National Sandwich Day
National Sandwich Day is always November 3, whatever day of the week that happens to be. But that’s fine, because every day is a good day for a sandwich•.
Why November 3? Because that’s the birthday of John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, from whom popular etymology says we got the name for this wonderfully quick and tasty meal-in-one. Whether it’s a fresh sandwich, a cooked sandwich, or a combination (say, grilled cheese with tomatoes), the sandwich combines the great taste of good bread with the great taste of just about anything that can lay vaguely flat on a slice of bread.
Great bread, great fillings, great spreads. The sandwich doesn’t need anything else, although a good drink and something crunchy alongside is always a comfort.
- October 26, 2022: Bread and butter pickles for National Sandwich Day
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If there’s one ingredient that makes almost any sandwich taste better, it is pickles. Ham sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, and chicken or tuna salad sandwiches, they all benefit from several slices of good pickles. The more the tastier!
One of my favorite bars is the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, and that’s partly because you get to assemble your own burger. Which means I get as many pickles on the burger as I can fit.
I usually prefer dill pickles, but every once in a while I get a craving for bread & butter pickles. They’re especially good with fish sandwiches, especially the salmon burgers from Trader Joe’s. No chicken melt or tuna melt is complete without pickles, and bread & butter pickles are a special treat on any chicken or tuna salad sandwich, melt or not.
National Sandwich Day is on Thursday of next week. Normally, I’d be posting my Sandwich Day recipe on the Wednesday before, but this recipe takes three days to make. I know you’re probably focused on Hallowe’en right now, but take some time out to pick up whatever ingredients you need for pickles and start them tomorrow, or over the weekend. If you like bread and butter pickles, you won’t be disappointed.
Even if you don’t like bread and butter pickles, you might try this one. These homemade bread and butter pickles outshine anything I’ve had from a store. They are very easy to make. They do not require any canning, just a half-gallon jar. All you need to do is mix everything together and put them in the refrigerator for a few days. The original recipe made them a gallon at a time. If you have a larger family, or if the only suitable jar you have is a gallon jar, double the recipe for the original full gallon.
These pickles keep getting better past the three-day mark, which is probably why some recipes call for waiting up to seven days. They are, however, ready to eat and already amazing after sitting three days.
They last for a long time in the refrigerator. I don’t know how long, because I’ve never had any left over after a few weeks. And when they’re gone, mix up a new batch and you’re three days from a fresh jar! If you’ve never done any pickling before, and aren’t yet comfortable with canning, this is a great starter recipe to show what wonders are possible when you’re comfortable making preserved foods.
- November 3, 2021: Tomato relish and tuna salad
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Today is National Sandwich Day. I’ve had sandwich day posts about bread and about the meat that goes in the bread for four years now. Today, I’d like to travel to Australia for a look at the relish that goes between the meat and the bread.
Every once in a while, I run into something unique at an antique store. I often wonder how they got there. How did this typewritten cookbook of the Royal Australian Air Force Women’s Association end up in an antique store in Fort Worth, Texas?
However it happened, I’m glad it did. One of the more intriguing recipes in it is today’s tomato relish. Whenever I buy a new cookbook, I make several test recipes before I decide if I’m going to keep the book. Often I’ll choose a recipe I wouldn’t normally make, and for this cookbook that was the tomato relish. I’m a big fan of dill relish; not so much of other kinds.
Because this is an Australian recipe, the tomatoes, onion, and sugar are all measured by weight, not volume. I’ve put approximations of what the volume should be after each of those ingredients, and there’s a lot of leeway anyway; you should be able to adjust the ingredients according to your own taste. That said, a kitchen scale is an invaluable cooking and baking tool, and decent digital ones are relatively inexpensive•.
literature
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish•
- The fourth book, in which God explodes for our pleasure.
National Sandwich Day
- The Donna Rathmell German Bread Machine Cookbook collection
- Donna Rathmell German’s little cookbooks, from the Nitty Gritty collection, are a great companion to your bread machine and a great lesson in using bread machines to make bread.
- National Sandwich Day: Do-it-yourself bread slice guide
- If you have a table saw or chop saw, making a bread slice guide is a snap.
- National Sandwich Day: Whole Wheat Sesame Bread
- To be honest, I’m not sure the whole wheat bread from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest is even doable by hand. But I have managed to modify it so that it works very well in a bread machine.
- Roast beef for National Sandwich Day
- Sandwiches are not made by bread alone. And this roast beef recipe is a very simple way of making meat for your sandwiches.
- Tomato-cucumber sandwich on sweet bread
- To celebrate National Sandwich Day, this toasted sandwich is a nice change of pace from loaded Dagwood and cheesy layered concoctions. I enjoy the hell out of them, but sometimes I want something simpler.
More sandwiches
- Roast beef for National Sandwich Day
- Sandwiches are not made by bread alone. And this roast beef recipe is a very simple way of making meat for your sandwiches.
- Tomato-cucumber sandwich on sweet bread
- To celebrate National Sandwich Day, this toasted sandwich is a nice change of pace from loaded Dagwood and cheesy layered concoctions. I enjoy the hell out of them, but sometimes I want something simpler.