Boule Bandwagon

I'm not exactly the trendiest guy, but every once in a while, something which "goes viral" will catch my attention. For instance, something called a shooter's sandwich has gained cult status- even getting the know your meme treatment. Well, as luck would have it, I found a sourdough boule in the "yesterday's bread" section of one of my local supermarkets (I always check out the day-old bread section, ever on the lookout for the main ingredient for a strata, and oftimes it pays off). Even more serendipitously, I found sirloin steaks on sale as well... it was as if fate wanted me to make this sandwich. It was a simple matter of picking up some mushrooms. I used onion and garlic instead of shallots- I've never understood the primacy of shallots over onions- I agree 100% with Craig Claiborne's 1964 quote regarding the humble onion:


ALTHOUGH many people eschew all forms of it, the onion is probably the most versatile of culinary blessings. It inspired Dean Swift's lines, now the most labored of gastro­nomic platitudes, “This is every cook's opinion; No savoury dish without an onion.” And there has been much speculation on the thought that if the onion were as rare as caviar it would be the most coveted of foods.


Assembling the shooter's sandwich is a fairly easy process- the most involved part of the whole affair is pressing the damn thing for a few hours (I wrapped the sandwich up, placed it between two boards, and put a 35-pound kettlebell on top to "smush" everything down). The sandwich is a very good one, but certainly not the "Best Sandwich Ever". In fact, in my opinion, it wasn't even the best sandwich I had all week... those honors would go to an eggplant parmigiana sandwich I made, with the typical gut-busting deep-fried, breaded eggplant typical of a good old American red sauce joint.

I jumped on the boule bandwagon and made the trendy sandwich of the moment. I'd agree with Epicurious' J. Kenji López-Alt that the shooter sandwich is not better than the sum of its parts. Luckily, while I was shopping, I also picked up a ciabatta loaf, so I may make a sausage-and-pepper "pressed" sandwich using the trendy technique of the moment.

For the record, the most decadent sandwich I ever made was an "appetizer combo sandwich" with chicken fingers, jalapeño poppers, and mozzarella sticks, dressed with blue cheese dressing and hot sauce. Damn near killed me, but a guy's got to live on the edge once in a while.