POTUS Sandwich: Thomas Jefferson
“POTUS Sandwich” is a monthly post where we share a sandwich inspired by a President of the United States. Each post will share a sandwich idea, garnished with a bit of history.
Using the Louisiana Purchase as an inspiration, we made a shrimp sandwich on French bread with some homemade Cajun sauce for the Thomas Jefferson. This one took a bit longer to make, as the shrimp had to be tailed and de-veined and the sauce had to be made from scratch, but it's well worth it.
The Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803 and effectively doubled the size of the United States. France had initially planned on using the Louisiana territory and Haiti to spread their empire in the Americas but when Haiti revolted and it seemed that war with England was coming France was forced to change their plans. To fund the impending war Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States at a cost of less than 3 cents per acre, totaling $15 million. The United States originally only wanted to purchase the port of New Orleans and the area around it and were prepared to pay $10 million for that but readily accepted when France offered the entire territory.
Put 1 cup of mayonnaise in a bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of ketchup.
Add 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
Chop 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley and add it to the bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper. If you don't like your food spicy, consider only adding 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
Juice the lemon. Add one tablespoon of the lemon juice to the bowl, set the rest aside for now.
Add 2 teaspoons of horseradish.
Mince 2 garlic cloves and add them to the bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce.
Add 1 teaspoon of celery seeds.
Add 1 teaspoon of paprika.
Stir all the ingredients together.
Defrost the shrimp, tail and de-vein them if necessary.
Add the remaining lemon juice to the shrimp.
Dice a few fish peppers. Note: Fish peppers are probably impossible to purchase in stores. I grew my own. They taste a bit like hot bell peppers, adding spiciness to food without overpowering the taste of whatever you're adding them to. If you can't get fish peppers, skip this step and instead use red pepper flakes.
Preheat a pan on the stove on medium-high with oil and the diced fish peppers.
Once the pan is heated add the shrimp.
While the shrimp are cooking, add a dash of black pepper and a pad of butter.
Set the shrimp aside once they're cooked.
Set your oven to 200F or warm.
Put the loaf in the oven. We're not toasting the bread here, just heating it up. If you have the oven set to warm you can probably leave the loaf in there until you're ready to use it.
Remove the bread from the oven.
Slice the loaf in half horizontally but do not cut completely through. Leave the two halves attached.
Spread the cajun sauce on the inside of the bread.
Place lettuce inside the bread.
Place shrimp inside the bread.
Cut the loaf into the appropriate number of sandwiches.
Note: That's a red cabbage cole slaw I made as a side.
