Sandwich - - Page 22

by gansie

Fried From Fish

I’m such a procrastinator that when I was in college I went to a session on how not to procrastinate so I wouldn’t have to do my homework. My frosh/sophomore roommate, aka rooms, also struggled with this affliction. We dubbed our room the procrastination station, enticing all of our dorm friends to visit us (the constant supply of cookie dough in the mini-fridge helped) to help us avoid studying. (Side note – I’m going to visit rooms and her husband in Maine this coming weekend. Be on the lookout for my New England cooking adventures!)

Well, I still haven’t been cured from procastinationitis. The research journey of my latest Express feature will surely prove this point. I pitched to write about three different fish counters in the area. I had already eaten at Eamonn’s a few times, so I figured I could skip that place and write on memory. But I still had to try Tackle Box (from the hottie owner of Hook) and the classic lunch-counter, Crisfield. Slacking-contributer Tim had been talking up Crisfield for a very long time, and I was excited that I would finally be able to try it – and write about it.

by BS

Who Cooked It Craziest? Top Chef All-Star Plates

So Top Chef Season 4 is over, and America has our first female commander-in-chef. Richard may have shot himself in the foot, but I think it’s pretty clear that Stephanie won because of her brilliant tactics on one specific dish. Her roasted lamb medallions, cooked with mushrooms, braised pistachios, olives and blackberries, were so over-the-top, so utterly batshit insane that the judges had no choice but to give her the win. I mean, whoever heard of a braised pistachio? And blackberries with olives? On lamb? All flavored up in miso, butter, red wine, balsamic, and chicken stock?

Stephanie really pulled a fast one on the judges here. If you put that dish on a menu in a fine restaurant you would have zero people order it. But they put her all the way into the final, so they couldn’t very well admit that she had made something fit for service at the looney bin, so they had only one choice: proclaim her a genius.

This is my favorite part of Top Chef. The just plain insane things that the cheftestants make in an effort to appear “avant garde.” I love that Bravo puts all the recipes on their web site, as if any human would actually make these. Like one day you’re just gonna say, oh ho-hum, I happen to have some leftover braised beef tips in my fridge, perhaps I’ll batter them in crumbled frosted flakes, quickly sear them on each side and serve them up with a pomegranate-truffle foam. Yeah, that sounds nice.

So for this week’s Who Cooked It Better, we’re looking at the craziest, most nutso things that the Top Cheftestants have ever put before us.

by BS

America’s Real Best Ballpark Food

We’re talkin’ ballpark food for this week’s Who Cooked It Better, inspired by the New York Times’ Travel Section. Food writer Peter Meehan had the enviable assignment of traveling to all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and sampling their many edible offerings. Of course, this being the New York Times, the baseball food they cover is less beer and pretzels, more Champagne and edamame. Call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather not sample the eel nigiri while sitting in the bleacher seats. In fact, I’m pretty sure that half the things on the Times list would get you a bloody nose if you’re sitting anywhere outside the executive suites. I’m not saying you have to always go for that slimy boiled hot dog that’s been sitting in warm water for god knows how long, or the “nachos” that are served in a plastic bag. But if we’re going to call it America’s pastime, it must surely be consumed with some sort of food smothered in cheese, grease, and other glorious fatness.

So while the Times writes for the black AMEX crowd, we’ve been scouring the Times online commenters, who are weighing in on the less fancy eats that the story chose to ignore.

Here’s our alternative list (with many thanks to all the angry NYT commenters) of America’s greasiest, cheesiest, most heart-stoppingly amazing ballpark food. Read through to the end to cast your vote for the best.

Washington Nationals – Ben’s Chili Bowl Fully Loaded Half Smoke

Photo: This is Gonna Be Good

It’s unclear how the Times got through a visit to the new Nationals Park without smelling out the offerings from DC’s legendary Ben’s Chili Bowl. I’m still not sure exactly what half-smoke means, but hotdamn it is some kinda tasty sausage. Ben’s fully loaded version is topped with chili, chopped onions, grated cheddar and yellow mustard. Don’t even think about not siding this with some of the world’s best cheese fries.

Baltimore Orioles – Boog’s BBQ Sandwich

Photo: malliavale

Times commenters are up in arms that the article missed the pit smoked pulled pork sandwich offered at Camden Yards. You won’t find a brioche or baguette slice here – the plain old doughy roll is only along for soaking up the gooey Jack Daniels BBQ sauce. Bonus: It’s served up by former Orioles first baseman Boog Powell.

in Cheese / Pig / Red Meat / Sandwich 34 comments

by Russell Warnick

Pick My Picnic

Hey Foodies-

I write to you, ES readers and the food blogospehre, in need of your help. This weekend I am going to a picnic with some friends here in DC. The irony of this is that despite being British I have never been to a picnic before (I know, crazy, bad, British Britannia). I can only claim to have taken a bag of chips and salsa to Screen on the Green in years past but I don’t think that counts, does it! So here’s the deal, I need your ideas and thoughts as to what I can make for this. My group will consist of about eight people and it’s going to be a potluck kind of thing. I am encouraging my friends to be creative, trying to steer them away from the pre-made of Whole Foods. My own thoughts so far would be focaccia bread with dipping oils, cheeses and salsa, a fruit bowl of some kind and maybe a selection of sandwiches.

The picnic is at the National Cathedral. They are hosting an event this weekend called “Lighting to Unite”; acclaimed Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter is lighting up the Cathedral to celebrate its centennial, and the Cathedral is inviting people to bring picnics. The weather looks like it will make for a great evening outdoors.

