The Sophisticated Sandwich: Exotic, Eclectic, Ethnic Eatables

The book's title promises and the recipes deliver: food that is stylish, unusual, toothsome and pleasurably challenging. These are not sandwiches to be shoved into a brown bag come a Monday-morning rush; many demand considerable time and labor, but effort here is well invested. Smoked duck with apple-pear chutney on chili bread; grilled flank steak with cucumber and radish on walnut bread with orange butter; pita with curried lamb, feta cheese and spinach; Stilton cheese and pear-walnut chutney with port butter on a baguette; and noodle pancake with grilled prawn salad are among the more spectacular rewards. A few familiar standbys--the Reuben, Philly cheese steak and croque monsieur--are included, but most recipes are highly original. These creations are supported by an array of homemade breads: pesto-pistachio, cornmeal brioche and Navajo fry breads; onion-rye bagels; and rosemary fougasse. The author even supplies her own ``childhood favorite,'' a startling combination of peanut butter, dill pickles, potato chips and apricot jam on whole-wheat bread. Hazen wrote Glories of the Vegetarian Table. Illustrated. (July)