throwback thursday.. grilled cheese cuban style sandwich

for throwback thursday and in honor of national grilled cheese day coming up in 2 days i decided to share with you one of my favorite grilled cheese sandwiches ever.. i had never had a cuban sandwich until janet came into our lives.. you see my brother married a beautiful cuban and the recipes she shares with us are amazing.. i love love love this cuban sandwich here.. probably the best sandwich I've ever made.. and this sandwich i am sharing today comes in a close second!!

cuban grilled cheese sandwich

prep time: 5 minutes
cooking time: 7-10 minutes
servings: 4

ingredients:

8 slices of sour dough bread
8 slices of thin sliced honey cured deli ham
8 thin slices of cuban pork {recipe below}
8 slices of swiss {or pepper jack for a little kick}
mustard {I like to use spicy mustard}
pickles {traditionally it calls for slices thing dill pickles.. i used a spicy brand of sweet called wickless}
6 tblsp.+ of softened butter

directions:

pre heat a non stick skillet over medium/medium low heat.. melt a little butter in the pan.. assemble your sandwiches.. bread, mustard, cheese, ham, pickles, pork roast, cheese and the top slice of bread.. butter the top slice of bread and butter side down add the sandwich to your pan.. cover and l until cook lightly browned on that side.. the side facing up now needs some butter so spread a layer of butter on it before you flip it.. once flipped, cover and cook another few minutes until lightly browned on that side as well and cheese is getting melty.. repeat with your remaining sandwiches.. seriously yummy!! {if you want to go all out reserve some of the au jus from the pork roast and make a cheesy french dip}

cuban roast pork

you start off slow roasting a pork shoulder and after a few hours it looks like this..

after a few more hours it looks like this.. this pork is amazing!!

 

cuban roast pork:

prep time: 3-24 hours
cooking time: 3 hours
servings: 6-8
 

3 cups orange juice

2 tsblp. olive oil

the juice and zest of 1 lime

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. oregano

salt and pepper

1 oz. rum
3-4 lb. pork shoulder, bone in

directions:

combine the marinade for the pork in a medium mixing bowl until well incorporated.. take a zip lock bag and put your pork in it and then pour your marinade over it and seal the bag.. kinda squish it around to make sure the entire pork is covered.. put in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours but ideally about 24 hours.. when your done marinading remove pork from bag and reserve the marinade.. heat your oven to 250 degrees {f}.. take a large heavy bottom dutch oven {or oven proof pot} and heat two twirls around the pan of olive oil over medium high heat.. sear the pork on both sides until nice and brown..take your reserved marinade and pour over your pork.. cover with lid and cook for an hour.. after an hour baste and put back in for another hour.. basting this time like every 20 minutes.. then cook covered for another hour and baste again every 20 or so minutes.. {you've now cooked it for 3 hours} remove cover, crank heat up to 375 and cook another hour this time basting every 10 minutes.. you want your meat at an internal temperature of 170 {remove around 160-165 it will continue to cook once removed from oven}check after about 30-40 minutes you might already be at your ideal temperature.. remove from oven when done allow to sit for about 10 minutes before slicing..

enjoy and get cook'n!!