I'm usually not one for celebrity crushes. I always figure that the actual person is probably nothing like what Hollywood PR machines want us to believe anyway. But the tumblr "Feminist Ryan Gosling" has totally won me over. I know I know, Ryan Gosling didn't actually say any of those things, but it's nice remembering that there actually are dudes out there who are down with the feminist cause. Feminist men, while rare, are not mythological. I think I know almost 10 of them! So this sandwich is dedicated to all of the awesome feminist dudes out there who know that gender stereotypes hurt everyone!
I had two small winter squash from the Urban Farm Collective, and roasted them with garlic, fresh rosemary and some cayenne pepper. This sandwich is sweet and spicy just like The Baby Goose! You might be thinking, "Squash AND bread? Think of the Carbs!!!" And I say there are way more important things to worry about, like meth and karma.
Makes 4 sandwiches
1 medium onion
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 small or 1 medium/large winter squash like butternut, etc...
2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil
pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped finely
dash of cayenne pepper
1 loaf of whole wheat French bread
Dijon mustard
veganaise
arugala
chevre
On Sunday Night:
Preheat your oven at 375 degrees
For the onions, peel your onion and cut in half, then slice thinly. Put into a casserole dish and toss with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
For the squash, peel and slice your squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and cut it into cubes. Put into a separate casserole dish and toss with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt, two cloves of crushed garlic, and two sprigs of chopped fresh rosemary. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top, just to add a little heat. (I also put some beets in yet another casserole dish and
roasted those to go with some sauerkraut as a side for dinner. And
while it was all in the oven, I cooked up some holuski [a Czech staple
of noodles and cabbage] for dinner.)
Put the squash and the onion into the oven and roast the onions for 30 minutes (tossing once or twice in the middle), and the squash for about 40 minutes or more, depending on the type of squash, until tender maybe even kind of soft, but not full on mushy. I ended up with something that was almost like squash homefries; they were a little crispy around the edges. They were so tasty, it was a real effort not to just eat them all up right out of the oven.
Once everything was done roasting, I let them cool slightly and packed them up to go in the fridge for the next day.
On Monday Morning:
This week I'm using whole wheat French bread. I cut off a large chunk and sliced that in half and toasted it under the broiler for a few minutes. Then I spread some Dijon mustard on one side, veganaise on the other, and spooned some of the squash onto one side, then layered onions, chevre, and arugala on top.
This went pretty well with a tart granny smith apple, but would've gone better with some Baby Goose.
Broiled baby portabellas with a smoked paprika marinade, horseradish sauce, chevre, red onion, frisee
Lincoln Beachey was a pioneer of early aviation, and one cool customer. Many dudes died trying to imitate Beachey's aerobatic tricks, and he had a girlfriend in every major town. In 1914, everyone basically had a boner for Beachey. A man of firsts, first to fly inverted, first to fly inside a building, the first to achieve terminal velocity, etc, etc... I bet he could work up a serious appetite . If I had to guess what the first inflight meal was, I'd bet it was a sandwich. Leaving one had free to steer your flying machine over Niagara Falls or to propose to one of your several girlfriends, the sandwich gets the job done while you fearlessly stun America with the marvels of flight.
Makes 4 sandwiches
8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms
2 lemons
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoons of good quality smoked paprika
lots and lots of fresh ground pepper
1 baguette cut into 4 equal pieces
horseradish sauce
red onion
2 small tomatoes (or one large one)
1 package chevre
frisee (or plain ol'lettuce)
On Sunday/Tuesday Night (I made half the mushrooms, enough for 2 sandwiches at a time, so they were fresh ones for Wednesday and Thursday's sandwiches):
For the mushrooms, (proportions are for each time) brush/clean half of the baby portabellas and pop off the stems. Juice 1 lemon into a small casserole dish, or even better a gratin/tian dish. Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of good quality smoked paprika, and lots and lots of fresh ground pepper. Add the mushrooms, roll them around in the marinade, then put them gill side up and spoon some marinade into each of the caps. Let them sit for like 10 minutes. Turn on your broiler, and pop in the mushrooms for 10 minutes. Take them out, let them cool, and then slice them up and put them in a container and into the fridge.
Before Work:
Slice your baguette in half and toast under the broiler for a few minutes.
Spread the horseradish sauce on both sides.
