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'Wich of the Week: Eggplant Grilled Cheese

YumSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:30:57 -0800

When dealing with Thanksgiving leftovers, sandwiches are an obvious choice — and believe me, I consumed my fair share of turkey and stuffing on wheat bread last week. But in a more unexpected repurposing, I also used the breadcrumb mixture leftover from my New Orleans-style baked oyster dish to make this twist on a grilled cheese.

In this case, the "bread" is actually sliced eggplant coated with breadcrumbs, and the cheese is provolone (though mozzarella would also be good with a marinara dipping sauce on the side). I can't say this recipe is any healthier than a typical grilled cheese, since the bread crumb mixture is made with butter, but it is a creative take on a classic for all you grilled cheese fans.

What's cool is that the golden-browned breadcrumbs take on both the look and flavor of grilled, buttered bread, and the skins of the eggplant slices resemble bread crust. The breadcrumb mixture is easy to make, even for a weeknight supper. To get the recipe and step-by-step photos,

10 Unexpected Thanksgiving Leftovers

YumSugar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Thanksgiving leftovers can sometimes be too much of a good thing. Tons of turkey meat and side dishes can be great, but not if they mean eating uninspired leftovers with monotonous flavors. Thankfully, there's loads you can do with leftovers beyond pot pie, sandwiches, and chili. Here are ten of our favorite new ideas.

'Wich of the Week: Fried Oyster Po'boy

YumSugar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:00:07 -0800

If you're a fan of oysters, you may be sneaking the seafood into your Thanksgiving stuffing. But the batter-fried bivalves are even more divine stuffed inside a sandwich — in this case, the famous New Orleans French-bread creation known as an oyster po'boy or oyster loaf.Just how divine is the oyster loaf? In the 1800s, the sandwich was nicknamed la mediatrice or "the peacemaker," because husbands brought them home to placate angry wives. Some skeptics wonder how a po'boy is different from a sub or a grinder, so for further insight and two great recipes,

Can You Identify These Classic Sandwiches?

partysugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:45:42 -0800

The first written record of the word "sandwich" occurred 246 years ago today. Apparently Edward Gibbons wrote about it in his journal. Since then the sandwich has come a long way! To celebrate the beloved lunch dish, I've put together a quiz. I'll list a bunch of ingredients and you tell me the name of the sandwich. Ready? Go!

'Wich of the Week: Navajo Taco

YumSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:00:04 -0800

Countless sandwiches are native to America, but the Navajo Taco is a Native American sandwich in the strictest sense of the word. Made by piling New Mexican taco fixings onto traditional Navajo frybread, this scrumptious sandwich is a specialty of Arizona, so on a recent trip to Phoenix, I stopped by The Fry Bread House to do some firsthand research.

My first question, of course, is why a Navajo Taco — also called an Indian Taco — is considered a sandwich rather than a taco. The crucial distinction is that tacos are made with tortillas and sandwiches are made with bread — in this case, Navajo fry bread, which tastes like a cross between a thick fried pita and funnel cake without the sugar. Indian tacos are typically filled with beans, ground beef, or a combination of both; I opted for refried beans, flavored with strips of New Mexico green chiles. Salivating yet? For the juicy details and a recipe,

Subway Introduces Flatbread Sandwiches

YumSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:30:00 -0800

Today Subway has announced that, beginning next Monday, it will offer flatbread as an option for any of its existing sandwiches, and will also introduce two new sandwiches, Chicken Florentine and a Steak & Bacon Melt, made with flatbread.

In a departure from Subway's signature fresh-baked bread philosophy, the flatbread dough will be baked off premises, then supplied to Subway franchises and finished off in on-site ovens.

With this launch, Subway is attempting to make headway in a tight market that includes other chains such as Dunkin' Donuts and Quiznos, which both already carry flatbread sandwiches. Do you think Subway's new product will take off?

Source

'Wich of the Week: Rotisserie Chicken, Chutney, and Cheese

YumSugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:00:32 -0800

Store-bought rotisserie chicken is one of the tastiest culinary shortcuts around. It's incredibly moist and flavorful, but all you have to do to prepare it is pull the meat off the bird. Since I love leftover sandwiches, I combined my current passion for chutney and bread-and-butter pickles with some excess chicken from a recent dinner.

The mango chutney, salty-sweet pickles, and smoky chicken come together to create a perfectly provocative bite, while the melted swiss and sprouts hold the potentially slippery sandwich in place. It's a ridiculously easy meal you can make in minutes, but the flavors are anything but simple. To get the recipe and step-by-step photos,

'Wich of the Week: Hawaiian Pizza Sub

YumSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:00:09 -0800

I'm surprised how many people share my affinity for pizza topped with Canadian bacon and pineapple. While I will happily devour many, many slices of Hawaiian pizza, it seems like an unlikely popular favorite. But to my delight, the yummy combo endures, so I figured why not turn the pizza toppings into a ridiculously easy sandwich? This Hawaiian pizza sub would be even better with fresh pineapple, but since it's out of season, I bought canned. To make up for it, I made the tomato sauce from scratch, though any premade marinara will do fine. The key is finding a great, soft sub-sandwich roll that will toast nicely without being hard to sink your teeth into. If you like Hawaiian pizza, you will devour these things almost as quickly as it takes to make them — that is, really fast. To get the recipe and step-by-step photos,

Would You Eat This Palin Sandwich?

YumSugar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:30:09 -0800

Last week I couldn't stop gushing about Ike's Place, my new favorite sandwich joint in town. Well, this weekend, I made a return trip there and tried one of their new offerings, an election-minded sandwich called The Palin. Generously sized for its $8.98 price tag, The Palin was jam-packed with shredded chicken breast, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, blue cheese, and Frank's Red Hot Sauce. While I wished there had been a little less hot sauce, I thought the result was one heavenly mess.

Would You Eat This Palin Sandwich?

Yes — it looks delicious!

I'm undecided.

No, the combination sounds gross.

No. I can't eat anything named after Sarah Palin!

'Wich of the Week: The Ex-Boyfriend at Ike's Place

YumSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:00:41 -0700

I love Ike's Place so much that I could start a 'Wich of the Week spinoff devoted solely to sandwiches from Ike's. I was hesitant to write about my new favorite sandwich place in San Francisco, since the lines are long enough already. But keeping the enormous, palate-entertaining creations to myself wouldn't be in the spirit of sandwich love.

Opened a year ago, Ike's is a tiny storefront in the Castro neighborhood, barely big enough to accommodate its sizable staff — making sandwiches this well is no easy task — and massive menu of 50-plus sandwiches with playful names like Nacho Boy (hot roast beef, mushrooms, avocado, and swiss) and the Paul Reubens (a take on the Reuben with poppy-seed coleslaw). Priced between $7 and $9, these are some of the largest sandwiches I've ever eaten; if I have one for lunch, I'm hardly hungry for dinner. But that's not even a taste of why I like Ike's. To count the ways,