Farmer's Lunch Sandwich: Revs 1, Red Bulls 2

I took the day off from work last Friday for my first ever Revs bus trip. The planned four hour drive to my home state of New Jersey dragged on into a sweaty, air-conditionerless six hours as we sat in traffic to cross the George Washington bridge. Come on, though. Who actually chooses to go over the GW on a Friday afternoon?!

With a grill completely out of the question (duh, we were on a bus), we aimed to fill a cooler with good eats that met two criteria:

1. Best served cold

2. Easy to eat on your lap

We settled on one of my all-time favorite sandwiches. I first discovered the Farmer's Lunch Sandwich at City Feed & Supply when I worked in Jamaica Plain. I returned three times in one week to keep eating it. Then I went online to try and figure out how to make it for myself. I found a most excellent recipe at The Kitchn, which I adapted only slightly to my taste. City Feed's sandwich includes pickled green tomato, but the onion jam in the kitchn's recipe is a more than adequate replacement. So much more, in fact, that I used the leftover on all kinds of other things. Including, but not limited to, toast, crackers, and tofu.

This is a simple sandwich...which makes it really, really worthwhile to buy good ingredients. Most importantly, you want the sharpest, crumbliest cheddar you can find.

Farmer's Lunch Sandwich

Adapted, ever so slightly, from the kitchn

Ingredients

   1 loaf crusty baguette

   Whole grain mustard

   Sharp, sharp, sharp cheddar cheese

   2 granny smith apples, very thinly sliced

   Juice of one lemon

   Onion Jam (recipe below)

Preparation

1. Slice the baguette into four equal sections, then slice each section in half lengthwise. Spread a generous amount of mustard on each side.

2. Spread a layer of onion jam on the bottom half of the bread. Toss the apples in lemon juice, then add as many as you can fit onto the sandwich. Add a few leaves of lettuce and top with a layer of cheese. Press the sandwich closed.

3. Wrap sandwich in a tight layer of wax paper.

Onion Jam

also adapted, barely, from the kitchn

Ingredients

   1 tablespoon olive oil

   5 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

   1/2 cup vegetable broth

   1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

   2 heaping tablespoons apricot jam

   salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook about 5 minutes, until they begin to get soft and the bottom of the pan begins to brown.

2. Add the 1/2 cup broth to the shallots, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan while the broth reduces. Add the balsamic vinegar, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add the apricot jam and stir to combine. The sauce will thicken but should be easily stirred.

We accompanied our sandwiches with summer macaroni salad (prepared by the chefs at River Street Whole Foods) and spring salad with new potatoes (created by Deb at smitten kitchen and prepared by yours truly). I did not attempt to modify this recipe. Thus, I will not re-type it word-for-word. Instead, I will provide you with a link to the original, very yummy recipe here. And I will share my photos:

Here is our bus, but I did not get any photos from the game! Sorry!