The Art of Making the Perfect Muffuletta

To begin with, we need to create our signature spread, and that's just to make the food processor's life a little easier. Cover it up and pulse it repeatedly until it is a spreadable almost salsa-like mixture, and is the secret ingredient of the world's greatest sandwich. This can be prepared ahead of time, covered and fridged until ready to assemble which we're ready to do now.

We have a large loaf of ciabatta. Definitely not traditional for a muffulettaa but the closest equivalent that you're gonna be able to get in your grocery store which we're gonna very, very carefully cut in half. Come on, Andy, we only got one shot at this. Not too bad and start layering with many, many, many, many meats. Soppressata, salami, capicola and my personal favorite mortadella and then about an equal amount of two different kinds of cheese, provolone and Swiss. Then we're piling this guy tall and proud with every morsel of our olive salad. Spread it around nice and even and before we sandwich it up, we're gonna treat our top half of the bread with a couple glugs of red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and a few shakes of oregano just in case this sandwich wasnt flavorful or messy enough.

Top it up, squish it down and there you have it, a not so traditional but oh so delicious muffuletta. This guy can be cut into quarters, eighths, 16ths depending on how much you value your health and is home to the greatest cross section this side of the Mississippi Delta. You might even wanna consider making this a shooter's sandwich or one of those sandwiches that you weigh down overnight because it's pretty hard to wrap it in paper but eventually we'll just give up and wrap it up as best we can and prepare it for our picnic.

We've prepared a bunch of heavy savory dishes now we need something lighter and sweeter. I propose what I call a watermelon mojito salad. Slice, remove the rind and chop into bite-sized cubes, a whole seedless watermelon add a solid quarter cup of chopped fresh mint to taste then we're gonna add the squeezed juice of three fresh juiced limes and then if you're feeling naughty, a quarter cup of dark rum or añejo tequila. Sure that's not a lot of booze but we'll pretend that it's our naughty little secret. Give everybody a toss together. Add a little pinch of kosher salt if that's your bag and get ready for the easiest most refreshing and tastiest side dish you've ever tried.

Speaking of refreshing, we need a beverage and since we have some extra mint leftover, we're gonna chop up a bunch of mint and slice up a couple of inches of fresh ginger which we're gonna use to make a mint ginger simple syrup. In a medium saucepan we are combining one and a half cups of sugar with one cup of water, tiny whisking until dissolved and bringing to a simmer. As soon as the simmer is reached, kill the heat and dump in the fresh stuff which we're gonna let steep in the syrup until it's completely cooled about an hour. Cover that up and set it aside because it's well past time that we start juicing lemons. Go ahead and give your knuckles a crack'cause we're gonna juice one and one half cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Once that's done, we're gonna go ahead and strain our mint and ginger simple syrup and in a large food-safe container combine it with our one and one half cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice, five to six cups of water depending on how strong you like it and just a little bit of our simple syrup. We don't want too sweet a lemonade so keep adding and tasting and adding and tasting until you've decided you know what I'm a sweet sweet lemonade boy I'm gonna add all the simple syrup. Whisk until completely combined and transfer to a water-tight travel-safe container like a mason jar then all there is left to do is pack everything up and tote it out to your local park, preferably in a durable spill-proof leak-proof well-insulated cooler like this one from YETI.

