For years a local restaurant served up a favorite sandwich. Wildly popular, I don’t think that any of us ever believed that the restaurant AND that signature sandwich would ever be gone from our lives. I first enjoyed one when I was in my late teens and had to have a ‘fix’ now and then for over 30 years. When the restaurant closed and the owner passed away I was sad for the family and sad for all of us for whom a “Dave’s Delight” had been a comfort food, weekend break, date night treat…..
Well, not one to let a favorite food disappear from my life, I decided to recreate this sandwich as best I could. To me, it’s very close – fills the void! I hope you give it a try or make a similar sandwich to fill a void for you. It’s simple and delicious!
Start with two slices of a large loaf of sturdy Italian bread. I am fortunate to live within a few miles of several excellent Italian bakeries. For this attempt I chose a sliced round loaf that gives me large oval slices. Butter or oil one side of the bread – this sandwich is best grilled.
Sauté a mix of sweet and hot pepper strips. I always ordered a 50/50 pepper mix for mine. Also sauté a handful of sliced onion.
Fry up some good quality sandwich steak – the wafer thin steak meat in the frozen section will work, but I had some higher quality sandwich steaks on hand. Set these aside and keep warm.
Place one slice of the bread butter side down in a skillet, over medium low heat.
Top the bread with a thick slice of creamy provolone cheese and some of your pepper mix.
Now layer on the sandwich steak – no such thing as too thick on these.
Top the steak with onions and a few slices of tomato.
Another slice of provolone to cover the tomatoes and the second slice of bread to top it all and your sandwich building is done.
Grill the sandwich until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melting – press down with your spatula as it cooks to meld the layers together.
Slice the sandwich on the diagonal and enjoy – lots of sides go great with this. My favorite is a good salad with a garlicky oil and vinegar dressing.
Here ya go!
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Anita says:
OH WOW! That’s just plain gorgeous Dede! I don’t know where you’re from, but I’d be willing to bet it’s near Fairmont. My dad’s immediate family lived in southern New Jersey when I was growing up – this is the sort of thing I’d see made by burly Italian men in all the BEST places to eat. You know, pizzarias, or those little stop and shops? I can almost smell it – thanks for the recipe!
On August 7, 2012 at 6:39 am
Dede ~ wvhomecanner says:
LOL – Anita, if there was a prize you would win it – I am 20 minutes South of Fairmont and this sandwich was a Nutter Fort restaurant specialty
dede
On August 7, 2012 at 8:05 am