Swaddling Swine - Würstchen im Schlafrock

(Gr. "Sausage in a Dressing gown")
Whether you call them Porcine in Pashmina, Hogs in House Coats, Farrows in Frocks, Boar in a Bedspread or, like here in the States, Pigs-in-blankets, they are a multicultural phenomenon. In Isreal they are referred to as "Moses in the ark". In Russia, "COCNCKA B TESTE" <-- The 'N' should be reversed (Sosiska v teste, "sausage in the dough").

Why all this info regarding a sausage wrapped in dough? Friday April 24th is National Pigs-in-a-Blanket day. So swaddle your swine as you see fit, be it breakfast sausage in pancakes, Vienna sausage in croissants or Hot dogs in Bagel dough. Wrap it up, baby!!!

Normally I use Hot Italian Sausage and Puff pastry, but tonight I decided to get in touch with my German roots and grabbed some Bratwurst.

1 lb box of Puff Pastry
8 Bratwurst
8 thin slices of Swiss cheese (Emmenthal is best)
Brown Mustard
1 egg lightly Beaten
(optional) Finishing Salts

Thaw the Puff Pastry according to directions.
I use Trader Joe's Brand, I think the quality is better than Pepperridge Farm for 1 simple reason.

Pepperridge Farm is made with Hydrogenated oil, Trader Joe's Brand is made with Butter, as Puff Pastry should be. There is also a bonus... Trader Joe's brand is $1.50 cheaper!!

Unfold a sheet of Pastry and cut into 4 equal pieces.

Spread a little mustard, leaving the edges clean.

Add a piece of Swiss,

then bratwurst.

Roll up and seal with egg wash.

Place them on a parchment lines baking sheet and brush all over with egg wash then sprinkle with finishing salts if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until Pastry is Golden Brown.

Which Salts did I use...??

Murray Ridge from Australia

Salish Alder Smoked from the Pacific NW

Alaea Salt from Hawaii

Black Lava Salt from Hawaii

Sel Gris from France

Mangia!!
~~

To Russia With Love - Questing for Dressing

The apparent disappearance of "Russian Dressing" came to my attention whilst I was "Flexing my Reuben". Since then, I have been plagued by this thought. In fact, as a result I have been craving a quartered head of Iceberg lettuce that is slathered in the Russian Dressing of my youth. Which only proves my Culinary Insanity. Come on!! I don't even LIKE Iceberg lettuce!!

None the less, I have been haunted by dreams of the somewhat piquant and semi-creamy nature of the unattainable condiment. To the point of chasing a bottle of Seven Seas (that has legs no less) down a long hallway only to have it disappear around a corner. Leaving me all alone, with a talking head of Iceberg lettuce that is berating my for not being fast enough to catch a bottle of dressing. (sigh, I need help)

The plain and simple fact is, because I can't have it... I have been obsessing on the fact that I cannot have it. So, this evening, while I was waiting for my milk to curd up for the Mozzarella to "clean break". I decided to start perusing through my old-old-old cookbooks to see what I could find. Fannie Farmer Merrit from 1921, Mrs. Lincoln from 1989 (the pride and joy of my collection) and the 1953 version of The Joy of Cooking... They were all different. Not surprisingly, no two were the same on the net either.

Annoyed, I decided to take a scientific approach to the problem. I set all the cookbooks down, 1 in each corner of the living room. Then I returned to the center of the room. Using quantum probability can come in handy. I closed my eyes and spun... Once coming to a stop, while trying not to trip over the coffee table, I took a single step forward. The cookbook I was closest to would be the recipe I would use... Quantum Mechanics had spoken.

The original recipe called for Green pepper and Pimento to be finely chopped, this was not the case with the Russian dressing I remember so I pureed them instead. I also added Red Chili Paste and doubled the paprika.

Russian Dressing

Economical Cookery - Marion Harris Neil circa 1918.

2 Egg Yolks

1 tsp Mustard (I used Dijon)
2 TB Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Grey salt
1/4 tsp Paprika (mine is Smoked)
1 TB Green Bell Pepper; finely chopped (pureed)
1 Pimento pepper; finely chopped (pureed)
1/2 tsp Onion Juice
1 TB chili sauce (Tobasco, original)
1 cup Vegetable oil
My addition - 3 inches of Red pepper Paste and I doubled the Smoked Paprika

Please note that the wrong tube is in the photo, I grabbed my Tomato Paste instead of my Chili Paste.

