Had I noticed that August 23rd was “National Cuban Sandwich Day” last year, I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. However, that changed when I took a ROAD TRIP down to “Flordida” to attend my daughter’s college graduation! During the time we spent in the Clearwater/Tampa area of the state, we tried to avoid “national chain restaurants” as much as we could, and in doing so, we found a restaurant called “The Cuban Sandwich Restaurant”. Since I’d never had a “Cuban sandwich” before, I decided to order the restaurant’s namesake, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised! While there, I learned quite a bit about this kind of sandwich, and by the time I returned home, I knew I wanted to feature this YUMMY sandwich in a “Tasty Tuesdays” post!
So… When I discovered August 23rd was “National Cuban Sandwich Day”, I knew now was the time to feature recipes that I’d found online just after our ROAD TRIP. One of these “twofer” recipes is for the Cuban sandwich itself, and the other recipe is for the specialty bread on which these sandwiches is usually served. Since the bread is needed before you can make the sandwiches, I’m going to present that recipe first, followed by the sandwich recipe. Without further ado, here are this week’s “Tasty Tuesdays” recipes:
Cuban Bread (Pan Cubana)
(from: globaltableadventure.com)
Ingredients
For the starter
- 1/2 teaspoon instant-dry yeast
- 1/4 cup cool water
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
For the dough
- 1 cup cool water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon lard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant-dry yeast starter
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
Starter
- Combine starter ingredients in a small bowl. Cover with Saran wrap and place in a cool spot for about 12 hours.
For the bread dough
- In the bowl of a large standing mixer fitted with dough hook, add water, sugar and salt, lard, yeast and the starter. Scrape with spatula.
- Dump in about 3 1/2 cups flour and mix the dough for 10 minutes on medium. The dough should come clean from the sides of the bowl. If it does not, add a bit more flour as needed.
- Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch the dough down (or turn the mixer on for 30 seconds). Remove the blade and let rise until doubled in volume, about an hour. Cover with cloth, so it doesn’t dry out.
- Cut into 2 or 3 even pieces.
- Pat each piece flat with your hand. It shouldn’t stick if the dough is the right consistency. Next, fold in half lengthwise. Take your hand and roll it into a long tube.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Soak twine for a few minutes then squeeze the excess out and press into the dough. Flip the dough over, on top of the twine, and let it rest about 20 minutes. (If you instead use metal skewers, press them into the dough, then flip them over and let them rest of top of the skewer for about 20 minutes.)
- Bake, twine/skewer side up (leaving them in), for about 20 minutes for 3 loaves, and 25 minutes for 2 loaves.
Now that you’ve got some “Pan Cubana”, it’s time for this week’s featured recipe: one for a Cuban Sandwich. Here goes…
Cuban Sandwich
(from: globaltableadventure.com)
Ingredients
1 loaf Cuban Bread (can substitute Italian or French)
yellow mustard, to taste
4 slices ham
4 slices roast pork
4 slices Swiss cheese
pickles, thinly sliced, to taste
Directions
- Slice a loaf of Cuban Bread almost completely in half, lengthwise and spread mustard along the bottom.
- Add the ham, pork, cheese and pickles to the sliced loaf.
- Place the sandwich in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- On another burner, heat up a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
- Press the sandwich between the two hot pans until toasted (and the cheese melts).
So, there you have ’em: not one but TWO recipes you can make in honor of “National Cuban Sandwich Day”. I hope you find them as “yummy in my tummy” as I did. I have to admit, though, that when I ordered my Cuban Sandwich down in “Flordida”, I noticed that it had mustard on it, so I stated “no mustard” since I’m not much of a mustard fan. Had I know that Cuban Sandwiches are traditional made with mustard (as in this week’s recipe), I probably wouldn’t have requested “no mustard”. Since I’ve discovered this recipe, I think I’m becoming more of a mustard fan than I have been in the past, so something my son once said to me is, indeed, true: “Tastes change”.
I hope you celebrate “National Cuban Sandwich Day” this week, and, if you do, I hope you’ll let me know what you think about these two recipes AND whether or not you’re a mustard fan. In any case…
Take care!