TUESDAY

“Brooklyn Bridge” {Pastrami & Swiss Cheese with Coleslaw} Sandwiches  |  Russian Dressing  |  Homemade Oven-Baked Potato Chips  |  Pickles

When I was an “upper” undergrad at Syracuse University, I waitressed & bartended at an Irish Pub on campus…Faegan’s.  If you worked a double shift you got a meal {and a beer} on the house.  I was poor and it was a great place to work…I could be with most of my friends, sitting at the bar, while I worked the bar…they were spending $ and I was making $$$.  There was a sandwich on the menu that Ralph & Bill, in the kitchen, made famous on campus…the Brooklyn Bridge.  Basically pastrami & cheese, but the coleslaw they piled on to the sandwich before grilling made all of the difference!  It was not a creamy coleslaw but a salty, sweet combination.  Combined with a Russian dressing spread on the bread…this sandwich was my nirvana for two years.  The sandwich recipe that follows comes pretty damn close to that Brooklyn Bridge…

First, make the dressings…

I always prefer making my own salad dressings/condiments.  I have found, in the case of salad dressings, by using mason jars, I can affix labels {with clear packaging tape} that set forth the dressing ingredients and/or recipe.  These labels hold up for two or three dishwasher cycles and {since I have typed & filed the recipes on my computer} I can easily replace when needed.  When the dressing runs out it so easy to make another batch…

The coleslaw dressing:

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons pickling spices
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• ¼ cup raw honey

Put all ingredients in a mason jar, seal with the cover and shake to blend.

For this new Russian Dressing recipe, follow Bobby Flay’s recipe…

 

 

Now, that the dressings are made…start the baked potato chips…

Follow the recipe, exactly, and enjoy freshly baked potato chips!

For the sandwiches…

Start by portioning out the meat into piles on a cutting board {roughly 6-8 slices of deli meat per pile/sandwich}:

 Next, heat each deli meat portion in a skillet:

And then top with swiss cheese…

Remove the heated meat & cheese mounds to the waiting bread slices prepped with Russian dressing…

Top each sandwich with coleslaw…

And then cover with a slice of bread & grill each sandwich {in the same pan used for grilling the deli meat mounds}, 2 minutes per side…slice in half and serve with baked potato chips and a pickle.

Welcome home Michael…this is one of your favorite sandwiches!  Your reward after eating snails in shells and… well, being in Japan.