Pro Chefs Make Their Favorite Sandwiches

I like that.

Little less pepper-rica, maybe.

Yeah, I went a little hard on it.

Pepper-rica?

Paprika.

You say pap?

I thought you were saying pepper-ika.

I know what it looks like.

It's P-A-P, right?

Not P-E-P-P-E-R.

No, it's P-A, ain't it?

I say pepper-rica.

[laughing]

[Molly] Pepper-rica. [energetic music]

I'm so positive and excited to do this.

I love sandwiches. [laughs]

Big sandwich guy, I love 'em.

Who doesn't?

I like something that's like moderately crusty,

but nice and kind of soft on the inside.

A sandwich is like a little microcosm of a meal.

It's sort of the dish you make

when you don't have anything else.

I've had a lot of sandwiches in my life.

I just can't get enough of them.

Today we're in the test kitchen

making our favorite sandwiches.

[energetic music]

Hey guys, here in the test kitchen

and I'm gonna show you how to make

one of my favorite sandwiches.

We want to get the highest quality ingredients

you can get, all right?

It's just baguette, some good, cultured butter

nice and room temp so you can spread it.

And then I like to get a nice ham.

I know ham in France is like a very common thing.

Just the butter, ham, baguette kinda deal.

It's delicious, it's simple, it's wonderful.

This one's pretty fresh, it's nice,

but sometimes I even like to before cut it

heat 'em up a little bit in the oven

just to get 'em a little nice.

Let's do that real quick.

Boom, right in there.

It always reminds me, I worked at this deli a long time ago,

and this one guy would come in all the time,

and he always made a point, he said,

On both sides of the bread, he always wanted it buttered.

And at the time, I never, the folks I grew up with,

like my family [laughs],

no one was putting butter like as a condiment

like on a sandwich, but in certain areas,

it's very, very common.

I know wherever the hell this guy was from.

Great story, Brad.

Oh yeah, perfect.

Cultured butter is just like regular butter,

where you take cream and you separate it.

You separate the buttermilk from the solid fats,

which would be the butter, and cultured is when you take

that cream and you inoculate it with bacteria and yeast.

It gives off that lactic flavor, that lactic acid.

It's like when you get a real good butter

that's kinda tangy.

And now look, we'll put a little pepper on the bottom.

Just a little.

It's all about, for me, it's all about the little bundles.

I'm not trying to hear that.

Oh, just a little.

And here it'd be nice if you have the, oh, let's do it.

Frig it.

I got some sauerkraut. [laughs]

Imagine that.

So I'm gonna add a little bit.

This is a nice, little, spicy turmeric sauerkraut.

Okay, look, you'll get a nice little crunch.

That's the secret topper for sandwiches, you know?

People put the jarred in there, the pickled this.

So look, we got half with sauerkraut.

All right, and look, we got a party.

It's like 30 people on this shoot,

so we'll cut 'em into little thingies here.

And there you go.

Bread, butter, ham,

sauerkraut, butter, and bread.

[mumbling]

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Mm.

Sauerkraut optional.

It's delicious, but it doesn't really need it.

It's actually very good with it.

It's simple.

I knew it was gonna be good

because it's a fantastic sandwich.

[energetic music]

So, this is, looks like actual BA's best muffuletta.

I don't want just some squishy Italian hero roll.

I want something with a little bit of character to it.

So, I also love that you can basically assemble

this sandwich kind of large format,

and then cut it to serve.

I want meat kind of on the outsides,

and I want all the relish kind of like right in the middle.

This is genoa salami.

This is mortadella.

I mean, this is not like one of those Italian hero

like oil and vinegar situations, per se.

This is our olive salad, so tangy, pickled spicy peppers,

olives, shallot, garlic, all that stuff.

Just bringing a little bit of moisture,

lot of flavor, lot of punch.

We've got prosciutto, and then I've got,

how are we pronouncing this, guys?

[Female] Cabagollo.

Cabagollo?

All right, we're going full Cabagollo on it, all right?

I just find the provolone gives a little bit of sharpness,

and the mozzarella gives you

a little bit more moisture, you know?

Just keep going.

If there's anything that flatbread taught us

in probably a totally unrelated episode

that will have no meaning to you whatsoever,

just keep going.

[Male] Let's go.

From here, you can wrap this, okay?

It's only gonna get better.

BA's best muffaletta.

Make some nice, fat wedges.

Got genoa salami, I've got mortadella,

cabagollo, and prosciutto.

