Friday Night Food Porn

Leftovers: The Cuban Sandwich

I think leftovers get a bad reputation. Most people just don't eat them or just put no effort into them. Certain foods are great as is, or even better, the next day. Beef stew, soup, and even spaghetti and meatballs are awesome the next day. But what about roasts, chicken, or turkey? All those things run the risk of drying out during reheat. You could always hide those leftovers in a soup or a pie. But not everyone has the time to do that I guess. There's always the ubiquitous (hahahah) cold sandwich, but that's boring, especially on a cold night. So, when I have some leftover pork roast, I'm making some Cubano's! A traditional Cuban sandwich is made with ham, roast pork, baby Swiss cheese, mustard, pickles, on Cuban bread. The whole thing is layered and pressed together with a sandwich press called a plancha. Nowadays most places use a panini press. Well, I don't have a plancha, or a panini press. So, I used two slate flooring tiles (unglazed, of course). They work well as a pizza stone too; I use them in my oven all the time. Before I assembled the sandwich I cranked my oven up to 500 degrees to heat up the slate. I put the Cuban in between the rocket hot tiles and kept the whole thing in the oven for about 7 minutes. Just long enough to melt the cheese, and squish and crisp up the bread.