Two Gavones: Exploits in Gastronomy: Holy Havana, Batman!

FYI: poor quality photos, had to use my phone camera for this post :(

The very first post always has to be something special. After all, this is the hook, the pitch, right? So among our long, loonnng list of favorite foods, we narrowed our meal choice down to something:

1. appropriate for a hot day
2. something spontaneous, and
3. something we could riff off of to suit our tastes, budget, and whims.

Before my mother left on vacation, she roasted this huge pernil (also called picnic pork, or pork shoulder.) I've been staying at her house for a few days while she is away, so we wanted to incorporate this delicious meat into our meal.

Using the pernil as a springboard, we visited the grocery store and, after dealing with a brash deli clerk ("What do YOU want?", he asked), picked up ingredients that would give our dinner a Latin American leaning, ending up with two dishes:

If you haven't already guessed, we are making Tomato, Avocado, and Egg Salad with Cuban Sandwiches!

Salad: In order to save endless minutes of pressing, mincing, deseeding, and spicing, we opted for the prepackaged, mild "Fresh Salsa." You can find this in the produce section of most grocery stores. Unlike the jarred salsa, this tub o' goodness contains no saucy, tomatoey, slop and works perfect for a salad of this type.

We hard boiled the eggs (I like the brown organic kind) and then cut them into wedges, cut the avocado into slices, and combined them with the salsa. Add salt, lime juice (I used the bottled kind of lime juice, excuuuuse me) and some extra virgin olive oil (important for it to be extra-virgin for flavor) and our salad is ready!

Sandwich: The Cuban Sandwich did, indeed, originate in Cuba. Historic sources are flimsy, but apparently this has been a Cuban tradition for over 500 years, when the Spaniards introduced ham and cheese (and disease) to the island. Over the years, the sandwich developed into a staple for factory workers and those who needed a portable lunch. The traditional sandwich is constructed atop Cuban bread and contains ham, roast pork, cheese, and a pickle wedged between. This sandwich is then hard pressed upon a plancha until all the juices combine and the cheese melts into a gooey, crunchy slab of raw pleasure.

Our Cuban sandwich strays from the original. We happened to find soft rolls that looked great in the supermarket, so we opted for those (a cardinal sin, according to fans of the sandwich.) We used my Mom's roast pork, went to the deli counter for Swiss cheese (sliced thin) and ham (sliced thick). Finally, we picked up a jar of Clausson sandwich-slice pickles (the BEST pickles, found in the fridge section, near the hot dogs.)

Instead of busting out the panini press (we don't even have one), we just toasted the bread. On the bottom side of the roll we layered the Swiss on top of pork, on top of ham and microwaved it for 30 seconds. On the top side of the bun, Dan put mustard on his, and I put some spicy mayo on mine.

Here is the result:

The sandwich was DELICIOUS, despite the departure from the norm. The salad was good, although I've had better.

To drink, Dan drank Diet Pepsi but I opted for a concoction my Mom calls an "Italian Soda" which is simply fruit juice mixed with sparkling water. I used a multi-vitamin fruit juice and a bottle of sparkling water I found in a Polish supermarket,although any combination of juice really works. It's refreshing and delicious.

Overall, it was a good meal and really quick to prepare. While the salad could have used something spicy or zingy (vinegar?), the modified Cuban sandwich lived up to it's scrumptious tradition.

We are currently doubled over in pain from the feeding frenzy. Sublime.

Until next time, Happy Eating!