Sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches...and potato chips

Top of the week to you! Another crazy busy week as I work through recipe testing the 84 sandwiches that will be in the next cookbook (and record daily vids, In The Chips with Barry, etc., etc.). After that I need to go through and write chapter intros, notes on equipment and more.

Like my previous cookbook, each recipe will make one sandwich. But the theme is "party" so they'll be cut into fun bite sized concoctions. I have decided to leave out loaf or cake sandwich recipes. They're the ones that require you get an entire sandwich loaf unsliced for starters. I developed one and it was such a pain to make and eat that I just don't even want to pursue it. That said, the three fillings I came up with for it were delicious together. So, just like the last cookbook, this will have one original sandwich recipe featuring those fillings. Can't help it, I guess.

On to the sandwiches and chips!

Monday, July 20, 2026
Rating: 6 1/2
Plus up™(s): Arugula
Plussed up rating: 7

For a sandwich with only three ingredients, this was a tasty little number. The briny olives brought a lot of flavor to the hardboiled eggs and mayonnaise. Plussed it up with the peppery bite of arugula for good measure.

Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Tea Sandwich Rating: 7 1/2
Plus up™(s): Black pepper
Plussed up rating: 8

I have to say, when I was expecting it to call for cream cheese, not vinaigrette. And yet the combo worked nicely. Settling into what seems to be a pattern of wanting something pepper, I plussed it up with black pepper. Hmm...I need to do a better job of tracking the plus up ingredients I use in a given week.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Rating: 5
Plus up™(s): Curry powder and Grilled Cheese Treatment™
Plussed up rating: 7

The base recipe here was ok. Just didn't make sense to me to have room temp cheese with banana. Why not heat it up? So I did two ways. One metaphorically, with the warm spices of curry powder and one literally, the Grilled Cheese Treatment™. The plussed up version was quite a bit tastier tbh.

Thursday, July 23, 2026
Rating: 5 1/2
Plus up™(s): Arugula
Plussed up rating: 6

A tasty sandwich, this one was overly complicated for no apparent reason. Dang you, sieve! The third sandwich this week plussed up with a peppery element and the second plussed up with arugula 🤦‍♂️ Yeah. It worked but definitely gotta track my plus up usage better.

Friday, July 24, 2026
Rating: 6
Plus up™(s): Nutmeg | Wild Timur pepper
Plussed up rating: 7 | 7

Pretty tasty if not straightforward sandwich here. Plussed it up with nutmeg as it goes great with spinach, eggs, and butter. Also took a little chance on the citrusy wild Timur pepper. Both worked great with sandwich just in different ways.

Saturday, July 25, 2026
Rating: 6 1/2
Plus up™(s): Dill pickle relish | Crystal Hot Sauce
Plussed up rating: 7 1/2 | 7

Was a little surprised by how many folks said that they've made this exact sandwich growing up (and some still eat it). I'd never heard getting a thick slice of bologna in a sandwich like that until I was an adult. I absolutely think it could be plussed up even more by frying that slab of bologna first. Given how hot dog like the flavor of bologna was I opted for the dill pickle relish for one plus up. And a little Crystal got sauce to go with the chips for the other. Both were tasty!

Sunday, July 26, 2026
Rating: 8 1/2
Plus up(s): Harissa and lemon juice
Plussed up rating: 9

It is a little surprising how fish mongers near me don't really carry mackerel. I ended up going to H Mart to procure some. I did think about going to a Japanese market to buy some already cooked but that kind of defeats the purpose of making it, right? The cumin scented mackerel was great with the puncy sweet red onion, sweet tomato, and vegetal parsley. But I wanted just a bit of contrast and a little heat so I plussed it up with lemon juice and harissa. Soooooo good.

In The Chips with Barry

These little corn snacks were sent to me by the Phil and Chris of The Crisp Guys (check out their podcast). These were beefy but seem to be made for mindless snacking more than for an amazing culinary experience. Still, there's room enough for both, right?

I normally don't get too worked up over flavors that are pretty common. Yet these really did have the grassy flavor and nice heat of a spicy jalapeño. Nicely done.

Full disclosure, I'd never even heard of Baron Bigod Cheese. And I still have not idea what it tastes like. I just know this was one well balanced, tasty chip. Even without drink.

And that's a wrap on last week. Thanks for watching and reading!

Cheers,
Barry