The Dagwood: Pile it High

From Serious Eats 

Is there anything more American than the Dagwood sandwich? While Saveur's excellent sandwich issue featured a collection of sandwiches I couldn't wait to make, the Dagwood immediately jumped to the top of my list for purely patriotic reasons. Why? Well, where else could such a sandwich be created? It contains three slices of bread, four types of cold cuts, and an assortment of other things that probably just happened to be in the fridge at the time. And yet, I'd never had one before. It was time to fix that.

I mean, have you have ever actually eaten a Dagwood? I could picture it in my head, and immediately thought of the Blondie comic strip character that it was based on, but I'd never actually sunk my teeth into one. I expected it to be a total and complete disaster. Yet, against all odds, it works. Like the Chicago dog, its many different components combine to create something unique that is more than the sum of its parts. Now, I won't exactly be running out to have one next week, but I can see myself craving this once in a while.

The recipe below is for just one sandwich—but this one sandwich easily fed me and my wife, and we didn't need a single side dish. Of course, potato chips and a pickle wouldn't be out of order. Also, I wouldn't make this one for a crowd. It's rather awkward to eat, and can get a tad messy.

• 3 slices rye sandwich bread
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 4 slices deli ham
• 2 slices American cheese
• 2 leaves iceberg lettuce
• 4 slices bologna
• 4 slices salami
• 6 dill pickle chips
• 3 slices tomato
• 4 slices turkey
• 2 slices Swiss cheese
• 2 pimiento stuffed green olives

Lay the three slices of bread out on a cutting board. Smear two of them with a tablespoon each of the yellow mustard. Smear the last one with mayonnaise. Top one of the mustard smeared slices of rye bread with the ham, cheese, lettuce, and bologna. Top the second mustard smeared slice of rye bread with the salami, pickle chips, tomato slices, turkey, Swiss cheese, and the third slice of rye bread, mayonnaise side down. Stack this unit on top of the first mustard smeared slice.Skewer each green olive with a toothpick. Secure the sandwich with these.