Well, we waited as long as we could, and we finally get to bring the last of the sandwiches from our readers. It's been a fabulous feast of sandwiches all day long and we certainly couldn't have done Sandwich Day without our readers. Heck, we wouldn't have Slashfood without our readers, so thank you all!
Kochtopf throws together a Spain-meets-Italy sandwich from things in the fridge, but there's no bread! While the rest of us might run out to the store to grab a loaf, Kochtopf bakes an olive ciabatta!
For The Ultimate Tuna Melt, Heather uses a naturally leavened 7-grain bread topped with smoked albacore tuna, strips of aged sharp cheddar cheese, then places it under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling hot.
Brit Ben of BigStrong needs to represent for the country that invented the sandwich. Smoked Salmon with Wasabi Egg Mayonnaise is made by grating hard-boiled eggs into mayonnaise mixed wtih wasabi, then spreading it over slices of smoked salmon on buttered bread. A Brie, Salami and Avocado Toasted Panini is made by splitting bread ad layering it with salami, slices of brie and avocado. Season liberally, then grill in a panini press.
Slashfoodie Meg cuts a whole-wheat pita bread in half, spread peanut butter inside, sprinkles in a handful of raisins, then stuffs them alfalfa sprouts.
I have fond memories of the classic Club Sandwich. I would sit patiently in the clubhouse doing homework while my Mom played out her tennis game, then share a sandwich with her, quietly pulling it all apart while watching her and her all-white-clad lady friends chatter on about life.
See, that was what I had to do -- pull the sandwich apart because the double-decker is too big to eat like a normal sandwich. Today, I still have the same problem, and wonder why the sandwich was built this way in the first place when it will eventually have to be dismantled into one regular sandwich and one open face sandwich.
The question will remain unanswered, and we certainly can't change a classic. Or can we? Though the Club sandwich is typically made with turkey breast, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes on toasted white bread with mayo, I recently had a Salmon Club sandwich on grilled sourdough. It was delicious, though I still ended up eating half of it with a fork.
Here's some Sandwich Day content just for the kids. Jif, one of the most popular peanut butter manufacturers in the US, is holding their annual Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich contest. It challenges kids ages 6-12 to come up with an original peanut butter recipe that is creative, nutritionally balanced, attractive and easy to make. As a benchmark, last year's winner was a Peanutty Pretty Pita Purse made by a 7 year old girl named Shannon and included creamy peanut butter, a whole wheat pita, strawberry banana yogurt and fresh strawberries and bananas. The year before, a slightly more grown-up sounding Thai Peanut Butter Chicken Wrap was the winner. Win or lose, it's a fun way to get your child thinking about food and experimenting with appearances and flavors. If you win, however, the grand prize is a $25,000 scholarship fund and four runners-up get $2,500 scholarships.
The deadline for submission, which must be done by a parent or legal guardian, is November 15, 2006.
You can never run out of variations on a sandwich, right? Right, so we've got even more sandwiches submitted by our fabulous Slashfood readers. Sit back, loosen that belt, and dig in.
We don't know how she can stay a Skinny Epicurean, but Mia does, even with an Omelette and Cheese Sandwich that sounds simple, but looks delicious.
Reader Eric shares the happiest sandwich ever made, a Cajun Jam sandwich made with "Queen of the Pantry" Spicy Onion Jam, Boar's Head Cajun Smoked Turkey, Wisconsin sharp cheddar, hot mustard, lettuce, and tomato, all on fresh toasted white bread.
Did someone say a sandwich had to have bread? Not according to Art to Eat, who makes a Deconstructed BLT, or a Lo-Carb Version (if you're into that stuff).
Joe and I already have beef about this (pun absolutely intended). The guy absolutely loves banh mi, the Vietnamese version of a hoagie -- a French roll stuffed with grilled meat (Vietnamese meatballs, grilled chicken, beef, pork, or other choice cuts of animal), julienned cucumbers, lightly pickled carrots and daikon, and a few condiments. I, on the other hand, am not fond of Vietnamese cuisine to begin with, and found the banh mi I tried at Pho 99 in Los Angeles to be a somewhat strange juxtaposition of cuisines. To be quite honest, it seems sort of plain for as much hype as it gets. I'd just rather eat those same ingredients, mixed with rice noodles, out of a bowl. Am I missing something, Joe??
I will concede to the fact that banh mi tend to be very inexpensive, though I find it hard to comprehend that Joe spent $12 on his at 5 Ninth. That's a lot of money for any sandwich, banh mi or otherwise.
We asked for a sandwich, and we sure got it. Slashfood readers share their sandwiches, and we've got the first set here.
jys is bossy, but when bossed around to make a sandwich, puts together a Donkatsu Sandwich: roasted garlic edamame hummus, sliced donkatsu, a generous drizzle of donkatsu sauce, and pineapple cole slaw between grilled flatbread.
Reader Rebecca shares a recipe for her favorite Italian-inspired sandwich: layer one side of crusty Italian bread with 1 Tbsp. pesto and 1 tsp. of hot mustard, top with sliced chicken breast, romaine lettuce, sliced tomato, then top with the other side of the bread that has been spread with 1 Tbsp. mayo and black pepper.
