Recipe #85: Laramie Loaf

This is one of the Dichtl Big 4.... one of those family meals you've eaten your entire life, where just smelling it brings back memories of dinner..... (the others are spaghetti pie- recipe 1, tuna soup burgers- recipe 10, and another that I haven't blogged yet)

Now, I like to keep these family recipes EXACTLY how I used to eat them, but the first time I made this for Nick, he didn't like how hard the outside of the french bread was.  To me, that's just part of the tradition, but I compromised for this time and used loaves of ciabatta bread instead, which are a little more forgiving and easy on the gums.  Another change I made was to not put olives on part of the sandwich since one friend who was eating it didn't like olives.  Lastly, I didn't bother eating the top bun on my sandwich (as you can see in the pictures) because it doesn't have as much of the good stuff on that side.

My friend Tom says that since we changed the type of bread used, we should call it Larry Loaf instead of Laramie Loaf.  Hmm...

Don't be scared off by how weird these ingredients sound together.  I LOVE this recipe.  I can't really begin to describe the flavor, but trust me, it's good- if you like the ingredients separately, you'll like them together.  Also don't be scared by the looks- it's not real pretty, but it's DELICIOUS!!

INGREDIENTS

2 loaves french bread (or, in my case, 2 large ciabatta loaves), sliced through the middle
Butter/margarine
2 3oz packs of cream cheese (NOT 8oz- these little 3oz packs do exist in the store)
1/2 cup mayo or miracle whip
3 tbs mustard
4 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Olives, per taste, chopped or sliced
Shredded cheddar cheese, about 2 cups
1 chopped tomato
Bacon slices, cooked, about 12

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Place loaves open face on foil and butter insides.

In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayo, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and olives (or leave the olives as a topping in case someone doesn't like them, but they make a big difference in the taste).  Smear the mixture on bottom halves of the loaves.  Top with cheddar cheese, tomato, and bacon (and olives if not in the spread).  Cover with top piece of bread and wrap with foil.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Note:  Next time I do this, I'm going to try to make them all open face and just create a loose pack of foil around them for baking.  I didn't bother eating the top of mine because it didn't have any of the toppings on it.