Open-faced Cuban Sandwiches

There's no such thing as a regular sandwich in this house. I don't do regular. Never have. Regular insinuates boring. Run of the mill. I like to kick things up a notch. Sometimes my kids accuse me of messing with something... "Why can't you ever leave ________ alone?" my daughter often whines... Because I can't. I just can't. Because I like to create. And make a mess. It's like painting. I'm not a stay within the lines kind of a girl.

It was lunchtime and the boys were hungry. Somehow we managed to devour about $50 worth of deli meat in just a couple of days. What was left was some Black Forest ham and some cheese... Swiss, American and Smoke Gouda. I had some rye bread. The good rolls were all gone.

I knew that if I slapped together some ham and cheese together on some bread my boys would take a few bites and walk away. They love Cubans but I didn't want the mess of cleaning the stove top grill... or pan. (I am lazy!) I decided that I would make a sort of open faced version of their favorite sandwich. It turned out to be, I think, even better than a Cuban!

Ingredients:
4 slices of good bread - Rye, Semolina, Italian
4 - 8 slices of  good quality ham such as Black Forest
4 slices of Swiss Cheese
1/4 pickle spear per sandwich, cut into pieces
Good quality mustard, mayonnaise

Directions:

Place bread in toaster and toast lightly.
Spread a little mustard and mayonnaise on the toast
Add a slice of ham or two to each slice
Place the chopped pickles on top of the ham slices
Add the Swiss cheese on top of the pickles

Turn the oven on to Broil, High

Place the open faced sandwiches on a cookie sheet - lined with aluminum foil if desired - and place on top shelf of the oven. Leave for a few minutes as the cheese turns golden brown and bubbles. Watch closely so as not to burn the cheese. Remove and serve immediately!

The Cuban (Jewish American) Sandwich

We love the flavors of Cuban sandwiches... my kids really love anything with ham and pickles, so when I first introduced these I knew they would be a huge hit. In my version I use no pork, but I do use a good Kosher dill pickle and seeded Jewish Rye bread which makes this sandwich a close cousin to that fella, Reuben!

You can take this Jewish girl out of the city, but you cannot take the city out of me! The best delis in New York (for the most part) are Jewish. They make the best sandwiches E-ver.

Yesterday the boys were home from school for lunch. Alexander has half days on Wednesdays and his brother had Pink Eye... I use that term loosely, more like a pink eye (there is such paranoia surrounding eyes that are not white white white... Anyhow, my oldest had a hankering for our version of a Cuban, so I headed out and got what I needed. The boys had an indoor picnic with lemonade and a few potato chips thrown into the mix!

(Apologies for the blurriness!)

Ingredients: (Per sandwich)

A good Dijon or Deli mustard, about 1 tsp
Mayonnaise (I used Hellman's) about 1 tsp

1 tbs of butter
3 or 4 slices of thinly sliced top quality ham like Boar's Head Black Forrest
1 to 2 slices of thinly sliced Swiss cheese
Sliced pickles, enough to cover sandwich

On a cutting board butter one side of both slices of bread -- this will be the outside of the sandwich
Flip the bread over and place the cheese on one half and the mayo and mustard on the other half
Place ham on the mustard and the pickles on top of the ham
Place the cheese part of the sandwich on top of the ham half
Heat a small pan, when hot add the sandwich and turn the heat down slightly.
You want your sandwich to have a nice brown to it, but not burnt!
After checking for done-ness flip the sandwich over and brown the other side.
Cook well so that the cheese is fully melted and oozy. You might want to monitor this as sometimes the bread will be done but the cheese won't. If this is the case, just turn the heat down and cook a few more minutes.

When the sandwich is cooked to your liking remove, cut in half and serve immediately!

Green Noodles and Ham Saddle Hill (a Casserole)

Casseroles were popular when I was growing up. They were hearty and nutritious. They were easy to make and could be prepared fairly quickly. Even better they could be made ahead of time, refrigerated or frozen and then taken out and placed in a hot oven when needed. My mother made slews of casseroles when I was a young child in the 70s. Many of these were her mother's recipes that she made her children in the 50s and 60s.

I'm not sure where this recipe comes from (both my mother and her mother hailed from the Rochester, NY area) as I have tried researching it. It seems worthy of reintroducing. It was a favorite of mine as a child. I love the color of the green noodles with the pink of the ham!

This recipe serves 8. You can serve it in a large casserole or two smaller ones, which is what I did.


Ingredients:

1 lb green fettuccine ( I used both green and white, 1/2 each)
2 1/2 cups of diced ham (about 12 oz, 2 slices of packaged ham steak -- deli ham works well too)
2 1/2 cups freshly grated Swiss cheese **
2 cups of Sour cream (I used light)
1/2 cup of evaporated milk (I used 1 cup of 1% milk thickened with 1 tbs of flour)
3 tbs. butter (to grease the pan -- I used a non-stick spray)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cups of coarse bread crumbs, optional

*In a large pot cook noodles, til al dente (per directions on package)
*While noodles are cooking cut ham into small cubes
*Pour sour cream and milk in a smaller pan and heat slowly -- because this is low fat, this could curdle so heat the cream mixture slowly
*As the sour cream mixture heats, in a small bowl add 1 to 2 Tsp of sour cream to the flour, mix well and then add to the pan
* Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat and add 1/2 of the cheese mixture, salt and pepper.

*When the pasta is ready, remove from heat and drain, then return to pan and add the cream and cheese mixture
*Add ham to noodles and mix well
*Place mixture into one or two casserole dishes (oven safe!)
*Combine the remaining cheese with the bread crumbs and sprinkle them over the top of the casserole you will be serving.

Place casserole in a preheated oven, 325 degrees, for about 15 to 20 minutes so that the top is golden brown and the noodles are reheated throughout.

For a previously refrigerated casserole, bring to room temperature and then bake for 30 - 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

** A mild white cheddar may be substituted



I grated my own Swiss cheese



I used both the green and the white fettuccine


In the casserole, with the ham before the cheese was sprinkled on top


I even brought out my old Corningware dishes reminiscent of the era!