Even though St. Paddy's day was on a Saturday, this week's Food Tuesday is focused on the excellent food that I get to enjoy on this holiday.
St. Patrick's Day means Irish beer, corned beef and cabbage, and all things green. At my house, Irish beer means Harp and Guinness. The color green is represented by the plates, napkins, green lemonade, and green caramel-applesauce.
Corned beef and cabbage is the best part, though. As is appropriate to our Omaha location, where this sandwich was invented, we eat Reubens.
The Reubens we eat on March 17th at my home are, in fact...
The Greatest Sandwich Ever.
Follow below the fold for some...(theme song)...Good Eats!
A Reuben is a deceptively simple sandwich. So few ingredients, yet so many Reubens go half-eaten or half-enjoyed. The irony inherent to something with so few ingredients is that all of them must be of high-quality. Its not like a complex dish, where you can skimp on a few ingredients.
A Reuben is built from the following:
Bread
Corned Beef
Sauerkraut
Cheese
Dressing
If you use mediocre bread, you will have a mediocre sandwich.
If you use mediocre sauerkraut, you will have a mediocre sandwich.
If you use mediocre corned beef, I will cry for you.
The Corned Beef
The key to delicious corned beef is that it must be TISSUE PAPER THIN. Seriously, if you cant get ultra thin corned beef, make something else. It just isnt the same. Additionally, you should try to get your hands on Kosher corned beef; just like with beef salami or hot dogs, kosher tates better.
When you go to the Deli to buy the beef, ask for a sample. The inch wide, several inch long, millimeter thin slice of happiness should nearly melt away in your mouth. It should not be chewy in the slightest. It should leave a lingering, slightly salty, slightly cured flavor that makes you want to ask for another sample, but them remember your manners. If the sample isn't that good, try somewhere else. If your deli guy wont give you a sample, he does not deserve your business.
The Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut (German, literally sour cabbage) is finely sliced cabbage that has been fermented. The fermentation is what gives it its distinctive sour flavor. Now, you do not have to ferment your own cabbage to make a good Reuben. However, you cannot just buy a jar of store-bought and throw it on. There is a happy medium.
You want about two pounds of your favorite sauerkraut (I like Franks, which can be conveniently found in 2 lb. bags in the refridgerator section of most groceries), a bottle of beer, and some caraway seeds.
What kind of beer? Thats up to you. For the most part, the better the beer, the better the sauerkraut. However, it needs to be a lighter beer(not too light; dont use an unfiltered wheat or a hefeweizen, not hoppy enough to impart good flavor), and while some distinctive flavor is good, you can easily go overboard here. I am a big fan of using Fat Tire or another amber ale, or a someehat less distinctive pale ale. Using a really hoppy IPA or ESB would be too much, I think. If this seems too complex, don't worry; 12 oz. of miller or budweiser is fine.
Anywho, put all 2 lbs of sauerkraut in a saucepan, pour in the bottle of beer, and a tablespoon of caraway seeds. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer, and let it simmer until nearly all the liquid is gone, and the sauerkraut has turned a light tan color. Drain thoroughly, and refridgerate until ready for use. This is enough for about 12 Reubens.
If the idea of soggy, fermented, sour vegetables puts you off a little, don't worry, you're in good company (i.e., everyone). Just have faith that the sour taste is a perfect complement to the salt of the corned beef and is necessary to the sandwich. Just try it. 99% of you are going to like it.
The Bread
Pumpernickel. Not old school Russian pumpernickel, the Densest Bread in the History of Earth, but thinly sliced, pliable, soft, dark-rye type pumpernickel. Use pumpernickel. Do not use rye. Do not use any other kind of bread. Just trust me; A Reuben without pumpernickel, isn't.
If you have a place you can buy fresh-baked pumpernickel, buy it the day of, and dont slice it until you need to. If you have a bread machine, and can make good pumpernickel, even better. Don't bake until necessary, and dont slice until necessary. If you cant get bread that fresh, thats fine. You can use store-bought. I find Star Deli makes a good pumpernickel. Feel free to suggest other brands in the comments.
The Cheese
Baby Swiss. It should have a mild, only slightly swiss-y flavor. Don't use something like a Jarlsberg here; you'll totally overpower the other flavors. Again, at the deli, ask for a taste. It should taste just like the name--baby swiss.
The Dressing
Making your own 1000 islad dressing is incredibly easy. There are nearly as many recipes online as islands in the dressing--take your pick, and make one. I mean, its mayonaisse and ketchup for the most part. Not too challenging. For truly great 1000 island, make the mayo from scratch, and make dressing out that. How do you make your own mayo? That's a different Tuesday. Again, if you must resort to store bought, Wish Bone makes a pretty good 1000 island.
Sandwich Preparation
How you prepare a Reuben is almost as important as what you put on it.
For each Reuben, you need:
Pan or sandwich press
Butter for said pan/sandwich press
2 slices of pumpernickel bread
4 to 6 ounces corned beef
1, 1.5 slices swiss cheese, or enough to cover the bread
2 or 3 Tablespoons Sauerkraut, or enough to cover sandwich, completely drained. If not drained well, the sandwich will be soggy. This would be sad.
Here's what you do:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees, and put a cookie sheet in the middle rack.
Then, assemble sanwiches, one step at a time. First, lay out slices of pumpernickel bread, one for each sandwich. Then put the beef on the bread, then the sauerkraut, then the cheese. (And yes, the order does matter. If you didnt put the meat on first, it could slide of the sandwich. Puting the cheese on last ensures that as it melts, it sticks the sauerkraut to the meat. The order matters.) Then, top with a second slice of bread.
7 complete sandwiches and a huge container of corned beef and some sauerkraut looks thusly:
So, after you build your sandwiches, melt a tablespoon of butter in your pan (on your sandwich press) and grill sandwiches until bread browns slightly, then turn over, and repeat. Put your sandwiches in the oven, and give them about 10 minutes to melt the cheese. You an also just keep them in the oven to stay warm, if you are, say, feeding an army, and they will all want seconds.
There are several sides that we serve with these splendid sandwiches. Cole slaw is a great side, and it was one of the only store-bought item on our buffet. We use Famous Dave's coleslaw, because it has a little horseradish, and we like the extra kick. Feel free to make your own; again, recipes all over the internet.
Potato chips are good with any sandwich.
Making green lemonade is fun and easy.
Step 1. Buy or make lemonade.
Step 2. Add green food coloring.
Step 3. Profit! Enjoy!
For Dessert, I am a big fan of caramel applesauce. Very easy to make, and absolutely delicious.
3 lbs. granny smith apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
Juice of 2 lemons
8 Tablespoons butter (one stick)
1 cup sugar
Green food coloring, preferably paste or gel
Fill a large bowl half full with cold water and the lemon juice. As you slice the apples, set them to soak them in the lemon water. While the apples are soaking, melt the butter in large, heavy fry pan over medium high heat. When the butter is melted, drain the apples, and sprinkle sugar evenly over melted butter and cook until sugar starts to brown. Add the apples to the pan, spreading them evenly over the butter/sugar. Lower the heat slightly and continue to cook until apples are soft and most of the liquid has cooked off.
Place all of the pre-applesauce in a large bowl or tupperware container, mash the apples to applesauce consistency, and add food coloring to get desired color of green.
Anyway, the buffet with sandwiches, slaw, applesauce, Guinness, Kosher dill pickles, and chips looks like this:
If you make this buffet for yourself, you will be happy.
Comments open to questions, suggestions, your favorite Reuben variation, and whatever else.