Cuban Sandwich

The Ingredients
Pork

• 2 1/2 pound pork shoulder
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 cup of fresh orange juice
• 1 lime squeezed
• 1 Tbls of cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tsp of chili powder
• Hot sauce
• 1 Tbls of green chillies
• 2 bay leaves

Sandwich

• Fresh Cuban bread
• Mayonnaise
• Dijon mustard
• Kosher pickles 
• Virginia ham
• Pork
• Muenster cheese

The recipe

1. Season the pork with salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder.
2. Place the pork in the slow cooker.
3. Chop the onions and the garlic and place them in the slow cooker along with the orange juice, lime, bay leaves, hot sauce, chicken stock, and green chillies.
4. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours.
5. Remove and slice as well as you can.  If it's rough don't worry about it.

Assembling the "Cuban Sandwich"

1. Cut the bread into a 12 inch serving size and slice it in half length wise.
2. Spread the mayonnaise and mustard on one side of the bread.
3. Sit plenty of the muenster cheese down on the bread.
4. Lay down two slices of the kosher pickle.
5. Layer the virginia ham on top of the pickle.
6. Top the ham with plenty of pork.
7. Cover the pork with more cheese (go for it on the cheese)
8. Close the sandwich with the other half of the bread.
9. Push down on the sandwich and place it on a hot panini press or any sandwich press. 
10. Once the bread is toasted and the cheese is melting the sandwich is done.

The Experience

So even though it was a long process I believe the results were worth it!  Mirella came home from work and devoured it!  I recommend preparing the sandwiches ahead of time and then pressing them when you're ready to eat.  I got an awesome panini press at Target for only $41!  When you consider that sandwiches will never be boring at our house again the money is totally worth it!  Of course I ate it with green tabasco sauce!  It goes perfectly with it.  The pork was a little heavy on the cumin for my taste but that's only because I tend not to like cumin so much.  It is a must, however, if you are making anything Cuban.  If any of my Cuban friends are reading this and want to complain that I used muenster instead of swiss cheese go right ahead!  It was the cheese I had and it happens to be my favorite melting cheese after mozzarella of course.  I will try it with swiss next time though.  Get yourself a panini maker and have fun making this Cuban sandwich!  Everyone will love it and it is extremely fulfilling!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

The Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder
• 1 Onion 
• 1 Cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 2 cups of BBQ sauce
• Hot Sauce
• Bread buns

The Recipe

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. Rub the pork with the dry ingredients.
3. Chop the onion and put it in the slow cooker.
4. Place the pork in the slow cooker and top with 1 cup of BBQ sauce.
5. Cook on high for about 4 hours.
6. Remove and pull meat apart with a fork.
7. Place between your favorite buns and enjoy!

The Experience

I enjoyed making this Southern favorite but it's not one of my favorite things to eat.  I got some chicago rolls which are a little harder and hold the sauce better than buns.  I ate about 2 of them and was very satisfied!  I might kick it up a notch next time and use more hot sauce!  It is easy to make but pulling the pork is kind of annoying.  If you like ordering this at restaurants then you'll definitely like making it yourself!  Don't forget to always Season Your Food!

Salmon with roasted pepper garnish

The Ingredients (yield 2 servings)

• About 1 lb of salmon filet
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1/2 cup of roasted pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1 Tbls of light mayonnaise 
• 1 Tbls of capers
• Salt 
• Pepper
• 2 tsps of Hot Sauce
• 3 large Golden potatoes
• Italian seasoning
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The Recipe 

1. Grab a cold Michelob Ultra.  Open it and drink it while you prepare this dish.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Season your salmon filet (whole) on both sides with Adobo and place it on the corner of a cookie sheet.
4. Cut your potatoes length wise about 1/8 of an inch thick and lay them down on a cookie sheet. (Use two cookie sheets for this)  You will have enough room around the salmon to put your potatoes too.
5. Brush the olive oil over all the potatoes and the salmon.
6. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and paprika over the potatoes.
7. Flip the potatoes and repeat steps 5 and 6 on the other side. Do not flip the salmon.  Bake it with the skin down.f
8. Put the cookie sheets in the oven for 15 minutes.
9. While the salmon and potato are baking chop the tomato and the roasted pepper and place them in a bowl.
10. Put in the capers, 1 Tbls of extra virgin olive oil, the mayonnaise, salt, about 2 tsps of hot sauce.
11. Squeeze the lemon into the bowl and mix everything well with a fork.  Let it sit there while you finish baking.  You will notice that it'll develop a nice silky red color.
12. After the 15 minutes of baking flip all the potato slices, raise the oven temperature to 415, and cook another 5 to 10 minutes watching it so that the potatoes do not burn.  The salmon will be fine.
13. Plate the potatoes in the format of a flower.
14. Cut the salmon filet in half and let the slice sit on top of the potatoes on the plate.
15. Spoon the garnish over the salmon and enjoy!

The Experience

This was extremely easy and quick to prepare!  What an awesome lunch!  It took about 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake.  If you are working out and want a healthy lunch or dinner this can be it!  The potatoes come out perfect and the salmon is simply the best fish to bake like this.  I will be making this over, and over, and over!  The garnish was a last minute idea.  I had these ingredients in the fridge and decided to mix them up to see what would come out!  It turned a simple fish and potato dish into something a little more gourmet and tasty.  We basically devoured our food and were very satisfied!  Definitely make this dish this weekend!  GUARANTEED success with the whole family!