This recipe is for my dad. He is a man who loves a good piece of meat and his cheese toast. If he could eat one type of cuisine every day for lunch, it would be just about anything Americano Latino. Beans, rice, roasted meat, fresh spicy veggies, little cojita cheese… really, the combinations never become boring. The Cuban sandwich is a prime example of Caribbean flavors: sweet, savory and rich. It is a highrise stack of smoked ham, bacon, cheese, plantanos maduros (browned plantains), sweet pickles and tangy mustard that is then pressed flat over a grill. Complete ooziness. (And highly non-vegan! hehe).
If the Cuban is on the menu, my dad is likely to order it. Sooooooo, I undertook the challenge of “veganifying” one of his beloved meals. If my version of the sandwich could pass his approval, then it would be one dang good rendition. :P
After a bit of fiddling around in the kitchen with some different ingredients (and a few new toys! See my “NOTE”), I grilled up four ridiculously tasty bocadillos Cubanos veganos. Mmmmmmmmmm. It was one of the quietest dinners at my house in a long time. Everyone was too busy mumbling multi-syllable superlatives around mouthfuls of food. My dad has officially requested I post the recipe. It is that good.
NOTE: There are many, many steps involved in making the ingredients for this sandwich—all of which can be made ahead of time. Some of the ingredients can be purchased pre-made, but the homemade counterparts are crazy delicious if you have the time and patience to make them. Also, in order to grill the sandwiches you will either need a press or heavy object (such as a brick) wrapped in foil. I use a bacon press—my new-to-me kitchen toy—from back in the days when people made their own bacon from cuts of pork belly. Now it serves as a “seitan bacon” press and Panini squisher.Serves 4
Timing:
Day Before – make seitan, roast portabellas, make maduros
1 hour before – roast seitan
30min before – reheat maduros and portabellas, assemble sandwiches, grill!
Ingredients + instructions:
Sandwich
1 large loaf of French peasant bread (Wild Wheat’s “Swiss Peasant” is the closest I could find to Cuban bread…soft fluffy interior and a thin, chewy crust)
1 recipe Caribbean roasted seitan, directions follow1 recipe plantanos maduros, (optional) directions follow
1 recipe roasted portabellas, directions follow
Stone ground mustard
½ cup bread and butter pickles (I like the Woodstock brand)
1 pk. Daiya Chedder Cheese Shreds
Earth Balance buttery spread
Slice the bread loaf into 8 even, thick bread slices. The “thick” part is important since you are going to smash the sandwich during grilling. If the bread slice is too thin, it will be as thin as a tortilla after grilling ;)
Spread Earth Balance Buttery spread on outer-sides of the bread and the mustard generously on the inner-sides. Mound the ingredients on the sandwich in the following order: cheese shreds, portabellas, pickles, cheese shreds, seitan, plantains (if using), cheese shreds.
Warm a skillet over medium-high and then lower the heat to medium-low. Place a sandwich on the skillet, pressing down firmly on it with the press/heavy object. Allow the bread to grill for about 3 to 4 minutes, then flip the sandwich over with a spatula and repeat on the other side. Cut the sandwich in half with a serrated knife (this will help keep the layers in-tacked!) Grill up the other 3 sandwiches the same way. Serve warm. They taste crazy yummy hot of the pan!!!!!!!
Caribbean roasted seitan
*(skip to the roasting section if using pre-made seitan)
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1 cup veggie broth
2 tbsp molasses
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tbsp shoyu or tamari
Olive oil (for brushing)
Start a pot of water to steam the seitan. Meanwhile, warm the veggie broth on the stove top and dissolve the molasses into the broth. Mix the tepid temperature broth mixture with the vital wheat gluten, using our hands to knead the gluten into a malleable and stretchy ball. Roll the dough into a loaf shape and wrap LOOSELY in aluminium foil. (The loaf will expand as it steams, so the “loose” part is essential). Steam the seitan for about 30minutes—it should smell like yeasty bread.
TO ROAST: Preheat oven to 400deg F then cut seitan length-wise into thin strips so that it resembles turkey bacon. Brush both sides of the strips with olive oil place in a baking pan—one that you bake a casserole in. Pour the orange juice and shoyu on top of all of the strips to act as marinade while roasting. Roast for 15minutes, flip the strips and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes until the strips are dark and juicy. Do not allow the seitan to dry out! If the marinade starts to dry up, add more liquid!
Roasted portabells mushrooms
2 potabella mushrooms
1 tbsp veggie Worstshire sauce
1 tbsp shoyu or tamari
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dark maple syrup
Preheat your oven to 350deg F. Stem and cut the portabellas into thick slices. Place the slices in a baking pan and pour the last four ingredients over the slices and allow them to marinate for a few minutes. Ideally, let the shrooms sit for a few hours, but they will still taste great if you pop them into the oven just after dumping the marinade on-top. Roast for about 20 to 25minutes.
plantanos maduros
2 ripe plantains
2 tbsp canola or coconut oil
Cinnamon (optional)
Cut the plantains lengthwise as if you were going to make a banana split. Try to cut 4 long slices per plantain. Melt 1tbsp of coconut oil in a pan over medium heat until a drop of water sizzled when dropped onto the surface. Place four slices of plantain onto the pan. Allow the slices to brown for 2-4 minutes and then flip them over to brown for another 2-4minutes on the other side.
Place the fried plantain slices on a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with cinnamon if you want and extra spicy kick! Repeat with the other 4 slices of plantain. Yum—especially with blackbeans and rice too ^_^
Let me know if any of you attempt to make these sandwiches!!!! The time and effort that goes into making them is completely worth it.
Cheers, kaite ;]
