I hope and trust everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and is slowly recovering from any turkey overdoses. Obed and I headed east to Arkansas to spend our Thanksgiving weekend with old friends, we were very grateful for the invitation. However since Thanksgiving was in another state for us, we have no turkey leftovers. But I did have some leftovers of my Slow-Cooked Puerto Rican Pork (Pernil) from an office pot luck on Tuesday. In the spirit of Thanksgiving leftovers I figured I would show you how to assemble a traditional Cuban sandwich.
Cuban sandwiches are one of my favorite sandwiches. When I was in high school back home in Puerto Rico I would go to this bakery called “Facciola” that served the best Cuban sandwich I have had to date. I have seen different variations and twists on the Cuban sandwich but this is how you make a traditional Cuban sandwich.
Supplies needed, crispy crust bread, ham, pernil, Swiss, mayo, mustard and pickles. A Cuban is not really a Cuban without these essential items.
If you have any sort of aversion to mayo I recommend you look away. First slice your crispy bread and lay on the mayo….don’t be shy.
Then spread on some yellow mustard.
Every true Cuban sandwich I have ever had has Swiss cheese, not cheddar…not American…but Swiss cheese.
The most important and delicious, some out of focus/blurry left over pernil.
Top it off with a few slices of deli cut ham and;
don’t forget the pickles, I use sweet butter pickles. It’s really not a Cuban if it doesn’t have pickles. Obed always leaves out the pickles, so I call him a traitor. 😀
Once you have all your goodies stuffed between two crispy slices of bread, lay it on a hot sandwich press brushed with melted butter. Brush the top of the sandwich with butter also.
Aaaaand press for 1 -2 minutes, then turn the sandwich and press again. This way you get an evenly flat sandwich.
Aaaaah delicious beauty is before you! Not to mention my favorite sandwich of all time.
This is a great way to make use of your pernil leftovers and if you happen to be one of those that decided to smoke your turkey this Thanksgiving, I think that would make a pretty good sub for the pork. This sandwich produced quite a few odd moans and grunts from Obed so it was definitely a hit.
I did make the bread fresh using “Artisan Bread in 5 Mins a Day” Master Recipe: Boule shaped into a Batard, which is like a baguette rolled 3 inches in diameter. Baked at 450 degrees for 30 minutes with a baking pan filled with 1 cup of water on the bottom rack to create steam, and make a perfect crust.
Cuban Sandwich
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Crispy crust bread loaf
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Swiss cheese
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ham
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yellow mustard
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mayonnaise
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sweet butter pickles
Heat sandwich press.
Slices bread to desired length, spread with mayonnaise and yellow mustard. Stack Swiss cheese, pernil, ham and pickles, top with bread.
Brush sandwich press with melted butter, place sandwich on press and brush with butter. Press for 1 – 2 minutes, until cheese begins to melt, then turn and press for another 1 -2 minutes.
Enjoy hot off the press. 😀
I worked at a Cuban bakery, and we didn’t use mayo or ham, and used provolone cheese instead of Swiss. I really love your idea of using sweet pickles. I’m going to start using bread-and-butter pickles.
Mayo??????? I just heard a collective gasp from the entire Little Havana community! Shame!
Popular in Tampa where I use to live at and then I realized after coming back home to Puerto Rico that they make Cubans here in Puerto Rico too, at least in Lares, PR they do. 😀
Do they make them like this recipe, or are they different?
oh my goodness i have been wanting a GOOOD sanwhich so bad, something different and im gonna have to tell my mother in law shes not getting that pork butt in my freezer cause im gonna have to make it JUST so i can have the leftovers to make this omg omg omg
and i love pickles and mustard so much
My favorite place for Cubanos was in old San Juan, on Calle Fortaleza, in a no named, hole in the wall eatery, it was like a hallway with the counter along 1 side and a row of tables & chairs on the other side………… I used to work on Calle Tetuan and would hit up that place at least twice a week. Everything was so fresh and homemade there….I miss it!
Were the Cubans in San Juan like the ones in this recipe, or different somehow?
As I was pulling out my panini press just this morning, I thought of what I’ll do with the anticipated left-overs from the upcoming Christmas holidays. Cuban Sandwiches, of course! And now after seeing your gorgeous pictures, I’m hungry!
hmmmm, I’ll have to try that bread recipe, it sounds delish. We made Cubanos last year with the leftover pernil from Nochebuena. We cooked ours on the Weber grill, over charcoal, and it tasted just like it was from one of the lechoneras in Guavate. That was our happy discovery for 2008! Oh, and how did you know we smoked our turkey?
I never much liked Facciola, my favorite Cubanos were from the Panaderia La Ceiba. I think it’s funny that we disagree 🙂
OH NO YOU DIDN”T! That is ok I will let this one slide. ;D
LOL, Facciola’s a block from my Padrino’s house, so I went there quite a bit for many years. Same with El Hipopotamo, that was my grandma & mom’s favorite… never found a panaderia that was as good (to me) as La Ceiba, tho Los Cidrines came veryvery close. Oh, I never got the fuss over Kassalta either. Mind you, I haven’t been back to PR in 14 yrs, so I don’t know what’s good anymore. Doesn’t matter, you think I’m a traitor anyway cos I hold the pickle AND the mustard O_O
You CRACKED ME UP when I first read this, I thought “only PRicans would go to the mat to argue over the best place for coffee or the best Cubano” 😉
I just got a panini press today – perfect timing!! I am definitely giving this a try. 🙂