"sandwich" news and stories

Hugh Jackman in 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine.' Photo: 20th Century Fox

A New York deli known for its gargantuan sandwiches has gone the way of the summer blockbuster.

The "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" sandwich is now a fixture on the menu at the Carnegie Deli, a New York landmark on the corner of 55th Street and Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan.

The sandwich is the carnivorous wolf's dream -- and the vegetarian's worst nightmare: corned beef, pastrami, turkey, salami, tongue, American cheese and brisket on rye.

Grilled chicken sandwich. Photo: Sarah LeTrent

Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food intern Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."

For singletons, it's pretty easy to throw together a sandwich at home. Simply consider the bread a canvas and whatever's on hand the paint. Nearly any combo could end up delicious in the hands of the trial and error gods.

As any good sandwich should, this one starts with quality bread (in this case a crusty Kaiser roll bought at the local market for a mere 79 cents.) The motivation behind the toppings were not only the existing contents of the fridge, but a recent trip to Mexico packed with plantains and pollo (chicken). If only we had a paleta around for dessert!

Recipe after the jump.

After sunscreen, citronella candles and heat rash, does anything say "summer" more unequivocally than a lobster roll?

This baby, captured by VirtualErn at Flickr, appears to be the lobster roll to end all lobster rolls, the embodiment of the deceptively simple art of serving chunks of crustacean, barely dressed in mayonnaise, in a bun. Note the minimal accessories: lemon slices, crisp coleslaw and a drop of mayo. The better the roll, the fewer adornments it requires. If this specimen tastes as good as it looks, it most likely calls out for little more than a good appetite -- and, possibly, a bib.

[Via Flickr]

'Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book'
Recipes by Nancy Silverton with Teri Gelber
Photographs by Amy Neusinger
Clarkson Potter -- 2000
Buy it at Amazon

Nancy Silverton, co-owner of Los Angeles restaurants Campanile and La Brea Bakery, is devoted to the sandwich. With visions of red-checked tablecloths, illicit bottles of wine and prosciutto-stuffed baguettes dancing in our heads, this is a philosophy we can get behind. Her book is a compilation of greatest hits as well as those imported from famous shops like New York City's 'ino, with special sections on open-faced sammies, tea sandwiches, and even stacked cakes and cookies.

Takeaway tips: To skim the book is to take a class in "What Goes With What 101." Prosciutto di parma drapes seductively atop a poached egg and emerald-green asparagus in one open-faced creation and baked ricotta serves as a bed for luxe roast roma tomatoes and just-caramelized onions in another. It's the sort of book you can flip through while poking through the fridge to see what's left, salivating all the while.

Quality of pictures: Beautiful. Fancy sandwiches are now de rigeur, but one could argue that this book helped take them to a new level.

We tested: French Baguette with Butter and Prosciutto
It's a funny thing to throw a party around a sandwich, but that's happened more than once with this epic behemoth. Cut open a baguette, wind prosciutto through it and smear with Silverton's special scallion oil and imported butter. Cut into pieces. Wrap in hands. Bite. Don't tell guests what is in the sandwich. Watch them flip out. This three-types-of-fat sandwich may not be healthy, but in small doses, it will make new best friends out of total strangers.

Worth the investment: It's picnic season. Absolutely.

When fast food joints decide to expand beyond the burger, the first place they go is typically the chicken sandwich. After all, the kids in the back of the joint can basically do all the same things, just to a different patty. (Why don't the bigwigs just pick fish? Well, you know, the whole tartar sauce issue.)

Sonic Drive-In has recently added two new "premium" chicken sandwiches to its menu: Chicken and chicken bacon ranch. Both come either fried or grilled with an option for a "wheat" bun option (that apparently, per the nutritional details, does not actually contain any whole grain). As far as I can tell the quote-unquote wheat bun and slightly larger size are what make these suckers "premium."

Between the chicken and the bacon ranch chicken, guess which one tastes better? Well, the plain chicken (which I ordered grilled) is just that: Plain. A chicken patty arrives topped with lettuce, tomato and mayo on a less-squishy-than-usual bun. Though it's not that thrilling, at under 500 calories it's one of the less-heinous fast food options out there.

Naturally, the fried version with bacon and ranch dressing is more exciting even if it could use a bit more bacon or another dollop of ranch and you'll have to scurry double-time on the treadmill later. Is it tastier than the other chicken sandwiches on the market? Eh. Sonic falls into the chicken spectrum thusly: Superior to a McChicken, worse than a Carl's Jr. and can't compete at all with chicken-specializing chains like KFC or Popeye's. On my next trip to Sonic I think I'll just stick to burgers and Java Chillers.

Got a fave fast-food chix sandwich that makes the others look like frauds? Let us know in the comments.