Another new name for me. I feel like I used to be up-to-date on all the hip chefs out there. I blame my unhipness on not having cable anymore.

About the book:

Soups, Salads, Sandwiches is Matty Matheson’s third and most casual cookbook. The holy trinity of kitchen tables, these recipes are the ones Matty goes back to most frequently. These come with stories of his personal connections to the day-to-day comfort meals in the home. (Taken from Matty’s World.)

About the author:

The above excerpt was the entire book blurb at Matty’s site. I really needed more and I thought you might too. Here is more about this author/chef/entrepreneur.

Internationally recognized personality Matty Matheson has been breaking barriers since his cooking debut. His expansive career has brought many opportunities to the chef, restaurateur, best-selling author, award winning executive producer, actor and television personality.

Matty’s presence in culture has grown exponentially as he continues to bring his unique personality beyond the restaurant world in a variety of ways and creative entrepreneurial ventures. Matty currently lives in Fort Erie Ontario with his wife and 3 children.  (from Matty’s World)

I still needed more. 

So remember I said we don’t have cable anymore. Aaaahhh, my first discovery was that Matty plays the handyman on The Bear. He has hosted various food-centric shows on Canadian TV. His restaurants, Matty’s Patty’s Burger Club and Prime Seafood Palace, are located in Toronto with Rizzo’s House of Parm in Fort Erie, Ontario. He’s opened multiple pop-up restaurants throughout the years. 

Matheson may be sort of a renaissance man and has created a weird lifestyle brand. He runs Blue Goose Farms to supply his restaurants, created Born X Raised streetwear, hosts podcasts, and is a cookbook author. Matty Matheson: A Cookbook was first published in 2018 followed by Matty Matheson: Home Styled Cookery in 2020. Soups, Salads, Sandwiches (October 2024) is his third book. (I gleaned all of the above information at Wikipedia.)

What I thought…

All offensive words have been disguised with various symbols so as not to offend.

So let me just say from the start, the F-word doesn’t faze me much. If it’s shouted in anger or fear, now that’s another thing but if it’s used in casual conversation, I really don’t give a F*#K. It’s odd to say, but when I’m reading non-fiction and the author uses this kind language, I feel a strange kinship. (That is so weird because I don’t use this type of language at all much…only on very rare occasions when nothing else seems to fit.) I feel like maybe the author is being more honest in their writing. Before I go down a rabbit hole, let me just say that Matheson uses this word frequently, but in a totally sincere way. 

Case in point. The first section of Soups, Salads, Sandwiches is obviously soup. He ends the intro to that section with “Now, go buy some groceries and make some f*#king soup” (7). Also refer to the photos above. He’s a very large tatted up dude. Yet, what is the first recipe in this book? Lightest of Broth of Garden Herbs with One Chile (8) and he urges you to make it for the person you love. The broth is made with chive, nasturtium, and marigold flowers. Conundrum on the horizon for sure. 

I was not expecting the soups that followed—a root vegetable broth with tofu (14); Soupe au Pistou (16); Cabbage Soup with Crème Fraîche, Smoked Trout Roe and Chives (19). I was totally boxing Matheson into a stereotype. Then, I found the soups I was expecting—Pumpernickel, Beer, and Cheese Curd Soup (24); Broiled and Burnt Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Crostini Thing (29); Broiled Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (30); Rhode Island Clam Chowder (39); and Baked Potato Buffet Vichyssoise (48).

His sincerity and love of cooking (and sense of humor) come through. He comments on the photo of one of his soups this way: 

This photo kinda looks like there’s just chile oil on top of dirty dishwater after washing old spaghetti-sauce filled Tupperware. Ignore all of that; despite what I said, this soup is fire. (15)

Be prepared. There are a lot of photos of Matheson with most of his tats showing. But there are also beautiful photos of his soups despite the comment above. 

The soup recipes just kept slapping me in the face (to paraphrase a lot of Matheson) and there is no way to classify them. I thought there would be the “classy elevated” soups like the first two I mentioned, then a hearty category. While there are those, the rest just can’t be pigeon-holed. Where do I put crab cake soup (76) and Giant Meatball Soup (85). You have to know that the Giant Meatball Soup (in Beefy Tomato Broth) serves four but contains 2 pounds of meat. That’s a big meatball. 

Matheson is up front at the very beginning of the salad section. His family’s definition of a salad was taco salad—“just ground beef with Fritos on top” (107). It was new for him to think about salads as veggies and greens. But there’s a caveat in the intro, “Salads are anything that’s mixed up” (107) so there’s a lot of “other” types of salads in this section. He also does a short treatise on the “sh!tty house chef—chopped salad…. You know, the one where you get to pick if you want ranch, blue cheese, French, Thousand Island, or Italian. I love that we live in a world where (for the most part) there’s only one salad and five dressings that exist” (108). He loves this lowest form of salad but the salads he presents are far from that.

