The 2nd Best Cuban Sandwich

A trip to Florida makes me hungry for Cuban.



In California, I am all about the delicious Mexican food. El Cholo (at the original location on Western Ave in Los Angeles, of course) is not only one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, it is one of my absolute favorite restaurants. Everything is just delicious, and the atmosphere is casually classy and laid back.

In Florida, the specialty is Cuban food and in California it is Mexican food; as you can imagine, it is heavily due to the proximity of each state to their respective countries. Now, I should be fair to say Los Angeles has some great Cuban restaurants like Versailles and El Colmao and parts of Florida have some wonderful Mexican restaurants like La Fiesta in Gainesville, FL or even the gourmet Mexican Restaurant chain, Cantina Laredo that you can find in several states (but not California). This is 2011; great food and people that make great food can be thousands of miles from the homeland.

However, the Cuban sandwich takes me back to my college days in Florida when Zach and I first started dating in Gainesville. We became regulars at this hip little Cuban bakery called Flaco's . It was where I fell in love with the Cuban sandwich. I rarely order a Cuban sandwich anywhere anymore; there are usually much more exciting option on the menu of a good Cuban restaurant like ropa vieja, beans and rice and fried plantains (sweet or unsweet are both fine by me!). But I sometimes find myself craving one of the two type of Cubans Zach and I used to share at Flaco's: the standard Cuban or the Medianoche (which was made with their special slightly sweetened bread). They used the most delicious Cuban-style shredded pork and the freshest, soft-on-the-inside-crunchy-on-the-outside pressed Cuban breads.

Cuban sandwiches are so simple to make at home. Yuu will never make them as well as Flaco; I can promise you that. But you can make some pretty-darn satisfying sandwiches with just a tiny bit more effort than it would take you to make a standard ole' ham and cheese sannie.



The Cuban Sandwich

(makes 4 6-inch sandwiches)

*1/2 lb Pork (shredded Cuban pork is the best, but you can use sliced roasted pork from the deli counter at the grocery store. If that is not an option, I would suggest roast beef as a last resort)
*1/2 lb Ham
*1/2 lb Swiss cheese
*Pickles (sliced lengthwise)
*Mustard (regular mustard works the best, but I have used specialty mustards to change things up)
*Fresh Cuban bread (1 long one should work) - (You can use a baguette if you cannot find Cuban bread, especially if you are going to press the sandwich anyway)

I don't think I really need to explain what you do next besides just saying, "assemble the sandwich".

You can eat your delicious sandwich at this point if you wish, but I suggest pressing it if you own some sort panini or sandwich press. You may want to lightly spread some oil, butter or butter-type spread on the outside of the bread before placing the sandwich into the press. If you are pressing, I would also suggest putting the ham on the bottom, then the shredded pork, then the cheese, then the pickles on top (the mustard can be slathered onto the bread directly). This way, the cheese melts right into the shredded pork. Yum.

Note: I did not have a press to use this time so I just stuck the sandwiches in the oven on a low setting to give them a little crunch.

Pork and Pancakes for Christmas

I know most food blogs post lots of recipes over the holidays for the benefit of their readers.


With baby Rachel: check out those aunt-ing skillz

Well this blog is for me, and I was busy. This is not to say you should not read my entires. In fact, I welcome it, and it truly encourages me. However, if I thought about this blog as a responsibility, it would never have lasted as long as it has. When I get busy, the blog takes a backseat. When I am bored, it keeps my occupied. The most important part of all is it keeps me cooking, and maybe...just maybe it gets you to cook too. Like this:



I usually stay pretty busy when I come to Florida for the holidays. I try to spend some quality time with my friends and family that I rarely get to see during the year. This Christmas, I got to see my whole Puerto-Rican Style family for Christmas Eve and then my brother's family for Christmas Day. I even got to spend some time with my boyfriend's family the day after. Nothing made me happier than to see so many people I love in the short time I have here. A highlight included my aunt Janet's new fluffy black dog, Diva. See if you can spot her sandwiched between our dark curly hair in the pictures below:




My Aunt Janet makes flavorful, tender Puerto-Rican style pork every year for Christmas Eve dinner, but this year was absolutely, by far THE. BEST. PORK. I. HAVE. EVER. HAD. I couldn't stop eating it. I wish I could pass along her wisdom with a simple recipe and a little story, but this is something that comes with years of practice, trial, error and patience.