Got provolone, I've got mozzarella, olive salad.

[energetic music]

Today, I'm gonna show you one of my favorite sandwiches.

It is actually inspired by a recipe

that is online called the nicoise toast.

So, it's an open-faced, a smokey, sort of paprika mayo.

Oil-packed tuna, olives, marinated shallots and herbs.

Gonna cut my bread.

I think I'm gonna give it a little toast.

So, the paprika mayo is kind of like

a cheater's aioli situation.

♪ Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo ♪

I'm gonna do a little bit of grated garlic,

a little bit of smoked paprika, a splash of sherry vinegar.

Little bit of salt.

These have already been soaked

in a little bit of lemon juice, salt and sugar,

so they're kind of lightly pickling.

Nice, high quality, oil-packed tuna.

I'm gonna drain the oil.

Okay, so I'm trying not to break it up too much.

Keeping it in nice flakes,

and then I've chosen to add also oil-cured black olives

for a little bit of a salty, briny situation.

Just seasoning the tuna a bit

'cause it's been sitting in oil,

so it could use a little bit of lemon juice

to brighten it up.

Mayo on both sides, duh.

I guess I can start adding this.

Okay, so these are about eight minute eggs.

This is a really weird knife I'm using,

but I'm gonna just go with it.

I'm cutting them.

Seasoning the yolks, always,

and then we'll do some pickly numbers.

My torn olives, and then some little dill sprigs.

And then I'm gonna give the whole thing

just a little squeeze of lemon juice

and a little drizzle of olive oil

to keep it all nice and saucy.

And voila, we'll call this a Spanish banat.

Am I gonna get in trouble for that?

Mayonnaise on the bottom, some really high quality tuna,

sliced, medium boiled eggs, pickled shallots,

oil-cured black olives, and herbs.

Anybody want some of my sandwich?

What's in it?

Yeah, I'm starving.

[Molly] Come over here, it's really yummy.

Little shallot on there?

Yeah, pickled shallots, and black olives, sliced eggs--

I love black olives.

Tuna.

Obviously, tuna.

Mm-hmm.

You can have this breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

That's like right now.

It's between breakfast and lunch.

[energetic music]

This one is kind of a riff off of one

that I had growing up.

I think it's a famous sandwich shop,

but it's called Bianca's.

This is not the exact way they made it.

They had more of an Italian bread,

but I'm just kind of using just some,

I'm slicing some white bread up.

So, the components are sliced white bread,

some Swiss cheese, mortadella, turkey.

I have some peppered turkey, but kind of any turkey.

Really thin, you want 'em kind of nice and drapey.

So, first off, I'm just going to

brown the bread a little bit.

Golden, almost golden brown.

I don't like to take it too far.

That feels right.

I just want 'em one side toasted.

I'm gonna make a sauce.

[Male] Do you measure on your sandwiches?

No, never.

I'm gonna add some dijon mustard.

I'm gonna add just a splash of the juice.

Okay, coarsely torn.

Just kind of dress it.

Salt and vinegar is kind of classic tool of Italian subs.

I'm just gonna spread the mayonnaise, mustard,

and a little bit of the pepperoncini juice.

I don't like it kind of layered.

I want it kind of drapey just so each bite varies.

Some Swiss, two layers.

And then flip it.

I would say it's inspired by childhood.

Stoner vibes, 'cause I was former stoner.

There's so much texture going on

between the fresh, crunchy, watery iceberg,

and then like a bit of heat from the pepperoncinis,

both in the juice, chilies themselves,

and then the jalapeno chips.

And then you get really good bites of fatty mortadella,

Swiss cheese, and the peppered turkey.

Hmm, so good.

[energetic music]

So, my sandwich is a fried chicken sandwich.

The best, I think I got the best sandwich.

We're being honest here, right?

So, I like to use a Martin's potato bun

'cause it's sweet and squishy.

This has been lightly toasted.

I'm going to make a little condiment here.

A little kicked up mayo.

So, I always use Hellmann's.

To kind of lighten up the mayonnaise,

I'm stirring in a little bit of labneh.

It gives it some tang and acidity.

I'm gonna spike it with a little mustard oil.

When you smell it, it's horseradishy.

It's not like your typical spicy mustard,

so it's really great in rich dishes

to really cut it, kick it up, perk it up.

A lot of desi chuts have mustard oil and cilantro,

so it felt good here.

Felt like it needed to be here for me.

