50 States Sandwich Challenge: Maryland

So comes the conclusion of crustacean week, and what a week it has been.  Am I happy to be covering Maryland on a very special 32nd birthday? Surprisingly, yes.  I know I've said some mean things about Maryland in the past but after four years as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, I'm thankful Dr. Ben Carson is available to perform lobotomies on Maryland's population once again.  Despite clear weaknesses in common sense, driving and pronouncing words with the letter "O," Maryland does have some strengths, most notably crab cakes and football.  If you ever met anyone from Maryland you wouldn't be surprised by the fact that these people eat, drink and breathe crabs and old bay, and you know what it's a pretty delicious meal.  The term "crab cake" was first coined in the 1930 cookbook: New York World's Fair Cookbook" by Crosby Gaige who included the incredibly popular recipe the "Baltimore Crab Cake."  Ever since the country has been enthralled, and Maryland had something to be proud of other than a long-dead poet who married his cousin.  

 Ingredients: 

1 lb. jumbo lump or backfin lump crabmeat, fresh or pasteurized

1 large egg

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1-1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce Kosher salt

1-1/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs (from soft white sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm)

1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 Tbs. olive oil

1. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Scrape the mixture over the crab and mix gently until well combined. 

2. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and the parsley over the mixture, and mix them in thoroughly but gently; try not to turn the mixture into a mash—it should still be somewhat loose. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

3. Shape the crab mixture into 8 cakes about 1 inch thick. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. When the butter is frothy, add the cakes to the pan (8 should fit comfortably). Cook until dark golden brown on the underside, about 4 minutes. Flip the cakes, reduce the heat to medium low, and continue cooking until the other side is well browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Open a Natty Boh and go in. 

PEC Challenge: Zack's Deli

Allow me to paint a picture for you.  This is a scene that you will only get in the state of New Jersey so strap the fuck in.  You move to Manalapan, NJ from Staten Island, NY because you enjoy the view of million-dollar McMansions ruining the picturesque rolling hills of centuries-old farmland.  Maybe you own a construction or sanitation business and no one is going to tell you you're going to take off that Addidas sweatsuit you've been wearing since 1997.  You've been up since 4am hacking bodies trees and wacking enemies weeds and you are getting hungry.  The only logical step is to head to your local deli to grab a breakfast sandwich and a coffee, right? Enter, Zack's Deli, a working man's deli, your deli. You and all your buddies subordinates pile into your 1998 Ford Explorer and you park in the beautiful strip mall built by the suburban gods as you yell out your favorite deli worker's name.  Inside, there are speakers, usually reserved for events such as Christenings and Weddings, but oh no, every day is a Sweet 16 in Manalapan and these speakers are inside your deli blasting Mexican love ballads at 9am.  Life could literally never get better.  This is the scene I walked into when I drove to Zack's Deli in Manalapan and let me tell you, I was blown away.  I really didn't care what the pork roll, egg, and cheese I was about to eat tasted like because I was just feeling so blessed to have had this experience first hand.  Dreams always come true in the state of New Jersey. 

Bread Rating: 6.8/10 (Average roll you'd find at any supermarket.)

Pork Roll Rating: 6.9/10 (Some good snap and char, 2 medium cut slices.)

Egg Rating: 6.4/10 (Decent fried egg but didn't cover the entire sandwich.)

Cheese Rating: 6.5/10 (Standard slice of American yellow.)

Composition: 6.8/10 (This is a bodega PEC through and through.  Low cost, keep it moving, take it, or fucking leave it.)

Overall Rating: 6.68/10 (Not bad, not good, go for the experience I've detailed above.)