OK, I remember my mom being able to buy onion juice when I was a kid, but I had to make my own... With a zester and a very uncooperative onion.

Puree the Paprika, Bell pepper, Pimento, Onion Juice, Chili Sauce and Red pepper Paste.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolks and mustard until pale.

While still whisking, add the lemon juice.

Begin adding the oil a little at a time, whisking constantly to create and emulsion.

When all the oil has been added and the mixture is really thick (Congratulations, by the way, You have made mayonnaise) add the Vegetable puree --

Whisk to combine.

Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving.

Slice your head lettuce into eight wedges, place 2-4 wedges on a plate.

Apply chilled dressing and serve with a knife and a fork.

Still not what I was looking for... This was more like a Spicy French Dressing...
Incidentally, my Boston Cooking School cookbook form 1921 gave a "Russian" Salad Dressing that contained Ketchup and Sweet Pickle Relish with no chili powder or sauce. (Thousand Island anyone?)

My Search Continues.....

Stay Hungry~~

The Pursuit of Happiness - Perfecting the Reuben

Food Origin: The Reuben Sandwich… this is going to be long.
Debate continues as to the origin of this sandwich. Some swear it was 1916 when Arnold Reuben, owner of Reuben’s Delicatessen in New York served the first Reuben. Others swear it was Reuben Kulakofsky of the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha Nebraska circa 1925. Still others claim it was Fern Snider of the Rose Bowl Restaurant, still in Omaha, in the 1956 National Sandwich Contest. Well, after a lot of reading and digging I have deduced, with my keen senses, the true origin of the Reuben sandwich.

It was Colonel Mustard in the Billiard room with a Candlestick.

Regardless of the WHO, the WHERE, or the WHEN, the Reuben is one of the quintessential sandwiches. This is noticeable by the fact that you can refer to it as “A Reuben” and people know you are talking about a sandwich and not the guy next door. All GREAT sandwiches have experienced this phenomenon, a Monte Cristo, a Grilled Cheese, a Muffaletta, and a BLT, just to name a few. Yes, like all these, the Reuben has taken the world by storm and can be found everywhere. Now that is not to say that all Reubens on the menus of the world are *good* Reubens, just that they exist. But truly great Reubens can sometimes be found in the most unlikely places. After all, one of the best Reubens I have had in my life came from a little “Chinese” deli in Riverside, California. Go figure.

There is yet another mystery regarding the famed Reuben… The Dressing… I was raised with Mayonnaise gracing my rye bread. Thousand Island, which seems to be the accepted norm now days, was not allowed in the house for my mother abhorred all things with hidden sugar, and let’s face it, Thousand Island dressing might as well be dessert it is so sweet. In my research, however, I discovered that the original Reuben was made with Russian dressing…

This presents its own set of issues…. There is NO single recipe for the elusive Russian dressing, from which Thousand Island was derived. Oh yes, there are recipes claiming to be original but they range from Mayonnaise based to Yogurt based to Oil based and back again, containing everything from caviar to chopped boiled eggs and yes, even sweet pickle relish and ketchup. (Thus, the connection of Thousand Island dressing is made.) One thing was abundantly clear though; Russian dressing is spicier than Thousand Island, since it contains Chili sauce or Cayenne pepper, an ingredient that was a standard in almost all the recipes I found.

It was at this point, however, that I realized that I was not going to really be able to produce a Traditional Reuben sandwich at home, since no one seems to know what one *really* is. So I have resigned myself to producing what I THINK is as close as I can get in the modern age…

I decided to tackle this by concentrating first, on the individual ingredients.

Corned Beef...
This year I was privy to the idea of steaming instead of crock-potting it. I decided to experiment after a little internet browsing through the LA times.

Simply place water and the spice packet, if you have one, in the bottom pot. (I used my wok, cause it has this nifty steamer grate… THANKS DAD!!! My dad is the guru of kitchen gadgetry)

Line the steamer basket with cabbage leaves (I use a Napa cabbage)

Place the meat on top with the fat facing up.

Cover and Steam for 50 minutes per lb.

Remove and slice after cooling slightly…. YUM!!!

I snitched some… Tender, Juicy and delicious!!!!!

