Pastrami Reuben

Pastrami Reuben

You just never know what might inspire a trip down the rabbit hole. I came across some really nice rye bread at the supermarket one day, then at the deli counter, I was ordering my weekly fix of thin-sliced Baby Swiss (I melt that on pretty much everything I can), and I glance down and see this beautiful pastrami calling to me. Next thing you know I'm in search of the perfect sauerkraut and I'm off to the races to make pastrami Reuben sandwiches. Part one of this trip was the potato soup that I needed to have to go with the sandwiches.

So, on a god cold winter blustery Sunday, the journey begins. With the Swiss, rye bread, pastrami, and kraut in hand, I needed whip up some Russian dressing. This is one of the reasons I gave you a list of staples to keep in the house. Making the dressing is easy as pie!

THE RECIPE:

Russian Dressing

1/4C mayonnaise

2T catsup

2T Worcestershire sauce

2T cider vinegar

1T mustard (your favorite variety)

1t garlic powder

1/4C sweet relish

salt / pepper to taste

Combine all in a bowl adjust

ingredients to your taste. This will keep refrigerated for weeks in either a jar or sealed plastic container.

Building the Reuben is fun and easy if you assemble all the ingredeints.

Toast the Reuben open faced and use the melted Swiss cheese to 'glue' it together.

Pastrami Reuben YUM!!!

For the sandwich:

Pastrami (or corned beef it that's your preference)

Swiss Cheese

Sauerkraut drained

Hearty Rye, marble rye, or pumpernickel.

Russian dressing

Quantity depends on how many sandwiches you're making.

Assembly is fun and simple. I like to lay out all my ingredients and portion things out for the number of sandwiches I'm making. In this case it was 3.

I use about 1/4 lb. of meat and 3 or 4 slices of that thinly sliced Baby Swiss for each sandwich.

I use the cheese to 'line' each piece of bread to keep it from getting soggy. Then I build toward the middle by layering some meat on each piece of bread and then another layer of cheese on one half. Then on the half that has cheese on top, spread about 1T of dressing and 2T of kraut.

Finally, I toast the open sandwiches in the toaster oven or oven depending on how many sandwiches I'm making. These fit in my toaster oven.

Once the cheese is all melted, I remove them from the oven and put the sandwiches together so the melted cheese has a chance to 'glue' them together. If you like the bread more browned, you can butter the outside before assembling so it will brown up better in the oven, I prefer to save those added calories for something more fun.