Salmon and Pepper Smoked Bacon Club Sandwich

If you love salmon, read on.  If you don’t give it another try in this tasty sandwich.  You may find out that smoked

Background:  I live on the Oregon coast in Newport, which is on the Pacific Ocean, where many species of salmon are caught.  Back in the 1970s there was so much salmon caught that prices were kept very low, so low that restaurants often would offer salmon on all-you-can-eat buffets.  Image that!  Eating all the salmon you wanted for a low, price.  By the mid to late 80’s, so much salmon was fished off the Oregon coast that salmon almost became an endangered species.  The state fishery department had to put a tight limit on how much could be caught, both commercially and by sports fisherman.  obviously the salmon industry took a nose dive.  After twenty years the fisheries are just now coming back up to an acceptable level.

Salmon is so a part of Oregon’s economy and eating it has been such an important part of my life, I thought that I would start by introducing you to the Salmon Club Sandwich (click here for the recipe).  This recipe is the first of many sandwiches I will include in my blog.  I suggest making them when you have guests over for lunch.  Serve it with tomato bisque soup, or a salad made of arugula and vegetables.  A bottle of Pinot Gris would go great.  The recipe calls for fresh salmon, however, smoked salmon is a great substitue.  My next post will talk about smoke salmon.

Grilled salmon filets

Salmon by the way, are high in protein, rich in vitamins,and Omega-3 oils.  According to the national salmon industry, a 3 ounce (150 gram) portion is rich in vitamin A, The B-group of vitamins (B₁₂, B₆, B₁, B₂), niacin, copper, folate, and selenium.  It has 20 grams of fat (of which 20% is saturated, and 50% is mono-unsaturated), 160 mg of sodium, and has around 300 calories.  Pacific salmon also has some vitamin D, and if canned, is a source of calcium since the bones are edible. 

There are many species around the world.  Salmon is a cold water fish so it is found around the northern coasts of the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, and Russia. In the United States there is the Pacific salmon and Atlantic salmon.  Almost all the Atlantic salmon is now farm raised since the salmon was so over fished.  For a better tasting fish (sorry salmon farmers!) use a Pacific salmon, or one that comes from Scotland, Norway, etc.  The king salmon, also known as the Chinook, is by far the best, however, Coho, or similar is great in a sandwich like this.  No need to spend a lot for this sandwich.

As always, enjoy!

Runza – Meat Pie or a Sandwich?

In order to complete this post, I needed to lookup the sandwich definition.  According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, “A sandwich is a food item consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them.”  Or, “something resembling a sandwich.”  So I believe what I am about to write about is a sandwich even though it is really a meat filled bread dough.

The other night I got a craving for a “sandwich” that I haven’t had since the early 80’s.  The runza is the sandwich  that I was craving (click here for the recipe).  It is popular in parts of Nebraska and Kansas.  So I Googled “Runza recipe“, never expecting that I would find a recipe or much information.  Boy was I wrong.  I not only found a recipe, but the history as well.  My friends that introduced me to the Runza were from Lincoln and Norfolk, Nebraska.   They refered to a runza as a sandwich since it is a meat filled roll, however, my search shows that they are also refered to meat pies (England), pasties (Ireland), Bierocks (Germany or Russia). 

What I found out from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (such a great website), a runza is a: “yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, pork, cabbage or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings.” 

The restaurant chain called the Runza Drive-Inn, brought the runza to the culinary scene in Lincoln, Nebraska.  They make them in a form of a roll, however, other places and the recipe I have included shape them into rectangles.  I guess you could say they the first “Hot Pocket“.  The runza sandwich came over from the old country by immigrants and are still popular in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia.

Anyway you shape them, a runza is still great sandwich.  I have included variations to the runza, but as my friends that introduced me to them once said,  “Don’t mess with it, because then it wouldn’t be a runza!”

Enjoy!

 

The Ultimate Rueben

The Ultimate Reuben Sandwich

 One of the reasons why I started this blog was to talk about one of my favorite subjects:  sandwiches.  I am not one-dimensional, just in love with my sandwich.  So to start, I thought that I would write about my all-time favorite sandwich, the Rueben (also spelled Reuben).  The sandwich has something from the four food groups:  Meat (corned beef), dairy (Swiss cheese), vegetable (sauerkraut), and grains (rye bread).   The first Rueben I had was in 1970 while working at the Kopper Kitchen restaurant in Salem, Oregon.  I worked through high school as a dishwasher for them.  They used a dark rye bread that was specially baked for the restaurant.  It was so large that the cooks had to cut it into three pieces just so you could get your hands and mouth around it.  What memories.  I’ll save other memories from the Kopper Kitchen later.                    

