I Pre-Party Before Thanksgiving

If you beat yourself up for dipping into the Thanksgiving goodies before Dinner is ready, you shouldn’t.  Thanksgiving is like any other big event and warrants a “pre-party”.  A warm-up to make sure the you’re race ready and ready for primetime.

Today, the day before Thanksgiving I primed my pump with a BBQ Turkey Sandwich from Whole Foods.

Now let me be clear: I’m a big fan of Whole Foods but I’ve beat them up pretty good when it comes to sandwiches.  I’m not sure what it is, but no matter what sandwich I order from their deli, it tastes like a dog’s breakfast (i.e., a bunch of ingredients that taste like they’ve been thrown together without any thought or consideration.)

Today was a different story.  In what started as a simple scouting trip to check to see if their Turkey was Thanksgiving-worthy, turned into a delicious sandwich that has put Whole Foods back on the sandwich map.

I was a simple sandwich: fresh cut Turkey, BBQ sauce, dill pickles and onions.  Really nice.

And if you’re wondering, yes, the Turkey was Thanksgiving-worthy.

The Mudd Honey at Delicatus is SICK

It was 1993 and I was in college at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, MO.  I grew out my hair, rode a skateboard around campus and listened to “alternative” music.  Grunge music was all the rage and a bunch of bands from Seattle who were supposedly “alternative” became the mainstream.

Bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots got too big for me.  I still had all of the CDs, but I wanted to be in the know, so I dug a little deeper and found bands like The Screaming Trees, Hammerbox and Mudhoney.

Fast forward 17 years later and I live in Seattle part-time and instead of spending my disposable income going out to see shows at the Showbox or Crocodile Cafe, I eat Turkey Sandwiches for fun.  Instead of going out to the record store to hunt for some rarities, I search for new or out-of-the-way sandwich shops.  A couple weeks ago a place called Delicatus opened up in Pioneer Square and burst onto the scene.

As an apparent honor to the Seattle music scene and one of those bands that didn’t quite make it into the mainstream, they named one of their sandwiches the Mudd Honey.  This is one sick sandwich: Roast Beef, Turkey, slab Bacon and BBQ on French Roll.  Amazing.

Even if you think Grunge sucks or if you don’t event remember what Grunge was, go out and get one of these sandwiches.  Take it from this Grunge connoisseur, The Mudd Honey at Delicatus has a chance to be the Nirvana of Turkey Sandwiches.

Turkey Tacos are Friggin’ Delicious

Alright, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: A sandwich is a sandwich and tacos are tacos.  But when someone puts turkey in tacos, it’s good enough for this here sandwich pundit to talk about it on his Turkey Sandwich blog.  So don’t even think about posting some wise-ass comments about how (insert whiny voice) “This is a Turkey SANDWICH blog and I didn’t come here to read about TACOS.”

Got it?  Ok, good.

Green Mesquite is in Austin, TX.  They do BBQ and they do it well.  But reason #1 why I like Green Mesquite is that they do what I call “Texan Fusion” cuisine: Part BBQ, part sandwich, part Mexican – all in one entree.  I had the Turkey Tacos with BBQ sauce AND salsa on it.  Yes, BOTH at the SAME time.  Don’t knock it until you try it.  You take a look at this photo and tell me this doesn’t make you hungry:

‘

More photos of my visit to the Green Mesquite are here and here.

Reason #2 why I like Green Mesquite is fact that there is a George Jones poster hanging inside.  The fact that they know good Country Music gives them “street cred” as a true Texas BBQ joint.

Let Me Explain BBQ and Turkey

It’s hard to believe, but I don’t think I’ve ever discussed how to properly serve a BBQ Turkey Sandwich.  I have to admit, that I never really knew how to do this until I moved to Texas.  But having lived there for six years and eaten plenty o’ BBQ Turkey Sandwiches while I was there, I know my shit.

First of all, here are the ingredients and plate presentation:

• Sliced (the Turkey is usually smoked)
• Dill Pickles – sliced in Hamburger Chip style
• Sliced White Onions
• Sliced bread – usually White
• BBQ Sauce – in an unlimited supply
• (keep in mind that the meat is interchangeable – brisket, turkey, chicken – I just prefer Turkey)

Preparation:

• Smother the Turkey with the sauce.
• Put the Turkey on the bread and top with the Pickles and Onions
• Eat

That’s how you do it.  And I’m shocked that someone could open up a BBQ joint and not know this shit.  At Big Papa’s BBQ in Littleton tonight, they looked at me like a leper tonight when I asked for bread and pickles and more sauce to accompany my Smoked Turkey.  Sorry, but a big hunk of Turkey (by itself) on a plate doesn’t do it for me.

To top it all off, they didn’t get the bread or pickles right.  They brought out a hoagie roll and sweet pickles.

Big Papa – Get your BBQ shit together.