National Sandwich Day - Recipes

It's National Sandwich Day every November 3rd. Well, in the cheapskate chateau, it's Sandwich Day any time of the year - and you've come to the right place to get your fill! So read on and click on any recipe name that meets your fancy, and get the goods right here.

Egg Salad Sandwich

John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, is the namesake and is thought to have been one of the first to put some cooked meat between slices of bread while on a gambling binge. I guess they didn't have pizza delivery in England during the 1600s. It started simple, evolving to decadent.

The winter holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, so bookmark my Ultimate Turkey Sandwich recipe to use up the dinner table leftovers. It's a versatile recipe, so make it your way. I like sliced turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. What makes this holiday hoagie over the top is the addition of a sauteed slice of crunchy turkey skin - I like to use the whole bird, so don't let your dinner guest leave it on the plate. Check out my recipe video below and click on the name above for all the tasty directions.



Jews know how to make a sandwich, and here in LA, the temple to the open-face is served at Cantor's and Langer's Delicatessens.

Now, the sandwiches are expensive there, but they are so stacked with corned beef, brisket, turkey, tongue, etc. that you can easily get two meals out of one sandwich. But if you have been following my blog posts then you may have seen my cheap$kate recipes for Homemade Corned Beef and Pastrami Sandwiches.

Corned Beef Sandwich

I always buy a few on-sale packages to freeze corned beef during St. Patrick's Day - yep, my recipes are a mashup of Jewish and Irish cultures, so get out your green yarmulke and get to cookin'.

They are not that difficult to make, and if you are on a budget, then do it my way. I take a shortcut and start with already corned beef from the grocery store. For corned beef, you boil the beef brisket until fork-tender, then slice it up. Pastrami is the same, but with a short smoking stage. 

In my Homemade Pastrami recipe video below, I show you how to make corned beef from scratch, but if you can find an already corned beef then go right to the boiling and smoking stage.



For my vegetarian visitors, my sister Denise makes a mean veggie burger made with eggplant. Just watch the video below than also includes a shopping spree in my local 99c only Store for all the ingredients that make up an Eggplant Burger.



For my next sandwich it all in the family, that is my nephew Chef Matt rustles up a Cajun specialty, an Alligator Po'boy.  I suspect not many of you will make this, but the recipe can easily be adjusted by substituting alligator with shrimp or oysters. It is the most outrageous sandwich of the group, and worth a viewing - just for the uniqueness of the bayou reptile ingredient.



A Patty Melt is the most decadent of sandwiches. There is no nutritious lettuce and tomato, just butter, caramelized onions and a slab of fried ground meat. But I do make a less fatty version using ground turkey instead of ground beef.

 Patty Melt Sandwich

You can visit my blog post or just watch the video below to get all the tasty details.



A BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is one of my favs - it's what we served for our wedding day. I get whole pork shoulder for less than 99 cents per pound at my local Latin market, too! If you have an ethnic market in your neighborhood, do check it out for interesting food ingredients, often cheaper than you can get at a regular market.

Pulled Pork just needs a simple dry rub made with inexpensive dried spices like: cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and sweet brown sugar.

A typical Southern Pulled Pork Sandwich is dressed with sliced raw onion, sour pickles, and BBQ sauce. Just check out my recipe video below to see how I do it.



I make Cuban Sandwiches with tender slices of pork from a citrus-marinated slow-roasted pork shoulder, too. The sandwich is uniquely constructed of Cuban roast pork, ham, Swiss Cheese, pickle slices and smeared with mustard, and all between a sliced browned bread roll.

Cuban Roast Pork

Cuban Sandwich

You have to break a few eggs for the next sammies: a simple Egg Salad and Fried Egg Sandwich, plus a Homemade Egg McMuffin.

Egg Sandwich

My Homemade Egg McMuffin recipe will save you trips to McDonalds, and you can slice the ham as thick as you like, plus go ahead and add an extra slice of cheese.

I'll end this blog post with live music and picnic sandwiches. My wife and I caught a great free concert by songbird Aimee Mann in a seaside park at Marina del Rey. I brought along Finger Sandwiches made with Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Salami with Dijon Mustard, and Ham with Butter.

We set out a blanket, opened a bottle of vino, and ate our sandwiches while Amiee Mann serenaded the picnickers. Just check out the video below to join our picnic.



So click on any recipe name above if you have the appetite for one of my delish and cheap$kate sandwiches.