Collection of ZeroBear PolyBear's recipes.
The people of and from Cuba are great, but it's the sandwich named after them that gets my love.
You may have heard that Cuba lost their entire power grid this past week. I think it was a failure in their major electrical power plant (The Antonio Guiteras Electric Plant) and the entire island went dark. Losing power is the pits, but not having a single place that had lights sounds dismal to me. I went to the internet to find a photo so show the suffering down there, but about all I could find was this one, which didn't show the level of suffering I wanted. I guess it was the best I could do. At least I am happy to find there are still a few places where smoking cigarettes is still good for you.
I might understand the circumstances that led to Castro taking out the Batista's old colonial government that they had on January 1, 1959, whit his chief accomplishment after the takeover being the proliferation of old cars faithfully kept up by the locals. I like old wheels and am impressed whenever I see any. However, there is a lot of comfort in knowing you have a late model Chevy with AC and not a 1948 Ford with 4 power 40 air (Roll down all 4 windows and drive 40 MPH to get air moving through the car) to drive to the Dog and Suds. We had one of those classic sets of wheels one time, but I don't remember much about dad's car because that is me in Mom's arms. In the photo.
Anyhow, Castro certainly had lots of problems after he kicked out the old dictator and the mafia and embraced communism on the island. That is a shame for the people, who could have had a string of Sonic Burger Drive Ins and their own Six Flags had they become a USA state instead of whatever they are now.
I am certain my most favorite thing about the Cuban lifestyle is their Cuban Sandwich which I think originated in Havana. Here is what Mr. Google has to say about it. - The Cuban sandwich was invented in Havana, Cuba. The sandwich's origins can be traced back to the popular Cuban street food known as the sandwich mixto, which is made with roasted pork, ham, pickles, cheese, and mustard on Cuban bread.
The Cuban sandwich was influenced by cigar workers who traveled from Havana to Key West and then to Tampa. Tampa and Miami added their own touches to the sandwich, and it became a lunch-counter staple in the United States. In 2012, Tampa made the Cuban sandwich its official sandwich.
Some say that the sandwich originated in a competition hosted by Ybor City's cigar factory owners. The story goes that the owners offered a reward to the chef who could create a lunch filling that would fuel workers through their afternoon shifts.
A similar sandwich is the Medianoche, which originated in Havana's nightclubs as a late-night snack. The Medianoche contains the same ingredients as the Cuban sandwich, but it's served on softer, sweeter egg bread.
Ingredients:
Good bread. I use a 12 - 14 inch baguette about five inches wide and four inches thick. In the photos shown here, I halved our bread with the larger portion going to me. I sliced it open and (as a personal preference at our house) slightly hollowed it out. The intent in doing that is to cut the calories a little and help keep the finished sandwich a little thinner. We dry the removed bread to make bread crumbs so as not to waste it.
Good ham. This ham is spiral sliced
and lightly smoked. Use as much as you like. I have seen them pretty
thick.
Good pork. This is the last of a
tenderloin we had cooked. We slice it pretty thin across grain for
our Cubans. I have seen shredded pork used and that is fine.
Swiss Cheese, enough for both sides
for me.
Mustard - The classic Cuban probably only uses yellow
mustard. We use honey mustard which goes nicely with the pork. We mix
our own with slightly more yellow mustard than honey.
Bread and butter (Sweet) pickles. I
like home processed bread and butter pickles that the wife makes (I
help. Not that she needs any help. Any bread and butter pickle will
do. You can see the mustard seeds in these. I don't mind that at all.
Butter to brush the bun.
Some Cuban sandwiches might have
salami. You'll never see any salami on mine.
You will
need a nice flat griddle or skillet - Seasoned cast iron works great
for me
You will need some weights for flattening the sandwich as it cooks. Some use a big foil wrapped brick, some use a Panini press and that is fine. I actually use several cast iron skillets to provide maybe ten pounds weight. They have always worked fine.
Directions:
Heat the grill pan or skillet.
Apply the mustard to both sides of the bread. This is a lot of the flavor for the finished sandwich so don't be shy with the mustard.
Then place Swiss cheese on both sides, ham, roasted pork and bread and butter pickles.
Butter the side that will go on the hot griddle first.
Then the other side when the sandwich is on the low/medium hot griddle.
Now add the weight to flatten and compress the sandwich
You need enough to flatten the sandwich as it cooks. On a low to medium hot griddle or skillet, the first side will take about three minutes.
And about the same for the other side. The weight placed on top of the sandwich needs to be enough to flatten it as it cooks. Help it with a heavy hand if needed.
Cook the sandwich slowly enough to
brown (toast - crisp) the bread, heat the meat thoroughly and melt
the cheese. I serve mine with kettle chips.
Thanks for Looking at my post.
God Bless you.
15 comments:
We use the cast iron skillet redneck panini or sandwich press at our house, too. Works great.
As much as I love a sandwich Cubano, my favorite sandwich from Cuba is the Elena Ruz sandwich, made with brioche, cream cheese, sliced turkey breast, butter and strawberry preserves. The Cuban socialite, Elena Ruz Valdes-Fauli, requested a restaurant in Havana to make her a sandwich with those ingredients in the late 1920s or early 1930s and it became very popular. Other kinds of jam will work, too but strawberry is the classic. We'll be making those with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
I love your recipes and stories, Chef Bear. Thank you.
You can get freshly baked pan Cubano at Panaderia Mexico just behind Sal & Phil's on Old Canton Road in Ridgeland.
