Monday, July 20, 2009

Le Torpille du Matin

The two intrepid adventurers awoke today with a fire in their hearts; it wasn't heartburn, but rather a strange, foreign feeling, known to some as "ambition." Armed with this new and different sensation, the Treu brothers readily descended upon their first task - a Breakfast of Champions that wasn't Wheaties. And thus, the Culinary Conquistadors set out on their first epic quest: breakfast.

Anyways... I'm Matty, and this morning we had our first experience in investigative cooking. Since this is the first time we've done this, we thought it would be suitable to start with breakfast; or maybe we were just excited to try this. Whatever the case, we found ourselves at the kitchen counter with a baguette, a loaf of sourdough, lots of salami, some eggs, and various cheeses. We decided that whatever we made, it would have to include egg - Luke is a self-proclaimed egg-frying champion. After a little brainstorming and bad ideas, we came up with a good one; a breakfast sub of sorts, made from a baguette.

It was the baguette that prompted the name for our creation: Le Torpille du Matin (The Morning Torpedo.) Despite its delightfully suggestive nature, it seemed pretty promising.

Ingredients:
  • Baguette (about 4 inches for 1 person)
  • 1 fried egg
  • 2-3 slices Genoa salami (interchangable)
  • 1-2 slices Provolone cheese (interchangable)
  • Spices: we made one with oregano and one with paprika to compare, but use whatever you like.
  • Butter
Directions:

  1. Put some butter in a non-stick frying pan, and fry that egg. Our resident egg-frying expert, Luke, says not to bust the yolk too much when flipping. He also highly endorses salt and pepper on the egg.
  2. Turn your piece o' baguette on its side and slice it down the middle, like a sub. Butter the inside of the baguette.
  3. Put on the salami slices first, then the cheese. Apparently putting it on the bottom lets out the flavor or something.
  4. Sprinkle on your choice of spices; we used oregano on one and paprika on the other. The oregano was much easier to taste we thought, but don't be afraid to experiment. Remember that this sandwich will taste pretty mild, and the flavor will pretty much be determined by what spice you add and how much.
  5. Optional But Recommended: toast or bake it for a little while to melt the cheese and release the salami juices. Mmm, salami juices.
  6. Add your egg to the sandwich, and poke the yolk to release eggy goodness. Eat.
Thoughts

When we made this, our portions were about 6 inches long. We soon realized that this was probably way too much, and we now recommend not making much more than 4 inches; it's a lot of food, you'd be surprised. Just because you can eat 12 inches of Subway does not mean you can eat 12 inches of egg.

Matty - Tastes like you would expect; it's pretty mild. I would recommend you go a little on the heavier side in terms of spices, for flavor. I wouldn't suggest much more than 4 inches; this is very filling.

Luke - Pretty mild, but good. Could substitute a harder salami or ham I suspect. Perhaps we could have used more pepper or salt on the eggs. Agreed, very filling.

Final Thoughts: Was it worth it?

M - It was interesting and exotic, so I'd recommend doing it once, but I don't know if I'd make one again... If you have the time on your hands, then it's probably worth it. Flavor-wise it was mild, but that's how breakfast is supposed to be; the flavor is really controlled by what spice you put on and how much of it. It was definitely fun though, to pretend to be Subway-God.

L - Pretty much what Matty said. More spices = more flavor, keep that in mind, and perhaps combine it with some fruit for additional sweetness.

*************************************************************

All-in-all, our first creation turned out to be a success, and there were no casualties along the way. Once again, we will be the first to admit that we are inexperienced, so experiment with our experiment. I have just realized that I'm pretty much writing a book here, so I'm gonna call it a day. We'll be back with more exciting adventures into the world of delicious. Tune in next time, same bat-time, same bat-...blog?

3 comments:

  1. What kind of cheese were you using?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wait, never mind. I see provolone now. You might have wanted to use a sharper cheese if the flavor was too mild, or even just a sharper variety of provolone; smoked or piquant possibly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had thought of that actually, forgot to write it down. Good point.

    ReplyDelete