We had another pork the next night for Christmas night which we shared with my sister-in-law's wonderful family. Then it was time for dessertland.



Geeze.

Now, I have never bothered to includes ads on my blog because I don't know that I have all that many readers. However, I am going to go ahead and personally endorse my first product.



Without this product's knowledge or approval I am going to crown it the official pancake accessory of Bite Me Food Blog. It was gift for my sister-in-law who makes pancakes about 100% more than I ever do. The pancake pen jumped out at me when I was skimming through a magazine one day months ago. It worked far better than I ever imagined it would, and it was a blast to use to amuse my 4-year-old niece:




Check out the cutie presenting the plates with her sister's name on them. Poor Charlotte's name is too long so she just got a "C".

She was super impressed up until the point where I could not be precise enough to give Minnie Mouse a bow between her ears; she had to settle for a blue berry bow after being plated.

I am not going to supply you with a fantastic pancake recipe here because to be honest, I cared very little about the taste of the pancakes and more about the fun we would have making them. I used the "just add water kind" and attempted to cover it up with an array of toppings and mix-ins. I call it "pancake bar": chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas, pecans and any combo you can think of. I ended up with a choco-banana-nut pancake, and I must say the letter "A" (or whatever letter I had) never tasted so good.

I don't really have a recipe for you, just a couple tips. Consider them a late Christmas present: #1 buy the pancake pen if you or someone you know have kids who could get a kick out of it and #2 make the lost of your left overs.



Number 2 might hit home specifically to my brother and sister-in-law who like us, must have at least 4 to 5 pounds of pork left over from Christmas dinner. Of course, you don't want to get stuck eating the same thing every night just to avoid the guilt of throwing something perfectly good away later. It is important to get creative with leftovers, especially when you have a ton of the same thing (this might be a familiar Thanksgiving situation including turkey instead of pork). This year, I decided to use some of the pork leftovers to make BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.



It was simple to shred the meaty pieces into smaller ones and reheat with plenty of brown sugar BBQ sauce, slap it on a bun, and call it a good ole' American meal. Another use of the pork was just as part of a salad that included dried cranberries, feta cheese, apple slices and walnuts. Considering we originally enjoyed the pork as an authentic Puerto-Rican style dish, the variations so far have been different enough to keep the meal "fresh" in my mind. What's next? Pork enchiladas? sweet and sour pork? Pork Pancakes?

Brunch Club August: A Guest Blog by LeAnna

The brunch club was back and better than ever this month. I mean, look at us:



BreAnna did a fantastic job this month. They not only managed to host the biggest brunch club in brunch club history, they did it picnic style in their front yard area. With the city in the background, sitting under the shade of the tailgate tent with the canines and a plate of food was the perfect way to spend a lazy glutinous sunday afternoon.



Stanley meets Parker:


BreAnna always makes a ridiculous amount of food for their hungry guests. This is not me complaining by any means because every single thing is delicious. This month, LeAnna made a vegetable orzo dish that was of upmost satisfaction to this blogger. It was honestly the first time I had ever had the pasta-that-really-resembles-rice dish, and i was delightful mixed with some chunky veggies served cold brunch-style.



Some other notable dishes this week included LeAnna'a neighbor's chocolate chip cookies (her mother's recipe):



Sube's guiltily delicious berry berry good coffee cake was too good for words:



I made some siily-bad-for-you corn muffins stuffed with bbq pulled pork:


LeAnna was kind enough to write a guest blog for me after I offered my highest compliments to her veggie orzo. You will rarely see her without a smile on her face. She is always hospitable, even when she is not in her own home. She is the first to offer a helping hand to me in the kitchen when her and Brian come to my apartment for get-togethers. She is friendly, cheerful and a pleasure to be around. See for yourself will ya?

