The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Movie Edition-Week 7

The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Movie Edition-Week 7

White Christmas

One of the iconic scenes and songs in the movie, White Christmas, talks about sandwiches and what kind of dreams one may have after eating them. I couldn't not use this as my food scene for this movie. I have several sandwich recipes and chose two I've had in my test pile for a long time and decided this was the time to try them out! 

First up, was this recipe: Black Pepper Molasses Pulled Chicken Sandwiches which is from Cooking Light, from 2009! I had used a rotisserie chicken for something last month and saved the dark meat for this recipe. I wrapped and froze it until now. It was just enough to make a half batch of this recipe.

I made this sauce when I got up this morning. It's very simple and uses ingredients most people have on hand, so it's a pretty convenient recipe!

This sauce is easy to cut in half.

Here it is, ready to go.

I put the chicken in it when it was done and left it in the fridge to marinate.

Cooking on the stove.

And post-shredding. It really couldn't be easier to make this.

My second recipe is old enough that I was unable to find the source online, so I will write it out.

Little Cuban Sandwiches

2 thin French bread loaves

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1/4 lb. thinly-sliced Swiss cheese

2 large dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise

1/4 lb. thinly-sliced baked ham

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1.) Split bread and spread with mustard and mayonnaise. Layer 2 halves with cheese, pickle, and ham; top with remaining halves.

2.) In a heavy skillet, heat 1/2 Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Cut one sandwich on an angle into 3 or 4 pieces to fit in pan. Place in pan, over with foil, and place a slightly smaller heavy skillet on top. Place a full tea kettle or other heavy object in the skillet to weight the sandwiches. Cook until bread is brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.

3.) Turn and cook the same way until crisp on the other side and cheese is melted, about 2 more minutes; wrap in foil to keep warm. Melt remaining butter; repeat process with remaining sandwich.

4.) Let cook for a minute or two before cutting diagonally into bite-size pieces.

The ingredient list is pretty simple for this one too.

I wasn't sure how the process would work, but I trusted it, and it paid off.

Sandwich, with the foil on top.

And the pan with the full kettle on top. It will take a while for you to find just the right angle for it not to fall over. Keep your hand on it until you do or it could end in a disaster.

Here it is after taking off the foil, just before turning it over. I added more butter to fry the other side before flipping.

Here is the flat side, fried, with the rounded side on the bottom now. This is an even trickier side to keep under control with the weights.

It doesn't take too long, weighing it down does help it cook faster. The cheese is very melty, as you can see.

I had to sort of put it back together because it slid apart a bit when it cooked. The pickles fell out but it was all easily fixed.

Here is the final product! The Cuban sandwich was really good. The weighing down really creates a different texture from a typical toasted/grilled sandwich. The bbq sandwich was pretty good too. I should have toasted the inside of the bun so it had a bit more texture. The sauce was mustardy, and I think by tomorrow it will be better because the flavors will have blended better.

Of the two, I definitely liked the Cuban sandwich better, but both were really easy to make. I might have to keep making my grilled sandwiches this way because it was truly a superior sandwich. All I know is, I'm going to be having sweet dreams tonight!!