Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

I think one of the reasons I've been slacking in the recipe department is that I'm so dang sick of making the same ole crap every night. I was feeling bored; in a food rut. So I picked up my back issues of Everyday Rachel Ray and Food Network Magazine. I sat flipping through the pages looking at all the different recipes thinking "ooh, yum but Scott won't touch it", "oh the kids will complain". Then I thought "screw them" I'm making things that look fun and interesting. So for starters I went with a recipe called "Open Face Cubans with Fresh Rhubarb Jam" from Everyday. Of course I changed things here in there but the end result was pretty delish.
Here is my version of the recipe (I used pre-made strawberry rhubarb jam and instead of pickled scallions--pickle vidalia onions).

Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 cup sliced vidalia onions
4 tbsp olive oil divided
3 cloves fresh garlic sliced
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/4 lb)
4 sandwich rolls of your choice (we used sourdough)
4 slices swiss cheese
jar of store bought strawberry rhubarb jam (or make your own if you'd like)
1 cup watercress

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
In a small skillet heat sugar, vinegar and water over medium heat. Once bubbly add onion slices and heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 min.
Meanwhile, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl and brush on the tenderloin. Then sprinkle with lots of salt and pepper. Take the garlic slices and place them all over the tenderloin.
Place in a roasting pan and heat for 7 min then flip it and cook another 7 min or until the meat thermometer says 150 degrees.
Then put rolls open faced on a cookie sheet and brush with the remaining olive oil and set aside. When the meat is done cover it with a foil tent and put the oven to broil. Put the bread under the broiler until golden. Then remove and spread with your desired amount of jam- in my opinion the more the better. Slice the tenderloin into 1/4 inch thick slices and put desired amount of slices on top the jam side of the bread, follow up by topping with a slice of swiss cheese. Put the sandwiches back under broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Remove from broiler and top with pickled onions and watercress.
yum yum yum

PS: Scott actually loved them--he ate so much he's sick and that never happens.

1 comment:

  1. Okay, so you cook the meat for 7 min, then 7 min, and then how long do you cook the meat with the foil tent under the broiler? I've tried making pork tenderloin and it took me over an hour to cook it! So, I'm very curious about this quick & easy way of doing it!

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