Coffee Pot Sandwich

Note: This is not the actual recipe but a listing of the ingredients discussed by the owner of The Coffee Pot in Bangor Maine during a TV interview conducted the week that the Coffee Pot closed its doors. The Coffee Pot closed on December 31, 2009 and I was fortunate to get a sandwich that day. Hundreds of people were in line for 1180 sandwiches. Many people in line were buying 10 to 20 sandwiches at a time.

The classic Coffee Pot, is a roll from Brick Oven Bakery, a layer of green bell pepper, five slices of tomato, lots of white spanish onions, salt and red pepper from end to end, oil to season it, topped by four pieces of American cheese, three pieces of American salami and five pickles.

Ingredients for the Coffee Pot:

• Spanish white onions chopped in about a 1/4 inch dice
• Foot long Italian sandwich roll. (The Coffee Pot used rolls from the Red Brick Bakery down the street)
  
• Green pepper chopped in about a 1/4 inch dice
• Red pepper flakes
• light drizzle of olive oil
  
• Tomato sliced (plum tomato)
  
• Provolone or American Cheese (about 4 slices)
  
• Genoa salami or ham or both depending on preference.
• Dill pickle slices
  

Directions:  Slice open the Italian roll but do not cut completely. Add a generous amount of chopped onion then sprinkle a small amount of chopped green pepper then season with red pepper flakes. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the sandwich. (Note: the sandwiches never seemed oily so it may be that the Coffee Pot added the oil to the chopped onion and then mixed it with chopped green pepper and other seasonings to make it more efficient to make the sandwich). Add 5 slices of sliced tomato then the cheese and then the salami or ham. Top with 5 slices of dill pickle.