Cubans

By dkosik

Ingredients

• ROASTED PORK:
• Cuban or French bread
• Dill pickles, sliced lengthwise
• Ham slices
• Roasted Pork slices, sliced thin (recipe below)
• Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
• Butter
• 2 to 4 lb pork shoulder or pork loin roast
• 1 head garlic (10 to 12 cloves)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 c sour orange juice (can make by mixing 2 parts orange juice, 1 part lemon juice and 1 part lime juice)
• 1 c minced onion
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 c Spanish olive oil

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat a pancake griddle or large frypan. Cut bread into sections, about 8" long. Cut these in half and spread butter on both inside halves. Make each sandwich with the ingredients i nthis order: pickles, roasted pork, ham and cheese. Be generous. Place the sandwich on the hot griddle (frypan), sprayed with a little Pam or lightly greased. Place a heavy iron skillet or bacon press on the top sandwich to flatten. Grill the sandwiches for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cheese is melted and the bread is golden. Make sure your griddle or frypan is not too hot. Otherwise, the crust will burn before the cheese melts. Slice the sandwich in half diagonally and serve.
ROASTED PORK: Mash garlic, salt and peppercorns into a paste, using a morter and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a 2 qt saucepan until hot, but not deep frying hot, something around 220 degrees. remove the oil from the heat and quickly whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture until well blended. Let cool before using as a marinade. Pierce pork roast as many times as you can with a sharp knife or fork. Pour garlic mixture over pork. Cover and let sit in refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours. Using a suitable roasting pan or rack, cook pork, uncovered, at 325 degrees until completely cooked, about 20 minutes per pound. Slice as thin as possible for Cuban Sandwiches.