On Monday, I attended a “Celebration of Sandwiches” event with Chef Bobby Flay that was sponsored by Hellmann’s. During the time at La Venue, Bobby Flay demonstrated three of his original sandwich recipes (a New York Turkey Reuben with Thousand Island Coleslaw; a Miami Turkey Cuban; and a New Orleans Chicken Muffuletta with Spicy Olive Relish Mayonnaise). He also shared some sandwich techniques that I found to be helpful.
After Bobby displayed his skills, the group was split up at various stations so that we could make our own sandwich creations. I had received some amazing sandwich creation ideas from my friends on a Facebook thread, but it was hard to duplicate them with the available ingredients. I ended up using my personal sandwich philosophy – make them based on what the recipient likes. Since I was making this particular sandwich for myself, I just went through the available items and picked everything that I liked. My double decker “Everything” sandwich consisted of ham, turkey, chicken, American cheese, pickles, cucumbers, tomatoes, Romaine lettuce and whole wheat bread. What made it extra tasty was Bobby’s Spicy Olive Relish Mayonnaise. (It is so delicious. I will give you the recipe for it next week.)
This particular gathering was being held to highlight Hellmann’s current “Build Your Perfect Sandwich” sweepstakes. The premise of this promotion is a study that revealed 84% of people believe that how you make a sandwich is just as important as what you put on it. So, Hellmann’s is having sweepstakes entrants build their own virtual sandwiches for the chance to win a variety of prizes, including a $5,000 grocery gift card.
Since this week is Passover for my Jewish friends, I will post the three sandwich recipes along with the related tips next week. I just wanted to let you all know about the sweepstakes now, so that you can start entering. Speaking of my Jewish friends… when Bobby and I were talking, I asked him if Hellmann’s was kosher. “That’s a good question,” he responded and asked one of the reps. “That is a good question, the rep responded. I will have to look into that.” Awkward….
In any event, if I never get invited to another event hosted by Bobby Flay or Hellmann’s…I blame Rebecca Levey for having me all Passover-minded from our Facebook food conversation earlier that day. (Not really Rebecca – I love you!) Oh, well…
P.S. For the record, “All varieties of Hellmann’s® are KOSHER certified (MK on label).” – Source: http://www.hellmanns.ca/english/en/faq.html (I did a google search on it, so that I would never have to ask again! I was happy to note that I wasn’t the only one with that question…hence it being a FAQ/frequently asked question. Now, we all know the answer :-).)
