sandwiches

The Big Sandwich

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big sandwich plate

TheRoomMomMom used to make something called The Posh Nosh Sandwich; I always referred to it as The Big Sandwich. My mom would serve it when we had friends over to swim, and everyone was starving. My mom would make it for a tailgate event and warm bricks in the oven and wrap the sandwich in foil with the warmed bricks underneath until it was time to serve. Any time people needed hearty party food, The Big Sandwich was there.

I have made The Big Sandwich when we are with friends sharing a house for the weekend and needed “man food” for the group. Last night, I made The Big Sandwich for an adult backyard birthday party. It serves a crowd, covers the melted cheese criteria for yummy party food, and is easy to assemble. It can be messy to eat, so serve with lots of napkins.

big sandwich ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1/4 to 1/2 lb. thinly sliced turkey
  • 1/4 to 1/2 lb. thinly sliced ham
  • 1/4 to 1/2 lb. thinly sliced roast beef
  • 1/4 lb. thinly sliced Genoa salami (can use hard salami)
  • thinly sliced Swiss cheese (8-10 slices)
  • thinly sliced red onion rings
  • Marie’s Thousand Island dressing
  • 1 loaf of Italian bread, unsliced

Directions

  • Cut the loaf of Italian bread in half horizontally, so the bread is divided into a top and bottom. Scoop some of the squishy bread center out from both sides, so you have a little extra space for sandwich fillings inside the bread.

big sandwich bread

  • Put a layer of Swiss cheese in the top and bottom pieces of the bread. I use ~4 slices on each side.
  • Spread a layer of Thousand Island dressing on the cheese slices on both sides.

big sandwich dressing

  • On the bottom piece of bread, layer each type of meat. I like about 4 slices of each kind of meat, but you can use more or less depending on your taste.

big sandwich meat

  • After the last meat slices are added, sprinkle a layer of red onion on the bread “lid”.

big sandwich onions

  • Place the bread “lid” on the top of the sandwich to close and wrap completely in foil.

big sandwich foil

  • Bake at 350 degrees for ~45 minutes until melty and toasty.
  • Remove from the oven, unwrap from the foil, and slice with a serrated knife into 2-inch wide wedges immediately. The meat has a tendency to slip off the bread when the cheese is really melty, so you have to cut carefully.
  • Serve hot.

big sandwich sliced

Notes

  • I get the meat sliced fresh at my grocery store deli. I ask for “very thinly sliced” and like it to be just a little thicker than shaved.
  • You can spread the Thousand Island dressing on the top and bottom pieces of bread before adding the cheese slices. I like to put the cheese slices down first if I am assembling several hours before baking, so there is a protective layer between the bread and the dressing to keep the dressing from soaking into the bread too much.

big sandwich slice sample

It’s a Wrap

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wrap sandwiches

I seem to spend a lot of time posting about school lunch for kids and teachers. It is not because I enjoy packing lunch. In fact, it is the opposite. I dread making school lunches. Currently, I have TheRoomDad on lunch packing duty, and my mornings are much more efficient and stress free.

One favorite lunch staple at TheRoomMom’s house is the classic wrap sandwich. I made them a few times last year for Miss Priss’ kindergarten snack duty. I like them because they can be made the night before, and they do not get soggy in the refrigerator overnight. We stuff with a variety of fillings to satisfy adult and child eaters, and they are not too unhealthy.

turkey wrap ingredients

Ingredients

  • large flour tortillas
  • thinly sliced turkey, ham, salami or whatever deli meat you prefer
  • cream cheese, softened
  • shredded lettuce (optional)
  • grated carrots (optional)
  • red pepper strips (optional)

salami wrap ingredients

Directions

  • Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on one side of a tortilla. Cover the entire surface.
  • Cover the cream cheese with a layer of your deli meat of choice.
  • Near one edge of the tortilla, sprinkle a line of lettuce, carrot, red pepper strips, or whatever veggies you choose to use.
  • From the end with the sliced vegetables, roll the tortilla.
  • Slice into 5 pieces. (I discard the ends– and by discard, I mean TheRoomDad eats them.)

