Zach Daddy Debut

I wanted to make a Cheezer with all of my favorite toppings.  I knew it had to have Roast Beef, my go-to when I order a sandwich at a deli & Pepperoncini Peppers because Papa John's got me hooked on them back in college. 

But, I also wanted to add Salami, Bacon, Turkey, Mushrooms, Onions, Pickles, Jalapenos, Tomatoes & Pesto.  I thought maybe it needed a sauce like our Slapstick Sauce or possibly Honey Mustard.

"You're all over the place," Kate said when I mentioned this never-ending list of add-ons.  "You gotta narrow it down.  Remember, we have to bring all of this stuff to the breweries."

Of course, she was right.  So, I went back to the drawing board.

I started with the cheeses.  I knew I wanted Monterey Jack & Cheddar.  I figured that would play well with Roast Beef & the Pepperoncinis that had to be on my sandwich.  

Then, I looked around at a few deli menus online to see what Roast Beef paired with.  Anytime it was a cold sandwich it was usually Turkey & Ham or Bacon, but this was a grilled cheese & none of those seemed right.  

When I looked at hot roast beef sandwiches, it was mostly with onions & BBQ sauce or Horseradish Sauce.  I wanted to do something different.  Zach Daddy needed to stand out- to jump off the menu.        

"What about salami?" I thought.  I scoured the internet to find out that no one was really making Roast Beef & Salami sandwiches, hot or cold.  With the Pepperoncinis, it kind of had an Italian feel to it so I thought Provolone would be the perfect third cheese to melt on there.

Now, we were getting somewhere!

So bought all the ingredients one day & tried it out at home.  It was good (we ate it all), but something was still missing.

"It's kind of dry, right?" I asked Kate & she nodded.  

"Yeah, the Roast Beef needs some juice- some Au-ju, or something."

I went back to the laptop to look for a good recipe when somehow I stumbled upon on one for "French Onion Soup."  That was it- something clicked.  I had wanted onions on there since the beginning & here was a way to do it & make it more juicy & flavorful at the same time!

The result: a tasty, Roast Beef & Salami, French & Italian hot sandwich on our seasoned Sourdough that debuted at Alesmith Brewing Co. in early May 2016.  It had taken me over three years to come up with the perfect sandwich to bear my name & I think we got it right.  

It's still one of our best-sellers to this day, the only difference is that we switched out Provolone for Pepper Jack (my favorite cheese) about a year later, to make it this Cheezer even more fire.