

Lunch was roast beef dip sandwiches with grilled onions and swiss. The Kriek was from last night, but the bottle was pretty and appropriate.





Tonight was a lazy night for me, so four-cheese pasta carbonara with peas and asparagus it was. Lady and Sir Jamie came over to make Camargue chicken, a stewed chicken, rice and leek dish, and Daniel made some Camembert-fig-and-basil puffs and walnut and brown sugar rolls for dessert. Yoshi and Amanda enjoyed the fruits of our labors as well.