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- Jun 28, 2004
I want to remind everyone that this post, the food mentioned in this post and how it tastes to me, are all coming from a position of sobriety (aside from the small glass of wine being drunk with this dish). There is also a recipe at the end of the post.
Thanks to Trader Joe's I just made one of the most, by the standards of a late night sandwich, complex sandwich ever. I can never outdo "Epic Meal Time" or "Man versus Food" in terms of sheer volume of food and insanity. What I can do is, using just a few (all either inexpensive or at least fairly inexpensive since al but one came from Trader Joe's) ingredients from Trader Joe's, improvise a Sandwich based on the Old World (particularly strong in France) gastronomic principle that sweet and savory foods, especially cheeses, if done well, should be mixed.
Once again, using some odds and ends from Trader Joe's, I made a sandwich that that might run about $20 as a lunch at a trendy sandwich shop, frequented by white people who will stand in line for an hour or so for a sandwich. They would all stand in line for hours in order to enjoy a sandwich that was very easy to make.
It was made from Shepard's Bread, Roast beef, a bit of Roquefort Blue Cheese, Vanilla Berry Coated Chevre (If you have not bought it yet, go to Trader Joe's tomorrow and buy two logs of it, it is divine and works in every course of any Western style meal, no matter how elegant or rustic it may be) and an aioli of egg yolk, olive oil, garlic, salt and thick French style mustard.
The flavors just work together in harmony and the Vanilla Chevre was key because it cancelled out the sharp nature of the aioli and the blue cheese. The blue cheese gives it a creamy texture and the aioli brings that garlic (how I like it, strong but with the harshest aspects of it tamed by salt and the acidiciy of the mustard and lemon). The mustard gives a different sort of sharpness that finds its self standing up to the vanilla chevre. The shapard's bread and roast beef were tasty and hearty but they are very simple and act as a fairly basic template upon which contrasting flavors of cheese and sauce duel.
What was the most elegant and creative thing that you improvised from aocmmon ingredients in your kitchen? Give me some ideas, especially if they came from places like Trader Joes or Whole Foods or a ocal "International Market" (In my area it is "Valley Produce," which caters largely to Mexican, Armenians, Persians, Indians and some east Asian and Russian customers. Every city has one or a chain of a few dozen of them them). NT has some people with an eye and nose for flavors and pairings of cheese, meats, breads and drinks. Trader Joe's is also a favorite on NT, so I am sure you guys will have some great stuff.
Recipe: for the "Dueling Champions of Cheeses: The Duel Between the Sweetest of the Chevres and the Most Pungent of the Roqueforts with the Beef, Bread and Sauce Caught in the Middle."
-5 to 6 slices of regular roast beef cold cuts (enough to cover the bread but it is not supposed to be towerin gwith cold cuts like a a Polich, German or Jewish/Yiddish Deli style Sandwhich)
-2 slices of Shepard's Bread or any other mild flavored bread that is thick enough to carry a lot of cheese, cold cuts and sauce and the moisture that comes from them
-One third a cup of sweet Vanilla chevre (slice in thin disks from the "log")
-One quater a cup of strong Roqufort blue cheese (or Italian Gorgonzola. Either way, it is bbest when keep in as whole a pieces as possible)
-One or Two whole yolks (or a large table spoon of of mayonaisse if raw eggs scare you)
-Two large tablespoons of French mustard (whole seed mustard is idea, thich German style mustard is the next best thing. Avoid bright yellow American style mustard)
-Two teaspoons of olive or grape speed oil (the grape seed oil tastes similar to olive oil but is more delicate)
-One large table spoon of garlic paste (I used some premade from Valley Produce but you make it my chopping up one or two cloves very finesly, adding a liberal amount of salt and a squirt of lemon juice and give it 30 seconds to "melt" the Garlic and allow you to have your paste)
Start by Toasting the bread and placing the beef on one slice and the Roquefort on another side. Toast until the beef is luke warm and the Cheese is slightly melted. Then you mix your aioli my whidky a your yolk(s) and the mustard and the il and the garlic paste, until it is smooth and a bit frothy and microwave (to kill salmonella and to make the tempuratures match, which is generally over looked in makin ga quality sandwich) for about eight seconds and mix again. Place beef over the Roquefort slice of bread and then place the pieces of the Chevre on top of the beef and smear the aioli on the top piece of bread. I had no Arugula(a peppery tasting lettuce that is not very expensive despite its recent association with aristocratic tastes) but that probably would have gone well with it. Be sure to avoid adding cucumbers or even tomatoes or onions, that type of food would really over shadow the rest of the subtle and varied flavors.
Enjoy and pair with either a spicy and dark Zinfandel from San Luis Obispo County (that is what I am sipping) or a Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara's Santa Ynez Valley would do very well. Any spicy and plum or cherry note heavy wine from a place that is somewhat situated in an inland part of Central California. Places with at or near 100 degree temperatures in the Summer and little or no marine layer (morning and evening fog) and winters where it is usually cool and has at least a few over night freezes over night in the winter (vines do not get frozen over night during most winters, which is the case near the coast of California, south of Monterrey. Vines that do not freeze are also likely to face cool summers and a have lot of fog from the sea and should be used for rich, silky and more delicate wines like a petite Syrah.
If you do not want to drink alcohol, trying this sandwich with a Vanilla, Italian/French Soda (Mineral Water, a bit of Vanilla syrup and some cream on ice is ideal) or maybe a strong ginger ale like Blenheim's Ginger Ale or Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer (tanks once again to Trader Joe's). Alcoholic or not, you want your drink to have a spice and/or a vanilla or berry sweetness to go with the sandwich.
