Reuben Sandwich. With Homemade Dressing.

Two summers ago I took a sabbatical from work and went to Yale to study bioethics.  It was a wonderful couple of months of learning from some incredible teachers, exploring New England and Cape Cod and eating some amazing food.  One lunch stands out, my future husband had come to visit and we went to a local smart supermarket to get a sarnie to order.  ‘The Reuben’ was incredible and it turns out a bit of a classic all-American lunch.

I’ve been dying to give it a go and thanks to the slight isolation of life in rural South Africa, I at last have had time to experiment.  The problem is however that I hate ready-made mayo style dressings and the Reuben calls for 1000 island dressing or Russian dressing, both of which are firmly in the gloopy category.  So I’ve made up my own version that tastes rather good and can be made from simple ingredients in moments.  The Reuben also calls for Swiss cheese, I gambled with some aging haloumi in the fridge and the results were amazing.  So I recommend you do the same.

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)

4 slices of rye bread or similar German style bread

4 slices of smoked beef or pastrami

4 tbsp of sauerkraut

Butter

100 g haloumi cheese, sliced into 0.5 cm slices

For the dressing (makes extra plain mayo which can be kept in the fridge)

3 egg yolks

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp lemon juice

300 ml olive oil

2 tsp boiling water

2 tsp dried tarragon

2 tsp HP sauce

2 tsp fruity chutney

1 tsp Woucstershire sauce

 few drops of Tabasco sauce

6 cherry tomatoes

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. First make a batch of mayo.  Place the egg yolks, mustard and 1 tsp of lemon juice in a blender and process to mix.  Then slowly drizzle in all the olive oil until the mixture emulsifies.  Add the boiling water to loosen it up. 

2. Then the dressing.  Place 4 tbsp of the mayo in a blender and put the remainder in a jar in the fridge.  Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the blender and process until smooth.  Taste and adjust seasoning, salt and pepper and Tabasco to taste.

3. Now assemble.  Butter one side of each slice of bread...

...and stick two buttered sides together.  On top of each sandwich spread some dressing...

...top with 2 slices of beef...

...2 tbsp of sauerkraut (squeeze out any excess liquid)...

...half of the haloumi...

...top with some more dressing...

...and some extra seasoning.

4. Heat a thick bottomed frying pan over a moderate heat.  Lift up the sandwich, leaving the bottom slice of bread on the board and place in the pan. Top with the bottom slice of bread, buttered side up. 

Cook for a couple of minutes on either side or until the cheese has started to melt and the bread is crisp.

A perfect brunch, lunch or midnight snack, yum, yum...