Bueno, Bear. I use ciabatta buns but otherwise the same. For bread and butter slab pickles, I cut a cucumber to length to fit the jar, then slice into parallel slabs and drop them into pickling juice, with mustard seed, celery seed, dill weed, rosemary twig, oregano twig and salt in vinegar and honey, then refrigerate 5 days or more. If you eat the last pickle from a jar, save and reuse the pickling juice. Large, fat Summer Squash with center seedy mess removed, then sliced and fitted into the jar and pickling juice makes wonderful pickles. Note: This requires refrigeration.
Cuban sandwiches are amazing. I’ve had several in Tampa - the best being from La Segunda Bakery. To me, it’s not a Cuban sandwich unless it’s on Cuban bread. And that’s difficult to find unless you’re in Tampa or Miami. You have to bake the bread wrapped in palmetto leaves.
Enjoy your post. Look forward to them each week. Been meaning to ask if you know anything about the House Dressing from Dennery's. In ways it was similar to a 1000 Island/Come Back type sauce. Had a unique taste/flavor. Was very good. Thanks.
This is Dennery's Comeback Sauce, from an old story in the national Herald. It is a great article you would enjoy reading.
https://www.thenationalherald.com/alex-dennery-and-the-creation-of-mississippi-comeback-sauce/
Mississippi Comeback Sauce
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of chili sauce
1/4 cup of ketchup
1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of spicy mustard
1 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
Couple dashes of hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
The juice of 1/2 of a lemon
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and process until well mixed. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Store in fridge.
This one is from the Oxford Eagle and claims to be Dennery's recipe:
The Famous Rotisserie Comeback Sauce (This recipe is at least 100 years old!) 1 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup ketchup 1/4 cup chili sauce 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp garlic powder 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce 1/4 cup olive oil Juice of one lemon Note: I add more ketchup and chili sauce (about ¼ cup more of each) to mine to overpower the mayonnaise taste. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until well blended. Refrigerate in a covered container for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld.
Read more at: https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2023/06/14/iconic-restaurants-come-and-go-but-comeback-sauce-has-endured-100-years/
Sam's Club in Madison sells authentic Cuban bread.
I have Dual citizenship and dual passports so I have been fortunate enough to visit Cuba numerous times using my non-US passport. Yes their public food distribution system is broken. But they are not miserable people. Havana is safer and thriving more than Jackson. They have a public transportation system that is better than JATRAM. Also, Cubans do have internet access as well.
What people really eat in Cuba: Rice and Beans… Beans and rice
"The Famous Rotisserie Comeback Sauce (This recipe is at least 100 years old!)...1 tsp Dijon mustard..."
I'd guess that Dennery was not using "Dijon mustard" 100 years ago. What he well might have been using is Creole mustard - like Zatarain's, which had been around about 30 years by then. For those unfamiliar, Creole mustard was and is used in various dipping and cold-foods sauces in New Orleans and the region and it is similar to a course-ground "Dijon" with some horseradish added. Of course, if the maker prefers Dijon or whatever else, that's what it best for them to use. I'm just making a historical observation and guess.
Z's Creole mustard is great on a roast beast po-boy
KF - We make creole honey mustard dressing and dip with Zat Creole mustard. Good stuff. Mix half and half mustard and honey, or a little less mustard if desired. Great on fish stick or chicken nugget sandwich or fried bologna sandwich, or a green salad.
A couple of recipes, after glancing at a couple of cookbooks that were handy and adjusting a bit:
"Pantry recipe" Creole red remoulade sauce, similar to Tujaque's, Arnaud's, etc. (Galatoire's is a fair bit different, and if you want a particular restaurant's specific version, Google it up). Some recipes add anchovies or paste, ketchup or tomato paste, red wine vinegar, capers, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce, etc., etc. My family doesn't use a recipe and often adds any number of the above if handy (but doesn't sweat it if it isn't), rarely uses the lettuce, and since we don't use a recipe it isn't the exact same version every time. TIP: we don't add capers to this because we don't really notice or miss them but you do you. Anchovies do add a certain something with certain uses, but I wouldn't use them unless you like and have them. Basically, play around and see what you like.
1/2 cup finely minced celery
4 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup Creole mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Thoroughly combine celery, green onions, parsley, lettuce, onion, Creole mustard, lemon juice and paprika. Whisk olive oil in slowly to emulsify. Chill mixture for several hours. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste. HINT: if you are making shrimp remoulade, boil the shrimp to not-quite done, then toss the shrimp in the sauce and put it the refrigerator for an hour or two. The acid in the sauce will finish "cooking" them. If you use fully-cooked shrimp, the sauce will "over-cook" them.
"Pantry recipe" Creole white remoulade sauce - same caveats as the red version. Capers are often added to this one because we usually have some and it does add something to this but we wouldn't go to the store for them if we were out. If you would, ain't nobody with sense going to bitch at you.
1 cup Creole mustard
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
4 green onions, finely chopped (white and green parts)
1/4 cup finely minced yellow onion
1/4 cup finely minced celery
1/4 cup roughly chopped capers - see above
Combine all ingredients. Chill mixture for several hours.
And I suppose "Creole comeback sauce" could be a mix of the two in such proportions that make you, um, come back for more. Or in true New Orleans style, and just like gumbo, make it how you like it and everyone else will make it how they like it.
"...fish stick or chicken nugget sandwich..."
Gracious! PolyBears will eat any damned thing...
"...or fried bologna sandwich..."
OK, well, minor reprieve, but folks and bears need to have SOME limits and fish sticks and chicken nuggets are well past them. I mean, "bologna" can cover a fair patch of ground, ingredients-wise. The ingredients of nuggets and sticks can cover a fair patch of ground, too. If you make them into fertilizer.
Post a Comment