Hi! This is LeAnna. The Amazing Lindsey asked me to write a guest blog after hosting brunch, and I decided to go with it, despite having no idea how to write one. This should be fun for all of us!

So, a little back-story about me in regards to cooking: I'm half Sicilian and the other half is one of 26 grandchildren, from a mother who was 7 of 9, from a grandmother who was 13 of 13. I am genetically programmed to cook for LARGE groups of people. I can cook for one, two, or twenty--there is no middle ground. I do quite like cooking, but also being quite lazy, I don't very often. Thus, when I have a reason to cook (and REALLY cook, at that), I go ALL OUT. And now onto brunch…




For my (and Brian's) brunch I made/had:

Bacon

Hashbrowns

Pancakes

Stuffed Mushrooms

“Water Should Never Not Taste Like This” Water

Vegetable Orzo

Brian's Breakfast Casserole

Caprese Salad

Bagels

COFFEE (aka life blood)

And…

Mimosas (because what's brunch without booze?!)

I'm not going to lie, even with all the above and knowing that people would be bringing other dishes, I was still worried that it wouldn't be enough food. It's a hereditary thing. I was INCREDIBLY wrong about that, by the way--seriously, does anyone want to come over for leftovers? Please?

Well, incase you're not a fan of going over to a stranger's house and eating her brunch leftovers, yet would still like to recreate some of this experience, I'll share 2 recipes with you. (I'll try to give you the smallest serving sizes possible--key word being try.)

“Water Should Never Not Taste Like This” Water

This is a recipe I was inspired to create after enjoying some uber fancy water at a tres chic spa. I find it especially refreshing on hot days.



Ingredients:

2 gallons of water

2 lemons

2 oranges

1 cucumber

Prep:

Wash produce like crazy!!! You will be leaving the skin and rinds on and putting them in the water. Nobody wants to drink pesticides, so wash those better than you would your newborn.

Slice off ends of lemons, oranges, and cucumber. Discard. Slice remaining fruit and cucumber into ¼- ½ circles.

Put in a pitcher with water. Chill. Or don't. Delicious either way.

Also, to recreate a spa experience on a penny buster budget, grab the biggest glass you can find, pour in this water, throw on a towel, and sit in your parked car with the windows rolled up on a hot summer day.

“Vegetable Orzo”

This is a variation of a recipe I grew up with. It's fairly healthy because the orzo is marinated with the juices of the vegetables rather than a heavy sauce. It's vegan (I think).

Ingredients:

Orzo pasta

1 green zucchini

1 yellow squash

2 tomatoes

Shitake mushrooms (I normally put in 6, but it really depends on how much you like Shitake)

Small bunch of asparagus

Olive oil

Prep:

Thoroughly wash produce.

Slice zucchini, squash, and mushrooms. Dice tomatoes. Chop asparagus.

Boil water and cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain.

Add about a capful of olive oil into a skillet over medium heat and add mushrooms and asparagus. Cover. Occasionally stir.

When mushrooms first start to wilt (about 3-4 minutes) add zucchini and squash. Cover. Occasionally stir.

When zucchini and squash are wilted (about 10-15 minutes) add tomatoes. Stir. Cover.

Quickly allow the tomatoes to heat (about 2 minutes), then stir and remove from heat. Dump vegetables, along with their juices into your drained orzo and serve (or put in the fridge for later--can be eaten hot or cold).
And that's how you make that!

I hope you guys like these recipes. Yay Lindsey's blog readers!!!

Thanks for having me!

