Parisian Ham and Butter Sandwich

I had the Jambon Beurre sandwich at Le Panier at Pikes Place Market in Seattle and it was such a classically simple sandwich that I had to make it myself. As far as the cost of the ingredients, it was surprisingly low; even with Applewood smoked ham ($2.49 for fresh baked baguette, $4.49 for the preservative-free ham). I suppose I'll have to visit Paris, France some day to get the true sandwich baguette eating experience. Considering that I'll get a few sandwiches out of the baguette, the ingredients are well worth it at just under $8.

Ingredients

1 baguette
deli sliced ham
unsalted butter

Directions

Slice the baguette lengthwise and butter. Line one side with deli sliced ham (thin slices). I used two layers of ham. Replace top side of baguette and slice to desired lengths.

Enjoy.

Egg Salad

The combination of hard boiled eggs, celery, pickle and mayonnaise was getting boring. I decided to kick it up in another direction. Staying with the hard boiled eggs and maybe the pickle and/or mayonnaise, I thought I might see what sorts of "salad" substitutions I could do. This version uses bacon for its salty smoked flavor and green bell peppers for its crunch factor. Although, if you dislike bell peppers, I suppose you could use a neutral-flavored vegetable like Jerusalem artichoke or the standard celery rib. You could probably use jicama which imparts a mildly sweet flavor to most salads; although most egg salad sandwiches are typically savory.

The true test of a good egg salad batch is if it can stand on its own or taste as good when paired in a sandwich, with crackers, or on flat bread.

The basic egg salad recipe is as follows:

2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
2 celery ribs, diced
1 dill pickle, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of smoked paprika, for color (optional)

Mix all those ingredients together in a container. The egg yolks emulsify the mayonnaise to make it thicker. The pickle adds some tang, but can be left out or on the side.

Here's an alternate ingredient ratio:

2 hard boiled eggs, shelled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic mayonnaise
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 slices of freshly cooked bacon, drained and diced
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of no-salt tomato-basil-garlic seasoning

Combine all the ingredients and store in a covered container in the fridge so the flavors can mingle a bit more before using or serving with crackers or bread.

Stovetop Sloppy Joes

I read that this is an American classic, but I didn't start eating nor making it until well after college. I suppose it's an evolution of sorts from frying ground beef and mixing in liberal amounts of catsup and Chipotlé hot sauce. This batch came out sweeter than I expected, probably because of the red bell peppers instead of the traditional green bell peppers. 

This version doesn't use onions, although if you enjoy such flavorings, you could add a chopped onion. The recipe ratio is slightly more elaborate and still tastes fine between toasted bread, buns, sliced hoagie rolls, or whatever other source of bread-like material you have on hand. It is thick enough to be eaten with saltines or other types of crackers. Serving size depends on what you think an adequate serving size is from how much ground meat is used. If you're only using a pound of meat, then it'll be roughly four servings for the batch.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground meat, tastes best with beef
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 c. water
1 red (or green) bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard
1/2 tsp smoked chipotlé powder (or chili pepper)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil until it spreads easily across the bottom of the pot. Add the bell pepper and garlic and fry until the oil is fragrant. If you are using chopped onions, they go in this step too. Add the ground beef and brown the sides before breaking it up into smaller chunks with a heatproof utensil.

2. When the beef is mostly cooked (very little pink showing), add the tomato paste, water, Worchestershire sauce, paprika, dry mustard and chipotlé powder. Season with sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

3. Simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Toast some bread and slather butter onto it, or serve over hamburger buns, with crackers, or over more cooked meat.

This can also be made in a crockpot. The process is largely the same, except the water is omitted and the sauce cooks on low for 6 hours, after the meat has been browned in another pan.

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Of all the sandwiches that still taste really good to me as an adult, this is one of them. Egg salad sandwiches are another. And, a simple deli-sliced honey baked ham and cheese sandwich.. golly, I could (and have) eaten that every day for lunch without boredom.

This also pairs really well with flatbread crackers. It's easy to make and a batch of it can make two sandwiches. Strangely, I never thought about making this sandwich from scratch until recently. I like the tang that the pickle brings to the mixture.

Ingredients

6 oz can of chunk light tuna (used Tongol, in water with no salt added)
1 rib celery, finely chopped
3 tbsp organic mayonnaise
one small dill pickle, finely chopped
salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and slather on top of toasted wheat bread or crackers. Enjoy.

The only difference between this and the egg salad sandwich is that you omit the tuna for the egg salad sandwich and add instead two hard boiled eggs (unshelled and chopped). Or at least, that's how I make these sandwiches.