August is time for back to school, but it’s also National Sandwich Month. Gourmet sandwiches have surged in popularity. Chef Brandi Key, the Director of Culinary Operations from Daily Gather and Dish Society, took our favorite childhood sandwiches and re-imagined them.
“We’re gonna take it up a notch,” Chef Key said.
First up, was a PB&J for Tessa. The twist here is using strawberry jelly and tomato jam to bring a summer time sweetness to the sandwich. Peanut butter is the glue that holds the rest of the flavors together.
“Savory and sweet is my favorite breakfast combo and here we are mashing together my favorite sandwich, BLT with an egg, with the classic combo of peanut butter and jelly,” she said.
- Sandwich building techniques for gourmet PB&J
- 1. thinking about the sandwich from bottom to top (you want the main flavor component on the bottom bread because you will pick up the flavors first on your tongue) here we want the initial flavor on your tongue to be the peanut butter and strawberry jam.
- 2. The bacon is next because the combo of sweet and salty will pop when they are touching in the sandwich.
- 3. The egg lives in the middle of the sandwich so that after a few chews, it bursts with creaminess and binds everything together.
- 4. Finally we finish with the lettuce and tomato jam. These ingredients are crunchy and cooling and have a pop of acid and sweetness from the tomato jam. These items hitting the roof of your mouth will be amplified because of the sensitive area. *Key here is to not have a bread that is too hard so that the bite can easily include all ingredients and not have shards of dry bread disrupting that. Lightly buttered and toasted brioche is perfect here.
Next, was a tuna sandwich for Derrick.
“I am always wanting texture in a sandwich and by choosing a different bread, cutting the vegetables paper thin, and dialing down the mayo, this has become my favorite grown up tuna fish sandwich,”Chef Key said.
All of the vegetables are cut thin to keep their crunch and it ads a pop of texture to every pop.
“If you wanna be fancy, this is fennel pollen, it’s the top part of the fennel and it makes everything pop,” Chef Key suggested.
- Sandwich building techniques for elevated tuna:
- 1. Choice of ciabatta: crisp and chewy at the same time that becomes a canoe for the moist flavorful tuna
- 2. Cutting the vegetables thin keeps their crunch but makes it so every bite has that pop of texture
- 3. Using the garlic aioli as a spread instead of mixed with the tuna allows the tuna flavor to come through and be enhanced with the “mayo flavor” instead of tasting just of mayo. This always lightens the entire sandwich so it feels refreshing and sophisticated.
Happy sandwich making!!