Stacked ham sandwich (four stacked sandwiches) and a pressed shooter-style version

Thinly slice sweet potato, eggplant and tomatoes. Salt the sweet potato, lay on a rack over a tray and bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes until they start to cook.

Toss the eggplant slices in a handful of cornstarch. Heat about half an inch of oil in a pan; add the eggplant as the oil starts to smoke, to cool it. Fry about 2 minutes per side until golden brown; drain on a paper-towel-lined sheet tray.

Reduce equal parts oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar until sticky; toss in the fried eggplant until glazed.

In a large saucepan heat 2 tablespoons butter, 2 cloves minced garlic and a teaspoon of chili flakes until bubbly; add about a pound of shrimp, a heavy sprinkle of salt and half a lemon squeezed. Cook about 2 minutes per side until fully cooked.

Toast 4 rectangular and 4 round whole wheat slices on a rack over a sheet tray at 375F about 10 minutes.

Peel a whole avocado, brush with lemon, pit and cut into rings about a quarter inch thick.

Sandwich one: avocado rings, glazed eggplant, tomato slices and a leaf of lettuce on toasted bread; top bun, held with a toothpick.

Mix equal parts mustard and mayo with a squeeze of lemon juice. Sandwich two: untoasted ciabatta spread with the mustard mayo, lettuce, thick-cut ham folded into a wave and held with toothpicks, sliced sweet potato (microwaved whole about five minutes in a wet paper towel), top bun.

Sandwich three: toasted wheat slices with mustard mayo, lettuce, four slices honey ham folded rectangular, and shredded lettuce salted to drop moisture.

Sandwich four: round toasted bread, tomatoes, avocado rings, the garlic butter shrimp, a second ring of avocado, top bun, toothpick.

Stack: eggplant sandwich, ham wave sandwich, honey ham sandwich, shrimp sandwich; a dowel through for stability and an olive on top.

Variation, shooter-style: hollow out a bread bowl and layer the components in the same order, pressing each down: avocado with lemon, eggplant, tomato, deli ham, sweet potato, American cheese, honey ham, mustard mayo, avocado rings, shrimp, tomato, mustard mayo on the cap; no lettuce, which would go mushy.

Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and warm at 350F for 10 to 15 minutes to soften everything together.

Weight under a cast iron pot and a heavy book for about an hour to compress; cut to show the cross section.