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!