I have never been to one of Thomas Keller’s restaurants, nor have I seen the film Spanglish, in which Adam Sandler plays a chef. But I am quite glad to have come across this video in which this chef’s chef makes a late-night snack with Opera Man as his sous chef. This short appears as an extra on the DVD and seems to have a been a consulting gig for Keller, and a delicious one at that. As some less culinary enlightened commenters point out, it’s just a BLT with a runny fried egg and cheese. Not quite it’s a BLT with egg and cheese made with chefly care and precision, which means there are such common-sense tricks as alternating the bacon. And then there’s gems like this: “Most chefs worth their salt carry their own salt box. Most chefs have such a high tolerance to salt that they need to have extra salt on everything.”
At the end of the video there’s a recipe for this simple sandwich. “Here’s the thing if you follow this recipe, get very good bread,” says the short’s narrator, “I mean no kidding it’s the best sandwich ever. That’s it, it’s the world’s greatest sandwich.” As a fan of both egg and cheese sandwiches and BLTs I have to say it sounds pretty good. So here’s what I’d like to know: Do you think it’s the world’s greatest sandwich? If not, then what other sandwich do you think deserves that honor?
After experimenting with this, I believe I have out-greated Mr. Keller. I present my findings here exclusively on Chopsticks and Marrow… simply because Joe rules.
Ready?
Have a nice warm length of baguette ready (I get mine at Boulangerie in Forest Hills)
Dice a shallot & half of a seeded jalapeno
Fry in butter until just brown
Food process some cilantro, ripe tomato & salt into a nice coarse spread
Add some chopped ham or bacon to the pan, and shred a pile of irish cheddar into it
Crack an egg into the pan
Mix it all up.
Halve baguette, but leave one side attached like a sub
Apply mayo
Lay down the tomato/cilantro mix on top of the mayo
Put the scramble in
Enjoy
The main reason I like my ‘greatest sandwich’ better is because:
– Fried shallot makes everything better
– Mr. Keller is missing spice – fixed with jalapeno
– Cilantro > Lettuce
– Baguette > bread
ENJOY!
That sounds pretty decadent Waynem