We are going to make salads in this book that are beautiful, that are mundane, that are hard to make. Salads that are good and fresh and salads that are even better three days later. Salads that I hope you’ll make for the rest of your life. Salads that are healthy and salads that are probably not that good for you. Salads that you can bring to your friends’ houses to brighten up their day. Salads that you can make in a bowl and by the time you’ve completed it, you’ve already eaten half of it because it’s that good and you’re not going to share with anybody because you ate it like a big ol’ hog. (108)

That pretty much covers all the bases. 

None of these are sh!tty salads. They are inspired. And, some are not the healthiest (probably). Where else could you find a dressing with beet juice and honey balanced with pork fat? 

There are a few more “traditional” salads like Rizzo’s Wedge Salad (124) which is an homage to his daughter and her love of green pepper. The blue cheese dressing sounds amazing. Orzo and Goat Cheese Salad  (133) is another “mainstream” one. 

I’m always on the lookout for a good celery salad (because that’s another surplus item in our farm bags). His Celery Salad with Creamy Honey Dressing (114) is simple but has the opposing tastes of dates and Limburger cheese thrown in.  

The other salads are hard to categorize, just like his soups.

Spaghetti with Mint, Ricotta and Olive-Oil Baked Bread Crumbs (129) is more like an appetizer as is Charred Corn Esquites-Style with Fried Oaxacan Cheese Curds (131).

Broccoli Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing, Fried Egg, and Gorgonzola (116) is a total meal.

Some of his salads are more like sides to me: Zucchini Salad with Manchego, Salsa Verde, and Pepper and Pine Nut Relish (119) and Chickpea Casserole (135). 

Some recipes are more dessert like. He admits that the recipe, Peaches with Goat Cheese, Mint, Honeycomb, and Olive oil does look like “a stupid appetizer your great-auntie pulled from a glossy magazine and served to you as part of Sunday lunch” (113). Maybe but the flavors are so far beyond great-auntie fare with candied maple walnuts, ripe peaches, an herbaceous salsa verde, goat cheese, mint and honey comb. 

The above paragraphs are just a sampling of the salad section; there is everything from Everyone’s Mom’s Macaroni and Tuna Salad (137) to Cannellinis with Roasted Red Peppers, Raisins, Capers, Anchovies, and Parsley (145) to Sashimi Salad (173). The Taco Salad (180) does make an appearance but it’s a bit more elevated than just meat and Fritos.

So back to the stereotype. This is how Matheson opens his final section: “my first love is a bologna sandwich…. It’s an honest meat. I don’t understand why bologna gets harped on so much” (189). Sandwiches seem to be his love language; I estimate that about half the book is devoted to sandwiches. 

To get all up in the soup or sandwich or salad debate, I definitely found more achievable recipes in the sandwich section. While the previous two sections were salivating worthy, they were a bit more than I wanted to put time into. Honestly, a lot were just too complicated for me. But, let me tell you, the first recipe in the sandwich section had me, with it’s “Cheesy Mexican pickled jalapeño beef. Texy mexy beefy. Cheesy sexy texy mixy jalapeño beef” (192). It’s definitely doable and reminds me a bit of Matheson’s family taco salad recipe. We’ve got us American cheese slices, iceberg lettuce, and packaged taco seasoning here.

You know me, I changed up the recipe a bit. First, I used my own taco seasoning mix. Don’t buy it. If you want the recipe, it’s at the end of this very long post. I’m changing Matheson’s recipe a bit here. His is a serving for two with a full pound of ground beef; I made it to yield four. I also wanted to use Pepper Jack cheese instead of the American cheese but the cheese imp had cleaned me out of the good stuff. Instead of serving it on sub rolls, I used hamburger buns. Here’s my changes.

I’m sure Matheson would say, “What the hell?” to my changes, but I’m into tweaking things. 

I was expecting more from the jalapenos being cooked with the meat. This was an OK weeknight dinner but I didn’t find the love for it that Matteson has. (Of course, I tweaked his recipe…)

This section has more than just bologna and taco sloppy Joe’s. Immediately following his Taco Sub is a Roasted Squash and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese with Honey and Bee Pollen (197). The Stracciatella di Bufala, Caponata, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Cherry Peppers and Basil (213) is served on focaccia bread.  His Roasted Chicken Thigh Shawarma with Pickled Turnip and Hot Peppers (235) is on my list to try.  There are the standards that Matheson elevates in his own way too: BLT (210), Matty and Trishy Tuna Melts (207), and Fried Shrimp Po’boy (233) among others.

Along Matheson’s merry way, he does share his cheffy secrets, just in his way:  “Broil the f*#K out of it” and the like is used but then he also includes his recipes for chicken consommé and court bouillon.

Matheson drops cultural literacy references throughout his hednotes, nods to Will Ferrell and Elf, Highlander (old school one), Jack Nicholson and the end of The Shining, and Lord of the Rings. Those mini-essays aren’t to be missed. 

I totally enjoyed reading this book. Would this be my go-to cookbook for soups, salads, and sandwiches. Probably not but it was a great read. 

If you’re still reading, here is my promised taco seasoning recipe.

I’m linking up with  Foodies Read.