Post-Thanksgiving Recovery

Greetings, Readers!

I hope your Thanksgiving was excellent, and that your Black Friday Thanksgiving Leftover sandwiches were equally enjoyable. 

There's something about that sandwich that's so enjoyable. Maybe it's the fact that all of the ingredients are readily at your disposal. Or maybe the fact that all of the ingredients of a Turkey Day dinner go so well together on a plate, why not just pile them between two slices of your favorite bread (rye or sourdough for me, please). 

Besides this dish though, there was a quick review I wanted to put out there. A new barbecue restaurant has opened up on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City called Barrel and Ashes. Even though I didn't try out any of their sandwiches on a recent visit, I did try their smoked brisket, which they do provide as a sandwich as well. 

Apologies as I hadn't expected to visit here, I wasn't expecting a sandwich trip.

The brisket was tender, juicy and absolutely delicious. A permeating smoke flavor with some sweetness were the main sensations with an underlying buttery flavor from the melty fat bits throughout the slices. Before we knew what was happening, the meat was gone.

I will definitely be returning here, and most definitely to give their sandwiches an actual try. While I haven't sampled the bread the sandwiches are on, I can't give this trip a full 5 Stars, but if the bread is even half as good as the meat itself, I can only imagine it'll easily grab my highest rating. 

Stop in, have some hoe cake, and enjoy some excellent barbecue.

Until next week...

Smoked Brisket

**** 1/2 Stars

Barrel and Ashes

11801 Ventura Blvd. 

Studio City, CA 91604

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving tomorrow with your family and friends. 

Eat, drink, and be thankful.

And on the following day, enjoy all of those delicious leftover sandwiches!

Post-Thanksgiving Recovery

Greetings, Readers!

Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving with family and/or friends and ate plenty of delicious food. I think one of my favorite aspects about the food on this holiday is the absolute variety and styles that come together, especially when friends and family members bring their own contributions to the table.

Oh, and the pies. Definitely the pies.

After the night is over though, I look forward to the days of leftover turkey and reheated mashed potatoes and stuffing. Here on a sandwich blog though, wouldn't it be good to craft a delicious sandwich to enjoy?

So here we go. Here's what I enjoy as a sandwich in the days after this holiday of eating and thanks.

I like to take a thick cut bread, something with a bit of heft to it. Sourdough is a good one to contrast a lot of the savory flavors in the sandwich, as long as you can slice it yourself so that it's thick enough to stand up to what we're about to put on it. Lightly butter what will be the outside of the sandwich and place both slices on a baking tray. Preheat to 400 degrees.

I take some mashed potatoes and spread it on one slice of one of the pieces of bread. Then I will pile on slices of dark meat turkey (add whichever type you'd like though) and stuffing. If you'd like top top that off with some thicker gravy, that would be a great addition too. I would suggest for the first few minutes in the oven that you keep the top slice of bread off so that the interior ingredients can cook faster. After a few minutes, put the top slice on and press down.

Ovens may vary, so just keep an eye on the sandwich but definitely less than ten minutes. You want nice warm ingredients and toasty bread. If the ingredients aren't as warm as you like, you might want to try to warm them a bit before crafting the sandwich.

Cranberry sauce can be added, but I suggest doing it after the sandwich has been cooked, either as a side or a cool contrast to the sandwich on top. Sweet potatoes can also be used if you'd like a slightly sweet contrast on the sandwich as compared to the savory main course ingredients.

Grab a crisp winter-style beer for the side too. Something like my new favorite Jubelale by Deschutes Brewery or Anchor Brewing's Christmas Ale.

So readers, that's my idea of a delicious leftover Thanksgiving sandwich. What's yours?

Until next week...