THE CHEF FROM HELL

The road to nirvana takes on many forms and eating a muffaletta sandwich is one of the best ways to get there!

"What the heck is a muffaletta anyhow?"  It's an italian style sandwich that's packed with sliced salami, capicola, provolone cheese and a garlic laden olive salad.  All of this is stuffed into a round loaf of italian style bread (I live in Long Island and we call it a "bishop's loaf").  The name of the sandwich, derived from the shape of bread that it's served on, is Italian in origin, meaning "little muffin".

Muffaletta History:  The creation of this sandwich is usually credited to a man named Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant, who began making muffalettas at The Central Grocery in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1906.  However, some folks dispute this, claiming that Italian street vendors were selling a version of the muffaletta sandwich just after the Civil War.  Whatever the case, it's a classic American Regional sandwich!

A Matter of Taste:  While the majority of folks swear by the version of the muffaletta that's produced by The Central Grocery (923 Decatur Street), I am a champion of the one prepared by THE NAPOLEON HOUSE (500 Chartres Street).  The difference?  The Napoleon House runs their muffaletta under the broiler and serves the sandwich warm-- I think that makes a big difference in the flavors of the meats.

For my version of the muffaletta, I've "tweaked" some of the traditional preparation techniques so if you wanna declare my muffaletta un-authentic... well, that's ok with me.  Hoo Hah!

Ingredients:

1 cup Giardeneria, chopped coarse (Italian pickled vegetables)

1/2 cup pitted Green Olives, chopped coarse

2 TBS pitted Black Olives, chopped coarse

1/4 cup Roasted Garlic

Note:  For my recipe, go to How To Roast Garlic

1/4 cup Spanish Onion, diced

1 TBS fresh Parsley leaves, diced

1 TBS fresh Lemon Juice

2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 round loaf Italian Bread (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1/4 lb Geonoa Salami, sliced thin

1/4 lb Capicola Ham, sliced thin

1/4 lb Provolone Cheese, sliced thin

1/4 lb Swiss Cheese, sliced thin

Dry Spice Mix:

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp ground Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Basil

1/4 tsp Thyme

Cooking Procedure: 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the dry spice mix

Mix well and set aside

In a medium sized bowl, combine the following: the giardeneria, green & black olives, roasted garlic, onion, parsley, lemon juice & the dry spice mix

Using a spoon, toss well

Pulse this vegetable mixture for 10 seconds in the food processor

Cut the loaf of bread in half, horizontally

Layer the bottom half of the bread with the vegetable mixture

Place the sliced meats on top of the vegetable mixture

Place the sliced cheeses on top of the meat

Put the other half of the bread on top of the cheeses

Tightly wrap the sandwich in aluminum foil

Place the sandwich on a sheet pan

Place the sheet pan in the oven

Bake the sandwich for 15 to 20 minutes

Remove the sandwich from the oven

Remove the sandwich from the aluminum foil

Cut the sandwich into pie wedges for serving

Get into your "food car" & drive to Nirvana

This can serve two hungry people or four "sensible eaters"  (heh,heh...)