Simply Sandwiches » ham

Lusicous Pork Party

Ben — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:21:12 +0000

Luscious (59 5th ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn 11217) looks like a high-end kitchen. You can tell that the focus is on the food. The tables and chairs, while perfectly fine, are clearly not the attraction. The point is the huge menu on the wall and the prepared food in the case. Judging by the decor I was afraid I was going to have macaroni salad for lunch, but thank god their menu is mostly sandwiches.

Let’s talk about Cuban sandwiches. They have two kinds of pig, cheese and pickles. They are universally delicious. They are warm and cool and refreshing, pretty much good any time of year, any time of day. These were my thoughts, so I ordered one “Cuban Mojo” ($8.50). Then my thoughts were, ‘My god, why is this bag so heavy?’ This sandwich is absolutely huge. I could only make it through half and had to save the other half for dinner.

It was delicious. Juicy roasted pork, happily co-mingling with cool sliced ham. The bread was toasted perfectly and provided wonderful crispy resistance, without being too chewy. I could have done with slightly less sliced ham, but in the end, who can complain about slightly too much sliced ham? That’s like being annoyed that you have too many one dollar bills, you just don’t have a valid complaint.

Luscious is delicious; I’ll be back to try the rest of the menu.

Not the most complicated sandwich, but they roast their own pork. That’s worth a strategy bump!

This thing is massive!

Dear Dave, Your pasta is good but your sandwiches are better

Ben — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 20:26:23 +0000

Dave’s Fresh Pasta (81 Holland Street Somerville, MA 02144) is a wonder of the jack-of-all trades neighborhood bodega/deli. They sell delicious fresh pasta and sauces, of course, but they also have a fresh produce section, beer and wine, cheese bar and most importantly, a sandwich counter. Now I was only hungry enough to try one, but it was amazing. I had the ‘cubano’ ($8.50) which stuck to traditions: roasted pork, black forest ham, swiss cheese, dill pickle and chipotle ailoi, on toasted bread. The bread was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. The meat was generously doled out (see all that delicious ham?!) and buttery. Like any good cubano, it was topped with delicious melty Swiss. My only real complaint about the ‘wich is that they used normal bread that was sharp and dangerous when they should’ve used a soft roll, cut in half.

Doesn’t this look cozy:

Also cozy:

Sittin’ Pretty

Yum

Croque Monsieur Me!

Ben — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:19:19 +0000

The NY Times food column “Feed Me” has an article about the Croque Monsieur at Bar Boulud, the upscale “slice of pig heaven” from Daniel Boulud. Actually, most of the article is about the authors summer drinking habits, but eventually he gets around to watching the sous-chef at Bar Boulud make a Croque Monsieur. I don’t agree that it’s perfect summer food as he tries to persuade. It’s got way too much ham and cheese to make it suitable for warm weather. It’s much more likely to induce severe food coma than to encourage that fresh, airy feeling people want in the summertime. For more summery ‘wiches try some cured, smoked or baked fish (salmon, mackerel, etc.) on light bread, without cheese. Or try a bahn mi, full of meat and veggies.

More importantly, they published the recipe! Now you don’t have to pay $17/wich to discover greatness. Naturally, there are no magic ingredients, they use the same ‘ol ham, cheese and bechemel sauce recipe as everyone else (though they use all home-made ingredients, other than milk).

Other Croque Monsieur sites:
- Wikipedia’s Entry: did you know it first appeared in 1910?
- The Paupered Chef: what would you do with 10 lbs of ham?
- MidtownLunch: Tuesday is Croque Monsieur Day!

Now repeat the words “crispy outside and gooey center” 10 times!

Leave the Zara, Take the Bocadillos

Ben — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:11:26 +0000

Everyone’s all in a tizzy about Zara’s high-fashion, modestly-priced clothes. Boring, dull and silly! The best thing to come out of Spain are, of course, bocadillos (“small sandwiches”). Especially from Despana (408 Broome St, New York, NY). Despana is first an imported food store and second a sandwich shop & catering service. When you walk in, do not be distracted by the animal leg in the window, the olive oil on the left (do NOT take the free sample), or the delicious cheeses in the glass counter. This is a gauntlet designed to test your sandwich-resolve. They will be there post-sandwich, do not dillydally! Go straight to the back and study the 12-item sandwich-only menu. Notice that there are no salads and no appetizers! One point for sandwiches and 10 points for Despana!

I split the “Picante,” upon the recommendation from the sandwich ambassador from Spain behind the counter, and the “El Quijote” with my co-eater. Both are served on slightly dusty, delicious bread. They both include a full arsenal of magic Spanish foodstuffs:
Picante (warm): Chorizo picante, Mahon cheese, Basque guindilla peppers, tomatoes and ali oli
El Quijote (cold): Lomo embuchado (dry cured pork loin), Manchego cheese, Quince cream “Membrillo” spread and olive oil

Hands down the warm Picante was better. It was a bit peppery and some of the bites of Chorizo were chewy, but the whole thing was so warm and complementary that I can’t complain too much. The Quijote was too chewy and didn’t have enough fillings and I was sad after eating a few bites. In both cases, I was surprised at how well the sandwiches were balanced; though the bread was a little tough, there was no filling creep! Hats off to these sandwich-masters for realizing that everything inside should be flat.

My Picante, dusy, warm and full of love:

Look inside! See the tasty!?

Mrrhrmrmmmmmm

Readers, this is Quijote. Quijote, say hello: