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Club Sandwiches
Remove the crust from two slices of toasted stale bread. Spread the under slice with a thin layer of mayonnaise dressing. On this lay two small white lettuce leaves, not allowing them to project beyond the edge of the toast. On the lettuce lay slivers of thinly cut breast of chicken, spread with mayonnaise and over the mayonnaise lay a slice of broiled bacon. Cover with the other slice of toast and serve hot.
ANCHOVY AND CHEESE SANDWICHES-A delicious sandwich is made of anchovy and cheese rubbed together. Take two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, add one anchovy and rub to a paste; spread between two very thin slices of nicely toasted bread.
Two sandwiches in one entry: the club as it was built before the three-decker version took over, and a quick anchovy-Parmesan toast. Both depend on the toast being thin, dry and hot.
- Stale bread is the pointDay-old bread toasts drier and firmer and will not collapse under mayonnaise. Fresh soft sandwich bread steams inside and goes limp within a minute of assembly.
- Two slices, not threeThis version is built on two slices. The familiar triple-decker with a middle slice of toast, tomato and turkey is a different arrangement; if you want the version you know from a diner menu, add the third slice and tomato yourself.
- Chicken breast"Slivers of thinly cut breast" means carved off a roasted or poached bird, not deli slices. Roast or poach a breast, chill it firm, then cut across the grain as thinly as the knife allows.
- Broiled baconBroiled here means cooked over or under direct heat until crisp, which a modern grill or broiler does in about 3-4 minutes a side. Pan-frying gives the same result; drain it well or the mayonnaise slides.
- Assemble at the last momentMayonnaise on hot toast begins to break down and soak in almost immediately. Have the toast, chicken and bacon ready and build the sandwich just before it goes to the table.
- Anchovy proportionsTwo tablespoons of grated Parmesan to one whole salt-packed or oil-packed fillet is aggressively salty by current taste. Start with half a fillet, mash it with the cheese and a little softened butter to bind, and add more to taste.
- "Very thin slices" of toastAnchovy toast of this kind is associated with the English savoury, served at the end of a meal or with drinks and cut small, though this recipe specifies only very thin toast. Thin toast, crusts off, cut into fingers or quarters.
- YieldAs written, one club sandwich and one small anchovy sandwich. Scale directly.
The club sandwich enters American cookbooks in the 1890s and was already contested by the time this version was printed in 1911 -- the name is generally traced to men's social clubs of the eastern seaboard, though which one has never been settled and several claims are traditional rather than documented. This version is made with two slices rather than three: toast, mayonnaise, lettuce, cold chicken breast and bacon. The anchovy-and-cheese toast tacked on afterward belongs to a different tradition entirely, the English savoury -- a small salty bite served after the sweet course to finish the wine -- which American household books of the period absorbed alongside the newer club.