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Fast & Easy Dinner: Tempeh Reubens With Caramelized Onions

partysugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:50:45 -0800

Traditionally, a Reuben sandwich is made with meat; however this vegetarian version removes the meat and uses tempeh instead. Similar to tofu, tempeh's made from soybeans. In this recipe the tempeh is cooked in a mixture of apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, black peppercorns, and caraway seeds. Then it's placed on a piece of bread and topped with the classic Reuben fixings: Russian dressing and sauerkraut. To check out the recipe, read more.

Tempeh Reubens With Caramelized Onions
From Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

Russian Dressing:
4 Tbs. eggless mayonnaise
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup minced dill pickle
2 Tbs. minced red onion
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Tempeh Reubens
1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
1 Tbs. caraway seeds
2 1/2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced onions
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
4 to 6 slices hearty whole grain bread
1 bunch arugula, stemmed, rinsed and dried

Directions

To make Russian Dressing: mix all ingredients in bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make Tempeh Reubens: using sharp knife, cut tempeh crosswise at 45-degree angle into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Combine 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, tamari, peppercorns and caraway seeds in large saucepan. Add tempeh, spooning mixture over it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Meanwhile, heat 1 1/2 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and salt, and cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat about 10 minutes, or until juicy.

Increase heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often, until well browned. Remove pan from heat.

Heat remaining 1 Tbs. oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and add tempeh slices, in batches if necessary. Cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Warm sauerkraut in saucepan over medium-low heat.

To assemble sandwiches, spread each bread slice with 1 heaping Tbs. of Russian dressing. Layer bread with arugula, tempeh, sauerkraut and onions. Serve warm, either open-faced or topped with another slice of bread.

Serves 6.

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'Wich of the Week: Pastrami Reuben

YumSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:25 -0700

Not only is the Reuben one of my favorite sandwiches, but it's also sort of magical, since it takes three ingredients I'm not wild about (corned beef, rye bread, and thousand island dressing) and turns them into deliciousness. But since I rarely eat thousand island dressing, it ends up spoiling every time I buy it to make Reubens. So to meet my latest craving for this classic sandwich, I altered the recipe slightly, replacing the dressing with spicy mustard and the corned beef with pastrami.Pastrami is actually a variation on corned beef that involves smoking the meat. It's typically paired with mustard so this Reuben borrows flavors from two familiar sandwiches. Though I couldn't give up the sweet thousand island dressing forever, I must admit that this saltier Reuben was quite delectable. To get the recipe, read more.

Pastrami Reuben
Original recipe

Ingredients

2 slices of rye bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
2 slices swiss cheese
3 slices pastrami
1/4 cup sauerkraut

Directions

Butter one side of each piece of bread.

On the other side of each slice, spread a liberal amount of spicy mustard.

On the mustard-coated side of one slice, lay a slice of swiss cheese, followed by three slices of pastrami.

Using a fork to drain off the liquid, distribute the sauerkraut evenly atop the meat.

Top the sauerkraut with another slice of swiss, and lay the second slice of bread, mustard-side down, on top of the cheese.

In a skillet over medium-low heat, grill the sandwich, turning once, until both sides are golden brown and cheese is melted.

Slice in half and serve.

Makes 1 sandwich.

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Monday's Leftovers: Vegetarian Reubens

partysugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:13:31 -0700

Wondering what to do with the leftover spinach and mushrooms from last night? Put them in a sandwich! This variation of the Reuben pairs mushrooms and spinach with rye bread and swiss cheese. A quick homemade Russian dressing flavors the rye bread that is lightly grilled. To see how it's made, read more.

Vegetarian Reuben
From Eating Well

Ingredients

Russian dressing:
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons chopped capers
1 teaspoon chopped pickle or relish
Sandwiches:
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
5 cups baby spinach
Freshly ground pepper to taste
4 slices rye bread
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese, such as Jarlsberg Lite or Alpine Lace (2 ounces)
1/2 cup sauerkraut

Directions

Prepare Russian dressing: whisk mayonnaise and ketchup in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in capers and pickle (or relish).

