There comes a time when most of us face the prospect of eating a meal alone at home. An all-too-common response is to play down the opportunity by picking up something mundane from a fast-food emporium and consuming it in front of a television set. Stop! Consider the opportunity you have been presented. Seize the moment. You have a chance to be self-indulgent, to consider only yourself in terms of what food you choose and when, where and with what you consume it. You have a chance to be uninhibited. Dress in a tux or dine in the nude. Forgo tableware. Drink your beverage of choice straight from the bottle. Chow down on a forbidden pleasure or a comfort food recollected from childhood.
I’ve been known to eat an entire head of iceberg lettuce with Catalina dressing, something not allowed on the gourmet dining circuit, and saute a cholesterol-rich veal kidney. If I can find the raisins, I make and consume a full recipe of rice pudding.
One of the most rewarding culinary categories in which the momentarily wacky home-alone cook can play is the sandwich. Unfortunately, the revered comic-strip sandwich impresario Dagwood Bumstead, creator of the ever-changing Dagwood sandwich, has faded into the role of a hen-pecked hubby.
Turning from his more-is-better approach, I located a brilliant minimalist whose single-minded approach to the summertime sandwich is inspired. For your delectation, I am presenting two of Ernest Matthew Mickler’s very laid-back recipes from his memorable book, “White Trash Cooking.”
KITCHEN SINK TOMATO SANDWICH
Makes one
1. In the peak of the tomato season, chill 1 very large or 2 medium tomatoes that have been vine ripened and have a good acidy bite to their taste.
2. Take two slices of bread. Coat them with 1/4 inch of good mayonnaise. On one piece of bread, [place a] slice [of] tomato 1/4 inch thick. Salt and pepper that layer. Add another layer of sliced tomato, and again salt and pepper. Place the other piece of bread on top of this, roll up your sleeves, and commence to eat over the kitchen sink while the juice runs down your elbows.
POTATO CHIP SANDWICH
Makes one
2 slices of bread
Mayonnaise
Potato chips
1. Spread the mayo generously across the bread. Pile the potato chips on to one of the slices as high as you can. Then top it with another slice and mash down until all the potato chips are crushed.
2. Pardie Tickette says: “Wash it down with a Pepsi; it’s some good.”
