Cuban Sandwiches and Black Bean Soup

Hello long lost friends! I am officially the lamest blogger around. It has been 8 or 9 days since my last post and I apologize. The good news is that I have a two fantastic recipes to share. Again I was inspired by Tyler Florence to try my hand at Cuban Sandwiches. I happen to L.O.V.E. Cuban sandwiches. For those of you in Charleston, I'm a big fan of the Cuban at Vickery's- and Iacafano's used to have a fantastic one too though I haven't been in years. You can find the recipes here, courtesy of foodnetwork.com, but I tweaked them a little bit. For starters, Tyler uses a pressure cooker to "slow roast" a pork shoulder for the sandwiches however I cheated a little bit and instead I cooked 1.5 pork tenderloins in the crock pot. I couldn't find a reasonably sized shoulder at the store and the tenderloin is much lower in fat too. I'm fairly confident that it worked just as well. I followed Tyler's lead on the mojo marinade with the following:

*4 cloves of garlic, smashed with knife

*1 medium onion, sliced

*1 cup orange juice (I used Simply Orange, not fresh)

*juice of 1 lime

*1 cup low sodium chicken stock

*2 bay leaves

If you've never had a mojo type sauce, its delicious. Its savory, spicy and citrus-y all in one. Would be a delicious marinade for chicken or fish as well (would leave out the stock in that case). I combined everything right into the crock pot and then seasoned my pork with a dry rub of:

*1 Tablespoon cumin

*1 Tablespoon dried oregano

*Kosher salt and black pepper (fairly liberally)

I let the pork sit for 10 minutes or so before dunking into it the crock pot with the mojo. I cooked it on low heat for approx 6.5 hours. I then let the pork cool completely in the sauce before removing it and pulling it into chunks. I set it aside in a baking dish and spooned some of the cooking liquid over the top for added flavor.

Meanwhile- I made the Black Bean soup for which you need: *1 lb dried black beans

*4 cloves of garlic

*2 medium onions

*1 green bell pepper

*1/4 bunch of cilantro

*1 tsp dried oregano

*2 tablespoons cumin

*1/2 tsp chili powder

*1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

*1 jalepeno

*2 containers low sodium chicken stock

*kosher salt and black pepper First I rinsed the black beans in a colander with cold water and picked through to ensure there weren't any stones or pieces of debris mixed in. Next I cleaned the cilantro and chopped roughly in the food processor. I then added my onion, garlic and green pepper (roughly chopped into chunks first) and processed until everything was finely chopped and well encorporated.

I added the vegetable mixture and my spices to a dutch oven (coated the bottom with olive oil first) over med-high heat and cooked for 7-10 minutes per Tyler's instruction. I then added the black beans and my chicken stock and brought to the soup to a boil before turning it down to med-low. Instead of chopping the jalepeno with the other veggies, Tyler sliced it in half length-wise and dropped it into the soup whole at this point. As the soup simmers (for 1.5-2 hrs or until the beans are tender) the flavor of the pepper is drawn out, giving it just the right amount of heat. (Remove it before serving of course.) I noted that you need to stir the soup frequently to keep beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once it was finished, I gave it a quick hit with my immersion blender. Pureeing some of the beans really added a smoothness to the soup. (Carefully not to go too far though, it starts to look like sludge. As you can see I was toeing the line.)

Before constructing the sandwiches, I also made a crema to garnish the soup- adding the zest and juice of one lime to approx 1 cup of sour cream. Mix well and dollop a-top the soup as you serve. It adds a lovely kick and creamy richness at the same time.

When it was time to assemble the sandwiches, I used 1.5 loaves (cut into three halves) of Cuban bread. Publix actually makes fresh Cuban bread at the bakery (it was kind of narrow which is why I went with two loaves for 5 people). If you can't find it, use a wider, soft baguette from the grocery store. I cut the bread in half lengthwise, schmeared generously with spicy brown mustard, and layered the following:

*sliced deli ham

*thinly sliced swiss cheese

*sliced dill pickles (I used fresh dill pickles, the refrigerated kind)

*the roasted pork tenderloin

I used my pancake griddle- almost to high heat- to toast these to perfection (approx 5 minutes per side), buttering the outside of the bread first. (You'll want to do this while the sandwich is still whole, don't slice into servings yet.) The secret to a good Cuban is the press factor. I placed a large cast iron skillet on top of the sandwiches to accomplish this. (I actually piled a baking dish or two on as well.) This ensures you get a perfectly crispy crunchy outside and the cheese glues all of the yumminess together inside the sandwich. (NOTE: If you are thinking that you might leave the pickles off, DON'T!!! They really make the sandwich, even if you're not a huge pickle fan.)

I cut the sandwich into slices (on a diagonal) and served alongside the black bean soup. It was the perfect chilly Sunday night meal with a few friends.