To prepare sandwiches: heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 4 minutes.

Add spinach and cook, stirring, until it has wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate.

Coat the pan with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and return to medium heat.

Add the bread; divide cheese equally among the slices. Divide sauerkraut between 2 slices and divide the spinach mixture between the other 2 slices; cook until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.

Transfer sandwich halves to a cutting board. Divide the dressing between the spinach halves. Carefully place the sauerkraut halves on top. Cut sandwiches in half and serve.

Serves 2.

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Come Party With Me: St. Patrick's Day - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:28:31 -0700

Even though Aimee's St. Patrick Day party starts after dinner, she's planning on providing guests with a small selection of Irish inspired snacks. It's always nice to have some food on hand, especially when heavy drinking is involved. This menu twists classic Irish flavors – cheddar cheese, dark beer, corned beef, and smoked salmon - into modern favorites.

An Irish cheddar and stout fondue is gooey and decadent. Smoked salmon puffs are easy to make in advance and divinely addicting. Reuben roll ups are the perfect drunk food because they taste like an Irish pizza pocket. For all of these wonderful recipes, read more.

Irish Cheddar and Stout Fondue
From Bon Appetit magazine

Ingredients

2 cups 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter red-skinned potatoes, halved
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 cups very small brussels sprouts
2 apples, cored, cut into wedges
1 pound Irish cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup (or more) Irish stout (such as Guinness)
6 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Directions

Steam all vegetables until tender, about 15 minutes. Arrange vegetables and apples around edge of large platter.

Meanwhile, toss cheese with flour in large bowl.

Bring 3/4 cup stout, juice concentrate, and mustard to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat.

Gradually add cheese mixture, stirring constantly, until cheese is melted and smooth, thinning with more stout, if desired.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer fondue to bowl. Place in center of platter with vegetables.

Serves 6.

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Smoked Salmon-Stuffed Puffs
From Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients

Puffs
1 cup water
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds, for sprinkling
Filling
1/2 pound sliced smoked salmon
1/4 pound cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove
Tabasco sauce

Directions

Make the puffs: preheat the oven to 400° and position 2 racks in the upper and lower third. Lightly grease 2 large rimmed baking sheets.

In a saucepan, bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Off the heat, add the flour and stir vigorously until combined.

Return to the heat and cook over moderate heat, stirring, for 1 minute.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until thick, smooth and shiny.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 1-inch mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, about 3/4 inch apart. Using lightly moistened fingertips, smooth the tops. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds and bake for 20 minutes, shifting the pans halfway through, until the puffs are risen and golden. Lower the oven to 250°.

With the tip of a knife, poke a hole into the side of each puff and return to the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes longer, with the oven door slightly ajar, to dry out the centers. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Meanwhile, make the filling: in a food processor, combine the smoked salmon with the cream cheese, sour cream, mustard and garlic and process until smooth; season with Tabasco.

Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch tip. Pipe the filling into the holes in the sides of the puffs and transfer to a serving plate. Serve right away.

Serves 10-12.

Make ahead: the unfilled baked puffs can be frozen for up to 1 month; recrisp in a 325° oven. The filling can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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Reuben Roll-Ups
From Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients

1 (13.8 ounce) package refrigerated pizza crust
1 cup sauerkraut, drained
1 tablespoon thousand island salad dressing
4 slices corned beef, halved
4 slices Swiss cheese, halved

Directions

Roll dough into a 12-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Cut into eight 3-in. x 4-1/2-in. rectangles.

Combine sauerkraut and salad dressing.

Place a slice of beef on each rectangle. Top with about 2 tablespoons of the sauerkraut mixture and a slice of cheese. Roll up.

Place with seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12-14 minutes or until golden.

Serves 8.

