Tuesday, July 21, 2009

GQ's Ultimate Summer Sandwich: Tomato Revelation


So this month's issue of GQ had a recipe for a summer sandwich* which can only really be enjoyed best for a short time - the simple tomato sandwich. I thought I'd be able to find the recipe on their site to post on here but I searched with no avail... I guess I'll manually post it... it isn't exactly difficult to produce.

- Two slices of country white bread - Don't use normal sandwich bread, I tried and it is simply two small and frail to really support the large tomato slices
- A few of the multicolored tomatoes that are in season (but only for the next month or two) - I chose a green, a red, and a yellow tomato, but you can mix them up. Just be sure to have variety
-Mayonnaise - I used light Hellman's but I don't suppose it matters too much
- Sea salt
- Ground pepper

And that is it. Basic ingredients, but a very seasonal (and fairly healthy I imagine) sandwich with a lot of color. Take your bread, toast it. Spread the mayo on the bread while it is still hot to release some of the oils. Slice your tomatoes about 1/4" thick; I put one green, red, and yellow slice on each piece of bread. grind a generous bit of sea salt and pepper on top. Eat open-faced. Enjoy.

I had my doubts about this one... tomato alone seemed a bit boring and a bit, well, squishy... but I was surprised how good it was. The salt and pepper augment the natural flavors, and different colors of tomato do have distinct tastes based on acidity, sweetness, etc. I liked it, and as I still have a good bit of the tomatoes left, I'm sure I'll be trying it again... consider trying it yourself. It's only summer for so long...

*Credit to Andy Ward of GQ for the original article which spawned this experiment

3 comments:

  1. Awesome recipe. I tried it myself this afternoon after I read your post, except I substituted a couple chunks/slices of mozzarella instead of the mayonnaise and drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over the whole thing.

    Great success Luke.

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  2. this is one of my fav summer sandwiches! I am glad you discovered it and are passing it on to others :)
    -Ingrid

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  3. I thought about mozzarella! I'm glad you struggle with what to call mozzarrella chunks as well... they aren't really slices?? But sorta...

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