Reuben 101

I think I just made the most delicious Reuben I’ve ever had in my life. 

As soon as I took a bite, I could feel a slow smile start to cross my face.  Because all of the flavors don’t hit you at once.  First, it’s the sweet and sour rye.  Then comes the corned beef in all of its fatty, meaty glory, followed by the Swiss cheese melting all over the place, and then the tangy, crunchy sauerkraut, each one building into a crescendo of………oh, what the hell am I writing here, it’s a goddamned sandwich for Pete’s sake.  It was yummy.

I know one of you is going to tell me that I didn’t put enough meat in there.  I know everybody loves big piles of meat.  I am one of those people.  But it’s all about the ratio here.  Too much meat, and all you taste is meat.  Which is fine, but why did I just spend a month tending to a bucket of cabbage, then?  And baking bread.

No, you’ve got to use a little restraint, people.  I’m the last person to be preaching about self-control in the kitchen, I realize, but it’s the darnedest thing about this life.  So often, the person doing the preaching is the very one who should sit back and take a listen.

So, here’s my advice on how to make a kick-ass Reuben, take it or leave it:

1. Get your corned beef, your rye bread, your (homemade!!!) sauerkraut, your thinly sliced Swiss cheese at the ready.  If you call it a mise en place, you’re going to have to leave.

2. Find a bottle of Thousand Island dressing.  Alternatively, mix up your own special sauce (Two parts mayo to one part ketchup.  Special, indeed.).

3. Grab a stick of butter and peel the paper off one side.  Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat.  Run the stick of butter over the bottom of the pan so it melts a bit (repeat as necessary), then use it to butter one side of both pieces of bread.

4. Place one piece of bread buttered-side-down on top of the puddle of butter in the pan.  Oh, yeah. Spread special sauce on the other side.

5. Arrange your layers.  I like corned beef on the bottom, then cheese, then sauerkraut.  However, I don’t really think there’s a wrong way to do this (Yes, there is.  Do it my way.).  Also, don’t just lift a stack of corned beef from its wrapping and slap it onto the bread.  That is an abomination.  I didn’t work every weekend in high school making sandwiches for nothing.  You have got to separate each layer.  Ideally, you would place each slice on the bread so it folds over at least once, maybe twice, and sort of stagger them as you go to ensure consistent meat thickness throughout the sandwich.  God, what is my problem?

6. More special sauce on the non-buttered side of the other piece of bread (buttered side on the outside).  By now, it might be time to flip.  Easy does it — it’s not all stuck together, yet.  Don’t be afraid to let the bread get brown, but you also want the cheese to melt.  Lower the heat if these two things aren’t happening at the same rate.

And there you have it.  Think you can handle this, Dad? 

Comments

[Susanna]

I love Reubens. Love love love. Thank you for reminding me. I even have some sauerkraut in my very own fridge. Not home brewed, but kraut nonetheless. Now for the rest ...

[Sally]

I haven't had a good reuben since the Yonker's Tea Room closed in 1967. That looks perfect! God I wish you could cook for me!!

[Helen]

I too pay way too much attention to detail when making sandwiches. They are a real passion for me (!) and I take them rather too seriously. I even eat them for breakfast sometimes. This looks like a great one, and with the addition of that kraut!!

[Annemarie]

It's all too tasty-sounding for me to bear. Last proper Ruben I had was during one of my trips back to NY, in which the bread was so soaked in meat, slaw, and island dressing juices that the bread just dissolved and I was left holding a messy, glorious pile of filling in my very sticky hands. Those were the days!

[Dad]

No problem! You have it ready on Monday when I come and I'll eat it!

[Adele]

I have to stop reading food blogs in class.

I think I'm going to Michael's Deli for lunch.

[andrea]

Now you've done it. I'm starving and craving a reuben and instead I've got lentil soup for lunch. I wonder if staring at that picture while I eat my soup will help?

By the way, my mother just asked last night what I wanted for my birthday and I said - a sauerkraut crock! She said that normal women want a spa day or a new outfit or jewelry. I never claimed to be normal...

[DocChuck]

The Reuben is my favorite sandwich of all time, and your post (and method) deserves kudos. Although I have tried my hand at making sauerkraut, I usually use the refrigerated deli kind because of expediency.

However, I ALWAYS make my own dressing (which I call Chuck's Choice Reuben Dressing):
-------
1 cup mayonnaise (REAL mayonnaise, please)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon finely-chopped, fresh parsley
1 teaspoon grated yellow onion
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
Dash of ground cayenne pepper

Let sit in refrigerator for at least one hour to allow flavors to blend.
-------

Probably there are a lot better dressing recipes out there, but your method with my dressing . . . WOW!

