Sandwiches are easy, fun
At some point, tomatoes were added to the filling, and I savored the mixture of sharp cheddar and tart slabs of homegrown Big Boy tomatoes between slices of buttery toast. The sandwich had to be cooked in a big iron skillet, the bread crisped to an even golden brown and the cheese completely melted. Otherwise, it just wasn't quite right.
I can't quite recall when I started eating the tuna fish salad sandwiches of which I became inordinately fond, nor when I first had bacon, lettuce and tomato (my current favorite), nor when I visited Houston Street in New York City with my dad and tasted a really good bagel for the first time. It was filled with the best cream cheese and thin, hand-sliced, tender smoked salmon. But those were my early forays into the world of sandwiches.
As Mother taught me, it was always about the ingredients, not complexity; freshness and contrasts, not quantity. But it was also about generosity.
My daughter Alexis's egg-salad sandwiches are also favored by my friends. Thinly sliced bread enhances the bright-yellow salad made crunchy with celery and radicchio. We always try to use organic eggs.
Increasingly, local vendors and grocers are stocking high-quality, imported cold cuts and cheeses. But I often bring a great assortment myself from a place such as Murray's cheese store, in New York's Greenwich Village, if I plan to serve a panini lunch. The more variety, the better. A good panini iron is ideal, but two cast-iron pans — one for cooking, one for pressing — also work well.
I could go on and on. The more I think about sandwiches, the hungrier I become. Right now, I am going to the freezer for a hunk of pain de seigle for a grilled cheddar and tomato sandwich. What are you craving?
More sandwich recipes are available at marthastewart.com/martha-sandwiches.
PANINI BAR
Serves 10 to 12
2 loaves ciabatta, halved horizontally and quartered crosswise
1 loaf whole-grain bread, cut into slices 1/2 inch thick
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