The one time I tried a Cuban sandwich, I was in South Beach. It was early morning, and I was, uh, on my way back to our hotel from our evening out. As we often are after a long night of fun and frivolity, I was hungry, so I stopped to get something to eat. I had heard of Cuban sandwiches, so I ordered one, thinking that it would be some special, sweet bread stuffed with spicy exotic fillings. Boy, was I ever disappointed that it was basically a ham and cheese sandwich pressed on a grill.
Perhaps my disappointment was naive, or perhaps the particular sandwich I ate was just poorly executed with sub-standard ingredients. I mean how could something that looks as good as Kevin's take on the Cuban sandwich be bad, especially when a key ingredient is citrus-marinated roast pork? The classic Cuban sandwich is made with Cuban bread, though an Italian or French bread can be used. The bread is slathered with yellow mustard, then layered with baked ham, thinly sliced roast pork, thinly sliced dill pickles, and Swiss cheese. The whole thing gets pressed down, traditionally on a plancha, but any type of sandwich press, even a homemade one, will do.
Sometimes, wolfing down a shred of ham between two slices of wheat bread from your left hand while starting the car with your right hand is all you have time for as you're rushing to your afternoon meeting.
But there are times when we take a moment. We use the good china, we "plate" our sandwiches, maybe we light a candle or two, and we sit down and really enjoy our sandwiches. When that's the case, we usally have something alongside our sandwich to round out the meal. Alright, so even if you don't bother with the candles, you're still going to have something on the side, right? Here are eight sandwich sides, some favorite, others not so much:
Dill Pickle - Simple, both to prepare and to eat.
Potato chips - This is a no-brainer. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that a huge percentage of sandwiches are eaten as part of a sack lunch, so a bag of potato chips goes right along with it. As far as what kind of potato chips are the best, though? We don't want to get into that whole discussion, now do we? However, I will say that it would be pretty cool to match a non-traditional, slightly more exotic sandwich with some of the global flavors out there, like cilantro-lime potato chips with your banh mi.
This French toast and bacon sandwich could just be the ultimate breakfast sandwich - assuming that you aren't in the least bit worried about your weight and that you enjoy indulging in the morning, of course. It starts off with two thick slices of bread, soaked in an egg and milk mixture then fried into perfectly cooked french toast. The toast is then topped with a generous amount of lightly crisped bacon, allowing the pieces of overlap and for two layers. Once the bacon is in place, pour on some maple syrup and add the top piece of french toast. Eat with a knife and fork.
The end product is salty, sweet, filling and in no way can be considered health food. Ah well. You can't win them all, right?
"I want cheddar, but I'll settle for anything yellow." "How can you eat that on your sandwich? Provolone is the best sandwich cheese." "I prefer swiss." "Get some Muenster, too!" "And I want pepper jack."
This conversation, or one very much like it, plays over and over at family gatherings, barbecues and even during some weekend lunches. Cheese on sandwiches is a contentious issue and no one seems to be able to agree on what best complements their turkey, cold cuts or even tops a hamburger, for that matter. Can you narrow it down to just one type of cheese so you don't spend a fortune for a half-dozen cheeses at the market?
The yellow cheeses, American or otherwise, tend to go into kids sandwiches, where the color is just as important as the flavor. Judging from the selection of cheese that is offered at deli counters, many prefer mild cheeses, like muenster and provolone, which don't distract from the main components of the sandwich. The problem with those cheeses is that sometimes you can't taste the cheese at all. It's harder to match a stronger cheese with sandwich fillings and it can have the opposite effect, overwhelming everything else.
The three cheese groups don't often want to compromise, and after having dealt with a lot of cranky relatives, it seems prudent to spend the extra money at the store and get a cheese everyone likes. Unless you don't mind listening to complaints as you happily munch a sandwich topped with your favorite cheese.
Almost a year after our first theme day, Grilled Cheese, we come full circle, but a little broader this time with...sandwiches.
That's right! On Thursday, September 21, 2006, Slashfood is slappin' a little sumpin' sumpin' between two slices of bread and eating sandwiches all day long. We'll be sharing recipes and ideas, pointing to cookbooks, talking to experts (if we can find and "sandwich experts" that is), and best of all, looking to you to play along with us!
We're not talking about limiting yourself to ham and cheese on Wonder white (though there is absolutely nothing wrong with that); we are talking about anything that qualifies as a sandwich - grilled cheese, burgers, paninis, itty bitty finger sandwiches, gigantic dagwoods - you name it, we'll eat it! If it's sandwich porn, tag it with "sandwich+day" and put it up on flickr. If you have a blog, post about it between now and the 21st, and let us know. We'll round up all the sandwiches around the world throughout the day on the 21st.
Here's some 
Sometimes, wolfing down a shred of ham between two slices of wheat bread from your left hand while starting the car with your right hand is all you have time for as you're rushing to your afternoon meeting.
"I want cheddar, but I'll settle for anything yellow." 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