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Reuben Quesadillas

partysugar — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:41:18 -0700

Every time I'm at my favorite Irish pub, FinBar Devine's, I have to order the Irish quesadillas. A tasty twist on the Mexican classic, this dish features tortillas filled with traditional Reuben sandwich ingredients: corned beef, coleslaw, and swiss cheese. It's bar food at its best.

It's okay if your neighborhood lacks an Irish pub, you can easily enjoy this delicious dish in your kitchen instead. It comes together in minutes and is a perfect middle of the week meal. Get the recipe when you read more

Reuben Quesadillas
From Sunset magazine
Image Source

1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups (1/2 lb.) shredded Swiss cheese
4 flour tortillas (10-in. size)
3 cups packaged coleslaw mix
1/2 pound thinly sliced corned beef

In a small bowl, mix salsa and sour cream.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese over half of 1 tortilla. Then place 3/4 cup coleslaw mix on cheese. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the salsa mixture over coleslaw. Lay 1/4 of the corned beef onto coleslaw; top with 1/4 cup more cheese. Fold tortilla over to cover filling. Repeat to make 3 more quesadillas.

Place quesadillas slightly apart on baking sheets. Broil 4 to 6 inches below heat until crisp and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes (watch closely).

Using a wide spatula, carefully turn each quesadilla over. Broil until crisp and lightly browned on other side, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Cut quesadillas into wedges. Serve with remaining salsa mixture.

Serves 4.

CALORIES 640(52% from fat); FAT 37g (sat 18g); PROTEIN 34g; CHOLESTEROL 120mg; SODIUM 1414mg; FIBER 2.1g; CARBOHYDRATE 43g

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'Wich of the Week: Classic Reuben

YumSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:00:24 -0700

The Reuben is such a classic American sandwich that two people claim to have invented it: Reuben Kulakofsky of Omaha, NE, who enjoyed the sandwich at a weekly poker game, and New York deli owner Arthur Reuben, who said he first made the sandwich around 1914.

Who first grilled up that savory stack of rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing, we'll probably never know. But that won't stop me from enjoying an endless parade of Reuben recipes, from pastrami to tempeh. Of course, it's hard to beat a good, old-fashioned corned beef Reuben, grilled on rye bread that's buttered to perfection. So try this classic recipe

'Wich of the Week: Honey Baked Ham and Cabbage Reuben

YumSugar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:15:14 -0700

I love celebrating Easter, mainly because it means I get to make sandwiches with the leftover ham. This year, I decided to come up with a new sandwich that satisfies all year round.

I had way too much cabbage, but I didn't want to go to the trouble of cooking it, so I came up with the idea of pressing it raw into a panini. Low and behold, it worked. With Swiss cheese, the result was something like an earthier, crunchier Reuben with honey baked ham standing in for the usual salty-sweet combo of corned beef and Thousand Island dressing. To see how I made it and get the recipe, read more.

When assembling, be sure to put the ham down first, then the pickles; on the first try, I put the pickles directly on the bread, which caused tragic sogginess once it hit the panini maker. This sandwich would also probably work in the oven, but I recommend the panini press in order to thoroughly cook the cabbage.

Honey Baked Ham and Cabbage Reuben
Original recipe

Ingredients

1 cup raw cabbage, cut into strips
4 slices wheat bread
4 teaspoons spicy mustard
6 slices Honey Baked Ham or similar
12 sandwich-size bread and butter pickle slices
1 tablespoon salt
2 slices Swiss cheese

Directions

Prepare the cabbage: place in a colander and salt generously. Place the colander over a bowl and allow the cabbage to "sweat" for at least one hour or as long as overnight. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat a panini press to medium.

To make each sandwich, spread 1 teaspoon of the mustard on one slice of bread and cover with ham. Top with 6 pickle slices, followed by half the cabbage.

Spread mustard on the second slice of bread, lay swiss cheese over cabbage, and place second slice mustard-side down on cheese.

