IT'S WICHCRAFT!

Top Chef Tom Colicchio's Summer Sandwich. Another example of simple elegance and creativity with fresh ingredients and a fusion of flavors like Star Anise, Fennel, Apricot and Pistachio. Nothing like taking something plain and mundane like the sandwich and making it something extrodinary. Then eating it for lunch! HA... me thinks me shall never look at an apricot or fennel root in quite the same way.
And of course, Pistashio. What other nut (aside from myself) has the earthy, mellow qualities necessary to elevate the palate to places unknown with a simple concept like this crafty sandwich. Visit Tom's website "Wichcraft" to get a flavor for other things this guy does between two slices of bread.
CRAFTY, SUMMERY SANDWICH

This sandwich comes from Tom Colicchio, restaurateur, five-time James Beard Foundation medal winner and head judge of Bravo's "Top Chef"

An open-face sandwich great for breakfast, brunch, a light lunch, an afternoon snack, even as a dessert; it's sweet but not too sweet. It's from his book, "'Wichcraft: Craft a Sandwich Into a Meal - And a Meal into a Sandwich."

Colicchio recommends using slightly underripe apricots - you can stew them longer than riper fruit, so they absorb more of the flavors of the spices. Other stone fruits such as plums work well too. The stewed fruit can be prepared in advance and kept refrigerated in its own syrup for several days.

APRICOT & FENNEL SANDWICHES W/RICOTTA, PISTACHIOS & BLACK PEPPER

Ingredients

1 cup each: sugar, water 4 star anise
2 sticks cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, roughly crushed
6 apricots, pitted, quartered
1/2 bulb fennel, sliced crosswise into 1/8-inch strips
4 slices country bread
1/2 pound ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preparation
1. Combine sugar, water, star anise, cinnamon and crushed pepper in a saucepan; heat to a boil.
Reduce the heat; simmer 2 minutes. Add the apricots and fennel. Heat to a simmer; cook until the apricots are soft and the fennel has just a slight crunch, about 10 minutes.

2. Grill or toast the bread on both sides. Spread the ricotta on each slice; top with the apricots and the fennel. Finish with the pistachios; season with the salt and pepper to taste. Cut into halves.
Nutrition information
Per serving: 414 calories, 21 percent of calories from fat, 10 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 29 mg cholesterol, 74 g carbohydrates, 11 g protein, 268 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

Purveyor de Sandwich!

A wavering economy is one way to separate the men from the boys, especially if the man or boy is in the restaurant business. "The men" seem to move forward with untempered spirits using talent and innovation to move through shaky times, while "The boys" may fall into debt, financial ruin and finally close their doors.

This is bad news for some, but great news for lovers of the sandwich. Today, many talented chefs are tossing aside the white coat and fancy kitchen to tinker with the lowly sandwich. Look at what Top Chef Tom Colicchio is doing with hand-held cuisine at Wichcraftnyc.com . These are craftsmen who don't settle for the sandwich status quo. They're raising the bar, changing the industry, making fantastic food and saving money.

Example Portland Oregon; since last fall, five sandwich shops with chefs at the helm have popped up garnering the city a national reputation among the foodie set as a sandwich-lover’s paradise. Look at Chefs Tommy Habetz and Nick Wood's joint called "Bunk Sandwiches" or Chef John Stewart's "Meat Cheese Bread" Squeee!!!! I could dance a jig!

Transcending the mere mortal realm of peanut butter and jelly, they're elevating the sandwich as we know it with combinations like milk-braised pork and pickled green tomatoe po’ boy, or a salt-cod sandwich, with black olives and house-made chorizo on a ciabatta roll. Yowza! Or what about layers of sweet roasted beets, crispy Nueske’s bacon, and tangy aioli on sourdough, all from closet sized kitchens, it's amazing.

Even pastrami kingpins Ken Gordon and Nick Zukin of Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen nixed plans for an expensive kitchen renovation and opened a minimally equipped alternative that specializes in what they do best: sandwiches. The result has become one of Portland’s hottest lunch spots: Kenny & Zuke’s SandwichWorks, with new favorites like a black bean, chorizo, and roasted-pork torta. Outstanding.

Pictured above from Tom Colicchio: Roasted turkey, creamy avocado, bacon and balsamic onion marmalade. Bon Appetit

IT'S WICHCRAFT!

I must admit to threatening on more than one occasion a move, lock, stock and barrel to the middle of New York City. Motive? So I can partake of sandwiches from "Wichcraft, a sandwich service" every single day. This is no ordinary sandwich stand, people. As a matter of fact, in terms of food quality it's on par (or better) with the very best New York Delicatessen and many a restaurant in the city. Get a load of the pictured sandwich;
The Sicilian Tuna ~ Fennel, black olives & lemon on baguette. Or consider the
Fried Eggs Sandwich ~ Bacon, gorgonzola & fresee on ciabatta roll.
View their "Wich Gallery" and see the whole menu on their site wichcraftnyc.com.
If not New York, then try Las Vegas where "Wichcraft" is located inside the MGM Grand Hotel. Top Drawer! Or San Francisco around Mission and 5th, my personal favorite.

Privately held by it's founders, Tom Colicchio, famous chef and head judge on Bravo's "Top Chef" program, and his partners, Sisha Ortuzar and Jeffrey Zurofsky, "Wichcraft" uses quality ingredients made mostly on site, from scratch, like slow roasted, braised and poached sustainably raised meats with greenmarket veggies. Their goal? "To change the perception that exceptional food should be “experienced" in a formal atmosphere and with great ceremony. Their tag line? "Real Food, Hand Crafted" I love it! Bon appetit