In the End . . .   No matter how you make it, slice it, or serve it, the Rueben sandwich stacks up as the quintessential all-American gotta-have-one-today type of sandwich.  The Rueben is quite possibly the best sandwich you will ever eat.  It is the solution to the Omnivore’s Dilemma.  Have one today and enjoy.             

Click here for the Rueben Recipe                   

                            

 History

The history of the Rueben is as convoluted as the origin of the American hamburger.  Many people claim the rights to it.  Here is what I have found out so far.  I’ll let you decide for yourself the right one.  Whatever its origins the Rueben is as classic of a sandwich as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich; an all-American favorite.                                

First tale.  In 1909, Arnold Reuben (1883-1970), opened a deli in New York City.  Located at Madison and 58th or 59th where it thrived for the next three decades.  Well as the story goes, in 1914 an actress by the name of Annette Seelos, who was working on a Charlie Chaplin film, stopped into Reuben’s.  She allegedly said:  “I am so hungry I could eat a brick.”  So Reuben took some rye bread, added Virginia ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing and put it together and served it to Seelos.  Seelos was so pleased with his concoction that she requested it be named after her.  Reuben taking his due credit and rebuffing her narcissism stated:  “The hell I will.  I’ll call it a Reuben special!”                                

Second tale.  Somewhere between 1920 and 1935, or even in the year 1955, depending on who is telling the story, a grocer by the name of Reuben Kay created a sandwich of corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut on rye bread.  Kay came up with this idea while playing in a weekly poker game in Omaha, Nebraska.  Sounds like how the original sandwich was created over 300 years ago.                                

Third tale.   In yet another twist in this saga on who invented the Rueben, other Nebraskans claim the sandwich as their own.  They said that another grocer named Reuben Kulakofsky invented it in the Omaha’s Blackstone Hotel in either 1922 or 1925 for the players of another poker game.  It was such a big hit that the hotel owner placed it on the menu and named it a “Reuben” in honor of Kulakofsky.                                

Fourth tale.  And if that’s not confusing enough, a final tale is that a waitress of the Blackstone Inn (Hotel?), whose employer’s father played poker with Reuben Kay, entered the sandwich in a sandwich contest and won.  Supposedly her boss, a trained chef, tweaked Kay’s recipe by adding Russian dressing, replacing the rye bread with pumpernickel, and then buttering and grilling the bread.                                

Ingredients

The ingredients for a Rueben couldn’t be simpler.  Corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and rye bread.  The key to a great Rueben is using the highest quality ingredients.  Click here for the recipe.               

First ingredient is the corned beef.  Please don’t use corned beef from a can or the inexpensive preformed sliced corned beef found in the refrigerated section of your local supermarket!  You never know what part of the cow you are getting.  Instead, buy it directly from the deli section or from your local meat cutter.  Ask for corned beef brisket (often corned beef is made from other cuts of meat) and then have it sliced to the thickness you like.  I prefer about an 1/8 inch slice.  if possible, get a mix of the lean and fattier part of the brisket.  It is perfectly acceptable to use leftover corned beef from your recent corned beef and cabbage dinner.      

Where’s the brisket?

 What is corned beef?  The term “corned” is an old English word for a small particle.  Therefore the word is derived from the “corns”  of salt used to keep meats.  The word “corned” doesn’t have anything to do with corn we eat, like corn on the cob.                           

Well marbled corned beef

In the U.S. and Canada, corned beef comes from the brisket.  The brisket is a cut of beef taken from the breast section (see diagram below).  The muscle has two parts to it.  The top part is more fattier than the bottom, which is leaner and is dryer.  The brisket is a tougher cut of beef so long, slow cooking is necessary.  Corned beef is made by curing or pickling the brisket in a seasoned brine and then cooked.  A basic brine usually consists of a mixture of water and salt, but in the case of corned beef, seasonings are added to enhance the favor.  When you buy corned beef, it normally has a pinkish-red color to it.  Don’t worry, they are not adding unnecessary dyes.  The color comes from the brine solution and cooking process.                            

Second ingredient is Swiss cheese.  Use a good Swiss Cheese and not one of those tasteless, pre-sliced imitation ones.  I suggest going with an Emmental (also known as Emmentaler).  The Swiss cheese doesn’t add a lot of flavor, but adds richness and palatability.  I have tried other  types of cheeses like cheddar or jack, but the sandwich doesn’t taste the same.                              

