Halal Cuban Sandwich

Not every day is your day. Not every day is my day but me and you both can try our best to make it our day.

Right before I started this blog (all thanks to Syed Shumail's suggestion) I watched a movie that really inspired me to make everything I cook more presentable. That movie was Chef and it had two recipes that caught my eye. Pasta Aglio e Olio which I have made previously and the Cuban Sandwich which I could not make due to pork meat and Cuban bread.

Many times people (most recently Myla Babar did) have asked me to try and make it's halal version but I just did not bother to be honest but the idea of a Halal Cuban Sandwich has been itching me since quite some time now.

So, I sat down one day watched a couple of recipes and thought HEY! I could replace the pork with beef and add chicken or turkey deli slices like Mortadella Slices to assemble a Halal Cuban Sandwich.

Finally planned everything, started using my vivid imagination and formed everything in my head.

Now the Cuban Sandwich has 3 steps.

Marinating the beef.

Cooking the beef.

Assembling the sandwich, which is a task in itself. I thought it was easy but when I was done with it I could not believe that I did it without breaking the whole thing.

The result as follows

But before all of this started, even before I marinated the beef I bought cucumbers, vinegar. Added these both things in a jar with a little bit of salt and sugar to make pickles for the Cuban Sandwich.

Now, let me tell you how to make this beautiful and scrumptious treat.

Ingredients for Beef Marinade:

3  pound boneless beef (shoulder or thigh preferably)

6 large garlic cloves

1 cup fresh orange juice

3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoon dried oregano (if you have fresh oregano then its even better)

2 teaspoon cumin powder

3-4 tablespoon oil

3 tablespoon red grapes vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Add the garlic, cumin powder, oregano, oil, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend it till everything is chopped finely.

Mix the orange juice, lemon juice and red grapes vinegar together.

Now put the beef in a container and make slits in it using a knife.

Apply the oily garlic mixture to it properly.

Add the juices.

Close the container and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.

I had the cucumbers pickled on Monday and by today which is Thursday they are all done. I've sliced them to fit into the sandwiches.

Time to cook the beef.

Put the beef in a non stick pan, with all the marinade and the juices. Add a cup of water and cover it.

Turn the heat on low.

Cook it for 3 hours minimum. I cooked it for about 3 hours 15 minutes. Keep a check on it and if you think it needs more liquid then please add another cup or half of water.

Now the beef is cooked, it will be a little dark and charred no need to worry it's not burnt.

Slice it up just like in the pictures below.

Now we come towards sandwich assembly.

Cuban bread is even hard to find in some areas of the US so any long bread would do.

I got Garlic Bread from Jalal Sons and Sub Sandwich Bread from Bread and Beyond.

Ingredients for Sandwich Assembly:

Classic yellow mustard

Butter or margarine

Pickled cucumber

K & N's Chicken Mortadella Slices

Cheese slices

Slice the bread up and apply butter on it.

Heat for a while and add a layer of mustard to the sandwich base.

Now steps wise:

1. Add a layer of the sliced beef.

2. Add a layer of mortadella slices.

3. Add a layer of cheese.

4. Add a layer of pickles

5. Put mustard on the other side of the bread and assemble your sandwich. (see the pictures below)

This does not end here. The Cuban Sandwich has a special sandwich make which we unfortunately do not have here but HEY! we can make that press in the Desi way.

You just need 2 things. A non stick tawa and a non-stick frying pan.

THIS PART IS DIFFICULT AND YOU NEED TO DO THIS VERY POLITELY.

Turn your stove on low heat and place the tawa.

Put the Cuban Sandwich on the tawa and press it with the base of the non stick pan for 30-50 seconds.

Then flip your sandwich very carefully and press the other side with the base of the frying pan again for a 30-50 seconds.

The Halal Cuban Sandwich is ready.

I WAS SO HAPPY I MADE A FREAKING VIDEO IN THIS MOMENT OF FAKE ACCOMPLISHMENT

Just slice the sandwich in half and your Halal Cuban Sandwich is ready to serve.

Ladies and gentlemen, the much awaited and requested Halal Cuban Sandwich.

Orange Chicken

I like round things, round vegetables, round fruits and other round stuff which I cannot mention here but I am also not ashamed of liking that because HEY I'M A MAN AND I HAVE NEEDS.

One of my favorite round fruits which I wait for all year is Orange.

Orange is a beautiful and delightful fruit. It's so amazing that it has a color named after it.

In some areas of the world and in some perverted or humorous context it's also used as a synonym for you know what.

Today I will tell you how to make Orange Chicken which is a Chinese recipe which I had for the first time in 2012 and I absolutely loved it despite of its somewhat sweet and spicy flavor.

Its easy and quick to prepare.

Ingredients For Chicken:

500 gram chicken cut in 1 inch cubes or according to your preferred FREAKING STYLE

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoon all purpose flour

Ingredients For Gravy:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon red chili flakes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon garlic paste

First of all we need to prepare the chicken.

For that we will break an egg in a bowl. Add soy sauce, salt and black pepper. Whisk it and then add the chicken in it.

Yes yes it looks like a one eyed smiley face.

Now add baking soda to the chicken mixture. Yes you heard it right, BAKING SODA. It will soften the chicken and make it more succulent which is a secret that I recently was revealed by a nice Chinese lady.

Add the baking soda and flour. Mix it well. Your chicken batter is ready to fry.

Heat a cup of vegetable oil in a non stick pan on medium heat.

Fry all your chicken until its brown and cooked through the inside. Take out the chicken after its done and set aside. Drain the oil and clean the non stick pan.

This specific step will also cure your HUDDHARAMI aka LAZY ASS-NESS and also will prepare you for after rishta/shadi/marriage duties.

Now you need to quickly prepare the sauce. For that add soy sauce in a bowl and quickly whisk brown sugar in it so it properly dissolves.

Then add the rest of the gravy ingredients, vinegar, chili sauce chili flakes, orange zest, ginger paste, garlic paste and orange juice.

Now heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat and cook the sauce till it starts boiling.

Add the cooked chicken and cook until all the sauce is dissolved by the chicken.

Orange chicken is ready to serve now.

Orange chicken is best with fried rice but if you're not up for the effort you can also have it with plain white boiled rice.

Ladies and gentlemen, make some room in your stomach for Orange Chicken.