The little sandwich that could

I just recently realised how insanely competitive I have become.  Its a shame really because competitive people have to work so much harder. I must do something to arrest this and quick.

Am I over reacting (again)? You judge.

I think I make pretty good sandwiches. I mean, I sell sandwiches every Monday to the folks at work (with my colleague and fellow foodie Marty) so they must be pretty decent, right? Well, ironically, while he likes the sandwiches he sometimes gets for dinner (no charge, mind you), my husband's favourite sandwich is a grossly overpriced (RM12. I just re-checked the price and it's RM17!) triple decker monstrosity from a certain sandwich franchise.

Hmmph.

I fully support a person's freedom to express themselves and choose what they want to eat but turning down my sandwich and opting instead to brave traffic and drive to a sandwich shop that's a good 20 minutes away? Now that's enough to get my competitive juices all flowing.

So when the RM12 sandwich came home, I studied it. It had slaw, some chicken, a thin piece of chicken crisp (what?), red onion, cheddar cheese and tomato as the fillings.  

OK, not too fancy. I can do this, I said confidently.. 

That was a couple of months ago. And then I forgot all about the challenge. You see, I may be competitive but I am also easily distracted and, to be fair, I have been pretty busy at work of late. Yes, so I forgot all about my project to give the RM12 sandwich a run of its money. 

 Until last week. 

I was craving for an egg salad sandwich - a very simple sandwich but a very delicious one. As I was getting stuff out of my fridge, I realised I had a heap of leftovers from a dinner I cooked for some friends a couple of days before. I had a big portion of mash potatoes left and some honey roasted carrots. 

What to do? Suddenly the light bulb went off: Triple decker sandwich lah! 

It was kinda exciting. The combination of ingredients sounded pretty good: a mustard-strong egg salad with celery and chives, some mash, honey roasted carrots and lettuce. Now all I needed was something crunchy because the eggs and mash are really soft and the carrots were tender too. What do I have that's crispy?

Cheese! I decided to make some parmesan chips (read on for the how-to). 

I was a little worried as my triple decker sandwich was an entirely  vegetarian sandwich and, in case you haven't read my previous posts, the man isn't  keen on vegetarian fare. Nevermind, I was determined to try.

Here's how it went.

Step One: Making my sandwich loaf. (click here for the recipe)  

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Step two: Making egg salad.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

water

1 tbsp mustard

1/2 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp chives, chopped fine

1/4 cup celery, chopped, coated with olive oila nd roasted for 10 mins.

salt and pepper

Place 2 eggs in a large saucepan and cover with cool water by about an inch. Slowly bring the water to boil over medium heat and then cover, remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs sit (covered) in the hot water for about 13 mins. Transfer to a bowl of cold water and let the eggs cool before you peel them. OR you could hold them under some running water and peel them immediately if you're in a hurry. 

Mash the eggs (after peeling, of course) with a fork, allowing some chunky bits. Add the mustard, mayo, chives, celery and, of course, salt and pepper and mix it together gently.

Step Three: Making the Parmesan chips (see pic above)

1/4 cup grated parmesan 

olive oil

baking tray

Grease the baking tray with olive oil. Gently spread the grated Parmesan cheese into a 6cm diameter circle. Sprinkle just enough to cover the area, don't mound the cheese too much. Repeat. Bake (150C) for about 8 to 10 mins or till golden brown, Remove and let the crisps cool and set.

Step Four: Removing leftovers from fridge and letting them cool to room temperature. 

Step Five: Assembling the sandwich: slice of bread/lettuce/egg salad/parmesan crisp/bread/thin layer of mash potato/carrots/bread.

Step Six: Presenting the sandwich

I did it! The sandwich was well appreciated and let's just say we won't be making many trips to the said sandwich shop any more!

Woohoo!