Price: $3.50 

Zack's Deli is located at 73 Wilson Ave, Manalapan, NJ 07726

Top 25 NJ Sandwiches 2021 Challenge: The Elliot Mess, The Speakeatery

 Everyone knows I love a good theme and at The Speakeatery in Asbury, you guessed it, the theme is life under the 18th Amendment.  Tucked away in a small corner of a storefront on Cookman Ave, The Speakeatery has plenty of unique sandwich options named after some of your favorite Roarin' 20's slang and characters including "The Bootlegger" which is buttermilk soaked fried pork chop with sausage gravy served on a biscuit, and "The Flapper" which is roasted turkey, swiss, cranberry aioli and arugula. (I will be trying all of these, naturally, likely following Big Mike's.) Today's focus as far as the top 25 NJ sandwiches go, will be "The Elliot Mess," of course, a play on the famous Prohibition Agent who brought down Al Capone, Elliot Ness.  Ness famously turned down Capone's bribe of $2,000 (equivalent to $16k today) every Monday morning in exchange for turning his eye to the illegal bootlegging activities that would be made legal again shortly after the 21st Amendment was passed.  Couldn't be me but I suppose I do not have a sandwich named after me at The Speakeatery so who's the real winner here? I was expecting the Elliot "Mess" to be messier but it wasn't. It was delicious though, with turkey and roast beef dancing with cranberry aioli and horseradish mayo, a combination of two worlds blended into one.  I'll leave which one is the bootlegger and which one is the federal agents up to your imagination.  There was also muenster cheese on this sandwich which you never really see but love to see it.  And of course, how can we forget the vegetables.  This sandwich is topped with arugula, roasted red peppers, tomato, and coleslaw, making it The Speakeatery's most ingredient-heavy sandwich on the menu.  And because of that, and beach season rapidly approaching, I opted for the "half" which was filling enough at $9.  There was a very chill vibe inside with the workers listening to the most recent Joe Rogan podcast, since grab and go is the only option momentarily I found this charming.  Excellent experience and I can't wait to try the rest of the sandwiches on the menu, which also include a pork roll, egg, and cheese (not named after a bootlegger).  

50 States Sandwich Challenge: Maine

With yet another winter storm burying my car, last week was a wash with getting to the grocery store, which is why I am bringing you last week's state sandwich today, on Monday. And I'm glad I am because this week will now be known as crustacean week (coincidentally also my birthday week) by starting with the lobster roll from Maine and ending with crab cake sandwiches from Maryland.  I know pretty much every New England state is going to try to take credit for the lobster roll as it's popularity extends to most of the northeastern U.S. states.  There are two distinct lobster roll styles, warm (Connecticut style) and cold (Maine style) so today we will be using the cold lobster salad method of creating a lobster roll.  Lobster rolls are a bit of a newer sandwich phenomenon in the U.S. as prior to 1960, lobster meat was considered low-class poverty food mostly served in prisons and used as a fertilizer.  It wasn't until the development of the "lobster smack," which allowed crews to keep lobsters alive during transport, did lobster meat begin to gain popularity in many Boston and New York City social circles.  Roadside stands such as Red's Eats in Wiscasset, Maine have been serving up buttered lobster rolls ever since, and today you can find a lobster roll at almost any seafood restaurant up and down the east coast, which makes you think what popular prison food from today will the youths be eating in 50 years.  My guess: mystery meat substitutes (see: veganism).  

Ingredients:

Two lobster tails 

Mayo 

Chopped Dill

Chopped Parsley 

Hot dog buns

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Garlic Powder

1. First I seasoned my lobster meat with salt, pepper, and paprika and put broiled the tails for 5 minutes. When done, chop up the lobster meat and place in a bowl.

2. Mix lobster meat with mayo (I think I overdid it with the mayo), garlic powder, chopped dill, and chopped parsley, and pepper. 

3. Toast the hot dog buns in butter on a large pan. 

4. Put your lobster salad mix on the buttered hot dog bun.  

50 States Sandwich Challenge: Louisiana

 Full disclosure, I did not do Louisiana any justice with this Muffalleta.  The ingredients seemed correct but I had just arrived at a Vermont ski cabin and only had Long Trail IPAs on my mind.  So I may have miffed this sandwich a bit.  The olive tapenade that I got from the Italian deli was NOT the correct replacement for the creole olive salad and I'll never forgive myself for it.  Luckily, I already wrote about a Muffalletta done right at Taliercio's.  Traditionally, this sandwich should be on a round Italian loaf, but I could not find this anywhere at 7 in the morning before my trip so I used semolina bread (which is also what is used at Taliercio's). As perhaps the largest mixture of cultures in the U.S, New Orleans has a ton of cuisine to choose from as Louisiana's sandwich contribution.  Frankly, I thought for sure I would see a Shrimp Po Boy here but apparently that is reserved for another Gulf state down the line, so here we have the Muffaletta, created in 1906 at Central Grocery Co. by Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant of New Orleans.  It really is a simple sandwich, an Italian charcuterie on bread if you will. I took my recipe from Emeril Lagasse, obviously, although I did not yell bang when I ate it, mostly because the olive tapenade I bought was disgusting.  

