Self's "Cuban Sandwich"

The traditional Cuban Sandwich is a favorite of mine. The ham, roast pork and dill pickle is an unbeatable combo. I have made these before on the gas grill using fire bricks wrapped in foil for some friends this summer and they were quite the hit.



This is a varation that I made using regular whole wheat sandwich bread rather than the tradition hoagie style bun. I substituted simply because thats what I had on hand. One day I will invest in a nice cast iron steak weight, which will make things like this alot easier.



I didn't have any roast pork but I did have some thin cut pork chops. They were thin but not thin enough to use for a sandwhich.











Place the pork chop in a plastic bag or plastic wrap (this makes for easy clean up) and pound thin, about 1/4 inch.







Heat up a cast iron skillet on medium high and put a little oil in the bottom. Get it hot, but not scorching. You want to cook the meat fast so it dosen't get tough.







Season the pork with a little black pepper.











Sear it until you can see it starting to turn white on the edges. This won't take long, maybe a miniute or two.



Give it a flip and cook the other side.







While the meat's cooking, get your bread ready. Like I said, I used plain ol' whole wheat because thats what I had on hand. Put on your favorite mustard.











I used a combination of these two for some good spice.







Spread the mustard and add a slice of swiss cheese.







Top the cheese with some slices of ham.







Add the pork chop







Add sliced dill pickle







And finally one more slice of swiss.







Reduce the heat in your pan and melt a little butter.

Put the sandwich in the pan and add a peice of foil over the top. This is where a steak weight would have been handy, but I improvised.

A little "engineering" with a coffee can and a heavy cutting board was my press. Heat thru until crispy on both sides and the cheese in nice and melty.

Slice, plate and enjoy!

Ingredients List

• pork chop
• ham
• 2 slices of swiss cheese
• favorite mustard
• dill pickle
  

Super Simple Breakfast On-The-Go

So far all I have been posting are dinners. Breakfast is a favorite of mine although I rarely have breakfast during the work week. I know its bad to miss breakfast, but too often breakfast for me is little more than a big cup of coffee. Most people will argue that a simple cold cereal will do the trick, and for most this is true. Not for self. I haven't had milk for years, as it dosen't agree with me.

I had time and I was hungry so I snooped in the fridge and found eggs, ham, cheese and mushrooms. Perfect omelete material, yes but that takes more time than I had. There was plenty of time to scramble it real quick and make a breakfast burrito, or low-carb wrap, or snacker.

It's funny to me how a staple in my house growing up is now so heavily marketed by the fast-food joints. As I mentioned before, there were alot of mouths to feed in my house as a kid. For lunches and snacks we ate alot of stuff in tortillas. Who knew that now it would be so cool? Of course I don't remember all the variety of tortillas that we have now. We didn't have whole wheat, or tomato-basil, or the spinach green ones. In my house if they were green it was more of a blue-green and they went in the trash! We had corn or flour, and more often than not the flour were homemade thanks to Mom.

So next time you have less than ten minutes to make something to eat try this. Put your favorite omelete things in a tortilla and wrap it up.



On medium heat melt a pat of butter and throw in the mushrooms and sauté a little.



Throw in a slice of ham, chopped.



Toss in a couple eggs. If you want you can wisk them with a fork but I skipped that not only to save a dirty dish but it's not necessary in my opinion.



Your going to scramble it all up with a spatula anyway. Toss it around a little until the eggs firm up.



Take a slice of American cheese and break it in half and lay it on the tortilla lenthwise.



Add the eggs & goodies.



Add some hot sauce if desired.



Now put it in the microwave for 30 seconds on high to soften the cold tortilla for easy folding.



Fold the edges...



Give it a roll and your done. I grabbed this and hit the door. Easy to eat in the car!

Ingredients List

• Mushrooms
• (1) Slice of ham
• (1) Slice of American cheese
• (1) Burrito sized flour tortilla
• (1) pat of butter
• Favorite hot sauce to taste

Three Cheese & Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells

Stopping by the store on the way home from work looking for something to make for dinner I was clueless. I had to take a couple laps through the store to get an idea. I didn't want to spend much, so things that were on sale were big motivators for me on this one. Other than the 3 chicken breasts which were on sale for $4.18 everything else was $2.50 or less for a total just over $12, and I'm sure this dish could serve six. I was looking for simple and quick. It was good, but I will suggest adding some mushrooms, spinach and artichoke hearts. It's an afterthought that I will definitely add the next time around.



Cover the chicken breasts with water, throw in a little chicken bouillion and boil.