Thanks to Trader Joe's I just made one of the most, by the standards of a late night sandwich, complex sandwich ever. I can never outdo "Epic Meal Time" or "Man versus Food" in terms of sheer volume of food and insanity. What I can do is, using just a few (all either inexpensive or at least fairly inexpensive since al but one came from Trader Joe's) ingredients from Trader Joe's, improvise a Sandwich based on the Old World (particularly strong in France) gastronomic principle that sweet and savory foods, especially cheeses, if done well, should be mixed.
Once again, using some odds and ends from Trader Joe's, I made a sandwich that that might run about $20 as a lunch at a trendy sandwich shop, frequented by white people who will stand in line for an hour or so for a sandwich. They would all stand in line for hours in order to enjoy a sandwich that was very easy to make.
It was made from Shepard's Bread, Roast beef, a bit of Roquefort Blue Cheese, Vanilla Berry Coated Chevre (If you have not bought it yet, go to Trader Joe's tomorrow and buy two logs of it, it is divine and works in every course of any Western style meal, no matter how elegant or rustic it may be) and an aioli of egg yolk, olive oil, garlic, salt and thick French style mustard.
The flavors just work together in harmony and the Vanilla Chevre was key because it cancelled out the sharp nature of the aioli and the blue cheese. The blue cheese gives it a creamy texture and the aioli brings that garlic (how I like it, strong but with the harshest aspects of it tamed by salt and the acidiciy of the mustard and lemon). The mustard gives a different sort of sharpness that finds its self standing up to the vanilla chevre. The shapard's bread and roast beef were tasty and hearty but they are very simple and act as a fairly basic template upon which contrasting flavors of cheese and sauce duel.
What was the most elegant and creative thing that you improvised from aocmmon ingredients in your kitchen? Give me some ideas, especially if they came from places like Trader Joes or Whole Foods or a ocal "International Market" (In my area it is "Valley Produce," which caters largely to Mexican, Armenians, Persians, Indians and some east Asian and Russian customers. Every city has one or a chain of a few dozen of them them). NT has some people with an eye and nose for flavors and pairings of cheese, meats, breads and drinks. Trader Joe's is also a favorite on NT, so I am sure you guys will have some great stuff.
Recipe: for the "Dueling Champions of Cheeses: The Duel Between the Sweetest of the Chevres and the Most Pungent of the Roqueforts with the Beef, Bread and Sauce Caught in the Middle."
-5 to 6 slices of regular roast beef cold cuts (enough to cover the bread but it is not supposed to be towerin gwith cold cuts like a a Polich, German or Jewish/Yiddish Deli style Sandwhich)
-2 slices of Shepard's Bread or any other mild flavored bread that is thick enough to carry a lot of cheese, cold cuts and sauce and the moisture that comes from them
-One third a cup of sweet Vanilla chevre (slice in thin disks from the "log")
-One quater a cup of strong Roqufort blue cheese (or Italian Gorgonzola. Either way, it is bbest when keep in as whole a pieces as possible)
-One or Two whole yolks (or a large table spoon of of mayonaisse if raw eggs scare you)
-Two large tablespoons of French mustard (whole seed mustard is idea, thich German style mustard is the next best thing. Avoid bright yellow American style mustard)
-Two teaspoons of olive or grape speed oil (the grape seed oil tastes similar to olive oil but is more delicate)
-One large table spoon of garlic paste (I used some premade from Valley Produce but you make it my chopping up one or two cloves very finesly, adding a liberal amount of salt and a squirt of lemon juice and give it 30 seconds to "melt" the Garlic and allow you to have your paste)
Start by Toasting the bread and placing the beef on one slice and the Roquefort on another side. Toast until the beef is luke warm and the Cheese is slightly melted. Then you mix your aioli my whidky a your yolk(s) and the mustard and the il and the garlic paste, until it is smooth and a bit frothy and microwave (to kill salmonella and to make the tempuratures match, which is generally over looked in makin ga quality sandwich) for about eight seconds and mix again. Place beef over the Roquefort slice of bread and then place the pieces of the Chevre on top of the beef and smear the aioli on the top piece of bread. I had no Arugula(a peppery tasting lettuce that is not very expensive despite its recent association with aristocratic tastes) but that probably would have gone well with it. Be sure to avoid adding cucumbers or even tomatoes or onions, that type of food would really over shadow the rest of the subtle and varied flavors.
Enjoy and pair with either a spicy and dark Zinfandel from San Luis Obispo County (that is what I am sipping) or a Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara's Santa Ynez Valley would do very well. Any spicy and plum or cherry note heavy wine from a place that is somewhat situated in an inland part of Central California. Places with at or near 100 degree temperatures in the Summer and little or no marine layer (morning and evening fog) and winters where it is usually cool and has at least a few over night freezes over night in the winter (vines do not get frozen over night during most winters, which is the case near the coast of California, south of Monterrey. Vines that do not freeze are also likely to face cool summers and a have lot of fog from the sea and should be used for rich, silky and more delicate wines like a petite Syrah.
If you do not want to drink alcohol, trying this sandwich with a Vanilla, Italian/French Soda (Mineral Water, a bit of Vanilla syrup and some cream on ice is ideal) or maybe a strong ginger ale like Blenheim's Ginger Ale or Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer (tanks once again to Trader Joe's). Alcoholic or not, you want your drink to have a spice and/or a vanilla or berry sweetness to go with the sandwich.