What is Swiss cheese?  Swiss  cheese is the generic name in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. for a variety of related cheeses, all of which resemble the Swiss Emmental.  Most types of Swiss cheese have the distinctive holes, known as “eyes”.  Swiss cheese has a piquant, but not very sharp taste.  Typically the large the eyes, the stronger the taste because of the aging process.                              

Emmental is from the Emme valley in the canton of Bern (Switzerland has four cantons, much like the U.S. has states).  Emmental is a yellow, medium-hard cheese with characteristic large holes.  Emmental has a better over all taste than what is produced in the U.S.  It may cost more, but when you a great tasting sandwich, go with the best.                              

Third ingredient is sauerkraut.  Sauerkraut is a German word that literally translates to sour cabbage.  it is well-known in many western and eastern European countries and asian countries.  There are many manufactures in the U.S. that make good sauerkraut.  I suggest you try one of the following:                              

• Claussen Sauerkraut Premium Crisp
• Gundelsheim Barrel (Original German Recipe) Sauerkraut
• Great Lakes Kraut Co.’s Silver Floss and Krisp Kraut sauerkraut

What is sauerkraut?  Sauerkraut is finally shredded cabbage (usually green) that has been fermented.  It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor caused by the bacterial fermented sugars in the cabbage.  There are different strengths of sauerkraut, so you will need do some taste testing to find the one right for you.  I personally like a stronger sauerkraut for the Rueben.             

Fourth ingredient is Russian Dressing.  From my research, Russian Dressing was invented in the U.S. in the 1890s or early 1900s.  It originally had caviar in it, thus the name Russian Dressing.  During the 1950s cold war era, many restaurants used the name tomato salad dressing since they didn’t want to be known as communist sympathizers.  According to one source, “Putting real Russian caviar in [a] salad dressing is like mixing a bottle of top-notch Bordeaux into a punch bowl.”  If you do not want to take the time to make the Russian Dressing, it is perfeclty okay to use 1000 Islands dressing as many restaurants do.  The Russian Dressing recipe follows the Ruben sandwich recipe.   Click here for the Russian Dressing recipe.             

What is Russian Dressing?  Typically Russian Dressing contains mayonnaise, ketchup or chili sauce, and onion and/or chives.  Other ingredients include vinegar, lemon juice, Worchestersire sauce, capers, sour cream, horseradish, paprika, parsley, and dill.  There are more ways to make Russian Dressing then most any other salad dressing.  I suggest that you make the dressing from the recipe I have posted and then make changes to meet your own taste.                 

Fifth ingredient is rye bread.  Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of rye flour.  Rye is a type of grain grown mostly for bread, but some of it goes into cattle feed.  It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents.  Coloring agents are usually caramel or molasses.  Rye bread is higher in fiber than many common types of bread and is often stronger in flavor.  Some people do not like rye bread because they are not use to its unique flavor.  If you are one of them, try a light rye bread.  I perfer the darker rye bread myself.  Oroweat, a commercial bread maker, makes at least three types of rye bread.  Their bread tends to be more expensive than others, but as I have said before that the key to a great Rueben needs great ingredients.  Most rye bread that is sold in the U.S. contains little rye flour and no sour rye starter, because it takes a lot of time to let the dough develop the correct texture and taste.                

There is another type of rye that is ideal for this sandwich.  It is known as Jewish rye bread.  I believe that it is an endangered species these days.  The only source I have been able to find is through Orowheat.  The Jewish rye bread contains ground caraway seeds and most likely whole seeds as well.                

Lastly, there is a type of German-style bread that works well with this sandwich.  It is called pumpernickel.  It is a dar, dense, and close-textured loaf, and is made from rye grain, with additional ingredients like molasses, cocoa, or even coffee.  It is a sweeter tasting bread, but works well with other ingredients in a Rueben.                

Variations to the Rueben

I have come across two variations to the Rueben.  One I found on the internet, and the other one has been served in various restaurants in the Portland, Oregon area for years.  I am sure there could be many more.                

First variation is the “Rachel”.   It varies from the Rueben in tha tit is made with pastrami or turkey instead of the corned beef.  Often with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut.  In the souther U.S. restaurants the Rachel will be listed on the menu instead of the Rueben.  I have tried this sandwich and do approve of it!                

Second variation has many names.  The sandwich is a triple decker made a Rueben one side and a turkey and swiss sandwich on the other side of slice of rye bread.     

Hello and welcome to my readers!

The idea to blog about sandwiches came to me as I was eating my lunch today.  Funny how ideas come to you while eating.   My idea is to talk about sandwiches and poll people on their choices.  I’ll have recipes to share, funny stories to tell, facts to share, and whatever sounds good at the time.

What makes a great sandwich, well stay tuned!

I’ll be right back!