Cafe 11 Club Sandwich

The last time I was in St. Augustine, Florida this past March, I fell in love. With a sandwich, that is. ;)

My friend Melis and I went into Cafe Eleven, this sort of modern, laid back, warehouse-chic restaurant and music venue. We’d driven by while on all of our trips to St. Augustine but had never eaten there. Melis’ mom had mentioned they had really great food and she often went with her gym buddies after working out, so one afternoon we decided to head in for lunch.

I checked out the menu and the first thing that caught my eye was the Cafe 11 Club. The usual club ingredients were included… bacon, mixed greens, turkey… but then I saw ranch dressing and cream cheese, eeeek! Honestly, I was a little weirded out by the combination but at the same time slightly intrigued… I kind of dig weird things! I was picturing a soggy mess of a sandwich, but the guy behind the counter said it was actually delicious and a very popular sandwich. I decided to put my trust in a complete stranger and order it. I’m so glad I did because it was really wonderful. I’m still a little confused as to how it works so well but the herby and creamy flavors from the ranch dressing and the smoothness of the cream cheese are quite a match made in food heaven. Who knew?!

In my attempt to recreate it, here is what I used:

• Spring Mix
• Cream Cheese
Annie’s Naturals Organic Cowgirl Ranch Dressing
• Bacon
When Pigs Fly Sourdough Bread (one of my favorites!)
• Avocado
• Turkey (I asked for it to be sliced on the thicker side at the deli counter)

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Since it’s a sandwich, the building process is pretty self explanatory… ;)

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Ranch dressing on the left slice, cream cheese on the right. You can obviously use as much or as little as you’d like. I just did a thin layer of both.

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Avocado on left, turkey on right.

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Add bacon and mixed greens

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Voila! Now is a also great time to express how EXCITED I am to take take photos out on my deck again now that the weather is nice(er)!!!!!! WAHOOO! :) :) :)

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This is a perfect lesson in trying anything once, because had I continued to be “weirded out” by the cream cheese/ranch dressing combination I would have never have known what I was missing :) This is definitely a great Summer sandwich… picnic, anyone? It’s simple to make and unusually delicious!

When I was younger I used to put mayonnaise on my hot dogs (whaaat?). And I also put mayo on Ritz crackers with ham and cheese, but I only did that in private cause I thought my family would think I was a huge nut … cats out of the bag now, haha! My roommate, who is from Seattle, said hot dogs with cream cheese are real popular there, too! What’s your favorite “weird” food combination?

[Chels]

11 Comments

  • Erica said:

    haha…I agree, sometimes its good to try out things that sound a little “off”. I like carrots (cooked or raw) with yellow mustard. Enjoy the weekend & the weather

    April 23, 2010 5:58 pm
  • YUM. I love avocado (and bacon) on any sandwich. Makes it sooo much better.

    April 23, 2010 5:59 pm
  • Samantha said:

    This looks so good! I love cream cheese and ranch! I bet they are delicious together! :-)

    Weirdest combination I like — dill pickles in my grilled cheese! If you like pickles like I do, then you would love this! SO yummy! :-D

    April 23, 2010 6:03 pm
  • Sarah said:

    An open-faced sandwich with hot genoa salami, cream cheese and a poached egg. Mmm.

    April 23, 2010 8:01 pm
  • Katrina said:

    When I was younger, I put ketchup on everything… hot dogs (no buns!), green apple, chocolate cake… I don’t remember, but my older siblings sure do.

    Now I’m hooked on my mom’s favourite grilled sandwich: Raisin bread with mozzarella cheese. The cheese compliments the raisins and the cinnamon shines with the butter. The smell while you grill it is enough to convince anyone to try it.

    April 24, 2010 12:50 am
  • poppy said:

    One of my favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and dill pickles.

    April 24, 2010 7:19 pm
  • BethTN said:

    I love plain potato chips dipped in cottage cheese! This was a treat that my sister and I would eat with our mother. The creamy coolness of the cottage cheese is a perfect match for the salty potato chips. I too love peanut butter and pickles sandwiches but I like it with the sweet pickles!

    April 26, 2010 2:12 pm
  • Jeri said:

    That looks delish! I put mayo on a hot dog every once in awhile (only if the bun is toasted) and I had never heard of anyone else doing that.. But I also love making little sanwiches with saltines, Cabot Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Green Spanish Olives.. yum.. I also put them in my grilled cheese sammy’s..

    April 26, 2010 4:17 pm
  • joan said:

    I have always put mayo on my hot dogs. Not weird at all!

    April 26, 2010 4:55 pm
  • Creem cheese and creamy ranch dressing sounds good to me. I like odd combos like that. I will definitely try that one out.

    April 28, 2010 12:28 pm
  • Laura said:

    Leftover pizza reheated in the toaster oven then topped with cottage cheese and a little salt and pepper. Yummy !

    August 1, 2011 3:57 pm

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