Self Helps: The Food Blog: 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.