Monday, August 23, 2010

Culinary Smackdown: Sandwiches!

Doggybloggy was the winner of the last culinary smack down and if you stop by this fellow's place you'll see why. Man can he cook! For this month's challenge he chose sandwiches. I am very fond of sandwiches. If you read as many of them as I do you better be.

Putting a filling into bread to make it easier to eat has been around since neolithic times. First given name by john Montague the fourth earl of sandwich in the 18th century and has been a staple of the American diet since the early 20th century. Giving rise to many types and varieties. The king of them all. The Dagwood.



A Dagwood sandwich is a tall, multi-layered sandwich made with a variety of meats, cheeses and condiments. It was named after Dagwood Bumstead, a central character in the comic strip Blondie. Dagwood frequently makes enormous sandwiches. According to Blondie scripter Dean Young, his father, Chic Young, began drawing the huge sandwiches in the comic strip during 1936

The Dagwood sandwich scene below is stacked with these ingredients: 2 slices of deli Rye bread, hard salami, roast beef, pastrami, chicken breast, deli ham, Turkey breast, Lebanon baloney, American cheese cheddar, muenster, provolone pepper jack and Swiss cheese. Vegetables are avocado, red onion green leaf lettuce, spinach tomato, Mrs. Karl's homemade Pesto, whole seed mustard and a Italian olive to top it off in historic fashion.

The construction of this gastrointestinal time bomb has everything to do with layers, if not properly layered it will self destruct. Also putting Pesto and mustard directly on the bread was a mistake. I should have put a cheese layer in contact with the bread and then preceded with the Pesto and mustard. The sandwich self destructed after about the third bite. Although a blend of flavors is really quite tasty and one sandwich will likely feed three people. So here we go with the photos.









20 comments:

Heff said...

Can't wait for the post, lol.

Karl said...

Heff: As they say in the islands; soon come mon.

Anonymous said...

It must be a guy thing!

LaDivaCucina said...

Great photos, Karl! I love the play by play! I also like how you realized to put the sauce between the cheese so the bread would not get soggy! we all make mistakes and learn from them in the kitchen, don't we?!

I knew it was a Dagwood sandwich when I first saw your photo and was always intrigued by what a Dagwood sandwich actually consisted of! Thanks for giving me an idea, great job! But how will it fare against La Diva's entry? We shall see!!! haha! :)

Karl said...

JAG: A cooking contest or the subject matter their of?

LaDivaCucina said...

Hey, I'm a girly girl but I loves me some beefy, meaty sandwiches and the spicier the better!

Karl said...

LaDiva: Thanks, from you that means a lot.

I don't think there's any set list of ingredients. I actually went to the deli counter and asked the young lady that was working if I could have one slice of everything. After a little explanation, she really got into it and gave me one of everything.

I didn't realize you're in, all be right over.

Heff said...

I can see that sucker self-destructing after 3 bites, but it would be worth it !

Karl said...

Heff: It was definitely worth it. Although, I don't think I'll have my cholesterol checked for a little while.

moi said...

Not just a sandwich, a work of art! Good luck!

Velva said...

Your Dagwood sandwich looks delicious. Looking forward to his post tomorrow morning. I entered his sandwich challenge too.

yellowdoggranny said...

oh man..now that's my kind of sandwich.

Sharon Rudd said...

Outstanding entry, Karl! Love it that you asked for one slice of everything :) Eggy loves a hearty sandwich, and this one definitely is all that.

Good idea about avoiding immediate contact between bread and condiments to avoid sogginess. I'll offer another tip: If you have too many slippery condiments in the middle of your 'wich, the result can be kind of like tectonic plates shifting, and the whole shebang can move sidewise on ya.

Great entry!
eggy

Beryl said...

find you over at Sage's place. Love finding new reads.

Anette said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! Your sandwich looks so good, and the avocado made it just perfect!
I'll throw out a new challenge as soon I've picked a theme.. (I have a few ideas)

Karl said...

Moi: Gee, Thanks. I should've posted the picture of the sandwich after it fell apart it would qualify as abstract.

Velva: Welcome. Your entry was one of the best in the competition.

Jackie Sue: It was no Skunk Ball, but I'm sure you'd liked it.

Eggy: Plate tectonics is right. Get that much mass moving with the right lubrication. things are gonna shift.

Beryl: Welcome to the Korner. Most of the reading you'll find here, is good if you're trying to doze off. It's the folks that come by and comments that make the place interesting.

Anette: You're welcome and again congratulations. I look forward to seeing, what you come up with for the next challenge.

Aunty Belle said...

A real meal in itself! Wow...very satisfyin' piece of construction.

Karl, I enjoys the history ya give wif' yore entries--I vote fer ya!!

Anonymous said...

Karl, the subject matter. Big sandwiches seem to be a guy thing! Guys like big things.... in most cases :-)

Keri said...

What's not to like here? A thing of beauty. Even the photos you could eat. Keri

Karl said...

Aunty Belle: Satisfying, indeed it was.

Less we be destined to repeated it.

JAG: You have a point there.

Keri: Welcome and thank you.