Weekend Cooking...Sandwich Saturday

When the weather turns hot, my mind does not turn to cooking. Turning on the oven for a tasty casserole, spending hours simmering a big pot of soup, standing over a saute pan, stirring and stirring...no thanks.
No, when the weather turns hot, sometimes my mind turns to sandwiches!
But not just any old cold, dull sandwiches. So lets explore a few of my favorites.

Now, I admit, the first may have a few purist shaking their fists, running for the pitchforks. An authentic, slow smoked pull pork sandwich is a wonderful thing, but I don't have 8 hours to hover over a smoker. Ok, I don't actually have a smoker, so I offer a fast, easy, tasty alternative.
The "Pulled" Chicken Sandwich.
Go to the store and buy a rotisserie chicken.
My favorite are the ones from Sam's Club.
Theirs are cheaper than buying the chicken
and cooking it myself, and so juicy.
Take it home, pull all the meat off,
chopping some very fine, some less so.
Freeze the bones for stock we will make
when it get cold.
Add a bit of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
Pile the warn, saucy meat on a nice soft potato roll.
Top with additional sauce and cole slaw.

We will pause while I eat that. Yum.

Next we will move on to a Philly favorite. Now, Philadelphia is known for the cheesesteak, which is a fine sandwich, but I think even better is the lesser known Roast Pork sandwich. Perhaps the best is served at DiNic's in the Reading Terminal Market but you can made a pretty good one at home. A good roll is imperative and we in the Atlantic City area are lucky enough to have the best bakers of Italian bread in the world. Yes, the world. They say the secret is the water. Today, we will use a lovely Formica roll, chewy and substantial enough to hold up to a juicy sandwich because the proper roast pork is a juicy sandwich. Just a few ingredients...the lovely roll, a few slices of sharp provolone cheese, some warm, juicy, thinly sliced roast pork (a seasoned, cooked pork tenderloin I had in the frig, nuked 20-30 seconds to warm) with any juice the pork gave up and a nice topping of baby spinach sauteed in lots of garlic. Lots. Serve with a bib and a pile of napkins.

And finally, we will have my take on a Cuban sandwich, a wonderful excuse to use my beloved Cuisinart Griddler, which as well as a grill is a great sandwich press. In this case, we will start with a Portuguese roll. On one side we put some mayo, on the other, some mustard. Now, add some sliced pickles, some Swiss cheese, some ham, some roast pork, a bit more Swiss, and for good measure, a bit of diced piquant peppers. Now, into the Griddler it goes, the idea being to melt the cheese, form a crisp crust and press the sandwich down. If you don't have a Griller...and you should...you can do it is a pan, weighting the sandwich down with a heavy pan or a brick wrapped in foil.

The Griddler is easier. And shiny. Crunch!

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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