Cuban Sandwich

Saturday night, Michael and I watched the movie "Chef." One of the stars of the film, IMO, is the Cuban Sandwich.  I had no idea what this was, but after witnessing the creative process of constructing this sandwich, I wanted to try one.

Naturally, it had to be gluten free. Since I don't live in Miami, Florida, I figured it would be futile to find a restaurant that makes gluten free Cubanos.  I found a recipe posted in the Denver Post from the movie. I wanted to make these for lunch, but this recipe required 24 hour marinating of the pork and 2 1/2 hours to cook. I found a very similar one that used a pressure cooker to speed the process. I thought I could recreate it using gluten free french bread.

If you've seen the movie, you'll notice right away, that my sandwich does not live up to the standard of NEVER letting the outside of this grilled sandwich become over toasted, not even a little bit. Mine burned before the inside cheese was good and melted. Today is National Sandwich Day, so I am sharing the recipe anyway.

Loaf of GF french bread

6-8 slices Swiss Cheese

6-8 Ham, thinly sliced
sliced, marinated pork

Dill Pickles sliced length-wise

Butter

Slice bread in half. Butter each half, and warm in skillet over medium high heat. Remove from pan when lightly browned. Spread mustard generously over one side. Place 3 slices onto mustard, pork, pickles, ham, and top with cheese and other half of bread.

To cook, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Brush outside of sandwich generously with butter and place in the skillet. Place another heavy skillet on top and press down. I placed some large sweet potatoes inside to weigh it down. Cook until lightly browned (not burned, if cooking too quickly and the cheese is not melting, turn heat down.) Before flipping over, brush the other side of the bread with melted butter. Heat until this side is also lightly browned and cheese is nice and gooey. (Don't forget to press down with heavy skillet.) Remove from pan, slice and serve.

To make marinated pork:

2-3 lbs Boneless Pork Shoulder 

1 Onion, sliced

1 cup fresh Orange Juice
1 cup Chicken Broth

1 Lime, juiced

4 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 Bay Leaves

1 TBS ground Cumin
1 TBS dried Oregano
1 TBS olive oil

Salt and fresh ground Pepper
 Brown pork in olive oil in pressure cooker pan. Add garlic and onions and saute for a minute or two. Add broth, orange juice, lime juice, bay leaves, cumin, oregano. Salt and pepper meat and place top on pressure cooker. Cook until rocker pressure is reached and turn down heat to medium. Cook 25 minutes. Let cool before slicing.

If you have time to marinate meat overnight and roast it, you might want to try the Chef recipe for Cubanos.

Salmon BLT

Whenever I'm in Arizona, I visit Liberty Market at least twice within one week.  One of my recent favorite dishes is the Salmon BLT. They have delicious gluten free buns. Now that I am back in Colorado, I am wishing I could go there for this.  Today, I attempted to recreate this delightful dish.  I know it will sound complicated, but truly it wasn't.  You could use a different seasoning, but I have the Emerill's seasoning ready-made. It was the best solution for me. Not sure if Emerill sells this.

4 Salmon Filets (skinless)
4-6 strips of Bacon
Emerill's Cajun Seasoning
Chipotle Aioli
Shredded Lettuce
1 Tomato, sliced
4 GF Buns

Cut bacon in half and fry in a pan.  Drain on paper towels. Season both sides of salmon filets with Cajun Seasoning.  Use a fish pan or basket and cook over hot grill or pan fry. Toast bun. Spread one side with Chipotle Aioli, top with bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Enjoy!

A Lovely Lunch

I love this time of year when fresh herbs are growing outside.  The aroma of basil beckons, causing me to pluck a few leaves.  I rack my brain wondering how I can incorporate them into lunch.  I see the gluten free Udi's Bagels sitting on the counter along with a bunch or grape tomatoes.  Of course!  A bagel pizza of sorts. 

Not wanting to overpower the delicate basil flavor with a tomato sauce, I decide on a bit of olive oil instead.

1 gluten free bagel
1 TBS olive oil, flavored is nice
5-6 grape tomatoes
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves
1-2 garlic cloves

Pour olive oil in small glass container.  If using plain olive oil, mince 1 garlic clove and add to oil for extra flavor.  Brush each side of bagel with oil, sprinkle liberally with cheeses-can also add feta for variety.  Add sliced tomatoes and basil leaves.   Top with very thin slices of garlic, more cheese and a drizzle more of olive oil, if desired.  Broil in oven a few minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Bacon Pita

While in Arizona last week, my parents took me to an awesome restaurant. I had a smoked turkey pita sandwich. I wish I'd paid attention to what was in it. But it was so delicious, all I could do was enjoy it. This recipe is certainly different from that, but similar too. (The first one didn't have bacon, but I improvised since I didn't have smoked turkey.)

I thought this would be good on Fry Bread, but thought I'd save the calories and make pita bread instead. I used Tammy's Pita Bread recipe. I think I baked them a bit too long, as mine came out not so pliable. We managed to enjoy every bite.

