Sandwich Artists

In past lives we flung burgers, T-bones and other animal parts onto hot griddles. (Alex became a man while prepping in an Albequerque diner on Route 66 so it was unavoidable, and Evan was the grill station cook one summer at a Philadelphia bistro serving filet mignon to bankers despite the dubious qualification of never tasting what he cooked.)

Disgusting to most non-meat-eaters though this may be, we see this ‘time served’ as a rite of passage because a) we can tell you when a piece of meat is medium rare and b) we can tell you in detail why you don’t want to eat a piece of meat from a diner. But there’s something even more helpful: we are now armed with proper sandwich insight that you don’t get at most vegetarian spots — re-heating processed fake meats or schmearing two slices of bread with a store-bought spread. Sadly, most veggie sammiches involve both of these un-inventive applications.

Not a recent Hot Knives foray into tuna melts! This sucker feels much more like the rye bread tuna-salad melts we used to haphazardly cradle-then-fling with our greasy spatulas. Thanks to brine, it’s fishy; due to soaked nuts, it’s gummy and fatty; and because of some sweated jackfruit it’s even stringy. Not that any of these adjectives sound all that desirable –but trust us — for this type of classic diner staple they are!

Here, we used an onion rye from a kosher bakery. We slather the ‘cream’ on both slices of bread, then grill the ‘tuna salad’ before adding it to the middle of the sandwich and pressing. Though the two components may seem redundant (nuts AND peas) it works best. That, said either of these is a ripping sandwich schmear.

Cashew Cream Cheese
(Makes 2 1/4 cups)

2 cups raw cashews
1 1/2 cups filtered water
1 tsp. white miso
1 tsp. Marmite
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (a dash)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup grapeseed oil

1. The day before you need the cream cheese, put the cashews in a container with a lid, cover with water and sit for 6-10 hours at room temp.

6-10 Hours Later

2. Drain the cashews and toss out the water. In a food processor, combine the soaked cashews with the remaining ingredients, except the grapeseed oil. Pulse and slowly drizzle the oil. Let the mixture continue to blend several minutes, until it’s thoroughly creamy and warm from the motor. Taste and season with additional salt as you like it.

Jackfruit-and-Pea ‘Tuna’ Salad
(Makes about 2 cups)

12 oz. can jackfruit (in brine)
1/2 cup yellow peas
3 cups pickle brine (brand of choice)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. whole grain mustard
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
half a white onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. capers
2 Tbs. yellow raisins (optional)

3. Start by draining the jackfruit over the sink, break the chunks apart with your hands and rinse. Then firmly squeeze the strands to remove excess brine or water. Pat dry. In a large saute pan on medium heat, saute the jackfruit with the minced white onion and garlic, tossing often. Cook this way for 10 minutes. Taste and make sure jackfruit moisture has cooked off before removing from heat.

4. Boil the yellow peas: Combine them in a small sauce pot with 2 cups of pickle brine and set on medium heat. (We used 2 cups salt water brine we sat Daikon radish for 24 hours to get a stanky, fishy vibe and then 1 cup kosher pickle brine — but regular pickle brine works if its not too sweet.) Bring it down to simmer once peas hit a boil. Cook like this for about 10-15 minutes or until peas are tender and cooked and the brine is gone.

5. Combine peas and mustard in a food processor and begin to pulse. Slowly add half the pickle juice, followed by half the olive oil, then repeat. Stop and taste, it should be slightly sweet but mostly salty and a little funky. Add salt as you like. The texture should be smooth but not loose. If too firm add equal parts brine, oil, and filtered water.

6. Remove to a mixing bowl and combine cooked jackfruit, pea mixture, capers, chopped green onions and raisins. Mixture will be gloopy and easy to spoon into clumps.

Beverage: Ladyface Amazon Red
Soundtrack: YACHT, “Holly Roller”