IMG_3836

The Miss Priss Special

  • cream cheese, turkey, sliced red pepper

The Mr. Star Wars Special

  • cream cheese, salami, shredded lettuce

TheRoomMom Special

  • cream cheese, turkey, shredded lettuce, shredded carrot, sliced red pepper

TheRoomDad Special

  • cream cheese, salami, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, shredded carrot, sliced red pepper, a few shakes of black pepper

Pork Tenderloin Picnic Sandwich

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platter pork tenderloin sandwiches

Anyone need a really good sandwich recipe for a Memorial Day picnic? By Memorial Day weekend, it will be two days away from my last day of school, so chances are I will be almost comatose on my sofa and not going anywhere. However, if we do attend any events that weekend, I will be preparing pork tenderloin sandwiches with a champagne mustard sauce. I have brought these to the Derby races, Mardi Gras parade parties, potluck events, Super Bowl parties, and tailgates. They can be served at room temperature and can be made several hours ahead (but I prefer not to refrigerate them overnight because the arugula gets soggy).

Marinade

  • 1/4 c. soy sauce
  • 1/4 c. bourbon
  • 2 T. brown sugar
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 pork tenderloins

champagne mustard sauce

Champagne Mustard Sauce

  • 1/3 c. sour cream
  • 1/3 c. mayonnaise
  • 1 T. champagne mustard
  • 1 T. finely chopped green onion
  • 1 1/2 t. garlic vinegar

Sandwiches

  • arugula
  • crusty French baguette

building pork tenderloin sandwiches

Directions

  • To prepare marinade, combine soy sauce, bourbon, brown sugar, and garlic. Place pork in a large Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over and seal the bag. Marinate at room temperature for 3 hours turning occasionally. You can also marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
  • Remove pork from marinade and prepare grill. Grill pork until center is a little pink. Remove pork from the grill and tent the meat with foil. Let rest until room temperature. The pork can be cooked a day ahead. Do not slice the pork until you are ready to assemble the sandwiches.
  • While pork is resting, prepare sauce. Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, green onion, and vinegar in small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
  • When pork is cooled, slice thinly on the diagonal.
  • To assemble sandwiches, halve the baguette horizontally separating the top of the loaf from the bottom. Spread sauce on the bottom and top of the bread. Place slices of pork along the bottom half of the bread. Top with arugula then put the “bread lid” on the sandwich. Slice into wedges.

NOTES

  • Champagne mustard is hard to find. I have located Stonewall Kitchen’s Maine Maple Champagne Mustard at Whole Foods. If I don’t have a champagne Mustard, I use Dijon.
  • Garlic vinegar is also hard to locate. I replace with white wine vinegar. I think I could probably steep garlic in my white wine vinegar to make my own garlic vinegar, but I never think about it ahead of time.
  • Squishy rolls like Portuguese rolls work well too instead of the French bread.
  • If taking to a tailgate, the sandwiches can be bagged individually and stored in a cooler.

pork tenderloin sandwich

Better Than a Brown Bag Lunch

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Bring your child’s teacher a really good lunch the first week of school! In fact, this is a great little sirsee for a teacher’s birthday, teacher appreciation week, standardized testing week, or any random day. As mentioned in the Teacher Emergency Kit post, teachers are trapped in the school building all day.  Unless a planning period aligns with the moon on a Tuesday in January, they are not getting out of that building to go pick up a lunch. Most teachers (read: me) hastily pack a half of a peanut butter sandwich along with their kids’ lunches as they are racing out the door in the morning. What a treat it would to receive a good lunch one day.

The Bag: I sewed the bag in the picture above modifying a pattern I had for an art bag. I would not recommend sewing your own lunch tote. After 7 hours at the sewing machine, I decided I do not like my children’s teachers THAT much. Pick up a lunch bag at any store where you purchase school supplies or even your local grocery store.  A cute disposable gift bag would work well too. I really like the neoprene lunch totes if you want to upgrade the gift. Almost all teachers have access to refrigerators, so you should not need an insulated lunch bag.

The Food: I made a really good pesto chicken salad and put it on a squishy roll with arugula. I included pretzel crisps, raw veggies, and a small container of cashews, almonds, and dried fruit. I added a bottle of water too. Teachers usually have a microwave available, so you could send something yummy in a tupperware with re-heating instructions instead of a sandwich.

You can click on Fancy Sandwiches for the pesto chicken salad recipe and a few others. I realized after I decided to post these recipes, they probably have a bad breath factor to them. No problem– include a mint with the lunch OR make sure your child’s teacher has the Emergency Kit, so he/she has a toothbrush.

The Extras: Do not forget to add a paper plate, napkin, and any plasticware that is needed.