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Cook the Book: 'Catskills Cubano'

Posted by Adam Kuban, March 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM

Monday was a croque monsieur. Tuesday was a ham-and-brie-and-apple sandwich. Yesterday we went vegetarian with a goat cheese, artichoke, and tomato sandwich. Today we're back on the pork tip. Sorry. We're like junkies here at the Serious Eats office. The Catskills Cubano recipe called to us from the pages of this week's featured cookbook, Panini Express, and we couldn't resist. I'd been wanting to make a sandwich on ciabatta to see how it reacted in our new panini press, and this one was pretty darn simple, with no pre-press prep other than chopping some peppers. From there, it was a simple matter of layering on pork and cheese.

The book's author, Daniel Leader, named this a Catskills Cubano in honor of the region in which his bakery is located. It's a slight variation on a traditional Cuban sandwich, in that he calls for pickled jalapeños instead of regular pickles and he uses serrano ham or prosciutto instead of the the more common cured ham used. We riffed on this one a little more, subbing in Hatch green chiles.

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Catskills Cubano

- makes 2 sandwiches -

Adapted from Panini Express by Daniel Leader and Lauren Chattman.

Ingredients

2 ciabatta rolls or 6-inch lengths of soft Italian bread
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
4 thin slices (about 2 ounces) Swiss cheese
2 teaspoons finely chopped pickled jalapeños, or more, to taste
4 thin slices (about 2 ounces) Serrano ham, prosciutto, or cured ham
4 thin slices (about 2 ounces) roast pork

Procedure

1. Preheat sandwich press according to manufacturer's instructions. Meanwhile, cut the rolls in half and spread a tablespoon of the mustard on bottom of each roll. Layer 2 slices of the Swiss cheese over the mustard. Sprinkle on the jalapeños [we used green chiles from Hatch, New Mexico, instead], and top those with the ham. Top the ham with the roast pork slices, top those suckers with the bun top, and you're good to go.

2. Place the assembled sandwiches in the press, pull down the top, and cook until they're browned and crisp, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove from press and serve immediately.

5 Comments | Tags: Cubanos, Daniel Leader, ham, panini, Panini Express, pork, pressed sandwiches, roast pork, sandwiches