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I spent the weekend in all-day classes, so I was excited to be able to make a super easy meal last night. Using the pork tenderloin leftover from Thursday night's Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin with Acorn Squash, plus another loaf of freshly baked bread from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book (dough that I had pre-made last Sunday but baked off last night!), along with Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard and some thinly-sliced deli ham, these Cubano Sandwiches (also featured in the November issue of Everyday Food) came together in a flash.
My tweaks: I used a regular heavy sauce pan instead of a grill pan, since I don't own a grill pan. And I used my bread instead of hoagie rolls, but the timing for grilling and baking stayed the same. Also, I subbed Vermont cheddar for Swiss on my sandwich, since I prefer cheddar, but put Swiss on Mr. Fritz's. And, I learned last night that Mr. Fritz cannot stand pickles. I appreciate that after 3+ years together, there are still things I don't know about my hot husband. It keeps things interesting!
Cubano Sandwiches
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, November 2009
Serves 4 - Prep Time: 20 Minutes - Total Time: 30 Minutes
3 Tb butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
4 Portuguese rolls, split
yellow mustard, to taste
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli ham
1 pound Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin, thinly sliced
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
sliced dill pickles, to taste
1. Preheat oven to 425. Butter inside of each roll; spread with mustard. Divide ham, pork and cheese among bottom halves of rolls. Top with pickles, more mustard to taste, and top halves of rolls. Press down firmly on sandwiches.
2. Heat a grill pan and another heavy pan over medium. With a paper towel, lightly coat grill pan with butter. In batches, place sandwiches on grill pan and weight with second pan. Cook until bread is crisp on the outside, about 3 minutes per side; transfer grill pan to over and bake sandwiches until cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. To serve, cut sandwiches in half.
Tonight, we had the great pleasure of having our fun friends Ms. DiNardo and Mr. Fielder over for dinner. Since they are both great cooks, I wanted to make something seasonal and special for our meal. The November issue of Everyday Food had a couple of things that I thought would go well together.
First, a salad of arugula, feta and roasted sweet potatoes with an orange and white wine vinegar vinaigrette. This was incredibly easy to put together: roast one and a half pounds of sweet potatoes tossed with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then toss with arugula and feta and dress with a mixture of 1/2 tsp. orange zest, 1 Tb. fresh-squeezed orange juice, 1 tsp. white wine vinegar and 2 Tb. olive oil. And, for a salad with only three main ingredients, was really tasty.
The main course was also very simple: pour a marinade of olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, chili poweder and cumin over slices of acorn squash. Sear a 3 pound pork loin, then baste it with that same marinade. Then roast the squash and the pork loin on the same pan in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes, turning the squash and re-basting the pork every 15 minutes. The squash becomes tender and caramelized and the pork gets a most luscious, flavorful crust.
But the part of the meal I was most proud of was actually the bread. I made bread from scratch! And it was ridiculously simple. I used a cookbook called "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day" and was able to make the bread with just flour, yeast, water and salt using just a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a pizza stone. The authors of the book have created a method that yields a really wet dough that you can pull together in literally just a couple of minutes, that needs no kneading or proofing and that is truly idiot-proof. And the bread! Mr. Fritz cannot get over how great it tasted. It was hearty, salty, airy-yet-substantial and had a great crust. I am so thrilled with the result, I can't wait to try the rest of the recipes in the book! (This time, I used the "boule" recipe) Better yet, the dough (which I made on Sunday) made enough for two loaves. So I'll probably make another loaf on Saturday to use for that evening's meal. Woo hoo!
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