Sunday, February 8, 2015

Cuban Sandwich Braid

We love our monthly “dinner and movie” nights with our good friends.  Our recent movie was “Chef” starring Jon Favreau.  If you haven’t seen it – I highly recommend it.  The theme of the movie centers on the relationship of a father and son.  And, it features delicious Cuban Sandwiches.  I was in charge of making the appetizers.  I thought that making Cuban Sandwiches would be too filling, so I improvised and made a version of a Cuban, but as an appetizer braid.  I hope you enjoy!
 
Ingredients:
 
1 porketta roast  (If your market doesn’t have porketta roasts – you can use a regular pork roast and season it well.  I just happen to like the flavor of the porketta and this allowed me to just pop it in the oven with no prep.)
8 -10 slices of shaved ham
4 – 6 slices of dill pickle
4 – 6 slices of swiss cheese
Yellow Mustard
1 sheet puff pastry
 
Directions:
 
Roast the Porketta at 350 until done.  I used a fairly small roast – so it was cooked in just about an hour.  Allow to cool and then slice into thin pieces.
 
Lightly flour a cutting board; unfold the puff pastry.  Roll it out slightly, but you want to still be able to faintly see the creases from where it was folded. 
 
Cut diagonal flaps in the pastry, as shown below, leaving the middle panel intact.  These will be the “braids”.
 

Spread the yellow mustard down the middle of the puff pastry.  Layer as follows:  Pork Roast, Swiss Cheese, Pickles, Ham, Swiss Cheese.
 
With the diagonal cuts facing toward you, start folding the pieces of pastry over the top of the middle panel – alternating sides - effectively braiding the pastry.
 
When all the cuts have been braided, place on a cookie sheet and paint with egg wash.
 
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
 

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