Back in the mid 90s Arby's sold a sandwich which I LOVED called the Western Bacon Club. It was offered in either roast beef or chicken and I enjoyed both. I would eat one a week if not 2! It was for a limited time and it went away, never to return much to my chagrin. For years I have wished they'd bring it back.
Here's the commercial for it, it might jog your memory.
https://youtu.be/orQZh748yA0I have been waiting ALL OF THIS TIME for those jokers to announce its return but NOPE! If McDonald's can take away the McRib and bring it back, why can't Arby's follow that blueprint?
I got tired of waiting, so I made my own, only this time with BRISKET! Yes indeedy.
If you've watched the commercial above, you'll see that it starts with an onion roll that is toasted then has roast beef, bbq sauce, thick cut pepper bacon, swiss, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and what they call "Western Sauce" which is a fancy name for Ranch, lol.
So....not wanting to miss a step, my Wife smoked a Prime packer today along with a butt (since smoke was rolling, why not?). When the meats were done, I took 2 onion rolls and toasted them with my heat gun, that way the top side would stay soft and squishy like the way restaurants do it. I sliced some of the flat and put some on the toasted rolls, topped it with some BBQ sauce I made using strong coffee, molasses, Mike's Hot Honey, Tiger Sauce, a little beef rub and some store bought BBQ sauce. It was an awesome sauce that I just winged and will probably never be able to reproduce
I also had taken some thick cut pepper bacon and baked it on a wire rack in the oven to keep it nice and flat. So, we have meat and sauce, next was the bacon then room temp Swiss cheese (I hate cold cheese on hot sandwiches), tomatoes, shredded lettuce and lastly, some buttermilk ranch that I made up. I like it better than the bottled stuff as I use half mayo and half sour cream.
I have to say that the taste buds remembered and it brought back a flood of memories. Although different due to it being brisket, and my bbq sauce being different than theirs, it was very close and the flavors mingled together perfectly. Normally I would never eat ranch on a bbq sandwich but for whatever reason, this hodge podge works!
Here's the obligatory pictures
Brisket slices
"The Build"
My Son doesn't like tomatoes really but he settled for a thin slice, he also didn't want any ranch so I gave him a tad more "Coffee Ka-Pow BBQ Sauce", lol
Time to eat, hand cut fries with Lawry's paired well
I will do this again someday, it was really tasty! Maybe next time I'll actually do it with roast beef but most likely will stick with the brisket because......well.....it's gooooood
