Cuban sandwich...
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:49 pm
Ah, the Cuban. The Cubano. The mixto. Or simply, the Cuban mix. Surely if there were a list of the world's top five sandwiches, this -- this perfect and literal melding of ham, pork and cheese -- would stand proudly as an entry!
And as much as I love it, I've never actually made one! One, because I never had any shredded roast pork lying around, and two because you need a special sandwich press call a flancha.
Except it turns out today that I did, and you don't!
Here now...
BEN'S FAMOUS CUBANO
-------------------------
- 1 cuban sandwich roll, except you can't get that, so get a nice white roll, like French or Italian. You want it spongy. You do not want a hard crust. For instance, you do not want a baguette. It's gotta have plenty of "give" to it.
- some shredded or sliced CUBAN ROAST PORK. I'll give you that recipe some other time but essentially it is: throw a shoulder roast into a slow cooker with lime and orange juice for 8 hours. Boom. If cold, allow to rise to room temperature or microwave it a little bit to warm up.
- a couple slices of HAM. If cold, allow to rise to room temperature or microwave it a little bit to warm up.
- a few slices of PICKLES -- like them "sandwich stackers" or whatever, that are whole dill pickles sliced lengthwise.
- two slices of SWISS CHEESE
- some YELLOW MUSTARD
These are the essential ingredients in all cubanos and since I am a purist, these are the only ingredients in mine.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut sandwich roll in half, as if you were preparing to make a sandwich!
2. Layer your sandwich ingredients on the bottom half of the roll in this order: Mustard! Pickle slices! Roast pork! Ham! Swiss!
3. Place top half of roll on top, as if completing a sandwich!
4. Heat a large skillet greased with cooking spray or butter to medium heat.
5. Place sandwich in skillet.
6. Place something BIG 'N' HEAVY on top! I used a spaghetti pot with a big bag of rice in it, and it worked perfectly.
7. Squoosh sandwich flat and allow to grill for a couple minutes. Try not to burn the goddamn bread, we're just going for a nice medium toasting.
8. Flip sandwich and repeat #7.
9. Remove sandwich, cut diagonally (resulting in two SPIKE-SHAPED sandwich halves. ENJOY!
And as much as I love it, I've never actually made one! One, because I never had any shredded roast pork lying around, and two because you need a special sandwich press call a flancha.
Except it turns out today that I did, and you don't!
Here now...
BEN'S FAMOUS CUBANO
-------------------------
- 1 cuban sandwich roll, except you can't get that, so get a nice white roll, like French or Italian. You want it spongy. You do not want a hard crust. For instance, you do not want a baguette. It's gotta have plenty of "give" to it.
- some shredded or sliced CUBAN ROAST PORK. I'll give you that recipe some other time but essentially it is: throw a shoulder roast into a slow cooker with lime and orange juice for 8 hours. Boom. If cold, allow to rise to room temperature or microwave it a little bit to warm up.
- a couple slices of HAM. If cold, allow to rise to room temperature or microwave it a little bit to warm up.
- a few slices of PICKLES -- like them "sandwich stackers" or whatever, that are whole dill pickles sliced lengthwise.
- two slices of SWISS CHEESE
- some YELLOW MUSTARD
These are the essential ingredients in all cubanos and since I am a purist, these are the only ingredients in mine.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut sandwich roll in half, as if you were preparing to make a sandwich!
2. Layer your sandwich ingredients on the bottom half of the roll in this order: Mustard! Pickle slices! Roast pork! Ham! Swiss!
3. Place top half of roll on top, as if completing a sandwich!
4. Heat a large skillet greased with cooking spray or butter to medium heat.
5. Place sandwich in skillet.
6. Place something BIG 'N' HEAVY on top! I used a spaghetti pot with a big bag of rice in it, and it worked perfectly.
7. Squoosh sandwich flat and allow to grill for a couple minutes. Try not to burn the goddamn bread, we're just going for a nice medium toasting.
8. Flip sandwich and repeat #7.
9. Remove sandwich, cut diagonally (resulting in two SPIKE-SHAPED sandwich halves. ENJOY!