It's turkey time. • Which can only mean one thing - Adam Sandler's "The Thanksgiving Song" is going to pop up on the hip radio stations. "Turkey for me / Turkey for you / Let's eat the turkey / In my big brown shoe . . ." • So, probably not a lot of takers for scarfing the big bird out of a shoe, but plenty of you liked it piled between bread. • In our recent Food Fight, plenty of y'all waxed poetic about the killer turkey sandwiches you can find around town. Two names came up again and again: Beyond Bread and Baggin's.
With seven cold turkey sandwiches on the menu plus a regular Sunday special that pairs the bird with cranberries and gorgonzola, Beyond Bread has somethin' for everyone. Still, reader Nicole Molodecki, a junior high attendance clerk, takes things one step further and customizes Bart's Bag.
"It comes on a baguette, but I switch the bread to parsley and Swiss," Molodecki wrote in her online comment. "I found out that they will even warm it up if you ask. Warm brie . . . mmm."
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Shelby Collier, who owns the popular eatery with his wife, Randie, says there are two secrets to a great turkey sandwich: the turkey and the bread. The two Beyond Bread locations go through about a ton of meat a week, Collier guestimates. The turkey breasts are cooked in a special oven that uses heat and steam, and the end result is incredibly moist.
"It's about as close as you can get to doing a Thanksgiving-style turkey," he says.
Collier himself is also partial to Bart's Bag. "I just think it's a really great combination," he says.
Baggin's earned raves for its Sundown Baggin's, basically Thanksgiving on a sub roll with turkey, stuffing, lettuce and cranberries.
The turkey and cheese hoagie from Frankie's South Philadelphia Cheesesteaks also got a fair share of shout-outs. Not what you'd expect from a place that has "cheesesteaks" right in its name. Readers praised its moist, generous serving of turkey.
Yeah, the secret to that, turkey lovers, is major TLC. Owner Frankie Santos uses a FlavorWave turbo oven (Mr. T advertises it), and then the turkey breast gets basted every 20 to 30 minutes. With butter.
"You religiously have to baste it," Santos says. Then the thinly sliced turkey sits in the juices to absorb more flavor.
Le Buzz Caffe received kudos for its turkey verde, a hot sandwich that piles thinly sliced turkey onto foccacia bread along with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil pesto. Front-end manager Brett Roberts says the sandwich is a big seller. Roberts' personal favorite, though, is the restaurant's Napa sandwich - turkey, brie, green apple and red onion.
"The combo of apples, brie and turkey is classic and fantastic," he says.
