Cuban Sandwich

We have decided that this is the year of the sandwich.  I am usually not a big fan of sandwiches.  If I do have a sandwich, then I prefer a hot sandwich.  The only exceptions are an occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich and those wonderful ham and cheese on a baguette that you get in gas stations in France.  I love those sandwiches.  The kids are happy about this new endeavor.  I think their motivation lies with the idea that "sandwich night" will entail far fewer dishes.  So far they are very wrong.  We started sandwich night a couple of weeks ago.  The first was made by Sanford.  Of course, there is no recipe.  He is not a fan of recipes.  He likes to cook free-style, like his dancing.  Basically I think he put a pork shoulder with onions, garlic, carrots, celery with some Italian herbs in the crockpot and let it cook all day.  He pulled the meat out and put it on a baguette, then turned the vegetables and stock into a soup/au jus by adding some cooked kidney beans.  It was really yummy, but we will never be able to repeat it...  So now onto last week's sandwich.  We started by having friends to dinner the night before for a Cuban cookout.  We doubled the recipe for the pork, so we would have enough for the next night.  The Cuban pork recipe if from "Latin Grilling" by Lourdes Castro.

Cuban Pork

(6-8 pounds pork shoulder butt)

Marinade:

2 2/3 cup lime juice

1 1/3 cup orange juice

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp dried oregano

2 heads of garlic, peeled and crushed

3 tbsp salt

1 tbsp black pepper

2 quartered onions

Mix marinade ingredients together.  Stab the pork on all sides with a sharp knife.  Put in marinade, rubbing the marinade into the pork .  Marinate 1-24 hours, covered with plastic wrap.

Then, remove the pork from the marinade and bring to room temperature.  Boil the marinade for a couple of minutes, then puree.  This is now your basting liquid.  

Heat grill to 550 degrees.  Grill over indirect heat, starting with skin side up, turning and basting every 15 minutes or so.  This is where the book tells you that it will be finished within 1-2 hours.  This isn't true.  It will take far longer than this.  Because we didn't want to feed our dinner guests at midnight, we took one of the roasts and put it in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes, allowing it to release it pressure naturally.  Now we had some tender meat.  We left the other roast on the grill during dinner.  It actually got a little too smoky for my taste.  When doing this again, I would roast it in the oven, then finish it on the grill.

The next recipe if for the Cuban bread.  Sanford wanted to buy it, but it is not easy to find it in mid Missouri.  Of course, I like the challenge of making everything...The recipe is adapted from A taste of Cuba

Cuban Bread

3/4 tsp active dry yeast

 1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup bread or all-purpose flour
The day before, mix the yeast and water and let sit for a few minutes.  Then add flour.  Cover.   Refrigerate for 24 hours.  

4-1/2 tsp active dry yeast 

 1 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 cups warm water
4 tbsp butter (or lard if you have it)
1/2 batch starter
1 tbsp salt
4 to 5 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3 tbsp warm water.  Stir in butter, remaining water and 1/2 batch of starter.

Mix well.  Stir in flour a cup at a time.  Add salt.  Mix in kitchen aid or knead by hand.  Should be soft, not sticky.
Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise 45 minutes. 

Divide dough into 4 pieces.  Roll each to form a 14 inch long tube with rounded ends.  Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place the four dough rolls on it.  Cover with a towel and let rise for another hour, til doubled.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Dampen a piece of kitchen twine and lay on top of each loaf.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool slightly and remove strings.  Cool on wire rack.

Now for the sandwich recipe:

Cuban Sandwich

Slice the bread lengthwise.  Smear one side with butter, the other side with yellow mustard.  Place 1-2 layers of each:  ham, sliced roasted pork, Swiss cheese.  Heat a flattop or griddle.  Butter the top of the bread and cook like a grilled cheese.  Butter the top side and flip.  We weighted the sandwich down with a cast iron skillet.  When heated through, place 1 or 2 slices of pickle in the sandwich.  (note:  next time I would heat the leftover pork before putting in on my sandwich)