Ingredients: 

1 large round bread loaf (I used semolina)

1 cup Creole Olive Salad (That I stupidly replaced with olive tapenade)

4 oz salami

4 oz cappicola

4 oz mortadella

4 oz thinly sliced mozzarella

4 oz provolone

1. Fill the sandwich with all of these ingredients.

Top 25 NJ Sandwiches 2021 Challenge: The Poppa, Big Mike's Little Red Store

You might remember Big Mike's Red Store as the winner of last year's PEC Tournament.  It shouldn't come as any surprise that they are featured in this year's top 25 NJ Sandwiches.  Incredibly it was for a different breakfast sandwich and not for their pork roll, egg, and cheese.  (I mean, every sandwich from this deli is great, and they will be my next deli featured following Brennan's).  Instead of NJ's signature breakfast meat, The Poppa features pork roll's second cousin, charred bologna, and the real kicker, latke, which is a crispy potato pancake that will make you never want hash browns again. (I'm also still not ready to use brown in food after last week's hot brown situation.) Owner Mike Metzner named this Polish-inspired sandwich after his grandfather, who used to serve charred bologna sandwiches to visiting grandchildren.  The Red Store has been a Navesink staple for years, first built in 1865 as a general store, and has been owned and operated by Mike since 2018.  Before owning the Red Store, Mike was executive chef of several of New Jersey's top restaurants, providing a culinary quality not found in most deli's.  And the best part is that it is just a quick 15-minute drive from my apartment so there was no driving 3 hours round trip to find out a place is closed horror story this week.  Anyway, if you're in the Middletown area go to Big Mike's, I can not recommend something more.  

Price: $8. 

Big Mike's Red Store is located at 101 Navesink Ave, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716. 

50 States Sandwich Challenge: Kentucky

 So you might have noticed I skipped Kansas (sorry, Kansas) and that is because I could not face myself if I went out and bought already made burnt ends.  Sure, I could have driven to one of NJ's best BBQ spots which also happens to be located in the mini-golf course across the street from my former middle school, but that would kind of ruin the integrity of the game more than going out of alphabetical order. That's why until I've procured a smoker, I will be continuing on. This week's sandwich is brought to you by the land of horses, bourbon, and college basketball coaches using strippers as recruiting tools.  That's right, we're talking about Kentucky! This will be our very first open-faced sandwich on the list, and I have to be honest, I don't necessarily love open-faced sandwiches all that much (apologies to my friend Tom who's go-to diner meal is a happy waitress).  This open-faced wonder was originally created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Fred K. Schmidt in 1926 as a variation of the traditional Welsh rarebit (the Welsh LOVE melted cheese on bread).  Good ole' Fred got really creative by naming the sandwich the Hot Brown and it became one of the two signature sandwiches created at the Brown Hotel.  What made the Hot Brown unique at the time was the usage of sliced roast turkey, which was reserved for holiday feasts only.  The Brown Hotel drew nearly 1,200 guests every night for its dinner dance and with people drunk and hungry after a night of dancing, the hotel began providing this late-night treat.  As for myself, I'm dead sober in the middle of a workday so I'm apprehensive of the effect this sandwich will have on me but let's give it a whirl! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 oz. Whole Butter
• 2 oz. All Purpose Flour
• 8 oz. Heavy Cream
• 8 oz. Whole Milk
• ½ Cup of Pecorino Romano Cheese
  Plus 1 Tablespoon for Garnish
• Pinch of Ground Nutmeg
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• 14 oz. Sliced Roasted Turkey Breast, Slice Thick
• 4 Slices of Texas Toast (Crust Trimmed)
• 4 Slices of Crispy Bacon
• 2 Roma Tomatoes, Sliced in Half

Instructions: Straight from The Brown Hotel website

1. Make that roux.  Melt the butter in a saucepan and slowly whisk in the flour until combined and forms a thick paste.  

2. Whisk in the milk and heavy cream into your roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer. About 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the pecorino cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth.  Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.

3. For each hot brown, place two pieces of toast in an oven-safe dish, with one slice cut in half to make a square shape.  Cover with around 7 ounces of turkey and take the two halves of the tomato and place them on the sides.

