Unbreaded

This year everybody is a little gun shy about taking that big summer vacation.  Mooching at the shore is at an all-time high.   So while you’re taking your use-it-or-lose-it vacation time at home, don’t do stuff around the house – treat yourself to a really good sandwich instead.  Lunch at Alison Two in Ft. Washington gives you a travel inspired menu full of exotic and delicious flavors and that feeling of getting away, even if you don’t go very far.

Old Pennsylvania is a charming piece of preserved history.  The architecture is still standing in many locations, the stone bridges are still holding.  Among the sprawling hills and endless woods of back-roads Ft. Washington lies an enclave that has managed to remain beautifully green.  Here, inside a 150-year-old building is Chef Alison Barshak’s second and more ambitious eponymous restaurant.  The 2008 James Beard nominated Chef Barshak served as Executive Chef at Philadelphia’s Striped Bass before spending time in Santa Fe, New York and traveling the world.  Alison Two brings Chef Barshak’s diverse culinary influences to life with a cosmopolitan menu that still rings true when Alison passionately recalls her favorite green chile cheeseburger from a little café in a gas station near the Wal-Mart in Santa Fe.

The menu changes frequently.  And by frequently, we mean “printed twice daily.”  Produce, fish, bread and dairy all come from local/trusted sources so you can be certain that the food is fresh and natural.  The sandwiches (which we do expect will stick around) are diverse and each is substantial in its own right.  A po’boy with parmesan crusted oysters; a soft shell crab flatbread with a dipping bowl of curry soup; a meaty burger with sweet and spicy onion marmalade; house-smoked salmon served up like pastrami sandwich; a tuna nicoise sandwich served with limoncello aioli.  Chef Barshak and Sous Chef Eric Goods have developed a lineup of sandwiches that are immensely satisfying and rich with flavor.

Continue reading…

“Here comes the hoagie man, Hoagiefest is here again!” To celebrate the start of summer, Wawa has again launched Hoagiefest, an overwhelmingly psychedelic celebration of sandwiches. The promotion which runs through July 26th offers a different style Shorti hoagie for only $2.99 which changes every two weeks. The lineup:

June 1 – 14: Italian
June 15 – 28: Cheesesteak
June 29  -  July 12th: Turkey
July 13th – 26th: Meatball

Don’t worry, the fun doesn’t stop there! On July 24th, a one day festival to “commemorate a summer of peace, savings and Shortis” will take place at the Wawa on Grant Avenue. Festival-goers will be fed a quarter-mile long hoagie built by tie-dye clad employees, as well as have the chance to compete for a month supply of sandwiches in a Kara-hoagie singing contest. Also expect a hoagie eating competition, an exhibit of photos depicting the history of the Wawa hoagie and more.

Quite possibly the best part of Hoagiefest 2009 is the song and video contest. Write an original song or film a video of yourself lip syncing to one of the official Hoagiefest songs and you could win free hoagies for a year and a performance on Last Call with Carson Daly. Ok, we lied about Carson Daly but were you really that excited anyway? You can check out all of the entries and vote on them here.

We’ve got to admit, although the quality of Wawa’s hoagies are inconsistent, we love punching our custom orders into those touch screens. How will you customize your $2.99 Shorti?

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, some of the best sandwiches to eat are those slapped together in our very own kitchens. So what’s better than the obvious reward of getting to eat your creation after all of that hard labor? How about $25,000 and a trip to Napa Valley? After you pick your jaw up off the floor, check out Mezzetta’s Make That Sandwich Contest. To enter, all you need to do is type up a sandwich recipe, but it must include some type of Mezzetta product. Last years winner created a delicious sounding Spanish-style grilled cheese with prosciutto, Manchego and roasted red peppers. The best part is that the deadline isn’t until September, giving you enough time to lounge on the beach and dream up that perfect sandwich.

If making home movies is your thing, a week remains to enter the Vincent Giordano Video Chef Contest. Create a funny or clever video of the construction of a sandwich using Giordano roast beef, corn beef or pastrami with the chance to $4,000, judging will be based on originality, appearance and entertainment value.

If you decide to enter one or both of these contests, please tell us about it in the comments!

Philadelphia’s favorite gelateria, Capogiro, is opening two new locations at the same time – on Passyunk in South Philly and in University City at the Radian building (whose gray/black façade looks too much like the Death Star for our taste.)  We expect that the newly minted Capoyunk Scoop Shop (1625 East Passyunk) and CapoPenn (3925 Walnut) will thrive in their new neighborhoods; the Capogiro brand of fresh artisan gelato is unmatched in this city, and they are expanding their menu significantly.  We are thrilled to find a wide selection of sandwiches on the menu.  From the Vegetable Toast to the Classico Panini to the Formaggio con Jambon, Capogiro is adding a selection of flavorful Euro-sandwiches to the ever growing Philadelphia sandwich landscape.  We especially want to try out the PBJ sandwich: artisanal peanut butter and homemade jam.

Check out a sneak peek of the new Capogiro at Penn.

[Via: fwts.net]

Editor’s note: CapoPenn? Really?

I haven’t been able to say the words “sloppy joe” in 15 years without hearing Adam Sandler’s hypnotic chorus to his popular Saturday Night Live performance of Lunch Lady Land.  It drove a spike in my brain that will probably haunt me for another 15 years.  And the unfortunate side effect of that song is that the sloppy joe brand has been forever linked with this defining moment of absurdity, and it makes it difficult to treat the sandwich with its due respect.

The sloppy joe is a working class hero.  It is the epitome of man food – meaty, juicy, full of big flavor – and eaten with your hands.  Pulled pork sandwiches may be all the rage today, but we ask, why doesn’t Joe get any respect?   Did Adam Sandler single handedly drive it out of our lives?

