August 16, 2009
A Real Rubin
My favorite sandwich without question is a Rubin. I grew up on these things, not the most heart healthy but if your careful you can make one that won't kill you today but maybe in 10 years. Like half sour pickles and Sauerkraut Rubins are something from my past that I can't get anywhere here in Central Maine. I have tried them all, they all claim to be authentic and they range from horrible to barely tolerable. If I was going to do this right, I had to make everything from the Rye bread to the Corn beef so that is what I do. If your lucky enough to have a real deli where you can get a real Rubin consider your self lucky and here you can't even get good Corn Beef at the market so this added another step making my own. I didn't have to go all the way to curing one there are some cured ones commercially available that are good. This really fits well with a Corn Beef and cabbage meal, there is always some left over for a couple of sandwiches. Making the Corn beef couldn't be easier, just cover it with water and cook it for 2 to 3 hours, nothing hard about it. But slicing it is another matter. I am still working on that, without buying a commercial slicer, an electric knife does a respectable job, the goal is to get it as thin as possible. The good Rubins from the deli are piled high with thinly sliced Corn Beef. Putting the sandwich together isn't terrible hard, it is all the prep work, so if your going to do it hopefully you will be able to make a bunch of them.
The dressing
The dressing isn't all that hard. I dice up my sour dills, you can certainly use store bought pickles if you need to. Add some Mayo or Miracle whip either will work fine and a little ketchup. The amount of each are up to you and how you like it, if you like more pickles do that or whatever you think is good.
Ingredients
Home made or store bought Corn Beef, sliced thin, about 1/4 lb per sandwich.
1 -2 Tbsp of dressing
Swiss cheese, sliced in thin strips(a trick I picked up from Cook's Illustrated, the cheese flows better).
Saurkraut, either home made or store bought, but I would make sure it was cold processed if you buy it.
Good either Rye or Pumpernickel, either home made or store bought
Assembling
I put a generous amount of dressing on both pieces of bread.
Then the meat on one side followed by a generous amount of Sauerkraut.
Than a generous amount of Swiss cheese.
It will be really full and at first unruly, but put it together and push it down.
Butter one side that will go onto the pan, use an pot lid to push down on it while it cooks, give it a good amount of pressure, I don't think you can push too hard. Once the first side is golden brow, butter top side and turn over(gently it may not be sealed yet) and continue to add pressure to the lid until second side is done. Serve with pickle and chips if you like.
