Secret Recipe Club: Cuban Sandwich

Note to SRC: my deepest apologies to Wendy for the late link-up.

It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and this month's assignment is Wendy from La Phemme Foodie. Wendy blogs from Philledelphia, where she's a lawyer by day and a food blogger and photographer by night.

For the assignment, we considered several recipes, including slow cooker ribs in a root beer barbecue sauce, as buffalo wing macaroni and cheese, but in the end, I had a craving for a sandwich, and her Cuban sandwich won the day.

We made a few changes to the recipe out of necessity. On the shopping trip for ingredients, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find roasted pork. Our grocery store doesn't have a proper deli, so we're stuck with packaged prepared meats. They did have sliced roast beef, so I picked up some of that.

Meredith was quick to point out that it's very unlikely that you'd be able to find a Cuban sandwich anywhere that's not made of pork, and it's even less likely that you'd find one made of beef, given the abundance of pigs and the lack of beef cattle.

We also decided to use a French baguette instead of a plain kaiser roll. That's was simply because I'm not keen on huge, overly heavy breads.

In the end, the sandwich turned out really well. It grilled nicely in our panini press (we chose the griddle attachment) and was warm and tasty. We'll likely be making this again

Cuban Sandwich

1/3 cup diced dill pickles
1/3 cup diced pickled banana peppers
1 baguette, sliced into two 8" lengths and split in half
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp mustard (we used Dijon)
100g pound thinly sliced smoked ham
150g pound thinly sliced cold roast pork (we used roast beef)
2-4 slices Swiss cheese
1 tsp margarine or cooking spray (we used cooking spray)

1. Preheat a panini grill to medium.
2. Combine pickles and peppers in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Spread 1 tbsp mayonnaise on the bottom half and 1 tbsp mustard on the bottom of each sandwich.
4. Layer the remaining ingredients in the following order: ham, roast pork (or beef), pickle mixture and cheese.
5. Gently flatten sandwich and spread margarine on the top.
6. Transfer the sandwich to the panini grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Miffy's Baked Beans

This large casserole dish was maybe two-thirds of the batch.
This particular batch didn't use beer, however, it tastes
even better with the beer.

When my mother-in-law told me that she had made baked beans from scratch, Meredith and I were excited to try it. We were equally disappointed to find that they were already gone.

Fortunately, it didn't take much pleading for her to make a batch for us. The beans arrived - slow cooker and all - and there was much more than expected. But we didn't complain - more for us. We're big fans. Sausage and beans, potatoes and beans, beans on toast, beans and Kraft Dinner. Not that we usually eat these meals consecutively.

I've never made baked beans from scratch myself. My slow cooker just isn't big enough, and the bowl doesn't remove for easy cleaning. Still, I was very reluctant to part with it because it was a gift from my (now deceased) grandparents.

A couple months later, I stumbled upon a large slow cooker for $10 at a garage sale and I I finally got the recipe from my mother-in-law (the beans pictured in the photo are hers).

The recipe is mostly based on a Chatelaine recipe. I read the reviews and they were mixed. I suspect that several readers cooked the beans on high and quickly dissolved most of the liquid in the cooker. Unfortunate for them, but great for me. The beans we feasted upon tasted great.

Miffy's Baked Beans

1 onion, finely chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red-chili flakes
2 cups dry navy beans, rinsed
3 1/3 cups water or 2 cups water + 1 bottle of beer

1. Combine onion with bacon, molasses, ketchup, Dijon, salt and chili flakes in the slow cooker and stir gently until thoroughly mixed.
2. Stir in beans, water (and beer) until combined.
3. Cover and cook on low until beans are tender, about 10 hours.

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Mustard and Garlic Roasted Potatoes

The last few months were very busy for us, and cooking and baking new things didn't happen very often, if at all. In the middle of February, we had to catch up so we wouldn't run out of new recipes to share with everyone.

Fortunately, a cold snap hit and we had a good reason to stay indoors and make comforting food. At the end of that weekend, pretty stuffed with the weekend's leftovers for lunch, we decided to make a light dinner with some roasted potatoes.

I decided to wing it and throw a recipe together from scratch, and it worked quite well. The potatoes were nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy potato goodness on the inside.

Mustard and Garlic Roasted Potatoes

by Daniel Saraga March-23-2012

The potatoes are nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy potato goodness on the inside.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 kilos potatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.2. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes.3. Transfer potatoes into a large bowl with the remaining ingredients and toss until well coated.4. Spread the potatoes out on a large baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 45-60 minutes, turning potatoes every 15-20 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 4-6 servings

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Secret Recipe Club: Ginger Chicken

It's time again for The Secret Recipe Club (SRC), and we have a new host: Suzanne from The Bugs on my Windshield. Because SRC's reveal date is Monday, there won't be a Friday recipe this week.

This month, I've been assigned Robin from Penny Pinching Provisions who, like me, would rather make tasty, affordable meals from scratch, than buy prepared processed food. There were lots of tasty-looking recipes to review and an easy-to-scan index of recipes to search through. (Thank you, Robin!).

Since we had a dinner with friends coming up, and I tend to use friends as guinea pigs for recipes, as well as family, I decided to make a double-batch of Robin's Ginger Chicken recipe, and add a little bit of Chinese cooking wine to the recipe as well.

Ginger Chicken

1 tbsp oil
1 kilo chicken, diced
1/4 cup white cooking wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup ginger, chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp coriander

1. In a deep pan, heat oil on medium-high and brown chicken on all sides. Set chicken aside.
2. Quickly de-glaze the pan with the cooking wine. Add broth, onion, ginger, soy sauce, molasses, garlic powder, mustard and coriander. Increase temperature to high, and let mixture boil and reduce (stirring occasionally) until onions and garlic are soft (20 minutes).
3. Add the chicken to the mixture, and reduce to medium, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through.

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Moroccan Dijon Chicken

I only read a couple of Moroccan cooking blogs since there aren't that many, however, I enjoy reading both immensely. Recently, one of the bloggers, Nisrine from Dinner and Dreams, announced that she was being published in the Boston Globe, so, of course, I had to read the story.

Her recipe was a spicy Moroccan chicken recipe, and it used Dijon mustard. Dijon? That's clearly French, however, the French occupied part of Morocco at one point, so it made perfect sense. Just like butter chicken (Indian/English), and chicken vindaloo (Indian/Portuguese). I'd love to read more about the history of the dish, but it wasn't available. Maybe one day I'll get around to reading more about the French in Morocco, or consult another authoritative source.

The dish itself tasted great. I made some substitutes as I didn't have any harissa on hand, or ground cloves, and I wanted things extra saucy, and it still worked.

Moroccan Dijon Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips or chunks.
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 whole cloves
1 tsp dried mint
3 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup light cream

1. Combine chicken and mustard in a large zipper bag and let marinate in the fridge for one hour.
2. Meanwhile, in bowl, combine tomato paste, water, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves, and mint, stir and set aside.
3. When chicken is ready to cook, heat oil on medium in a deep pan and fry onions for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. 
4. Add chicken and tomato-spice mixture, stir, and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.
6. Add cream and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve with cous cous.

Based on Spicy Moroccan Chicken by Nisrine Merzouki.

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