In a large pot bring 8 qts of salted water to a boil and add one 12oz box of jumbo pasta shells





Take your now boiled chicken breasts and slice them up. Put them in a bowl with about 1/4c of reserved chicken broth.



After the pasta has cooked for about 15 miniutes, drain and shock with cold water until cool. This will stop them from cooking further as well as cool them off for handling.



Shred the chicken. I used a whisk with thick strong wires in a bashing-twisting motion which worked nicely.



Add to the shredded chicken about 12oz of cottage cheese, a cup of shredded mozzerella, 1 TBSP of Italian dressing, and one egg. If you want, you may be able to skip the egg, but I think it really helped hold things together.





Mix well.



Drop a little extra-virgin olive oil in an 8x8x2 inch baking pan and coat the bottom and sides to prevent sticking.



With a spoon, generously stuff the jumbo pasta shells with the mixture.



Arrange the stuffed shells in the pan with the open-side up.



Generously shake some grated parmesean cheese over the stuffed shells.



Cover the shells with a jar of you favorite pasta sauce. I opted for the Ragu sundried tomato and basil. It was on sale for $1.50, and for store bought sauce worked just fine. Sprinkle a little more parmesean and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 miniutes, or until the sauce bubbles for about ten miniutes. Basically long enough to cook the egg through to firm the stuffing.



Once it's rested for about 10 miniutes or so plate it up, sprinkle a little more shredded mozzarella and enjoy. Like I said this was good but could have used some veggies in the stuffing.

Ingredients List

• (3) Chicken breast fillets
• (1) 12oz box of jumbo pasta shells
• Large curd cottage cheese
• 8oz shredded mozzarella
• (1) Jar of favorite pasta sauce
• parmesean cheese
• Italian Dressing
• (1) egg
• olive oil

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Meatloaf dinner was a staple in my home growing up. As a kid, it wasn't my favorite thing. My mother makes a great meatloaf. I love it now. I guess I was just being a brat-child. Thinking back, I guess I thought it was weird to put oatmeal & egg in meat.

Maybe it was the fact that my dad told us that when he made meatloaf it was actually cat-loaf?

Whether you like it or not in 2007, it was voted the 7th favorite dish in the United States according to the Good Housekeeping website. The "loaf" shape is made by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on an ordinary baking pan (my mom's way.) Mom also added the oatmeal to the meatloaf to stretch the meat. It all makes sense now, there was seven of us!

In any case it's one of those things I love now. Here's how I made mine cheeseburger style.



Bacon. No I don't use bacon in everything, just everything lately! Hey, it's cheeseburger meatloaf. Who dosen't like bacon on a cheeseburger? Anyway, I used half of this package which was 6oz. Chop it up and get it crispy.



Take two pounds of ground beef and add the following:



6oz of tomato paste



A few TBSP of mustard



Sticking with meatloaf tradition we gotta add something to stretch the meat. Stuffing mix. I learned this trick from my friend jLoud. It seasons the meat nicely. I've used crushed Cheese-It crackers too. Either way is good.



One egg.



Mix well.



Don't forget about the bacon. Once its done, drain it and set aside until later.



Take mixture and set it on plastic wrap. Flatten it out by hand and then cover the top with another sheet of plastic wrap.



Now use a rolling pin to roll it into a nice flat even meat-sheet.



Now its time to top the meat-sheet with the cheeseburger stuff.



Chopped onion



Chopped pickles



Chopped tomatoes, american cheese, and the bacon.



Now put the plastic wrap back over it and push the ingredients into the meat. Don't crush it, just push them into it lightly. Keep it covered and put it in the freezer for about 20 miniutes to firm up a little. This makes it much easier to roll up. I have been rolling up meatloafs like a roulade for a while. I like the way it distributes the ingredients evenly and it looks really cool when you slice it to have a spiral shaped slice. Something a little different than the traditional "loaf" but thats what I like.



Start the roll by hand for about one turn.



Now that there's a turn it it, grab the plastic wrap and a straight edge.





This is very simple. As you pull the plastic wrap out from under the meat it really rolls up itself.





Boom! Done.



Place on a rack and put some foil under it to cach drippings for easy clean up.



Use a probe thermometer and bake in 350 degree oven until internal temp reaches 160, about 40 miniutes or so.



Looks good! Let is rest for about 10 min before cutting.



Plate up and enjoy.

Ingredients List

• 2 lbs of ground beef
• (1) 6oz can of tomato paste
• yellow mustard
• stuffing mix
• (1) Egg
• several strips of bacon
• (1) tomato
• 1/2 onion
• dill pickles
• american cheese