The Post-Thanksgiving Sandwich

White Bread Was Invented For The Post-Thanksgiving Sandwich

For your leftover-eating pleasure, we culled the sandwich-themed cookbooks in the library’s collection to find some over-the-top turkey sandwich recipes. Our findings? Slim pickings, when it comes to recipes for a reasonable and delicious turkey sandwich. The few recipes we found called for a host of ingredients and frying pan (spinning on the traditional “Monte Cristo”) or a summer’s day for barbequing and homemade coleslaw.

Perhaps New York Times food columnist Sam Sifton had it right when he told an interviewer, “The way it works with Thanksgiving leftovers is as follows: the best Thanksgiving sandwich is the first one that you eat. You eat it as soon as you get hungry again, in the kitchen, probably barefoot and when it’s dark. You open the fridge, adjust the light in the refrigerator and rip out some dark meat. You want a little dressing or stuffing…” (Sifton is the expert on such matters, by the way, as the author of Thanksgiving: How To Cook It Well. It’s a gem of a book – keep it in mind for next year!)

'wichcraft, by Tom Colicchio and Sisha Ortúzar, did offer a good-looking turkey sandwich recipe that involved a Ciabatta roll, 3 pieces of cooked bacon, a few slices of avocado, good-quality mayonnaise, and the following tasty condiment. I might make this ahead next year and serve it with the main dinner – just so there will be some leftover for that first turkey sandwich.

Balsamic Onion Marmalade
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it slides easily across the pan. Add the onions, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, until the onions are soft. Add the sugar and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the onions appear dry. Add the vinegar and reduce the heat to low. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, until the onions are soft and dry. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store the marmalade in the refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.

P.S. To learn the real story behind the invention of white bread, be sure to check-out this fascinating book: White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf. New Rochelle history lovers will find the book particularly interesting as the first packaged, sliced white bread was first mass produced (in 1910) by Ward Bakery. Yes, the same “Ward” as in New Rochelle’s Ward School and Ward Acres!

Contributor: Barbara Davis, Community Relations Coordinator @ NRPL and proud owner of 60+ cookbooks!