A Sandwich For A Non-Pork Eater You Owe A Favor
I tend to wince at questions like "What would you eat for your last meal?" or "What is your favorite food?". That's like asking me if I'd rather watch Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee or go to Olive Garden and drown myself in Alfredo sauce and unlimited breadsticks. It's such a tough call. There's one thing I do know, though. Pork would be involved in my last meal. The issue is in what form, really.
I guess that's why non-pork eaters who aren't 1) vegetarian or 2) religious make me ponder the meaning of life and the future of humanity as we know it. OK, I kid. Sort of.
For Christmas dinner, I made a pork roast that was butterflied and stuffed with caramelized onions, fennel, mushrooms and sage. The next day, I couldn't wait to make a sandwich with the leftovers.
It turns out a friend decided to do me a huge favor, drive an hour out of her way, and take me back to NYC after the holidays. Since she was starving, I thought I'd try and make an amazing sandwich for the ride back the city. Considering her efforts, I wanted to make her a sandwich that she'd never have before. Or maybe again.
But, this is one of those non-pork, non-veggie, non-religious types of people. Right.
I went rummaging through the fridge and found some shrimp, frozen peas, leftover caramelized onions and last but not least, a chunk of Gruyere. I would make my Spanish Style shrimp (recipe here) with garlic and paprika, then chop them coarsely. I wanted a creamy base in the sandwich, so I reheated the peas and pureed them with olive oil. I carved out some of the insides of the baguette (ingredient to bread ratio in a sandwich is important to me), spread the pea puree as a base, and topped it with the chopped shrimp, the sweet onions and cheese. Despite the picture above, the sandwich was finished with a baguette top and warmed in the oven.
My non-pork eating friend and I gave this sandwich an A- . The pea puree is a perfect compliment to the shrimp, while the sweetness of the onion added a surprise with every bite. The combination of ingredients was totally unexpected and made the sandwich a fun experiment for a brief road trip.
I have way too many non-veg, non-religious non-pork eating friends. I just don't get it. They say it has something to do with the environment, but I'm usually too busy drooling over my bacon/prosciutto/pork loin/sausage/chops/barbecue/etc to listen to the details. I even have one friend with an admittedly irrational fear of botchilism. Whatever it is, I'm not really sure these people deserve such an amazing sandwich as this one... I do, though. I can't wait to try it...
Posted by: Alejandra | January 15, 2008 at 06:24 PM
Great photos…this looks delicious
Posted by: Sorina | January 15, 2008 at 07:05 PM
thank you so much for an alternative to pork! lol! I really enjoyed this recipe and my wife is asking me to cook it again tomorrow! lol! I order alot of veggies from Celebrity Foods so this gives me a great complement to my awesome veggies i cook! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Posted by: jordan | January 16, 2008 at 09:43 PM
thank you so much for an alternative to pork! lol! I really enjoyed this recipe and my wife is asking me to cook it again tomorrow! lol! I order alot of veggies from Celebrity Foods so this gives me a great complement to my awesome veggies i cook! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Posted by: jordan | January 16, 2008 at 09:43 PM
And that "friend" was very satisfied...in fact, it might go down as one of the best non-pork sandwiches this "friend" has ever eaten, I mean I'm just guessing that's what she, or maybe he, would say...
Posted by: Jodi | January 17, 2008 at 12:02 PM
"Triggering the Grand Irrationality?"
Cowering in an obscure corner of the food pyramid
somewhere between the tofu and the unflavored yogurt
contemplating the juxtaposition of intangibles for all you are worth.....
Posted by: poetryman69 | February 06, 2008 at 07:42 AM