Heat in the panini maker until cabbage is just wilted and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Cut in half and serve immediately.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

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Pastrami Reuben

YumSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:30:56 -0700

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How to Make a New Jersey Sloppy Joe

partysugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:50:45 -0700

A couple of weeks ago, Brian Sugar, came to my desk with an incredibly giddy look on his face. He had purchased 10 pounds of turkey and 10 more of pastrami, quarts of coleslaw and Russian dressing, and countless loaves of Rye bread. He was going to make a "New Jersey Sloppy Joe." According to Mr. Sugar, in New Jersey, a sloppy joe isn't the common combination of ground beef and juicy tomato sauce, it is rather, a wet sandwich somewhere between the classic Reuben and a pastrami sandwich. Intrigued, I followed him to the conference room where a makeshift assembly line was set up. Naturally, I had to document the technique to share with you. To learn how to make Brian Sugar's New Jersey Sloppy Joe, simply start clicking!
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'Wich of the Week: The Ex-Boyfriend at Ike's Place

YumSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:00:41 -0700

I love Ike's Place so much that I could start a 'Wich of the Week spinoff devoted solely to sandwiches from Ike's. I was hesitant to write about my new favorite sandwich place in San Francisco, since the lines are long enough already. But keeping the enormous, palate-entertaining creations to myself wouldn't be in the spirit of sandwich love.

Opened a year ago, Ike's is a tiny storefront in the Castro neighborhood, barely big enough to accommodate its sizable staff - making sandwiches this well is no easy task - and massive menu of 50-plus sandwiches with playful names like Nacho Boy (hot roast beef, mushrooms, avocado, and swiss) and the Paul Reubens (a take on the Reuben with poppy-seed coleslaw). Priced between $7 and $9, these are some of the largest sandwiches I've ever eaten; if I have one for lunch, I'm hardly hungry for dinner. But that's not even a taste of why I like Ike's. To count the ways, read more.

I have sampled several sandwiches from Ike's, all of which come with lettuce, tomato, and onions. My favorite so far is We're Just Friends, which features shredded chicken cooked in a sweet orange glaze, contrasted with avocado and pepperjack. On my most recent trip, I tried the similar but not quite as transcendent That's Too Bad (above), with chicken, spicy lime fajita sauce, mushrooms, and pepperjack, as well as today's featured sandwich, the Ex-Boyfriend, with salami, bacon, avocado, and cheddar. I've whipped up a recipe below, but first, here's are five reasons that Ike's is awesome.

The rolls - your choice of French, sourdough, wheat, or Dutch crunch - aren't baked until you order your sandwich, so they are fresh beyond belief.

Before baking, the rolls are spread with "dirty sauce," a homemade garlic and herb aioli. It's very subtle but adds a perfect little kick.

The ingredients are first-rate. The shredded chicken is so moist, I could eat a plate of it, and the avocados are always perfectly ripe.

The French fries are to die for. They're medium-cut but with a crust like curly fries that tastes vaguely of chipotle.

The staff is super nice. Clearly they care a lot about sandwiches, so they are happy to help you make a decision about which of the sandwiches suits you best.

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For a sandwich lover like myself, Ike's is something of an obsession. But I'll try to refrain from letting it take over 'Wich of the Week. I haven't quite figured out how Ike's makes its sammies (for instance, does it put them back in the oven after assembling them?) but here's an approximation of the Ex-Boyfriend to try at home.

Salami and Bacon on Dutch Crunch
Inspired by Ike's Place

Ingredients

1 Dutch crunch or French roll
2 tablespoons of garlic aioli
2-3 slices of cheddar cheese
Thinly sliced red onion, to taste
1/4 cup iceberg lettuce, shredded
1/2 avocado, sliced
3 slices of tomato, thinly sliced
8 slices of high-quality salami
6 strips of bacon, cooked

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Slice Dutch crunch or French roll in half horizontally, and coat the inside of the roll on both sides with garlic aioli.

Lay sliced cheddar on bottom half, and toast in the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven. On top of the cheese, arrange onions, lettuce, avocado, tomato, salami, and bacon.

Place the top half of the roll onto the stack of ingredients, cut in half, and serve immediately.

Makes one sandwich.

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