(Note: Horseradish sauce is different from prepared horseradish, it's actually a sauce, sort of like horseradish mixed with mayonnaise, they sell them next to each other, so be sure you grab the right one. It isn't vegan, it has eggs in it. So if you want to take this to vegan-town, I'd add some horseradish to veganaise and use that. Also, if you are wary of buying and being stuck with a whole bottle of horseradish sauce, I will tell you it is excellent on corn on the cob instead of butter, and crazy good with french fries)
Layer on half of your mushrooms, then some thinly sliced red onion, some tomato, chevre and frisee. You could also use regular ol' lettuce.
Vegan Version:
Omit the chevre, and use a little Tofutti Cream Cheese. Make your own horseradish sauce as noted above.
I first learned about Lincoln Beachey last week from the Radio Lab podcast. My Dad is a pilot and top-notch airplane mechanic, and I am pretty sure I've been to every airplane museum in the West, but I had never heard of Lincoln Beachey. And what's crazy is that my Dad had never heard of him either. Consider also, he was the most famous dude in his day, it is estimated that 30 million people saw him fly at an air-show during the course of his career, 17 million in 1914 alone, and at a time when the population of the United States was only 99 million.
Mushrooms marinated in champagne vinegar, caramelized onions, chevre, Dijon mustard, garlic veganaise, and fresh basil
Would Gigi’s glamorous great-aunt approve of this sandwich? Probably not; I doubt those perfumed hands ever abandoned their silverware to slum it with anything involving a wrapper. However, this is a sandwich you could drink a glass of champagne with while on a picnic with your questionably older, wealthy boyfriend (who loves you, but also kind of wants to turn you into a classy prostitute).
I made my own marinated mushrooms. They’re so easy to make, I couldn’t imagine buying them, but sometimes antipasti or olive bars will have marinated mushrooms that would do pretty well in any sandwich.
The onions aren’t as time-consuming as it sounds. These onions pretty much take care of themselves. I just throw them in the pan and take care of other business while they cook, like make dinner or take out the recycling, and then I stir them whenever I walk by the stove.
I'm gonna try to format these recipes for someone who wants to pack these in the morning for work...
Makes 4 sandwiches
1 ½ tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 large yellow onion
Salt
9-10 oz button mushrooms
¾ cup of champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar, lemon juice, or even apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of sugar
1 ½ teaspoons of Dijon mustard
3 cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon of dried parsley
½ teaspoon of dried oregano
½ teaspoon of dried basil
3 tablespoons of veganaise
1 large clove of garlic
4 mini baguettes or one large baguette cut into 4 equal sections
Dijon mustard
1 package of chevre
Fresh Basil (optional)
For the mushrooms, Brush/clean 9-10 oz. of mushrooms and cut them into quarters if they are large, halves if they are small and put them into a bowl. In a small sauce pan I put about ¾ cup of champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar (lemon juice would be pretty good if you have that many lemons or even apple cider vinegar), add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of Dijon mustard, 3 cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon of dried parsley, ½ teaspoon of dried oregano, and ½ teaspoon of dried basil. Whisk it all together. Put it on the stove over medium-high heat, and right after it starts to boil, pour it over your mushrooms. Let them cool a bit and and then sit overnight in the fridge et voila! This is also a great side dish and great for taking to a pot luck, just serve them at room temperature.
For the veganaise, take 3 tablespoons of veganaise and crush 1 large clove of garlic into it, mix well.
When everything’s done and cooled off, I cover the containers and put it all into the fridge for the morning.
Before Work:
Slice the baguette down the middle and toast under the broiler for a few minutes while you brush your teeth.
Spread the garlic veganaise on one side and some Dijon mustard on the other side.
Using a slotted spoon, drain some of the mushrooms and put them on the veganaise side of the baguette.
Add ¼ of the caramelized onions and ¼ of the chevre (toward the end of the week, I actually decided that ¼ a package of chevre, what is deemed a single serving, might be too much. Use your own judgment, maybe you’ll have some left over for your dinner salad).
Top it off with some fresh basil. I always love rolling the basil leaves up and slicing them into a chiffonade. (However, the first couple of times I made this, I didn’t put any basil on it and it was still pretty good.)
Right now I’m wrapping my baguette sandwiches up in foil and recycling it when I’m done. I’m on the hunt for a more reusable option, but it needs to keep the sandwich together until lunchtime!
Vegan Variation:
Leave the chevre out and make the basil mandatory and this will still be a pretty killer sandwich. Or I think you could easily substitute some tofutti cream cheese mixed with a squeeze of lemon.
I toted this to work with a pear from the Urban Farm Collective and a chocolate truffle I squirreled away at some point last week. At lunchtime I could hear Maurice Chevalier crooning at me from the belle epoch beyond.
(and if Gigi wants be Gaston’s kept woman, who am I to judge?)