Please let me know any ideas you might have by writing in the comments section, I promise to tell you all about my picnic in a post next week. Thanks in advance.

in Cheese / Contests / Sandwich 17 comments

by BS

March Madness: America’s Top 10 Drunk College Foods

With the NCAA basketball tournament tipping off this afternoon, America’s brightest young minds are poised to spend the next month doing what they do best: getting drunk and yelling at television screens. When all the blood, sweat, tears – and beer – are swept off the court, the nation’s 18 million college students will be left in search of one thing: some grease to soak it all up.

While you were finalizing your bracket picks, Endless Simmer carefully evaluated the tournament field to compile this list of the tournament’s Top 10 Colleges – ranked by the drunk food they have to offer their hungry, hungry students. Eat that, U.S. News and World Report.

10. University of Wisconsin – Mac ‘n Cheese Pizza

Photo: J&J Blog

Oh maaaan, I need some pizza. Cheesy pizza. Mmmm, cheese. No, wait, I want mac and cheese. Oooh! Pizza with mac and cheese on top! That’s what I want.

If you have ever said or heard a statement like this, you are almost certainly a drunk college student. Also, you probably live in Wisconsin.

The Badgers may have been dissed by the selection committee (29-4 can’t get you a no #2 seed??) but Wisconsin never was as good at sports as they are at creative use of cheese. Madison drunks flock to Ian’s Pizza for this gooey, magnificent creation that just couldn’t come from any other state.

9. Rutgers – Fat Darell

Photo: AP

Don Imus’ not-so-favorite team is back in the women’s tourney as a Number 2 seed, while the Rutgers men were sent packing after a miserable season at the bottom of the Big East.

But don’t feel too bad for the Scarlet Knights – they can always console themselves back on campus with a Jersey summer full of Fat Darrells, a behemoth of a sandwich that solves the drunk’s eternal dilemma of “Do I want chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, or French fries?”

The answer: a resounding “all three,” piled high on a sub role and topped off with marinara sauce. I’d tell you more about it but I’m a little short of breath and I feel a painful shooting sensation in my arm.

8. Purdue – The Duane Purvis All-American

Photo: Flick User Horsepj

You can be forgiven if you didn’t know the name of Purdue’s All-American half-back/full-back from their undefeated 1932 football team. But you should damn well know the burger that bears his name.

The Triple XXX Family Restaurant in West Lafayette, Indiana serves up this decidedly unwholesome Boilermaker classic: 100% sirloin patty with lettuce, tomato, pickle, Spanish onions, and….wait for it…peanut butter. Only a drunk or Elvis – perhaps only a drunk Elvis – could fully appreciate this brilliance.

7. University of San Diego – Filiberto’s Carne Asada Burrito

Photo: Flickr user buckofive

The San Diego Toreros may not be a household name – in fact, if you google the phrase University of San Diego team, the first hit is the school’s mock trial club. Scroll down to the bottom of the results page to find the bball squad, who shocked favorites Gonzaga and St. Mary’s to steal the WCC title and a berth in the big dance this year.

But that’s not what has these young fellows so excited; they’re just pumped up about this steak-filled beauty. USD students have shown the dirt cheap, gigantic burritos from Filiberto’s so much love that the chain has expanded to towns throughout Cali and Arizona, but U Study Drunk loyalists still swear by the original.

6. University of Pittsburgh – The South Side Slope

Photo: Roadfood.com

For some reason, Polish cuisine has never quite caught on in the United States. And that reason is the simple fact that it doesn’t come between two slices of bread.

Pitt saloon Fatheads has a solution to this problem, and its name is the South Side Slope. A giant kielbasa topped with fried pierogies, grilled onions, American cheese and something called horsey sauce. Don’t ask, just eat.

Next: Top 5 America’s Top Drunk College Foods

in Bacon / Cheese / Food Travel / Lists / Red Meat / Sandwich 62 comments

by pinch of minch

Project Sandwich

I wanted Christian Siriano to win. The clothes, the ingenious asymmetrical haircut and the adorable arrogance all in a 4 foot tall perfect package. I was cheering for him all through the Project Runway finale as he bopped around with threads, winked at the camera and snapped at his own fierceness….until he told a size -1 model “don’t eat!” after fittings. My mouth hung open at this comment (not attractive considering it was full of cheesy lasagna) and it got me thinking. Not about how women don’t need to be stick thin to be beautiful. That argument’s been done a thousand times and reiterated by Tyra Banks ten thousand times more. Christian’s quip about food rejection simply made me hungry, even after digging into my second helping of lasagna. His comment made me think about…sandwiches. I do love a good sandwich. For the rest of the finale, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat debating who will rule the runway. I was thinking: If these finalist were a sandwich, what kind of sandwich would they be?

Let’s start with Chris. Now, I actually didn’t mind human hair on clothes, but I do mind them in my sandwiches. Thankfully, at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh, I never found one. These sandwiches are extravagant, layered, grandiose goodness….and more importantly, as burly as the PR finalist himself. Pounds of Italian ham, Swiss cheese, coleslaw. All topped off with fries IN the sandwich. A little much for most people, but so was that fugly jacket that got Chris kicked off in the first place so there you go. Chris, I honor you with the roast beef sandwich at Primanti brothers.

in Sandwich / TV 9 comments

by 80 Proof

Swiss Grilled Cheese, Without the Swiss Cheese

Grilled cheese or hot pocket?

Hey, I haven’t yet reached a level of enlightenment needed to determine the answer to all life’s questions. Nevertheless, this “sandwich” was gooey and crispy and hot. And while I may not be smart enough to know its scientific name, at least my taste buds know a good thing when they sense it.

But what, exactly, was in this mystery creation? Find out after the jump…

in Cheese / Recipe / Sandwich 8 comments