# Large Quantities of Sandwiches



## Corinne (Mar 19, 2006)

This coming Saturday is my day at the local shelter/soup kitchen. We're doing lunch this month. Soup, sammiches, & salads. I have plenty of soup recipes to choose from. Salads will be easy. It's sandwiches that I have a question on - I would love to be able to do grilled cheese sandwiches because nothing goes better with soup, in my opinion. I can't figure out how to do a large quantity of them at one time so we can just put them on plates as people go thru the line. 

I know we can do "salad sandwiches" (tuna, chicken, ham, etc.) & make them up ahead of time but I would really rather do warm sandwiches. Even tho' the calendar says that it's Spring tomorrow, we are still having Winter weather here. 

Thank you!


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## Constance (Mar 19, 2006)

I do this thing where I buy French bread, split it in half lengthwise, scoop out a lot of the middle, leaving a substantial shell, and spoon in filling of your choice, as long as it has cheese in it. Small chunks of Velveeta Lite are best. Top with a dusting of paprika, bacon bits, or sliced olives if you wish. 
Put on baking sheets, cover with foil, and put in 350 degree oven. Once bread is hot, take off foil and broil for a minute until the top is crispy. 
Remove from oven, cool a bit, and slice. 
If I were doing cheese only, I'd use 2-3 good cheese, a dusting of paprika, amd a few bacon biits.

You can do large quantities of these, and not worry about how they will taste after they cool off.

Wish I could come help you cook for the shelter. If I were able, I'd love doing something like that.


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## QSis (Mar 19, 2006)

Oh man, that sounds SO delicious, Constance!  I want one right now!

Excellent idea!

Lee


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## purrfectlydevine (Mar 19, 2006)

Many years ago, the college cafeteria kept melted butter and used a pastry brush to butter the bread.  Of course there was a large griddle on which to make them.  I would suggest that the cheese be sliced thick enough so that only 1 slice is needed.


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## Gretchen (Mar 19, 2006)

Just give up on the idea of grilled sandwiches. Make ham and cheese, etc. and cover with moistened paper towels to keep them from drying out.


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## mish (Mar 19, 2006)

For the grilled cheese sandwiches, spray the outside of the cheese sandwiches/bread slices with butter-flavored cooking spray, bake at about 400, (on a sheet pan?) and turn the sandwiches over halfway thru - maybe 15 minutes total. You can make multiple sandwiches this way.


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## jpmcgrew (Mar 20, 2006)

Just how many sandwiches are you talking about?You can grill ahead and let them cool on racks so they dont get soggy then pop in oven single layer 10 to 15 minutes before serving to warm up and melt cheese thats about as close as you can get to actually cooking them when you want them


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## Corinne (Mar 20, 2006)

I'm talking 50 to 60 sandwiches, minimum. We decided to go with something else this month but it's still something I'd like to tackle so I appreciate all the ideas. They do have a good sized flat grill like some restaurants/pizza places use. I think it's do-able - we just need to be really organized & come up with some sort of system.
Constance, I wish you could come & cook with me, too. You would love it! I get a lot out of it - even tho' that wasn't my motive. I really look forward to doing it each month. The people we feed are always so appreciative of our efforts on their behalf. I think they get a lot of plain old pasta & sauce. We try to mix it up & really give them some different things. We did Mexican last month & it went over so well! We pretty much ran out of food. I so hate when that happens. I usually go ridiculously overboard. Sometimes I shouldn't listen to other people - I should just go with my gut. Better too much than too little.


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