I have to say that lunch is not my favorite meal of the day. Somehow, for me, it just doesn’t live up to breakfast or to dinner. Regardless of my feelings about it, though, Fred was all excited about making muffalettas for lunch, so who was I to stop him? The recipes below for the olive salad (which will last you for many, many sandwiches) and the sandwich itself are both from Fred, who also writes:

Muffaletta sandwiches are a staple in New Orleans. They were “invented” by uncle “Sal” at the Central Grocery at the turn of the century, according to legend. The bread for the sandwich is a classic Sicilian large, medium-dense round sour dough loaf called a muffaletta. Of course, I can’t do justice to the sandwich, so here’s the Wikipedia page about it.

Olive Salad
(makes 1 gallon, keeps in fridge for weeks/month)

• 8 jars 7.5oz dry weight Manzanilla Olives (with pimientos)
• 5 14oz cans black olives
• 2 22oz jars Giardiniera
• 1 3oz jar balsamic capers
• 5 tablespoons minced garlic (1 head, more or less)
• about 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil, very good quality
• 3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 tablespoons celery seeds
• 3 tablespoons oregano
• 1 tablespoons basil
• 1.5 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoons ground pepper

Drain and lightly rinse all canned/jarred veggies up to garlic. Toss in batches into the Cuisineart. Chop all to fine consistency, not too fine - maybe 1/16″ to 1/8″ chunks. Put all veggies into plastic container large enough for more than 1 gallon of stuff. Add in 1/2 cup olive oil, mix well. Add garlic in spoonfuls, mixing well with large spoon until it is clearly strong garlic-smelling (about 3-4 tablespoons). Add in rest of olive oil and rest of herbs and salt to taste, mixing very well. Let stand refrigerated for 1-2 hours, then add rest of garlic if you think it needs it (it always needs it). Mix thoroughly and top off with a little more olive oil if it looks dry. Keep refrigerated. It will keep for weeks and up to 1 month. [I am still eating the leftovers from camp --ed.] Don’t use a cherished plastic dish, because you’ll never be able to use it for anything else again.

Muffaletta Sandwich
(serves about 8 people)

• 1 ciabatta loaf (or a muffaletta if you can find it)
• 1/4 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound capicolo, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound hard Genoa salami, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/4 pound Provolone cheese,sliced
• 1 cup olive salad

Put olive salad on bottom. Don’t be shy about the oil, it makes the bread taste divine. Layer meats, then cheese, then a little more olive salad on top. Put the top on the sandwich, then press the bread to absorb juices from the olive salad. At Central Grocery (the epicenter of Muffaletta goodness), they weigh down the sandwiches in high stacks and let them sit at room temp for hours wrapped in butcher paper so the juices really absorb in the bread. This is more important to the final taste than you might think.

Bread for everything at Camp Spoonhowopic, including the sandwiches and french toast, came from Mediterra Bakehouse in Pittsburgh. This is easily our favorite bakery in Pittsburgh. Here’s short story for you: When I called the bakehouse to order 30 loaves of bread, the first question I got was “Is this a restaurant order?” Ha! When I said that someone would stop by the bakehouse to pick up our order first thing in the morning, she said, “Well, we get here at 2 a.m. so anytime after that is fine.” OK, first thing in the morning for ordinary, non-baker people.

In addition to muffaletta, campers could also choose from a variety of other lunch meats and grilled vegetables, as well as this yummy salad:

White Bean Salad

We also served Kettle-brand potato chips which, along with a lot of Santa Cruz lemon juice for making lemonade, we bought by the case from the East End Food Co-op, our local co-operative grocery store.

Lemonade

• 1/2 cup lemon juice, preferably Santa Cruz brand or similar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• water to fill 2 quart pitcher

Directions: mix and refrigerate!

And last, but not least, we tapped a keg of East End Witte from East End Brewing Co., another fine establishment just down the street from our Pittsburgh apartment. We managed to finish off a half barrel before dinner (in addition to the leftovers from the barbecue: two bottled beers recommended by Vicki at the Grovewood Tavern, Karlovacko and Sierra Nevada Porter). Good job, Spoonhowopians!