Happy Eating,

LeAnna

If you are wondering about my brunch recipe. Don't. I cannot even express how easy it is. It is simply Jiffy corn muffin mix and BBQ pulled pork. You can buy the pulled pork or make it yourself. I bought it. You just put some corn mix (prepare as directed on box) i the bottom of greased muffin tins, then put about 1 tbsp of pulled pork on top of it, and then top it with more muffin mix. The muffin mix will engulf the pork. For something a little more palatable for vegetarians or, well, health concious folks, you can use anything to stuff the corn muffins...ground beef, blue cheese crumbles, black beans, baked beans... just stick anything you want in there!

What's a girl to do with leftover BBQ?

I have been eating out a lot lately.



Zach always insists on keeping the left overs, no matter how unlikely it is we will revisit them at a later meal. I know it is unfortunate, but they usually sit in the refrigerator for about two weeks until they get tossed. But really, what use do you have for 1 slice of pizza, 5 chunks of orange chicken, an ounce of steak, a quarter sandwich, a half baked potato and some soggy salad? You can't eat any one of those things as a complete meal, and any combination of that list makes my stomach churn uncomfortably.

Well, last week we visited the undeniably delicious Dr. Hogly Wogly Tyler Texas BBQ with Zach's family. They boast the most generous portions of solid saucy sliced pork plates I have ever seen topped with three crinkle-cut sweet pickles. The meat is just perfect, and the sauce is tastily tangy. Everyone had leftovers that the waitress packed up by throwing the saucy chunks into clear plastic bags with a knot at the top. More on that later.

The rest of Zach's family's visit was so fun. We always look forward to having them come visit. They planned a whole weekend trip to Seal Beach, which is the most adorable little beach town just south of Long Beach. We stayed just a couple blocks from the ocean.



We rode bikes along the coast down to Long Beach, we visited a huge and beautiful antique shop owned by a blogger that Zach's mom has been corresponding with for a while, we took Stanley to a really great dog beach where he ran longer and faster than ever before and oh yes, we ate and ate!



There were so many really cute local restaurants including Rivers End Cafe (which was right on the beach - best fish tacos I have ever had), Park Bench Cafe (this was an adorable little cafe in the middle of a beautiful park with lots of trails around a small pond) and Walt's Wharf (the last supper of the trip - it was really special, and my halibut dish with black rice was something right out of "Top Chef"). Stanley really liked Park Bench Cafe.



The whole town was just bursting with charm. It boasts the second longest wooden pier in California with a Ruby's diner at the end of it. It was so nice just to stand on the pier and watch the fisherman beside us and the surfers below us. Seal Beach is definitely a place we will be returning to in the future.



Now for all those left overs! What's a girl to do? Zach, Wendy and I were preparing for a night in front of the tube to catch up on the first two "Mad Men" episodes of this new season when I said, "tacos or quesadillas?" They said tacos so I made this:



I would not have normally thought to use BBQ pork in a taco with cheese and pico de gallo, but I had had BBQ chicken quesadillas with similar flavor combinations that were the bomb. I guess you could call it a fusion dish because Mexican style BBQ usually has more of a sharp, spicy or even vinegary flavor (barbacoa) where as the BBQ in these tacos was good ole fashion Texas BBQ with a sweet/tangy flavor. I liked mixing the sweet/tangy BBQ with the traditional Mexican flavors of a slightly spicy pico de gallo, jack cheese, corn tortillas, and lime! I am just now kicking myself for skipping the avocado...that might have been pretty good too! In case you are wondering, I picked up those sweet little restaurant style baskets at Jo-Ann Fabrics...who knew?