The main driving force behind all the flavors is this stuff.

This is called idli podi, and it's a chutney masala.

So, this is my sauce.

It's very, very vibrant, perky,

and it's gonna be great with this chicken.

I like to use kind of too much.

Generous, generous.

This is a chicken thigh that's been marinated

just like southern style.

Hot sauce, buttermilk, dredged in flour,

but the twist is it's fried in ghee.

Woo, so that adds a nice nutty flavor.

And I'm going to dust it in this idli podi.

It's already looking pretty good, right?

No?

For me, this is the correct ratio of chicken to bun.

I want my chicken popping out.

Shredded lettuce.

I really like iceberg for stuff like this

'cause I don't want flavor or complexity.

I just want crunch.

We're gonna get all this lettuce on here.

Just you wait and see.

Flip, double flip.

We have squishy, toasted Martin's potato bun,

kicked up mayo with labneh, mustard oil,

and chopped cilantro.

Crispy, fried chiken thigh dusted in idli podi,

and crispy shrettuce.

Mm-hmm.

So, you really get a lot of punch you in the face,

mustardy heat from that mustard oil,

which is really nice against the creamy, fatty labneh.

My favorite thing is the idli podi

adds really nice nutty flavor.

You get like a kind of a little umami flavor bomb happening.

It's delicious, it's wonderful, I love it.

Best sandwich.

I think I won this one.

I finally won a round.

[energetic music]

Today I'm gonna make one of my favorite sandwiches.

California veggie.

It's a really good vegetarian sandwich,

and it's really crunchy,

and it has all kinds of things that I love.

I have a lot of romaine,

and a little bit of this buttermilk dressing.

The avocado, Chris' version, you smash it a little bit

and then it sticks to the bread.

So, it's gotta be served on hippie bread.

Something grainy, and seedy, and whole wheaty.

I'm just a mustard and mayonnaise person.

I put it on all of my sandwiches.

I usually toast the bread, unless it's really great bread

that doesn't need to be toasted.

So a baguette that you bought that morning.

So, I think I'm gonna put this like this.

Maybe a little drizzle of dressing?

Why not?

Oh, the lettuce.

Never to forget.

Ready?

Ha-ha!

California veggie sandwich.

Seedy bread, smashed, seasoned avocado,

then we have a layer of dressed,

crunchy romaine, pickled vegetables,

fantastically thin cucumbers, also dressed,

muenster cheese, an assortment of delicious,

fresh sprouts, mayonnaise and mustard on both sides,

and it should be pretty drippy.

Mm-hmm, best eaten alone.

[energetic music]

My favorite sandwich is from Court Street Grocers,

which is this amazing sandwich shop chain in Brooklyn.

In my opinion, the very best sandwich they do

is called a broccoli reuben, which basically,

has all the elements of a regular reuben,

but instead of corned beef, you use roasted broccoli.

Fundamentally important thing with reubens,

use good rye bread.

So, the first thing I'm gonna do

is to just butter one side of these.

I'm using a cast-iron griddle

that spans the length of two burners.

It's the best thing for any kind of diner-style food.

So, this is roasted broccoli that's been seasoned

just with salt, and pepper, and olive oil.

They've just become really beautifully charred,

and now we're gonna melt some Swiss cheese

on top of them on the skillet.

I'm just gonna put, I don't know,

feels like a two slice kind of day,

and cover this with a bowl,

and then the cheese is going to melt super quickly.

I'm only doing it on one side

because I don't want the whole thing

to be super crunchy all the way through.

Very carefully, ooh yeah.

Let's see if I can do this all in one go.

Not quite, close enough.

So, toasted sides faced down.

Humpback sauce is going on both sides.

So, okay, I'm gonna take my cheesy broccoli,

and then on the other side I'm gonna put some sauerkraut.

And then I'm just gonna close this.

Press it down a little bit.

Okay, so you've got sauce, cheese, broccoli, kraut,

more sauce, buttered bread.

It's truly like the perfect bite.

It's very good.

[energetic music]

Hi, I'm Gaby, and today from the test kitchen

I'm gonna show you how to make

one of my favorite sandwiches.

It's actually most like a snack I do at home

whenever I'm hungry, and all these ingredients

you will find them at any time in my house.

Today I have this nice ciabatta.

So now, I have to wait until the bread is toasted.

Let's talk about something.

