Sandwich Sunday, feat. The Reuben!

Hello and welcome back to TrueGrub everyone!

I want to thank everyone for browsing through all my preparatory posts. I hope you’ve got your kitchens ready, because now the recipes are going to start coming in and man they are delicious!

There will still be kitchen prep posts every so often, and the point of those are to get your kitchen as aligned as possible with my own so the recipes will be easier for you to cook. I’m not asking any of my followers to go out and purchase anything if they don’t want, but just remember these are the products I will be using. Awesome! Now that we’ve got that squared away, let’s get to the sandwich of the day: The Reuben!

The Reuben: The featured sandwich today is an interesting one. It has as much of a rich history as it does a unique taste. The Reuben’s actual creator is hotly disputed among sandwich historians, and its origin ranges from delis in New York all the way to Nebraska. Many variations of the original recipe exist and have been renamed for the ingredients used, and also for what part of the country it is from. My recipe is adapted from my dad’s with a slight variation in regards to the original.

The Reuben is a fairly simple sandwich that consists of corned beef, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut in between two slices of rye bread. My dad’s recipe utilizes pastrami in place of the corned beef, and that is totally acceptable and results in a very similar taste. We also substitute Thousand Island dressing for the Russian dressing (which was ironically created in the US). There isn’t much of a difference between the dressings, but Thousand Island dressing is easy to find and offers a unique spin on The Reuben.

I would like to add a disclaimer that this sandwich features some strong flavors that some may not enjoy. I recommend using seeded Rye bread for the best taste, and it can have a strong flavor. Sauerkraut is also most definitely a unique taste, and one that I advise you try before going through the trouble of making the entire sandwich. I can attest that once all of these flavors combine into The Reuben, then it becomes an amazing achievement in sandwich science!

Ingredients:

• Rye bread (seeded)
• Thousand Island dressing
• Corned Beef
• Swiss cheese
• Sauerkraut
• Butter

Preparation:

1. Lay out two slices of the seeded Rye bread. Place enough Thousand Island dressing to coat each piece and then spread with a knife.
2. Add 2-4 slices of Corned Beef to the right piece depending on how large the bread slices are or sandwich size desired.
3. Add 1-2 slices of Swiss cheese on top of Corned Beef.
4. Prepare the Sauerkraut by first opening the can and draining the contents into a strainer in the sink. This will help remove any excess liquid that will make the sandwich soggy. Use tongs to add and spread enough kraut to almost cover the cheese.
5. Assemble sandwich and add butter to top side piece of bread.

Cooking:

1. Place Cast-Iron skillet on burner and set to medium (5-7) and let pan warm up.
2. Place small pad of butter in pan and let melt, around 1/2 tablespoon should do. This will account for the crust that we are trying to achieve on the bread.
3. Place the un-buttered side of the The Reuben in the pan, and let sear for 2-4 minutes. This should allow the bread to achieve the desired crust, and began to melt the cheese which will tie the whole sandwich together.
4. Flip the sandwich and let the other side sear for 2-4 minutes. Remove sandwich onto plate. Be careful because it will be hot fresh off the skillet.

The cooking techniques for The Reuben are fairly simple and are essentially the same things you do when you make a grilled cheese. Just be sure to pay attention to the heat of the cast-iron and not burn the bread. Once it has been cooked, the contents inside will be juicy, gooey, and saucy bringing together the full flavor of the amazing Reuben!

The following prices are from my recent shopping trip to purchase the ingredients for The Reuben. Keep in mind that this includes a half pound of Corned Beef, 12 slices of Swiss cheese, a can of Sauerkraut, a loaf of seeded Rye bread, and a bottle of Thousand Island dressing. With this amount of ingredients many Reuben sandwiches can be made, so take that into consideration when examining the affordable aspects of the recipe. I generally shop at Walmart or Schnuck’s, this list is a combination of the two.

• 1/2 pound of Prima Della Corned Beef: $4.84
• package of Great Value Swiss cheese: $2.56
• loaf of S. Rosen’s seeded Rye bread: $2.36
• bottle of Great Value Thousand Island dressing: $1.17
• can of Del Monte Sauerkraut: $ .98

Total: $11.91

I’d say that the yield you can get from these ingredients for under 12 bucks is a pretty great deal, and most certainly affordable in my book. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your sandwich!