Western Artistry

Posted by Michael on Dec 9, 2009 in Recipes | 2 comments

A few years ago on a very late night drive back from Moncton, my wife and I stopped into the Irving Big Stop Restaurant at Salisbury for a late night bite, and who knew it would be such a memorable stop.

Yes, I have to admit it, it was a meal at the Big Stop that would really ignite my interest in what is now one of my favourite foods – a simple Western sandwich.   I had one there and it was magic. Buttery eggs that enveloped some ham, plus peppers and onion with a peppery kick that I really appreciated at three in the morning.

The Western, or Denver as it’s sometimes known, is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.  Each element of the sandwich combines into a homogenous mix of goodnesss, a mix that’s been known to be topped with bacon and dipped in ketchup, by the way.

My mom tells me she made many thousands of Denvers when she managed the lunch counter at a Woolworth department store in my hometown of Thompson, Manitoba.  Sadly I think I always went for the hot dog and fries special when I had lunch at the Woolworth store as a kid.

Today, the Western is my breakfast or lunch about once a week.   It’s a favourite both for its great flavours but also for its simplicity.   That said though, I’ve got a few tips for making what I think is a darn good Western (and believe me, I’ve had some really terrible ones).

First off, like any sandwich, bread is of the utmost importance.  I make all the bread I eat and my standard loaf is what I call a “light” whole wheat.  Its’ two loaves made with four cups of all purpose flour and two cups of whole wheat flour.  So it’s a lighter, all purpose bread but with a good amount of flavour from the whole wheat and traditional yeast.

For the ham, go for a rather plain ham.  Avoid heavily flavoured hams that are smoked or infused with lots of maple.   We just want some good, high quality pork here people.   For the peppers, the choice is yours – either red or green bell peppers work great.  Reds are sweet of course and greens are slightly bitter, which also works great with this sandwich.   I really split my Western/Denvers 50-50 between red and green bell peppers.   For the onion, I most often go for a sweet onion like a Spanish white or Vidalia.   You don’t want anything too acrid first thing in the morning.   In fact a single, small green onion is also very acceptable as the onion component of this sandwich.

Other toppings are optional.  I usually have cheddar cheese on hand so I often top my eggs with a few thin slices.   Bacon makes the world go round and it’s great on a Western/Denver too.   And man oh man, I love some ketchup on my Western.   YUM.

Notes:

- For the sake of simplicity and speed, I cook the egg mixture in a lot of butter, then omit buttering the toast, which just makes things cook easier and gets the sandwich done quicker.

- Seasoning the eggs with salt when they’re nearly done rather than when they’re first beaten makes for a less watery egg.  It’s a trick I learned personally from Gordon Ramsey.   He was on my own personal TV and explained this once on some show of his.

Hawk’s Easterly Western

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon coffee cream (18% milk fat cream or similar)

1 very thin slice ham, finely chopped.  About two tablespoons chopped

2 tablespoons chopped bell pepper

1 tablespoon or so, very finely chopped sweet onion or green onion

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

Bread for toast

cheddar cheese, cooked bacon, etc.

Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat for a few minutes.   Crack two eggs into a bowl and beat very lightly with a fork.   Add in the cream, ham, peppers and onion.  Mix well.   Add the butter to the pan and wait until it finishes foaming and making a racket.   Pour in the egg mixture.   Jiggle the pan often and gently stir and turn the eggs until nearly set, about 90 seconds to two minutes.   Now season generously with salt and pepper and give them a final stir and turn.   Turn the heat down to low.   You should have your toast in the toaster at this point.   With a flip that would make Julia Child proud, toss the omelet over and immediately top with slices of cheese and cooked bacon.  Remove from heat and cover the pan until your toast is ready.   Slide the whole works onto a piece of toast and top with the other slice.  Cut in half and ram that into your face with ketchup.