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless chicken Breasts

1/2 lb. thick bacon

1/2 onion, sliced

1 minced garlic clove

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 avocado

Pita Bread

Feta Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonniase
1/2 cup sour cream
a bit of milk, to thin if necessary
1TBS red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1 TBS fresh chopped parsley
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mix Dressing ingredients and refrigerate. (For creamier dressing, blend in food processor.) Tastes best after a few hours or overnight.

Prepare Pita pockets or Fry Bread


According to Tammy, they shouldn't be this brown.

Slice Bacon.


Fry in a skillet until cooked.


Remove bacon and drain on paper towels.



Leave bacon drippings. Add chicken to skillet and cook over med. high heat. Add onions, salt, pepper. Cook until chicken no longer has any pink to it. Drain and remove to serving dish.



Slice avocado. Fill pockets with chicken/bacon mix, avocado and feta dressing, or place on top of pita bread and fold over.

Grilled Vegetarian Sandwich

After roasting veggies, I decided to use the leftovers in a grilled cheese sandwich. They were delicious!

Roasted Vegetables (mushrooms, onions & peppers)
1-2 slices of provolone, jack, or swiss cheese
2 slices of bread
olive oil

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, stir-fry veggies for a minute or two until warmed. Place atop a slice of nice bread. I like mulitgrain or foccacia. Add cheese. Lightly spray olive oil in pan and toast both sides of sandwich. If you don't have roasted veggies, you can stir-fry them in a bit of olive oil and minced garlic before adding to the sandwich. A grilled slice of eggplant will work too.

Cheese Boats

2 lbs grated longhorn cheese
1 6oz. can tomato sauce
1 small can chopped black olives
1 small chopped onion
2 TBS vinegar
6 chopped hard boiled eggs (optional)
1 small can chopped green chilies
3 TBS oil
salt and pepper to taste

2-3 dozen small rolls, depending upon the size.
Foil, torn in squares for individually wrapping

Grate cheese in a large bowl. If you don't have longhorn cheese, mild cheddar, colby, or colbyjack cheese is fine. Add onion, green chilies and mix. Pour tomato sauce in a pool atop the cheese. Add vinegar & oil to the tomato sauce and mix well. Add chopped egg. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the egg before mixing together. Now you are ready to assemble the boats.

Pinch out some of the bread inside of french rolls or any other hard rolls.

Generously spoon filling into the rolls, but be sure roll comes together at the sides.

Aren't they pretty?

Wrap in foil.

Bake in oven at 500 degrees until hot and inside is melted, about 15 minutes. These freeze wonderfully and can be baked frozen. Add about 10 minutes to the bake time if frozen. It's wonderful to have these in the freezer to pull out individually or for the whole family. Can also be kept in the refrigerator for several days before baking.

This recipe came from my mom when we were living in Globe, Arizona. They were a popular item and everyone seemed to know what they were. Since moving, nobody I've met had ever heard of them. Must have been a local thing.

(Those pictured here were made by Sarabeth. She isn't a fan of olives, which is why you don't see any inside these cheese boats.)

What's Cooking?

So what's cooking this week?

Wednesday: I threw together another pasta dish with the last of my fresh basil & a bit of ground beef.

Thursday: Photography by Sarabeth with my new camera:

Fruit Salad


Veggies


BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Roasted Broccoli (I'll get the recipe and photo up soon.)

And Buffalo ChickenDip for an appetizer

My All-Time Favorite Sandwich

I don't think I've ever made this sandwich for anyone but myself. (Maybe because it is made with rye bread, and I'm the only in my family who eats it.)

2 slices of rye bread
provolone cheese
1/2 of an avocado
sliced tomato
alfalfa sprouts
mayonnaise
salt
pepper (optional)

Spread mayo on 1 slice of bread and add cheese. Mash or slice avocado on the slice of bread. Top avocado with tomato slices and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add a generous amount of alfalfa sprouts and put sandwich together. Enjoy! (I had this today, but didn't photograph, as I didn't have the sprouts. I substituted with lettuce. It's good, but not quite the same without the sprouts.)

Egg Salad Sandwiches

This is a sandwich my kids often have on a Monday. I grocery shop on Mondays, so by Sunday when I'm thinking of lunches for the next day, I almost always have eggs. So egg salad is a standby. (Chicken Salad is another, as I buy canned chicken in bulk and can put that together quite easily.)

8 hard-cooked eggs* (When I boil eggs, I usually do extra. They make a nice addition to salads.)

2-4 TBS dill relish or chopped dill pickles

1/4 tsp. onion powder or 1 TBS fresh chopped onion

1/3 cup mayonaise

1 TBS yellow mustard
salt
pepper
1/4 tsp. vinegar or pickle juice

Peel and chop eggs. (Someone suggested using a potato masher, but mine isn't the strainer type.) Add onion and relish. Mash in with a fork. Add mayo, mustard and juice. Mix well. Serve on your favorite bread or over lettuce as a salad.

*To hardboil eggs: Place eggs in pan and cover with water. Turn heat on high until water begins to boil. Turn heat down so that it is a softer boil/simmer. Cook 15 minutes. Cool in cold water, then refrigerate if not using immediately.