Apparently, the original sandwich

comes from the 1870s, or 1800s, or even before,

from this gambler in England, who refused to leave the table

because he didn't want to mark the cards

with his fingerprints, he will order a piece of cooked meat

and asked for a piece of toasted bread,

and put it in between there

so he could still be playing cards.

So, that's why everybody started knowing that's a sandwich.

This is really good butter.

Thank you, guys.

I feel special.

Good amounts of butter.

I'm known for putting tons of butter on my bread,

to the point I feel like I eat butter with bread.

Really fancy mortadella.

I never tried it.

I'm gonna put a lot on it.

There.

Oh my God, it smells delicious.

I have an easy trick that I've been dying to show on camera.

So, if you go to a picnic

and you don't have a bowl for your potato chips,

and you're afraid of too many people

putting their hands on the bag,

not knowing what they have on their hands

this makes things easier.

Ta-da!

This is what I go for when I'm hungry and upset.

Not upset, I don't eat upset,

but when I'm hungry I always have these ingredients at home.

I'm taking this to my desk.

Hmm, so good.

Have it.

[energetic music]

We're here in the test kitchen, and I'm gonna show you

how I make one of my favorite sandwiches.

And let's do it, yeah.

Start with bread.

They call bread the foundation of the sandwich.

My foundation is focaccia.

Heavenly, pillowy texture.

So, we're gonna start with this guy, breaded chicken cutlet.

You could slice and fan out.

I like, for the sake of the cross-section, the photo,

I like a full chicken cutlet on there.

Cheese-wise, fresh mozzarella.

If you wanted to do this warm

and melt the mozzarella on top, you could.

I'm deli style.

I'm all deli style all day.

Cold cheese, thinly sliced.

You don't need to be pretty with the cheese.

It's just about covering up the meat.

This is an Italian deli staple.

It's leaking juice.

Whatever.

Red bell pepper, roasted.

We are gonna slice it and just kinda drape these across.

The thing that makes a sandwich great is the condiments.

Very roughly chopped.

Some Castelveltrano olives.

In true Italian deli fashion, Calabrian chilis.

Mayo.

These are gonna get mixed up.

For a little bit of freshness,

we're gonna go with some pesto.

And again, this is not about looks.

Okay, last thing.

I always think a sandwich should have

a little bit of raw onion

if it's going to be a cold sandwich.

Gives you that kind of crisp, clean, spicy element to it.

Okay, always a bit of pressure.

Push down.

My last name's Delaney.

Sounds Irish, it is Irish, but I'm mostly Italian.

This is the Delaney Italian chicken cutlet sandwich.

The moment of truth here.

Oh yeah, look at the layers here.

Focaccia, cutlet, mozz, roasted red pepper,

onion, olive, Calabrian chili, mayo, pesto spread.

That's good.

I made a lot of sandwiches in my day.

Wasn't surprised this was good.

It was always gonna be good.

[energetic music]

To make a good sandwich is more of a toast,

but they said it counted

as long as I could eat it with my hands.

Chili cheese toast is kind of a very standard thing

you'll see in Indian household,

and for the version I grew up with,

has tomatoes on the bottom.

Usually some kind of crusty bread to start,

cheese, but not just any cheese.

Amul cheese.

Almost like cheddar with a plot twist

is how I would describe amul cheese.

Oh, boom, that is amul cheese.

Actually, you know what?

I think this is just gonna, nope.

[laughing]

It grates really beautifully, and it melts really nicely.

I'm gonna do nice and thin slices.

I like to nestle some chilies in there for a little spice

'cause chaat masala isn't that spicy on its own.

Tomatoes go down first.

Then I'm gonna put the cheese.

I like when it spills over because then these parts

get a little crisp and crunchy,

and you can kinda just have those as a snack.

I'm gonna touch these chilies with my hands,

although that's not advisable.

I don't know how long this'll take.

Let's start with five minutes, and see how it goes.

This is what we're looking for.

The toast is nice and toasty.

We've got some little charred bits.

This is the largest box of chaat masala I've ever seen.

I love it.

You'll find it in a lot of Indian street food.

I like to go really liberal with my chaat masala.

Oh, we're going really liberal today. [laughs]

There's that one, there's that one.

Mm, oh my God.

The bread is just like a nice, neutral, sturdy base.

Got the tang of the tomatoes.

The chilies are spicy, a little charred.

And the cheese is like golden and bubbly.

And then you just hit it with chaat masala.

Oh, yum.

[energetic music]

I wish I had a glass of milk right now.