I hope as the weather gets warmer you guys give this one a try for yourselves and dine alfresco even if you're just doing it in your backyard. I think at this point we could all use a change of scenery. Hope that it's warmer wherever you are than it was here when we filmed this episode and I hope that you can all indulge in a colorful flavorful picnic with someone you love.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This episode wasmade in partnership with YETI.For more info on YETI's products,head to the link in the description.(calm music)All right, so any respectable picnicshould have at least twodishes made with mayonnaiseand mayonnaise is always betterwhen you make it yourself.So we are combining two large eggs,the juice of one half of onelemon, about two tablespoons,one teaspoon Dijon mustard anda hefty pinch of kosher saltin a large blender cup,larger than the head ofour immersion blender.We're gonna blend thosetogether until they are blendedand then slowly streamtwo cups of neutral oillike vegetable oil or canola down the sideso that it settles atop ofthe egg in a distinct layer.This is going to help us emulsify itinto a thick, creamy mayo.Now we're gonna plungeour immersion blenderdown into the depths of themixture and blend on high speedsort of bobbing theimmersion blender up and downslowly incorporating the oiluntil you have a big old jar of mayonnaiseso good you're gonna wannalick it like an ice cream cone.Sort of, maybe if you're me.Even if you don't eat it straight,it's gonna make an amazingbase for a number of dishes,first of which is pasta salad.My favorite pasta salad uses orecchiettewhich we're gonna boilin heavily salted wateruntil al dente, drainand rinse in cold water.Meanwhile, we've got a numberof vegetal accompaniments,a few Peppadew peppers finely chopped,four large carrots peeled and chopped,one rib celery finely chopped,the greens and whites of two scallionsand about two tablespoons eachof fresh chopped dill and parsley.We're scooping all that up andplacing it in a big old bowland with it, we're gonnasort of make a dressingbefore we add our pasta.One half cup of our homemade mayo,one quarter cup of sour creamwhich I find brings a nicesour cream like flavor,two teaspoons of Dijon mustard,half teaspoon of garlic powderand of course kosher saltand freshly ground black pepper to tastethen we're gonna grab our pastawhich has cooled completelybecause we rinsed it incold water, remember?Make sure that it's thoroughly drained,add it to our dressing andmix until thoroughly combined.This is gonna make for a lightflavorful crisp pasta saladthat isn't swimming in mayoand can be made ahead of time,covered and refrigeratedand is arguably betteronce the flavors have been allowedto get to know each other.Next up, some eggs, deviled.First up, we need some hard boiled eggswhich we're gonna accomplishby placing eight large eggsin an empty stockpot.Let's double check.One, two, three, four,five, six, seven, eight.That's eight eggswhich we're gonna cooksorta like potatoes.So we're gonna cover them with cold water,bring the whole affair to a boil,kill the heat as soon as it boils,cover and let rest for 12 minutes.Once 12 minutes have elapsed,these guys are ready for an ice bath.This is both gonna stopthe eggs from cookingand make them cool enough to peelwith our delicate human hands.Once those have cooledfor about 10 minutes,we're gonna take 'em over to the sinkwhere we're gonna peelthem under running water.Once peeled, we're readyto slice them in halfand bedevil them.So just cut 'em in half lengthwiseand once everybody has been bisected,we need to start digging outthe yolks into a separate bowl.Upon this rock, we shallbuild our deviled egg filling.To the yolks,we are adding a quartercup of our homemade mayo,one and a half teaspoons of Dijon mustard.This mustard sure is gettinga lot of mileage today.A few dashes of hot sauceand a little sprinkleor about a quarterteaspoon of smoked paprikathen using either a tiny whiskor if you give up onthe tiny whisk, a fork,we wanna get this into assmooth a mixture as possibleseasoning generously andearly on with kosher saltand freshly ground pepper.I found that initially a fork works bestand then switch back to a tiny whiskwhen it's time to get it smoothand then for perfect picnicking,I like to keep the fillingand the egg whites separateopting to fill them instead on siteso you don't have gross,squished deviled eggs.Keep those in an airtightcontainer and fridgeuntil ready to useand just to maximize bad breath potential,I like to serve deviledeggs with pickled onions.So in a small saucepan, we arecombining one cup of vinegar,half a cup of water,one teaspoon kosher saltand three tablespoons of sugar,tiny whisking and bringing to a boilthen we are cutting alarge red onion in halfand slicing it into thin half ringsand then