Ultimate Sandwich

It’s no surprise that today I am posting about a sandwich given my recent overactive Instagram stream. I dedicate this post to MY perfect sandwich. A perfect blend of nostalgia, haute cuisine and comfort food. How is that possible you ask? Well, let me break it down. Before I go any further it should be noted that this sandwich was served to a crowd of A-list chef’s during last years Michelin Guide party. Michael White, Jean Georges and  David Bouley all savored bites but the best quote came from Mr. Eric Ripert. After his taste he told me to let me mother know she’d done a good thing. I’m not sure if he was talking about her chicken cacciatore recipe or raising me to cook well. Either way, a nice compliment for both of us.

So, back to the sandwich. The nostalgia is, yes, my mother’s classic chicken cacciatore recipe. A mid-week staple in the Anello house while growing up. Better than the original meal were the “on-the-go” sandwiches we’d create the next day with whatever bread, roll, pita was laying around in the breadbox. Yes, we did have a breadbox. I loved it. The haute component is both the size, the slow braise on the chicken and the addition of two new components to my mom’s original recipe, caramelized shallots and a roasted cherry tomato. Maybe the most important part of this sandwich is my last explanatory adjective, comfort food. Everything about how I cook is comfortable (with that Italian-American slant). This sandwich is no exception defined first by the rich and silky sauce. Secondly, the sauce soaked focaccia the other ingredients live between. Even with the skewer you can’t eat this sandwich without getting a little sauce on your fingers. The way to clean that up is with your tongue not your napkin. A small, some may say maniacal, way for me to force eaters to connect with their food a little more. Evil or not, it works.

We will someday recreate these for the public but for now we are slowly working our way through HUGE sandwich research. You can follow the experiments here.

The Great Googa Mooga Madness

The long awaited artisinal, celebrity chef, food festival known as The Great Googa Mooga came and went this weekend. By all accounts it was hit and a miss. The weather, for one was, unarguably, perfect. Aside from that, the easiest reaction to sum of the event is “Great Googly Moogly“. The above depicts one of my ten different tastes which I managed to swallow inside a 3 hour window on the, apparently less crowded, Sunday. M.Wells provided a disjointed ingredient list that I just had to sample. Fois grois, horse bologna and cheese on some toasted 9 grain couldn’t be from more opposite ends of the pantry. As separate components many wouldn’t touch them. Together they certainly would turn away. That’s the beauty of the M.Wells. What you think would never taste good is amazing when put together. At $15 it was worth every cent. Some of the rest of my snacks?…not so much. Rather than complain or embrace I’ll let the links below elaborate. As a final word, I know how to make great food in mass with a makeshift kitchen. I also know a little something about what it takes to pull off an event this large and ambitious. Things could have been better but things could have been much, much worse.

Eater says…

Fork in the Road says…

Brooklyn Vegan says…

Grub Street says…

Ribs At A Gas Station

Yep, that is right folks. Not only can you get rediculous ribs at Rudy’s but you get get some gas there also. This place is amazing. The menu is short and sweet and you order everything by the pound. I ordered a half pound of baby backs, pork spare and St. Louis ribs. I couldn’t help myself, it was so much fun just to order the food by weight. I also got their sausage. I figured I’m already in for a pound and a half of meat whats another half pound. They have a huge smoker where they cook all their meats. There are a bunch of Rudy’s around but I think the one in Frisco TX is the only one with the gas station. This is a Texas staple and a must go….

Eating Turks and Caicos

Sun and some hidden treasures.

I love weddings especially in exotic locals. This one took me to the carribean to co-habitate for a week with our friends Al and Sanjay. Missus Tasty, our friends and I worked in a few food excursions in between the nuptial events our friends Andrea and Danny had meticulously planned. Overall Turks is not the most cultural of carribean islands but it’s damn beautiful.

Texas Is All Texas

Just want to send a quick post. I have been traveling a bunch, what else is new, and I was in a hotel in Texas for breakfast before heading to work. I ordered an omelet at the omelet station. Before he was finished making my western omelet I noticed he had a waffle iron. The last homemade waffle I had was on the ship. They always made perfectly round and crispy waffles. With that in mind, I ended up ordering one. When he put it on my plate I couldn’t believe the shape. Only in Texas! Oh and yes, they go big in Texas, I could only finish southern Texas.

I wish he put the waffle on my plate so Texas was facing the right way.

Eating Chicago

Not Ditka’s Chicago anymore.

Winning awards has never been my thing but I found myself in Chicago to accept one Manifold won for our Sungevity Ice Pop Truck. To celebrate I awarded myself with a meat focused sandwich tour.

‘Wich Hunting: Episode 3

Primanti Brothers – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Double stuffed, mile high sandwiches made with love for the last 79 years. Get there.

About ‘Wich Hunting: Anthony and I have travelled the world eating everything from Balut in the Philippines to blood sausage in Argentina. In every destination there has always been a sandwich shop. Some were good and some were bad but they all had their unique take on this ubiquitous meal. The origin of the sandwich is highly debated and we’ll dive into that on our journey as we discover, taste and debate the best sandwiches in the world.