Sandwich Wednesday – Pan Bagnat, the sleek sandwich

Why sandwich Wednesday? Well, why apples? Why did we write an apple cookbook? I grew up in Manhattan, as far as can be from an orchard, and Lauren was raised in suburban Connecticut where golfing was the main agricultural activity.

But one doesn’t need to spend his youth in the shade of an apple tree to appreciate the fruit. As we get older, we understand enough of the world to see possibilities. Now that we have the tools, it’s a matter of what to do with them.

The humble apple is a vessel of opportunity, to be transformed into sauces, salads, juices, alcohol, and a variety of dishes. The sandwich too, is a blank slate, ready to be developed into something succulent, something extraordinary.

And it doesn’t have to be fancy, just tasty and well prepared. For a chicken salad sandwich, why just chop up the chicken? Instead, poach skinless breasts and hand-shred into a bowl with a bit of mayo, celery, dill, and season with salt and pepper. Shredded chicken has a more interesting texture, and it also contains more surface area, which allows the chicken to be incorporated with the dressing.

A good sandwich is founded on a similar sense of balance. This summer we escaped the city for a bit and found ourselves thankfully in (temporary) possession of a grill. After a steady diet of Cape Cod striper and thick-cut swordfish, we decided to grill up some meat for sandwiches, settling on banh mi, that Vietnamese Nobel-worthy sandwich, and found it worked best with a combination of delicately charred petite sirloin and short rib. Balance.

So we come to the pan bagnat, a combination of simple ingredients, but elegant and delicious in design: an Eames chair, a kid’s scooter, a whisk, in culinary form.

Contrary to some popular belief, you don’t need fancy tuna for pan bagnat. You do need good bread, a crusty baguette that will hold up under the oily tapenade; and a proper ratio of ingredients. When you make this sandwich, take the time to layer the pepper, the onion, and the tuna, don’t just slosh it together and dump it on the bread. Finally, weighing it down is crucial. It’s not a pan bagnat without the marinating time; the ingredients need to combine, to knit together, and to become, well, harmonious.

Pan Bagnat
Yield: 4 sandwiches

½ cup black olives
2 anchovy fillets
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon crushed chilies
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cans tuna
1 green pepper julienned ¼ inch
1 small red onion in thinly sliced rounds
1 baguette
salt and pepper

1. In the food processor place the first five ingredients and puree to smooth consistency. The tapenade should be oily. Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper.
2. Split the baguette and spread a generous amount of tapenade on each half. Make a layer of pepper, followed by a layer of onion and a layer of flaked tuna. (You may not need the whole pepper or the entire onion.)
3. Close the sandwich, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and lay on a tray. Place in refrigerator and set another tray on top, and lay a weight, such as a few milk cartons, on top of the second tray. Let marinate for up to four hours. Unwrap, slice, and serve.