a worthwhile effort

a little more than two weeks ago i started the slow process of making a reuben from scratch. i corned my own brisket, fermented cabbage into sauerkraut, and worked on making my own rye bread. the weeks of waiting are finally over and today i finally get my homemade reuben.



like i've said before, the bread makes the sandwich. that's why i've done a few batches in preparation for today. it's a good hearty rye bread

here is the brisket following 2 weeks of brining and four hours of boiling. the flavor is great, much better than store bought corned beef.

this is the results of my first attempt at room temperature brining. the sauerkraut turned out delicious.

i kept the pot that boiled the meat in hot so i could steam the sandwich filling and melt the cheese.


it worked really well, the cheese is perfectly melted


the final sandwich, it's sloppy, real sloppy. it's also the best damned reuben i've ever had.
this was the star of the show, but i have another trick up my sleeve. this next sandwich seemed logical with the ingredients at hand.

I decided to make my version of a spike's junkyard dogs classic, the reuben dog. this was my hangover cure when spike's was still open on thayer street in providence, although i haven't had one in almost a year.

i treated the dog the same way as the brisket, kraut on the bottom and a dog wrapped in swiss cheese

i didn't have a proper bun, but i had white bread. so i put the dog on the bread and topped with my homemade thousand island dressing. once again, so sloppy but so good. this experiment was totally worth the couple weeks of waiting

a day in the kitchen pt. 3

luckily for me i was able to get the ingredients for salsa. tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, and lime juice.

the longer the salsa sits the better, this didn't get a chance to sit but it's still delicious

after a few hours the meat was falling apart. i shredded the meat and skimmed off the fat. to finish it i added cilantro, a little chili sauce, and some more cumin.

on the tortilla i put a layer of white rice, a layer of bean, meat, chili sauce, salsa, lettuce, cilantro, and cheddar cheese; i overfilled it a bit.

i managed to get it rolled but i ended up with it all over me; it was all worth it. that is a damn good burrito

a day in the kitchen pt. 2

after a short break i got back to work. i decided to start on the chili sauce.

i toasted chili flakes with salt in a dry pan, when they're about to burn i added white vinegar and brought to a boil.

i then added jalapenos, more chili flakes, cayenne pepper, and more vinegar; i then boiled for about 10 minutes

here is the final product, i put it in a food processor and blended it with garlic and oil.

it's now time for the tortillas

here are the dough balls, i cut them in half and rolled them thin

you cook them in a dry cast iron skillet, they take about a minute each.

after the beans boiled for awhile i drained them and mashed them with chicken broth and chili sauce.

this is the meat a couple hours into cooking, not done yet but the broth is delicious.

a day in the kitchen pt. 1

today's food may not qualify as a sandwich in some peoples eyes, those people can fuck themselves, but it is certainly a cousin to the sandwich family. i am talking about the taco family and a little bit more specifically the burrito. i had 6 pound chunk of brisket in my freezer, dried black beans, and a stocked spice rack; i'm in for a day of serious cooking and a night serious farting.



i cut the brisket into chunks to speed up cooking. i also used no fat in the pan, instead i place the meat fat side down to start.

i took the time to develop a good sear on the meat, the more color the more flavor

i reiterate i put no fat in the pan, that all beef fat right there

here we have black beans following a quick soak, bring to a boil and steep for an hour.


i have the bean in a pot with beer, water, spices, smoked pork neck bones, and fat back. i'm going to boil the shit out of it then make refried beans. hence the prior comment about serious farting.

in the beef pan, i sauteed onion and garlic, added a bunch of spices, a can of beer, 2 ladles of homemade tomato sauce; i'd use crushed tomatoes over canned tomato sauce, and a can of red beans. i put the chunks of meat back in the sauce and they're cooking in the over at 350.

these are the main components of the meal. i still have some cooking to do, the meat and beans are going to take awhile. in the mean time i have chili sauce and tortillas to make; and hopefully salsa if i can get the ingredients.

ben hungry

last night i made another attempt at rye bread in preparation for my Reuben experiment, the beef is corning and the kraut is fermenting. i used it for a meatloaf sandwich to end all meatloaf sandwiched last night; it was terrific but a photo couldn't give that brown mass the respect it deserved. this afternoon when i woke up i had a loaf of great rye bread, i got the recipe down this time. the way i see it, to properly enjoy day old bread it has to be toasted in some form or another. this makes the grilled cheese family of sandwiched a go to idea for day old bread.

this time i decided to tackle the oft forgotten tuna melt. i used two small cans of tuna a tablespoon or so of mayo, a squirt of brown mustard, some relish, a pinch of homemade thai chili relish, and a splash of red vinegar. this is a dryer tuna salad, i don't like a lot of mayo in mine. i slice 8 pieces of bread, i figured two sandwiches a serving, small loaf of bread, and i was feeding joe mellen as well as myself.


i griddle cook the bread with a thin layer of mayo on pan side an a thin slice of white cheddar on top, i cover and cook until the cheese melts and the bread has a good crust

i then remove the bread and top with tuna salad

there you have it, a tuna melt on homemade rye bread. fucking delicious

bragging up my lunch

my father's birthday was this weekend, so i cooked him a huge roast beef dinner. the meal was great, but the best part was the huge chunk of rare roast sirloin left over in my fridge. this sandwich is far from perfect, no tomatoes, plain white bread. even with those flaws this meat makes a pretty sandwich so i thought i'd show it off anyway

notice the brilliant red color on the meat, makes me ravenous just looking at it. once again it tastes better than it looks.

comfort food on a cold night

i was once again put to the task of making a meal from the freezer. in my search i found a bunch of chicken that seemed to have been in the freezer for a long time, my first thought was soup. i simmered all the chicken, 8 drumsticks and 3 quarter chicken legs, with some celery, onion, carrot, and bay leaves in canned broth and water. i shredded the meat off the bones and put the bones back in the broth, i set the meat aside so i wouldn't overcook it. after a few hours i strained the stock, put the chicken and some carrots, celery, and peas in the stock. after simmering for like a half hour more. i then added pasta to soup.

knowing that i was gonna make soup i decided to make another batch of bread, this time i made white bread with a julia child recipe.

this is the dough right before it went in the oven

this is the final product, not quite as tasty as the last batch but still damn good.

at this point i had bread and soup made which is good, but i wanted something a little bit better. so i went for a classic cold weather meal, grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup.

for the sandwiches i used monterrey jack and cheddar cheese with spicy mustard.


there's nothing better on a cold night than a hearty bowl of soup and a good grilled cheese sandwich, now i'm gonna go enjoy my food coma