stuffing these onionsinto a heatproof travel perfectcontainer like a mason jar.Really stuff 'em in there.Grab your boiling pickling liquidand pour overtop, allow to coolcompletely, refrigerate evenand you've got yourselfsome quick pickled onions.Just make sure thispicnic isn't a first date.Otherwise, it might also be a last date.Next up, the main course,a massive muffulettawhich requires a delicious olive salad.So in a small food processor,we are combining quartercup each parsley leavesand roasted red peppers,three quarters of a cupof mixed pitted olives,a half cup of giardinierawhich is a mixture ofItalian pickled vegetables,one tablespoon capersdrained of their liquidand one or two cloves offresh garlic roughly chopped.This is just to make thefood processor's lifea little easier.Cover it up and pulse it repeatedlyuntil it is a spreadablealmost salsa-like mixtureand is the secret ingredientof the world's greatest sandwich.This can be prepared ahead of time,covered and fridgeduntil ready to assemblewhich we're ready to do now.We have a large loaf of ciabatta.Definitely not traditionalfor a muffulettabut the closest equivalentthat you're gonna be ableto get in your grocery storewhich we're gonna very,very carefully cut in half.Come on, Andy, we onlygot one shot at this.Not too badand start layering withmany, many, many, many meats.Soppressata, salami, capicolaand my personal favorite mortadellaand then about an equal amountof two different kinds ofcheese, provolone and Swissthen we're piling this guy tall and proudwith every morsel of our olive salad.Spread it around nice and evenand before we sandwich it up,we're gonna treat ourtop half of the breadwith a couple glugs of red wine vinegar,extra-virgin olive oil anda few shakes of oreganojust in case this sandwichwasn't flavorful or messy enough.Top it up, squish it downand there you have it,a not so traditional butoh so delicious muffuletta.This guy can be cut intoquarters, eighths, 16ths,depending on how muchyou value your healthand is home to the greatest cross sectionthis side of the Mississippi Delta.You might even wanna consider making thisa shooter's sandwichor one of those sandwichesthat you weigh down overnightbecause it's prettyhard to wrap it in paperbut eventually, we'll just give upand wrap it up as best we canand prepare it for our picnic.We've prepared a bunchof heavy savory dishes.Now we need something lighter and sweeter.I propose what I call awatermelon mojito salad.Slice, remove the rind andchop into bite sized cubesa whole seedless watermelon,add a solid quarter cup ofchopped fresh mint to tastethen we're gonna add the squeezed juiceof three fresh juiced limesand then if you're feeling naughty,a quarter cup of darkrum or añejo tequila.Sure, that's not a lot of boozebut we'll pretend that it'sour naughty little secret.Give everybody a toss together.Add a little pinch of koshersalt if that's your bagand get ready for the easiest,most refreshing and tastyside dish you've ever tried.Speaking of refreshing, we need a beverageand since we have someextra mint leftover,we're gonna chop up a bunch of mintand slice up a coupleinches of fresh gingerwhich we're gonna use to makea mint ginger simple syrup.In a medium saucepan,we are combining oneand a half cups of sugarwith one cup of water, tinywhisking until dissolvedand bringing to a simmer.As soon as the simmer isreached, kill the heatand dump in the fresh stuffwhich we're gonna let steep in the syrupuntil it is completelycooled about one hour.Cover that up and set it asidebecause it's well past timethat we start juicing lemons.Go ahead and give your knuckles a crack'cause we're gonna juiceone and one half cupsof freshly squeezed lemon juice.Once that's done, we'regonna go ahead and strainour mint and ginger simple syrupand in a large food safe container,combine it with our one and one half cupsof freshly squeezed lemonjuice, five to six cups of waterdepending on how strong you like itand just a little bit of our simple syrup.We don't want too sweet a lemonadeso keep adding and tastingand adding and tastinguntil you've decided, you know what,I'm a sweet, sweet lemonade boy,I'm gonna add all the simple syrup.Whisk until completely combinedand transfer to a watertighttravel safe containerlike a mason jar thenall there is left to dois pack everything up and toteit out to your local park,preferably in a durable,spill-proof, leak-proof,well-insulated coolerlike this one from YETI.I hope as the weather gets warmer,you guys give this onea try for yourselvesand dine alfresco even if you're like meand you're just doing it in your backyard.I think at this point we couldall use a change of scenery.I hope that it's warmer wherever you arethan it was here whenwe filmed this episodeand I hope that you can all indulgein a colorful flavorfulpicnic with someone you love.(calm music)\n"