4. Pour the Mornay sauce on top to completely cover the dish.  Sprinkle some more of the pecorino cheese on top of that and throw it in the oven. I baked this for 25 minutes at 350 degrees and finished with a 3-minute broil.  You can make your bacon while this is in the oven.

5. Take out your hot brown and place two slices of bacon on top.  And there you have it. The authentic Louisville Hot Brown. 

PEC Challenge: Hoagie Jo's

 Another day another pork roll.  This beautiful little number made NJ.com's list of top 25 pork rolls in New Jersey.  I will say it's certainly one of the largest I've had, with a very different type of bread (toasted sesame roll) and a mountain of pork roll only topped by Slater's Deli in Middletown.  Is it a little weird that a place in Monmouth County has hoagie in the name? Maybe a little bit. But this was a very clean and friendly deli a couple of blocks off of Main Street Manasquan.  It's always best to do these during the winter, not only because there's not a singly Benny in sight, but also to support these businesses who see a natural downturn during the winter doubled by covid.  So expect to see some more Jersey Shore locations coming this week.  

Bread Rating: 7.6/10 (Hoagie Jo's uses a sesame roll, which is unique.  The bread itself was lightly toasted, and oh is that whole wheat I taste?)

Pork Roll Rating: 8.3/10 (The pork roll is stacked on this sandwich.  Thick and plentiful with a bit of a crunch.)

Egg Rating: 7.2/10 (Regular fried egg, nothing special here)

Cheese Rating: 4.5/10 (Unfortunately, it was an unmelted slice of cheese which threw off what was going right on this sandwich.)

Sandwich Composition: 6.5/10 (Everything slid all over the place without the melted cheese around to keep it all together.)

Overall Rating: 6.82/10 (This was different than many PEC's in the area, and the mountain of pork roll is always a good thing but it just didn't hit me as the full package.  I don't know maybe I'm wrong, guess we will find out this March during the 2nd annual PEC tournament.)

Price: $6

Hoagie Jo's is located at 56 Union Ave, Manasquan, NJ 08736 

PEC Challenge: Amazing Bagels and Deli

Hope everyone is enjoying their snow day.  I know I will enjoy the next few days as I continue to empty my PEC backlog.  The good news is, thanks to loyal reader Dr. Johnny Mac, a smoker solution has been found and some homemade Kansas City brisket will be appearing on the blog in the near future! Other than that, the Brennan's ranked, and the next top NJ sandwich blogs will have to be delayed. (I know you're all in tears over it.) There's a place not too far away from my house called "Amazing Bagels" so they must have amazing bagels right?  Wrong.  They were pretty average.  Speaking of things nicknamed "amazing" and not actually being amazing, the New York Mets are back in financial news, this time for having an owner that's TOO rich.  That's right, our savior, Steve Cohen, bailed out some of his hedge fund buddies last week to the tune of $2 BILLION.  All you can do is laugh as a Mets fan at this point.  Madoff/Wilpon Ponzi schemes didn't bring down the team but a group of Reddit nerds sticking it to the finance suits with GameStop just might do the trick! I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to stonks and really finance in general so I'll stop here. My simpleton brain is just really looking forward to yet another rollercoaster season with my favorite band of misfits, the New York Mets. #LGM

Bread Rating: 6.6/10 (Bagels here were just OK, pretty soft, no toast.  Not a great look when you're named Amazing Bagels.)

Pork Roll Rating: 6.8/10 (Three slices, thin-sliced.  Your average helping.)

Egg Rating: 5.8/10 (Barely any egg. Maybe a little too overdone, unevenly distributed, well get to that on composition.)

Cheese Rating: 6.6/10 (A typical single slice of American yellow.)

Sandwich Composition: 5.8/10 (Have to knock off points here for how uneven this sandwich was.  70% of the egg was on just one side of the sandwich.  Heavy ketchup may have contributed to the slide.  Hilariously, they provided around 15 packets of ketchup in the bag. Nah dude, I think you've done enough.)

Overall Rating: 6.3/10 (Despite some errors, this wasn't a horrible PEC.  Just a below-average one.) 

Price: $4.50

Amazing Bagels and Deli is located at 1598 NJ-35, Ocean Township, NJ 07712