It’s time to revive old sloppy Joseph.  A mound of ground beef, turkey, even tempeh with sautéed veg and lots of tomato in a rich and gooey sauce on a toasted hamburger roll.  It’s not old-fashioned food – it’s timeless food.

If you know where to find a good sloppy joe sandwich, let us know in the comments.

[Recipe: FoodNetwork.com]

Metropolitan Home has a great article on the importance of the sandwich from the mouths of great American chefs. Sisha Ortuzar, head chef at Tom Colicchio’s ‘wichcraft talks about the ability to turn anything into a sandwich, a portable form of a meal. Donald Link of Cochon Butcher Shop in New Orleans applies the same amount of effort and labor into developing a sandwich as they do every day entrees.

It is great to see such esteemed chefs taking the sandwich so seriously, constantly innovating and taking it to new levels. Read the full article for excellent photos and recipes including a muffuletta and Tunisian tuna salad.

Chef Steven Cameron’s work at Blue in Surf City, NJ earned him national acclaim and semi-finalist rankings in 2008 and 2009 for the James Beard Foundation Awards: Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.  The Kansas-raised transplant to Philadelphia brings a farm-fresh mentality and earnestness to the city, turning to the vast agriculture of PA and NJ to source Noble’s produce, meats and dairy.  (Fish is sourced through local fishermen with a hawkish eye towards sustainability and not over-harvesting.)  He personally visits the farms and plans a few weeks ahead for what’s coming next. Chef Cameron’s menu emphasizes seasonal changes and he described his cooking as “more artisan than artist… like a cabinet maker.”  It is that simple, straightforward approach and flawless execution that place Noble: An American Cookery squarely in what Cameron calls “a revolution” in New American cuisine; a shift towards local food and fresh, seasonal ingredients that he hopes will transform restaurant culture.

The 100+ seat restaurant has a rustic-meets-modern décor featuring luscious reclaimed woods and sleek panes of glass. Even the staff, outfitted in plaid shirts and designer jeans, reflect the new-rustic feel . The large café windows and skylights give the restaurant an open feel with lots of natural light, and Noble will soon be offering selections from its own rooftop herb garden.  Chef Cameron hinted at a sandwich-rich lunch menu later this year, but for now, the only sandwiches are a burger and veggie burger from bar menu (which is available throughout the restaurant.)

Continue reading…

Now that it’s officially burger season again, Parade Magazine wrote a cover story featuring Bobby Flay called “Great Outdoor Eating: Grill A Better Burger,” where Chef Flay gives us some of his more interesting and colorful takes on the classic burger like the Pimento Cheese & Bacon Burger and the Green-Chili Burger.  Parade also gives us a rundown of other celebrity chef burgers from Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen, Mario Batali and more.

Boston chef Todd English, whose “Rat Pack Burger” recipe takes an Italian approach, acknowledges

Burgers are the epitome of American cuisine. They can be dressed up or dressed down, which makes them so versatile and appealing to everyone. Everything about a burger says ‘fun,’ and the creative ways to build a burger are endless.

Continue reading…

Memorial Day is a time to remember the men and women who devoted their lives to serving our country. It’s also a time to enjoy the company of friends and family, with food and drink. As the unofficial start of summer, people across our nation fire up the grill and start cooking burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. Not a carnivore? Grill up some delicious portabello, eggplant or a plethora of other fresh vegetables. Others may choose to pick up hoagies from their favorite shop, or put together club sandwiches in their own kitchens. No matter what you might choose, sandwiches have deep patriotic roots in our great nation.

Today. remember those who have fought for our freedom and the ability to build whatever sandwich we may desire. Let us know what sandwiches you’ll be eating this Memorial Day in the comments.

Unbreaded reader Kimberly S. tipped us off to a crafty and environmentally conscious way to transport your sandwiches without using disposable baggies, plastic wrap or foil.  Her handmade Reusable Sandwich Wrappers package up your pastrami on rye in style.

The sandwich wrap is made of two layers of durable, impermeable oilcloth material sewn together. Simply fold the flaps around your sandwich and secure it with the elastic band and buttons.

From the product description:

at lunch time, you’ve got a placemat on which to rest your sammy between bites. when you’re finished, wipe it off with a damp cloth (or all out wash it in the sink if your sandwich was really messy) and it’s ready to be used again the next day. awesome, right?

Available in a variety of prints and fabrics (from masculine wood grain to frilly lace for the ladies), the Reusable Sandwich Wrapper has been tested on sandwiches made on small pieces of bread, larger breads, even the triple-decker sandwich.  Pretty impressive.

[Buy Now: Chez Sucre Chez on Etsy]

Food.com has released a simple-to-use web application that lets you collect and organize recipes from around the web in your own personal recipe box.  It has a robust search utility, offering content from Bon Appetit, CHOW, Cooking Light, Epicurious, Food & Wine, Food Network, Gourmet, Martha Stewart, Real Simple, RecipeZaar and more.  The site also lets you install a toolbar in your browser so when you see a recipe somewhere around the web (like Unbreaded, for example) you can quickly and easily send it to your recipe box without having to leave the site.  You can even upload your own recipes and share them with the world.

Continue reading…

Breaking news wire, place to catch up with your friends, celebrity tracker, whatever you might call it, Twitter’s user base and mainstream popularity is exploding. Some people have ragged on the microblogging service, questioning its longevity and overall usefulness due to an overload of mundane tweets about users’ lives. On the flip side, businesses are making good use of Twitter by creating a personality for their brands and connecting with new customers they would have never reached before.
Continue reading…