Leftovers Tacos (with BBQ Pork) - makes 8 tacos

Leftover BBQ (slice pork, pulled pork, brisket, etc) - you can also make your favorite pulled pork recipe, or you can make mine.
8 corn tortillas (6" diameter)
Pico de Gallo, about 2 cups (you can buy it from the store or make your own by dicing 3 ripe tomatoes, 1/2 white onion, 1/4 C fresh cilantro and 2 seeded jalapeno peppers and mixing it all together)
1 C shredded jack cheese
sour cream and avocado (or Guacamole) for dolloping
lime wedges

Place the meat with all the sauce into a large skillet over med-heat
As the meat starts to warm, start to break it all up with a wooden spoon (for tough pieces, you may need to chop it up beforehand).
Once the meat is heated all the way through and broken up, turn off the heat and place the corn tortillas over the pan to catch the steam (you will be layering them on top of each other, but spread them as much as you can.
Build each taco by placing the meat down first, then the cheese and then the pico de gallo.
Top it off with the sour cream or avocado.
Squeeze a lime wedge over it all.

We're Gonna Make You Feel Good

Some of you from the Southeast may recognize this slogan as the jingle for Sonny's Real Pit B-B-Q. Sonny's is the only B-B-Q restaurant I ever went to on a semi-regular basis when I lived in Florida. You really need to be in a particular mood to go there. While the slogan says, "We're gonna make you feel good", what it really means is "It's going to taste really good, but you will be sorry later thankyouverymuchXOXO". I would always order the pulled pork sandwich which is served with crinkle cut fries (my favorite).

I cannot say for sure since I was never really diligent about exploring the BBQ world in Florida (it was just easy to hit up Sonny's for a BBQ fix), but I don't remember there being a lot of options for great BBQ joints in either Tampa or Gainesville. Sonny's pulled pork was my introduction to pork and the only relationship I had with it until I moved to Los Angeles.

When you move to a new place or even go on a long vacation, there are restaurants and even little local shops you miss from the town you are leaving. Sonny's was towards the top of my list of places I missed being able to go when I moved out of Florida about two years ago. Other things I still miss include Moe's, Publix, Flacos's (in Gainesville), sweet tea and Carrabbas. But life goes on. When holes are left in our hearts, we try to fill them by finding things to take up the empty space. This natural process prompted my search for Los Angeles BBQ joints in need a rebound. I was skeptical, but hopeful, hopeful because Los Angeles has a little bit of everything and skeptical because, well, it is Los Angeles...not exactly the kind of place I would expect people to be patient enough to cook meat for long periods of time since our patience is pretty much spent on others activities. CanIgetanAMEN?. We may not have the very best of everything as far as food is concerned, but we come pretty close. I found we come dangerously close to the best (certainly the best I have ever encountered) in BBQ with places like Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ and Kansas City BBQ. With the discovery of these restaurants (among others) and the following recipe, the empty space in my heart where Sonny's used to be has been filled and then some. I guess in that sense they really have made me feel good.

Fell Good Pulled Pork (from the "Better Homes Cookbook")

8 servings

1 2-3 pound pork sirloin roast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 medium onions (cut into thin wedges)
4 C root beer (do not use diet root beer)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 C chili sauce
1/4 tsp rot beer concentrate (optional, found in the spice section at the grocery store)

Trim fat from meat, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Be sure the meat will fit into your slow cooker; you may need to cut it into two chunks.
Heat cooking oil in a large pan and brown the meat by searing quickly (about 30 seconds on each side). This will work to retain the juices inside the meat in the slow cooker by sort of sealing up the outsides.
Transfer meat to a slow cooker, add onions, 1 cup of the root beer, and garlic; cook on a low setting for 8-10 hours or on a high setting for 4-5 hours.

For the sauce:
In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of root beer and the chili sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.
Boil gently, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes (or until mixture has reduced to 2 cups).
Add root beer concentrate (optional) to the pan and remove from heat.



When the pork is finished cooking, simply pull apart and shred it using two forks. It should be very tender and easily fall apart. At this point you can do one of several things, depending on how you would like to eat it. My favorites include in a sandwich or with black beans and brown rice. If you eat the pork in a sandwich, I suggest smothering it in the root beer chili sauce and putting a pile of it on a toasted hamburger bun. If you would like to prepare it with black beans and brown rice (as pictured above, I would use the sauce to taste (probably not as much as you would use in the sandwich). You can eat it for dinner one way and then the leftovers a few days later another way.