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Have I professed my love for Thomas Keller yet??

I think I have! Remember how I sung his praises when we made the chicken dumpling soup and all the times that we have made his buttermilk fried chicken recipe?? … I might hope to be able to take cooking lessons with him one day. That would be awesome!

Well… he strikes again!

A few years ago, after watching Spanglish, I made my husband and I the sandwich that Adam Sandler ate on the movie that was developed by Thomas Keller just for that movie. It looks SO darn tasty with the side of an ice cold beer, late at night and I had dreams about that sandwich until I finally decided to make it for myself!

It was the largest disappointment on a plate in a long time…!

Everything was rather bland and the sandwich certainly didnt stand out against a regular B.L.T. so I didn’t really feel the need to make it ever again.

Until recently that is.

Here’s the thing about pregnancy, you crave all sorts of food and things taste ridiculously odd or fantastic at random and it really gets you looking for new foods (whether you know it or not) to satisfy all sorts of cravings you didn’t know you had! It means that I have been thinking about food non-stop, even more so than when I’m not pregnant. Lately I have been working on recipes that I have made and have had issues with and looking for ways to improve upon them.

Over the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday “weekend” my husband and I planned out meals for a week and went shopping for them so we wouldn’t forget to go to the store if it closed for a few days for the occasion and I decided to give the Spanglish sandwich another shot. But with some modifications.

First, I was going to make peppery, maple caramelized bacon.

Second, the tomatoes needed to be marinated in a fantastic vinaigrette!

Thirdly, I needed to find a cheese that has some stand-out flavor that would stand-up to all the rest of the ingredients.

With these changes, I was certain the sandwich would have much more pronounced flavors and just make it outta this world! Just without the ice cold beer – for now anyways!

I was right!

It is a bit more intensive to make this sandwich because it is partially hot (fried egg) and takes a couple more steps to get relatively easy to cook ingredients to become flavored in a way that would just take this sandwich to another level, it is certainly worth your while!

You can watch Thomas Keller and Adam Sandler make the sandwich here …. the recipe, with my modifications, follow!

The finished sandwich… my egg was fried through since I can’t have runny yolks for the time being…

If you have never seen the movie, you should! Tea Leoni is just great in it, you have to love AND hate her and it’s refreshing to see Adam Sandler in a fairly uncharacteristically serious role in a comedy! But in the meantime? Enjoy making this sandwich! It’s perfect for a hot summer evening with an ice cold beer, one of the only meals that I will drink a beer with!

Ingredients: makes 2 sandwiches, adapted from Thomas Keller

  • 4 slices of bacon
  • 1/2 C maple syrup
  • 1 tsp (or more to taste) dijon mustard
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 4 slices of Monterey Jack cheese or other cheese with pronounced flavor (we used a smoked cheddar)
  • 4 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (pain de campagne)
  • 1 TBS mayonnaise
  • 4 sliecs of tomato
  • 1 TBS apple cider vineagar
  • 1 TBS dijon mustard
  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • 2 leaves of butter lettuce (or round lettuce, as its referred to in the UK)
  • 2 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Lay the bacon on a cooling rack set on top of a foil-lined baking sheet so that the slices aren’t touching each other. In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and dijon mustard until emulsified, adding salt and pepper to taste. Brush the tops of the bacon slices generously with this maple syrup mix. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove, brush the other side even more generously with the maple syrup mixture and pop back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes until each slice is crispy or to your liking. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit while you prepare the rest of the sandwich.

Turn the oven’s broiler on. Places the slices of cheese on one side of the toasted bread. Place the bread in the oven under the broiler to melt it until it is oozing, bubbly and develops little golden patches all over.

Spread mayo on the other slice of bread, topping it with the bacon and lettuce.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard and olive oil – seasoning with salt and pepper to taste, until emulsified. Slip your tomato slices into the vinaigrette, tossing to coat then put the whole thing in the fridge to chill, or use as is after letting it sit a bit so the tomatoes can soak up all that the vinaigrette has to offer. Once you are happy with the tomatoes, shake off a bit and stack on top of the slice of bread with the bacon.

On a non-stick skillet, melt 2 TBS butter over medium heat. Fry the egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set, but keeping the yolk runny.

Slide the finished egg on top fo the lettuce, top with the other slice of bread (cheese-side down now folks) and place the sandwich on a plate, slicing it in half so that the yolk runs down the sandwich.

Buen Provecho!

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