50 State Sandwich Challenge: Montana

There's a lot more to Big Sky Country than meets the eye.  No, I'm not talking about the black eye Montana's governor gave that journalist, I'm talking about a mountainous, beautiful paradise of agriculture and outdoor living.  The appeal of Montana has grown significantly for me as I recently looked up month-long Airbnbs after watching (1) episode of the TV show Yellowstone.  Then I remembered that I've never done hard labor in my life, and thought it best to keep Montana's New Jersey-born population to just Governor Gianforte.  Still, I would love to visit if only to experience clean air and maybe a rodeo.  John's Original Pork Chop sandwich opened in 1924 in the mining town of Butte, where John Burklund sold his pork chop sandwiches from the back of a wagon on the corner of Mercury and Main Street.  Today, you can get John's Pork Chop sandwich "loaded" (mustard, pickles, and onions) or "loaded deluxe" (pickles, onions, mustard, mayo, and tomato.) Of course I opted for the "loaded deluxe" version when I made these bad boys.  This was weirdly similar to Indiana's pork tenderloin so please don't call me out on it, I promise this is a different sandwich.  The cut of pork makes the difference, and John's pork chops are not soaked in buttermilk.  Still, this was an excellent sandwich, which shouldn't come as a surprise as it was featured on Food Network's "best thing I ever ate" program.  

Ingredients: 

6-8 thin sliced pork loin chops 

salt

paprika

cayenne pepper

garlic powder

2 cups of flour

2 eggs beaten

2 cups of panko breadcrumbs

vegetable oil

hamburger buns

pickles 

tomato

onion

mayo

yellow mustard

1. Pre-heat the oil on medium-high.  Combine the spices with the flour and create your dredge station.

2. Put your chops in the flour mixture, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.  Repeat. 

3. Fry up those pork chops for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown. Set aside on a paper towel-covered plate and let drain. 

4. Spead mayo on each side of the hamburger bun and then place a pork chop (or two if you're feeling frisky) on top of the bun.  Spread some yellow mustard on there and top with the tomato, onion, and pickles.) 

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

50 States Sandwich Challenge: Missouri

 Sorry about the extended halftime break this month, but we are officially halfway through making every single state in America's signature sandwich! Gioia's Deli in St. Louis is Missouri's oldest and most revered deli, opening in 1918 in "The Hill" neighborhood which was historically home to thousands of Italian immigrants in the early 20th century.  Known for their freshly made salami, Gioia's became the go-to spot for the "hot salami" sandwich, landing it on this list and on my dining room table.  The salami is cooked right in front of you and cut thick, with spicy mustard, onion, and pepperoncini toasted on a beautiful Italian roll.  The Hill was always known as a blue-collar neighborhood, and this is a blue-collar sandwich.  Meat, condiment, see you tomorrow, same time, same place, for over a hundred years.  Baseball greats Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up on The Hill and I'm no historian but they probably ate thousands of these.  And if it's good enough for major league catchers who played 60 years ago, then it's good enough for me.  

Ingredients:

1/2 lb thick-cut salami (This isn't as thick as it needed to be to match Gioia's)

1/4lb American white cheese

Pepperoncini 

Spicy Mustard

1 Italian loaf from Livoti's 

1. Spread spicy mustard on each side of the bread.

2. Place cheese and salami on bread and put it in the toaster oven until cheese is melted.

3. Pepperoncini on top and you're good to go. I really enjoyed this sandwich.