This is more a remembrance than a recipe. I had the pleasure of knowing and often visiting M.F.K. Fisher at her house in Glen Ellen. We had an “Tuesdays with Morrie” kind of relationship long before that wonderful book was written. I think that more than any other writer, she helped me see and understand how food was a touchstone to life in general. She had a voracious curiosity in all kinds of subjects. Her books are the treasures of my bookcase and I encourage everyone to read her. Since her death, many of her books have reprinted and, as a result, are easy to find or order from a good bookstore or on-line.
Back to the sandwich . . . . when I visited Mary Frances we would take turns fixing lunch. On this particular day I thought it was her turn but as we walked thru her little kitchen heading for the lovely porch where we sat and talked, I saw no lunch makings. I need to say right here that MFK had a pretty forceful personality and I knew better than to question her on something as inconsequential as lunch.
We talked for an hour or so and she said “let’s fix lunch”. I was so relieved. We went into the kitchen where she gathered a nice baguette, several meats and cheeses, good mustard and more. She cut the bread in half lengthwise, tore out some of the soft bread out of the middle and proceeded to layer it with the meats, cheeses and mustard. She then replaced the top of the bread and proceeded to wrap the whole loaf over and over again in plastic wrap. I didn’t say a word but thought silently to myself that the poor dear must be slipping a bit!
She grabbed the now plastic jacketed loaf and announced “let’s talk some more” and we went back out to the porch. Just as I was about to sit down she handed me the loaf and instructed me to “Sit on it”. After another 45 minutes or so she announced “lunch is ready!” Back into the kitchen she proceeded to unwrap the loaf and I think you can imagine what happened. The loaf was nicely compressed and the heat of my body had gently melted the meats and cheeses together. This was long before I was even aware of Panini but years later I dubbed this a “Bunini”.
For lunch she carefully sliced the loaf into finger sandwiches and as I recall we enjoyed it with a glass of Russian River Pinot Noir. Besides being delicious (if somewhat unorthodox) she noted that this warm sandwich was one of her favorite tricks to get rambunctious children to sit still for awhile. I’m not sure if I fell into that category or not! Try it next time you have a chance with children of all ages. It really does work and it’ll help you remember MFK Fisher.
John Ash (c) 2017