NYE Cuban Sandwiches

Dan & I have a tradition (for three years now) to make and enjoy Cuban Sandwiches on New Year's Eve. For the past two years, that's been about the extent of our NYE excitement. In fact, I don't think we've stayed awake until midnight for more years than that.

All that changed (except the sandwiches) this year, thanks to our friend & neighbor Mark organizing a NYE progressive party through the 'hood. We started at 7:30 at our place for Mai Passion punch and mini Cuban sandwiches in the tiki bar, then made our way to 4 other houses enjoying cocktails, food, and conversation. It was a ton of fun, except this lightweight wasn't prepared for 5 houses worth of cocktails. Even with some mini Cubans, a couple of Stephanie's delicious homemade egg rolls, nibbley things from Willa's, and at least one blue cheese popover courtesy of Mark in my belly, the rum/vodka/rum/vodka/champagne drinkin' proved too much for me. We did make itmade it past midnight and safely home, but I spent the night paying dearly for my indulgences.

Cleaning out the Freezer - Cuban Sandwiches

Using the extra French bread we had from making fondue (which Dan put in the freezer), and all the extra pork and ham from making Cuban Sandwiches on New Year's, we made another round of the delicious sandwiches today.

I'm really happy we've realized bread freezes and defrosts great - as with just two of us, we often can't burn through a whole loaf before it goes bad. By getting it in the freezer early, we can make use of the entire thing.

NYE Cuban Sandwiches

For our first New Year's Eve in our new home, Dan & I made Cuban sandwiches for dinner. This is the second year in a row - so I guess we're starting a little tradition of our own. We'd planned to make tostones (fried plantain chips), too, but since we didn't roast the pork shoulder ahead of time, the thawing, marinating, and roasting of it took up a good chunk of the evening, so we opted not to go to the trouble and instead relax and enjoy the sandwiches.

We used the same general recipe/guidelines as last year, using some ham leftover from Bridging The Holidays, and using leftover hoagie rolls we had around (rather than buying new bread and letting them go to waste).

Looking back on 2009, I think I learned a lot about food and myself through this blog, and hopefully it's had value for others as well - whether my writing made someone smile, my pictures made someone hungry, or the recipes I've shared inspired someone to try something new. Looking forward to 2010 I hope to continue reading & writing about food, trying new recipes, and sharing my successes and failures. I'll also aim to write more often, as I've become a little lax the past few months.

Bahama Breeze

Cuban Sandwiches @ Bahama Breeze

Tres Leches Cupcakes & Tostones

Ruth's brother Phillip is in town this weekend, and in honor of the occasion we once again hit the lake in an Electric Boat for food, friends, and cocktails (except for the Captain, that is).



For this round of what has become known as 'Boat Drinks', Ruth picked a dual theme: Cuba and Covers. We each submitted our favorite cover songs to Ruth, who put together a mix CD of them for us to enjoy while boating around Lake Union. And for the Cuban theme, Ruth brought fixings for Cuba Libre cocktails (rum, Mexican Coke, and lime juice) and a huge stack of Cuban Sandwiches.



Since I can't resist a theme, I did my best to dress 'Cuban' (though my most Cuban shirt had a stain) and made a couple things to eat inspired by Cuban cuisine. First were some Tostones - deep fried plantains. They were incredibly simple to make. Just get some green plantains, peel them and cut them into about 1/2 inch slices (I like to cut them on an angle to get them bigger around). Then deep fry them in 350 degree oil for about 3 1/2 minutes - just to get them cooked through. Take them out of the oil and let them drain briefly, then smack them flat with something heavy (I used a meat pounder). Then, back into the 350 degree oil for a few more minutes, until they're crispy and golden brown. Pull them out, and season. I mixed some sea salt and ground cumin.



