Curry Elvis Cooks - Fusion Cuisine Recipes and Food Philosophy

Artichokes are usually a love'em or hate'em kind of ingredient, especially marinated chokes. But if you do like'em, try this simple, subtle, but tasty sandwich. Surprisingly, there's something about the subtle flavour of this sandwich that suggests it might go well with a crisp beer. I'm not a beer drinker because I don't like the bitter taste, but I actually had a craving for beer on two consecutive days when I tested this sandwich, both with ham slices and with Hungarian frankfurter. I opted for a crisp ginger ale instead. The reason for the crisp drink is that you want to contrast the soft ingredients of the sandwich.


Ingredients

• 1 large French baguette or any wide, flat, long European baguette-like bread.
• 1 English cucumber
• 1 small jar of marinated artichokes (usually in olive or some other oil).
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4-6 slices of ham, any slightly salty type. This is actually optional; the sandwich tastes fine without it.

Preparation

• Split the baguette in half lengthwise without breaking the two halves apart.
• Wash the cucumber and cut off a bit of each end. (I generally prefer not to peel English cucumber; it's skin is more tender than the waxed style, and it's edible and vitamin-rich.) Slice it very thinly along the length so that each piece is nearly the length of the cucumber. Do not make the slices paper thin as that makes the taste watery. Layer the cucumber across one half of the baguette so that the slices are a bit overlapping. Dust a very small amount of salt and pepper on top of the cuke layer. (Artichokes are already seasoned.)
• Drain all of the marinating liquid (usually oil) from the artichokes. Do not rinse the choke pieces. Shake off any excess marinade. Spread the chokes over the cucumber slices, breaking apart any large, chunky pieces first.
• Layer the ham slices, if using, in an overlapping manner down the length of the baguette, then roll them into a single tube. As a reference point, when you close the sandwich, only the tube of ham slices will be visible between the two halves.
  
• Close the sandwich and cut into quarters.

Presentation

• Anything else you add, such as mustard or roasted red peppers, is a personal choice. If you are using a fresh baguette, the sandwich's texture is a bit on the soft side, so add items with texture. One good choice is pickled Chinese white radish sticks, or fresh carrot sticks, both of which add a nice crunch.
• Serves 4 as a snack or light meal.

(c) Copyright 2005, Raj Kumar Dash, http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com