Ok, the Corned Beef completed!!

Now, Dressing...I had purchased Annie’s Organic Thousand Island dressing as a base… Why? There were four reasons:

• It contains no High fructose Corn Syrup like all the others (It’s sweetened with good old fashioned sugar)

• It is based on Yogurt instead of Mayo or just oil, which I feel more closely resembles the Russian Salad dressing.


• Well… It’s organic, which always makes me feel better, since none of the other stuff is.


• Finally, it was on sale and actually cheaper than Wishbone, Kraft, Girards or Ken’s Steak house.

So, to my Thousand Island I added some Cayenne pepper (I resisted using Chipotle powder)
Dressing designed……

Cheese...

OK, Swiss is the cheese. There is no doubt about that. But I was being stubborn, if I was going use Swiss cheese, I wanted SWISS cheese… Thus I needed Emmental… The Original, that most U.S. Swiss, as well as the Norwegian Jarlsburg are modeled after.

Cheese chosen.....

Saurkraut….

Being of German, Dane, and Swiss descent; or DaSwiGerm, if you will (The 'w' is pronounced like a 'v'). I know my Kraut… Whether it be Zuurkool, Surkal or Kapusta (which is actually Polish). The point is that I love Sauerkraut; mixed in mashed potatoes, served over knockwurst/bratwurst, eaten directly from the jar with a fork, or on my Reuben. Love it!!! But I am picky…

A little about kraut… Sauerkraut is cabbage that has been lacto-fermented. The same way as cold process pickled cucumbers (Barrel Pickles). This process is performed in 3 phases utilizing the beneficial bacterial beasties (they are small) already contained in the cabbage leaf, lactobacillus being one of them. This family of beneficial bacteria is responsible for producing buttermilk, Sour Cream, Creme Fraiche, Yogurt and changing the 'pH' of most Cheeses. Thusly, sauerkraut should really only contain the following:

Cabbage, Water, and Salt, maybe with caraway seeds and a little sugar for those Bavarians out there.

My choice is usually Bubbies because is contains only those three ingredients.

Sodium Bisulfate, Sodium Benzoate and High Fructose Corn Syrup have no business in sauerkraut. For all the touted health benefits of sauerkraut, I would think the presence of artificial preservatives and HFCS would pretty much cancel those out.

Sauerkraut Selected……..

Bread…
Kimmel Rye bread made with Caraway seeds… This is where I deviated a little, I love Sour Dough, and I found a Sour Dough Rye with Kimmel (Caraway Seeds) so I was good to go!!!

Bread bought....

That's everything... WHEW!! Finally, on with the Sandwich…….

The Reuben

2 sliced Sour Kimmel Rye Bread

Unsalted Butter

Thousand Island Dressing (with added Cayenne) or Russian (if you can find it)

Emmental

Sauerkraut

Corned Beef

2 Skillets (sorry but your gonna need 2)

Sandwich knife (or a bread knife and a butter knife)

Let us begin….

Butter the bread slices on both sides and lay on a little waxed paper.

Slice your cheese fairly thin.

Portion out your Sauerkraut if making more than one sandwich. (this is heat and eat, no waiting)

Heat up both skillets. Please DO NOT use Raw Cast Iron for the corned beef and kraut, it will react and taste funny. I do, however, like to use cast iron for the bread and cheese.

Begin grilling or pan searing the bread in one skillet while heating the corned beef in the other.

When the beef is just about heated through move it to the edges of the skillet and add the kraut in the middle. (My skillet was too small so I removed it and tented it to keep it warm)

Flip your Bread and add cheese to 1 slice, then cover to foster melting.

Heat sauerkraut thoroughly, this will steam off some of the excess juices and dry it out a little so your bread will not become soggy half way through your sandwich.

Remove bread from skillet and apply dressing to the un-cheesed side.

Lay Sauerkraut on the cheese covered slice.

Lay down the Corned Beef next,

then the dressed slice of bread on top.

Press down lightly and slice with your knife on the bias…
Move to a plate and serve immediately with a chilled Harp or Guinness….

Mmmmmmm..... Happiness IS a well made Reuben.... and a Cold beer.
Yeah, the final pictures weren't great, but after smelling this thing cooking, I could not wait, so I only took two in hopes that they would come out, then I began eating with great exhuberance...

Mangia!!!
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