Cuban Sandwiches

The other night I made baked porkchops. They were pretty good, but we were left with some leftover pork. I also happened to have some ham, so I decided to do a little research and make Cuban Sandwiches.

I found a wide flat baguette - not the super crusty roundish one. I spread Grey Poupon Dijon mustard on the bottom half, pillowed ham over that (Boars Head maple glazed ham), and layered slices of boneless pork chops (that had been brined & yummy). [I hate cold cuts that are layed flat, for some reason. I have to have them sliced very thin and bunched up.] My favorite Cuban sandwich shop, Kool Korner (which is no longer around), had a yummy sauce on their sandwiches. In search of something like that, I ended up with the following Mojo Sauce (concocted from a bunch of different sources & my own head):

Juice and zest of one orange

Juice and zest of one lime

a couple cloves of garlic

a jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped

a bunch of cilantro

a teaspoon or so of cumin

and about 1/4 cup olive oil (heated - I think this was to take the bite out of the garlic, but I'm not sure)

I put all this in my mini-cuisenart to puree it.

I spread this sauce on the top half of the bread, then put the slices of swiss cheese over that. I then squished the sandwich together and threw it in the cast iron skillet with a tad bit of butter. I really squished it down like they do in the Cuban joints. Then I flipped it over, sliced it up, and added the last crucial ingredient: pickles. I added them after I cooked it because (a) John doesn't like pickles and (b) I plum forgot. But it didn't matter. It was still delicious.

I proceeded to use the sauce over the next couple of days using it on a grilled ham & swiss and dipping slices of avocado in it. Yum. John wasn't as sold on the sauce as I was, but his palate is not quite as refined as mine.