Best Chef Johns Cuban Bread Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S CUBAN SANDWICH

Chef John's Cuban Sandwich image

Here's how I build a Cuban, or Cubano, sandwich. I like to use pulled pork. Carnitas would work too. These ingredients and amounts are open to your own personal preferences, but here's the general idea.

Provided by Chef John

Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Caribbean

Time 21m

Yield 2

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 (8 ounce) loaf Cuban bread
8 slices Swiss cheese
6 thin slices smoked fully-cooked ham
1 ½ cups cooked pulled pork, heated
1 large dill pickle, sliced thinly lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

Steps:

Mix mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne together in a bowl to make the sauce.
Trim off ends of bread. Cut loaf in half and evenly split bread to make tops and bottoms of 2 sandwiches. Spread each half on both sides generously with the mayo/mustard sauce.
Divide sandwich ingredients between the two bottom halves in this order: 2 slices Swiss cheese, 3 slices ham, hot cooked pork, pickle slices, and 2 more slices of Swiss cheese. Place tops on sandwiches.
Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches in skillet and press down with a heavy weight (such as another skillet or foil-wrapped bricks). Toast sandwiches until bread is crisp and filling is heated through, 3 or 4 minutes per side.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 1473.1 calories, Carbohydrate 85.4 g, Cholesterol 287.1 mg, Fat 85.2 g, Fiber 5.3 g, Protein 88.2 g, SaturatedFat 37.3 g, Sodium 4076.6 mg, Sugar 4.2 g

CHEF JOHN'S NO-KNEAD CIABATTA

Chef John's No-Knead Ciabatta image

This bread is the perfect marriage of a crisp, light crust outside and a chewy yet tender inside. The no-knead part is just a bonus.

Provided by Chef John

Categories Bread Yeast Bread Recipes White Bread Recipes

Time 20h55m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 7

Ingredients

3 ½ cups white bread flour
½ cup whole wheat bread flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons cornmeal

Steps:

Place white and wheat flour in a large bowl. Add salt, yeast, and water. Mix until a wet sticky dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise for 18 hours at room temperature. It should not be too warm.
Punch dough down with a spatula and fold it over a few times.
Lightly grease a heavy-rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with cornmeal.
Lightly spray a work surface with water. Place a long sheet of plastic wrap on the damp surface to hold it in place. Sprinkle plastic wrap with flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Gently stretch and pull dough into a long, flat rectangular shape, 12 to 15 inches long. Bring plastic sheet to edge of prepared pan and flip the dough into the prepared pan. Reshape the dough, if necessary. Dust with flour. Cover with a light dry towel. Let rise about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Bake dough in preheated oven until loaf is nicely browned, 35 to 45 minutes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 272.5 calories, Carbohydrate 51.2 g, Cholesterol 0.3 mg, Fat 3 g, Fiber 2.4 g, Protein 8.8 g, SaturatedFat 0.4 g, Sodium 439.3 mg, Sugar 0.2 g