[melissa]

*drool* yeah, like previous commenters, I need to not see this right before lunch. cause now I need to hunt down a good sandwich, but I'm sure it won't be like this.

oh and kudos on the homemade sauerkraut. nice.

[whatacard]

Wow, that looks good! I think that looks like the perfect amount of corned beef, although when I make a reuben, it tends to be mostly sauerkraut. Despite my love affair with sauerkraut, I still don't think I'm going to try to make my own...you're braver than I am!

[Mary]

That looks yummy! I'm not a big meat person on reubens. Yours looks perfect!

[Tammy]

Mary: It was a tasty sandwich. I've been having good luck this week.

Whatacard: We'll see. Love makes you do crazy things.

Melissa: Another good sandwich is hot pastrami with cole slaw and honey mustard in more or less the same configuration as the Reuben. To die for.

DocChuck: I'm liking the sound of your sauce. How did you know I have a thing for horseradish?

Andrea: Lentil soup's not bad. I hope you get your crock!

Adele: Do you mean this Michael's Deli: http://www.delitogo.com/ ? That pretty much puts my sandwich to shame.

Dad: Now that you've scarfed it down at lightening speed, you're going to have to do better than "not bad."

Annemarie: You definitely deserve some kind of food porn award for that comment!

Helen: Breakfast sandwiches, mmmmmm. Bacon, sausage, egg. Nothing wrong with those.

Sally: That is TOO LONG to go without a proper Reuben. That's longer than some of us have been alive.

Susanna: Perfect timing then. You need to keep up your strength!

[Adele]

Yep, that Michael's Deli. Though I believe the corned beef is actually shipped from New York, and they don't make their own sauerkraut, so you still win.

[Miss Scarlett]

This post had me laughing out loud. I ADORE Reubens. They are the most perfect sandwich and if you don't do it right, what's the point?! YUM. I may have to make these for dinner tonight.

[MrsDocChuck]

My husband has a horrible chronic bloating condition. If he even ate a tiny bit of saurkraut he would be a danger to himself and others. Usually he is content just to eat his "sauce" (which is actually Kraft Thousand Island dressing with horseradish added, btw) as though it were a tempting cream soup, heated up in the microwave with some oyster crackers. Much safer than allowing him to use it on a reuben sandwich.

[DocChuck]

I apologize that your website has been invaded by the pathetic woman who posts as “MrsDocChuck” above. The poster is really “chiff0nade” (or Louise who lives in Clearwater, Florida).

She is a very old woman who has many personal problems (a daughter in prison, a mother, Aida, who recently died reportedly due to her and her brother’s reported neglect, four divorces, and other problems that would debilitate most people).

She (”MrsDocChuck”) claims, on her website, that she is a PROFESSIONAL CHEF, a SENIOR ADVISOR to Ed Levine on his website SeriousEats, and a dear friend of David Liske (LunaPierCook) who claims to be a U.S. Navy hero and Microsoft executive who lives in Luna Pier, Michigan.

I am really sorry that this person has infiltrated your great website with her childish nonsense.

If you need additional information to prevent chiff0nade from using her aliases, such as “MrsDocChuck” you may email me at the posted address.

I can supply you with her and her brother’s home addresses and phone numbers, if you should need them.

[DocChuck]

Please take a moment to read about me. My enormous reputation precedes me and you should know about it.

Thanks, Chuck, PhD

"In a blistering ruling Tuesday, Baxter County District Judge Van Gearhart ordered Charles T. of Mountain Home to report to the Baxter County Jail at 5 p.m. Friday to begin serving a one-year sentence on repeated harassment charges."

http://docchuck.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-im-all-about.html

[chiffonade]

Mrs. Doc Chuck has just as many problems as her internet troll husband, Doc Chuck. The only real truth about Doc Chuck is printed above with reference to the newspaper article on how he was popped by the Baxter Bulletin for harassing e-mails. Doc Chuck and his contingent of imaginary friends (whom I've dubbed "the Chucklets") has been trolling me for the better part of three years. If you'd like the lowdown on Doc Chuck and his habits, please e-mail me at chiffonade@hotmail.com.

Till then, keep cooking real food for your friends and family...They are worth your time and effort - and certainly deserve more than bagged angel food cake with canned pie filling.

Chiffy