These sandwiches are a standard at fancy hotels and resorts around the world and are one of the truly great meals to order from the room service menu in the middle of the night. The club sandwich is an elegant treat including an extra layer of bread that allows you to create two sandwich sections paired with one another. In the case of this club, there is a distinct protein section with crispy bacon, cheese, and butter and a fancy salad section with ham, turkey, thick tomato slices, and a hint of lettuce. The fantastic sandwich reviewer Evan Saunders has enjoyed countless club sandwiches around the globe and this rare and beautiful sandwich is his favorite.
Ingredients:
- 3 slices of Shokupan or firm white bread
- 2 eggs
- 4 slices of bacon
- 2 slices of Swiss cheese
- 2 slices of turkey breast
- 2 slices of ham
- 3 wide slices of Roma tomato
- 2 leaves of iceberg lettuce
- 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon of room temperature butter
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- Squeeze of mustard
Instructions:
- Start by removing the crusts of your bread, then cut your tomato slices and lettuce. This recipe also strongly benefits from making your own mayonnaise, so definitely follow the recipe for Rich Mayonnaise earlier in this book.
- Fry your bacon until crispy in a pan, and then toast your pieces of bread until very lightly browned. Quickly fry up the two eggs until over medium-hard, with a mostly solid core.
- On the piece of bread that will be the bottom, place your cheese, followed by the bacon, then the eggs. Butter the bottom of the piece of bread that will be placed on top of the egg, then press it firmly to form your lower sandwich section. Lightly spread half of your mayonnaise on top of the sandwich and top with your ham and turkey. Carefully place your tomato slices, making sure to salt and pepper them to bring out their maximum flavor.
- Cover the tomatoes with lettuce and spread your mayonnaise and mustard on the top slice of bread. Press the sandwich together firmly, and cut into quarters, along the diagonals of the sandwich. It is a fairly commonplace action to push a skewer of some sort through each quarter sandwich, to help keep everything together.
- Club sandwiches are often enjoyed with a heaped side of French fries and an iced tea or lemonade.
