"The Lunch Menu" - *SANDWICHES*

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. They generally contain a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese, and a variety of sauces or savoury spreads. The bread can be used as it is, or it can be coated with any condiments to enhance flavour and texture. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes.

The modern sandwich is named after Lord Sandwich. Evidently John Montagu had been a very conversant gambler. He did not have time to have meal during the play, so he would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread during his long hours play at the card table. This habit became well known among his gambling friends and thus the ‘sandwich’ was born. Because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!"  However, the exact circumstances of the invention are still the subject of debate. A rumour in a contemporary travel book called Tour to London (although not confirmed) by Pierre Jean Grosley formed the popular myth that bread and meat sustained Lord Sandwich at the gambling table. The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.

*Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich*

It's origins are unsure but one story has it that the Italian Beef sandwich was started by Italian immigrants who worked for the old Union Stock Yards. They often would bring home some of the tougher, less desirable cuts of beef sold by the company. To make the meat more palatable, it was slow-roasted to make it more tender, then slow-simmered in a spicy broth for flavor. Both the roasting and the broth used Italian-style spices and herbs. The meat was then thinly sliced across the grain and stuffed into fresh Italian bread.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds top round with fat cap
• 3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 3 tablespoons bacon fat, or canola oil
• 3 yellow onions, chopped
• 1 cup garlic, whole cloves
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 sourdough baguette rolls halved, toasted
• 1 cup chopped giardiniera vinaigrette vegetables
• 1 cup jarred red sweet peppers

Directions

Rub meat with dry ingredients, cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

Add meat to a roasting pan with bacon fat, add onions and garlic, saute for 15 minutes, deglaze with wine, and add Worcestershire sauce, beef stock and bay leaves.

Place roasting pan in the oven and cook for 3 hours, uncovered, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 135 degrees F in center. Remove, let cool, then slice very thin.

Cool broth in roasting pan and remove the fat that rises to the top. Strain.

Reheat the broth, and add the sliced meat. Place some meat on each toasted roll, ladle with some broth and top with giardiniera vegetables and red peppers.

*Croque Monsieur*

A croque-monsieur is a hot ham and cheese grilled sandwich. It originated in France as a fast-food snack served in cafés and bars. More elaborate versions come coated in a Mornay or Béchamel sauce.

The name is based on the verb croquer ("to crunch") and the word monsieur ("mister")—the reason behind the combination of the two words is unclear—and is colloquially shortened to croque.

*Note-This an Open-face version*

*Super B.L.T.*

"This is a twist on an old favorite. Serve with chips or fresh fruit."

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon
• 8 slices bread, toasted
• 1/4 cup guacamole
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 4 lettuce leaves
• 4 slices tomato

Directions

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Spread the guacamole on 4 slices of toasted bread and the cream cheese on the remaining 4 slices. Arrange a lettuce leaf, tomato slice, and two pieces of bacon on top of 4 slices of bread and top with the remaining slices.

*Barbecue Tofu Sandwich*

Slices of tofu and onion are cooked in vegetable oil until golden. Barbeque sauce is poured in the pan and everything simmers away for about ten minutes. Serve on warmed buns.     

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package extra firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
• 6 hamburger buns

Directions

1. Drain the tofu between paper towels until most of the water has been squeezed out.
2. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet, fry tofu strips until golden brown on both sides. Add onion and cook for a few minutes, until onion is at your desired consistency.
4. Pour in barbeque sauce (use more or less, according to your taste). Cook the mixture for ten minutes on low and serve on buns.

          

*Grilled Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwich*

"A sweet, warm breakfast idea. Cooked like a grilled cheese, but filled with melted peanut butter and warm bananas."

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 slices whole wheat bread
• 1 banana, sliced

Directions

1. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Spread 1 tablespoon of peanut butter onto one side of each slice of bread. Place banana slices onto the peanut buttered side of one slice, top with the other slice and press together firmly. Fry the sandwich until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side.

*Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich*
You know how once in a while you run across a slice of pizza where some of the cheese has dripped over the edge and caramelized onto the bottom of the crust? You know how when you bite into that delicious deformity you think to yourself, "why can't the whole thing be like this?" It can.
Make sure you follow some basic rules for this to work properly. Only use airy, nutritionally insignificant white bread. Use a nice sharp cheddar, and be sure to use a quality non-stick pan over medium to medium-low heat.

*Sloppy Joes*

A sloppy joe is an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. Commercially made sauces are also available. Textured vegetable protein may be used as a vegetarian substitute for the meat. Contradictory lore suggests that the Original Sloppy Joe Sandwich was invented at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, or by a cook named Joe at a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa, as a variation of the popular "loose meat" sandwich (which does not contain tomato sauce).

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 3 teaspoons brown sugar
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

*Muffuletta*

A traditional muffuletta consists of one muffuletta loaf, split horizontally. The loaf is then covered with a marinated olive salad, then layers of capicola, salami, pepperoni, emmentaler, ham and provolone. The sandwich is sometimes heated through to soften the provolone. The size of the muffuletta is enough to feed more than one person, and many stores sell quarter or half-muffulettas.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, crushed
• 1/2 cup drained kalamata olives, crushed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped pickled cauliflower florets
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1 tablespoon chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup pepperoncini, drained
• 1/4 cup marinated cocktail onions
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 (1 pound) loaves Italian bread
• 8 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami
• 8 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham
• 8 ounces sliced mortadella
• 8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces sliced provolone cheese

Directions

1. To Make Olive Salad: In a medium bowl, combine the green olives, kalamata olives, garlic, cauliflower, capers, celery, carrot, pepperoncini, cocktail onions, celery seed, oregano, basil, black pepper, vinegar, olive oil and canola oil. Mix together and transfer mixture into a glass jar (or other nonreactive container). If needed, pour in more oil to cover. Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least overnight.
2. To Make Sandwiches: Cut loaves of bread in half horizontally; hollow out some of the excess bread to make room for filling. Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts olive salad, including oil. Layer 'bottom half' of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella and Provolone. Replace 'top half' on each loaf and cut sandwich into quarters.
3. Serve immediately, or wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours; this will allow for the flavors to mingle and the olive salad to soak into the bread.