Earl of Sandwich...

Just a nice experience in the kitchen

Thy name is Reuben.  The Reuben is quite a nice sandwich and I’m partial to it, and on certain days have them for lunch.  I’ve written about it/them in the past, and gone over the history some, and then went off on the controversy between marbled and “regular” rye bread.  While I much prefer the latter, the former seems to hold some caché as being somewhat traditional.   But that’s not for this visit.

A bit ago, I decided I would get one for my dinner as MFO had some event and I would be dining on my own resources.  I happened to be up  San Souci during the late afternoon and didn’t want to make another trip for a single purpose.  So I stopped in to Coffee Quarter and requested said sandwich, but added that since I wouldn’t eat it for a few hours, could they just make it and not “cook” it, i.e., letting me do that when it was closer to when I wanted to eat.  The young lady said that since they used mayo as well as damp sauerkraut it might get kind of mushy, but she would be glad to give me the ingredients separately.  Wow, that would be great I said.  So, I walked out with what one might call a “Kit” all neatly wrapped and packaged.

or unpackaged:

Featuring (unmarbled) rye, mayo, Thousand Island, Kraut, Swiss and corned beef.

So I set about fabricating the sandwich, applying the Mayo (which I think is not considered traditional, but I used it anyway in lieu of butter.  

Since I was in control, I eliminated of one of my pet peeves about sandwiches which contain meat and cheese.  I believe it is very important that the cheese be integrated with the meat rather than all on one side.

(another layer of corned beef was applied after the photo)

Since we don’t have a panini press gathering dust someplace (along with other seldom used appliances) I did trot out our LeCruset ridged pan (which does mostly gather dust), melted some clarified butter for the outside and grilled the sandwich resulting in a nicely marked sandwich.

Another technique I sometimes employ in order to get the sandwich completely warm and all the cheese melted is to put a little lid over it for a bit

Let it rest some, and with my trusty (well used) serrated bread knife had a very nice sandwich for myself.

One might find higher quality ingredients, but it was fun and kudos to the nice lady at Coffee Quarter.

And lastly, just another food note:  A group of us went up to Annapolis for a menu tasting from a potential caterer for an upcoming event.  We sampled appetizers

(as well as potential salads and main courses)

And then there was dessert, one option was a chocolate tart which was, as they say, to die for.  In fact everybody loved and raved about it so much the caterer said (much to my surprise!) would you like the recipe?  When it was unanimous that we all would, a short trip to the kitchen resulted in a copy for everyone.

My purpose in showing this is NOT so you can reproduce it, but to see how a professional chef uses recipes.  Us amateurs (me at least) follows them by rote, and hope for the best.  This one has been tweaked with notes, scribbles, modifications as to how (she) finally liked it.  It calls for ganache poured over cooled custard, etc., and something I never would attempt.  I thought it very illuminating.

Stay tuned for eventual news on the event.  Meanwhile please remain

DFD

Medical note, my starboard eye gets “done” on Monday (27^th)