Jon Favreau's Chef is one of our favourite movies of the last 10 years. The montages in which Favreau's Chef Casper puts together any food are mouth watering and sure to please any food lover. The cubano sandwiches in particular are a treat we've wanted to make ourselves for some time but have never gotten around to. Over the last December we had some of the best sandwiches we've ever eaten at Arthur's Mini Super in Cape Town including a cubano we could not stop thinking about, we had to put it top of our list of meals to make in 2021.
The marinade needs at least 12 hours to fully penetrate the pork but overnight is best. Its a long slow cook but the delicious sandwich you're left with is well worth the wait.
Time: 3 hours (excluding marinade)
Serves: 4-6
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
Marinade
2/3 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Orange Zest
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
2 Tbsp Lime Zest
1/2 Cup Lime Juice
8 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
2/3 Cup Coriander (Chopped)
1/4 Cup Mint Leaves (Chopped)
2 Tbsp Oregano Leaves (Chopped)
2 Tsp Ground Cumin
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
2 Tsp Black Pepper
1.4kg Pork Shoulder (Bone Out)
Sandwich
4-6 Panini Breads
Sliced Cooked Ham
200g Emmenthal Cheese
200g White Cheddar
Hot English Mustard
Dill Pickles
Salted Butter
Method
Mix together all the marinade ingredients and add to a large resealable freezer bag in which you've placed the pork shoulder. Massage the bag well to get the marination started. Leave in the fridge for 12-24 hours and turn it regularly to evenly coat the meat.
Preheat the oven to 220 C. Place the ham on a rack within a baking tray and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Baste with the pan sauces and then reduce the heat to 190 C and cook for a further 2 hours or until the internal temperature has reached 71 C
Rest the meat for 30 minutes before slicing as thinly as possible.
You may make the sandwiches in a press or if you don't have one use a cast iron skillet and weight the sandwiches down with another pan/pot and a heavy implement such as a mortar.
To make the sandwiches fry the cooked ham and sliced pork in a pan/on the press for about 1 minute until warmed and browning in spots.
Slice the Panini breads in half and butter the cut sides before toasting cut side down in the pan/press on medium until browning (±2 minutes)
Remove from the pan and brush the inside of the top bun with hot mustard. On the bottom bun layer pork then ham, then cheese and finally pickles. Put the halves together and brush the outsides of the sandwiches with butter
Cook the sandwiches in a press for ± 3 minutes or until golden brown. If using a pan/skillet cook for ±3minutes each side.
Let the sandwich rest for 1 minute before cutting.
Serve with an acidic hot sauce
Happy Cooking!
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