The other treat I made were cupcakes - which is now officially a traditional part of our boat trips. I made Margarita cupcakes the first time, then Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes last September for our second excursion. This time, I found a great recipe for Tres Leches Cupcakes on The Cupcake Project, though I swapped out the meringue frosting for a simple butter & powdered sugar frosting, augmented with some Dulce De Leche I made using leftover sweetened condensed milk. I made them in some star-shaped aluminum cupcake tins I bought years ago, which made them appropriately festive. They cupcakes were super moist, yet still held together, and got rave reviews - with Laura going so far as to say it was possibly the greatest thing she's ever eaten. They'll definitely be making another appearance.

After almost 4 hours of boating around (with me at the helm), our designated drivers ferried everyone over to our place to enjoy the fire pit and backyard - which lasted until nearly midnight.

Tres Leches Cupcakes
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tspn vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 Tbspn flour
4 1/2 tspn cornstarch
1/2 tspn baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 Tbspn + 2 tspn sugar
3 oz evaporated milk
5 1/2 oz condensed milk
3/8 cup heavy cream
1 stick of butter, at room temperature
About 2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 12 liners in a cupcake pan. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1/2 C of the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt together and stir well. Mix flour mixture into the yolk mixture, just until combined. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaining sugar at the end, being careful not to overbeat the egg whites. Gently fold the whites into the yolk and flour mixture, being very careful not to deflate the batter, until mixture is uniformly colored. Fill cupcake liners with batter about half way. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes.

Mix the three milks together in a small bowl. With a serrated knife, remove the top golden layer of each cupcake to expose the sponge. Spoon about a teaspoon at a time of the milk mixture onto the top of each cupcake, allowing it to soak in before adding more. Continue until you've added about 3 teaspoons to each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes, covered, for 5 hours or overnight.

Dulce De Leche Frosting
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour the remaining sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and cover with foil. Place in a larger roasting pan where pie plate can sit flat. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir until smooth. In a mixer, beat the butter until whipped, then begin adding powdered sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is thick - scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the cooled sweetened condensed milk (now dulce de leche) and continue beating. Add additional powdered sugar to get frosting to a spreadable or pipe-able consistency. Add a little milk if it gets too thick.

New Year's Eve Cuban Sandwiches

I found the recipe online at Three Guys from Miami Celebrate Cuba. Being in the furthest state in the continental US from Cuba, we had to make due on some of the ingredients (sour oranges? Cuban bread?), and didn't follow the directions to the letter, but we both thought they turned out great anyway. I particularly liked the saltiness of the ham and the sour of the dill pickles, with the sharp, quick flavor of yellow mustard.

Roast Pork for Cuban Sandwiches
1-2 lb pork shoulder or loin roast
5 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 cup sour orange juice (If you can't get sour oranges in your area, use two parts fresh orange to one part fresh lemon and one part fresh lime)
1/2 cup minced onion
1 teaspoons oregano
1/4 cup Spanish olive oil

Mash garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan until hot, but NOT deep frying hot! We’re looking for something in the neighborhood of 220 degrees F. Remove the oil from heat and quickly whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture until well blended. Let cool. Pierce pork roast as many times as you can with a sharp knife or fork. Pour garlic mixture (save a little for basting while roasting) over pork, cover and let sit in refrigerator for two to three hours. Using a suitable roasting pan or rack, sprinkle remaining marinade over pork and cook uncovered at 325°F. Roast until completely cooked (160°F), about 20 minutes per pound. Baste occasionally. Bring pan juices to a boil and simmer until the juice is reduced by half. Sprinkle some juice onto the pork when you put it in the sandwich.

Cuban Sandwiches
Cuban bread (Substitute French bread if you must, but not a baguette)
Butter, softened
1 lb ham, sliced
1 lb roasted pork, sliced
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, sliced
Sliced dill pickles
Yellow mustard

Preheat a large skillet. Cut the bread into sections about 8 inches long. Cut these in half and spread butter on both halves (inside). Place the sandwich on the hot skillet lightly buttered. Place a heavy iron skillet or bacon press on top of the sandwich to flatten. Grill the sandwiches for two to three minutes on each side, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden.