We had Cuban Sandwiches on Thursday and many asked for the recipe.

Sándwiches cubanos

An authentic recipe begins with “take a good sized cardboard box, 2 Complete Sunday newspapers, 2 cookie sheets and 6-8 heavy bricks.” Cuban sandwiches are the classic Cuban beach food. The newspaper goes above and below the sandwiches in the cardboard box for insulation. The bricks are to flatten the sandwiches between 2 cookie sheets as you warm them in the oven. You should never make less than 5 or 6 dozen Cuban sandwiches at a time. I know you think you don’t need that many; guess again. Go ahead and delude yourself that you will eat only one and can freeze the rest. (They do freeze well.) They are a quite inexpensive way to feed a very large crowd but labor intensive in the assembly.

Buy a bottle of sour orange marinade (naranja agria by Badia which Stop & Shop usually has) or mojo criollo in the Goya section of a big supermarket or make your own marinade (much better) from 1 Cup of orange juice, the juice of 5 juicy lemons or limes, a whole head of garlic peeled, 2 Tablespoons of sea salt, 2 Tablespoons of oregano and 1 Tablespoon of ground cumin. A quarter of a cup of olive oil should be added to this mixture or per one bottle of the naranja agria or mojo criollo.   If you make your own, puree it in the blender and pour it over a 3-4 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast that has been pierced deeply and often with a cooking fork. Marinate this in the fridge for 3 days. Double this to make 6 dozen sandwiches

While you are waiting for the marinade to work its magic: From the Deli section of the supermarket you will need a pound of sliced domestic boiled ham (rectangular if you can), a pound and a half of Land-O-Lakes white cheese, a pound of Genoa hard salami, and a pound of Swiss Cheese (the longest, most rectangular they have). I order finger rolls at my supermarket bakery to pick up on the day I make the sandwiches or I buy 5 or 6 dozen hot dog rolls which are cut sideways, NOT top to bottom. The finger rolls I have to cut myself. I judge the width of a bun by eye and on wax paper make 64 stacks of first ham, then white cheese, then salami, and finally Swiss cheese, all cut about ¾” wide except the salami. Since that is round, I cut it in half. You can bundle these stacks up and keep them in the fridge or freeze them to get them out of your way. This will speed up assembly time by quantums.

On assembly day, Get 6 dozen tears of aluminum foil ready to wrap each sandwich individually. They used to make aluminum foil “Wrappers” which had 50 precut sheets the perfect size. I have not found them again since 2006. However, my skill level does run to tearing aluminum foil into 6 dozen 12” or so sheets so I have come to cope.

Cook the pork in the marinade for 1 ½ hours at 350. Leave it in the oven until it is cool enough to handle. Remove it from the marinade and thin slice it so that you have about 6 dozen slices or slivers. Lay out 6 dozen slices of kosher dill pickle stackers, about 5 jars. I like Vlasic. Drain these on paper towels. If you run short of 6 dozen or the slices are mostly rind, just cut however many you need in half lengthwise and throw away the uglies.

Assemble in batches of however many open buns fit your cookie sheets. This is a good time to have a friend around as a second pair of hands. Combine yellow mustard with mayonnaise in equal quantities in a bowl or use Durkee’s Famous Sauce which is mustard and mayonnaise already combined. Melt 3 sticks of butter. Brush the butter on the open-faced buns then put them under the broiler until they begin to brown.

When a batch is toasted, brush the mustard/mayo mixture on both sides. This waterproofs the bun. Add on your prepared stack of meats and cheese, then the pickle slice, then the pork roast slice, and wrap in foil. Mash the foil wrapped sandwiches flat.  (These will keep a day or 2 in the fridge but only if you sleep in front of the fridge to repel pirates. I found this out the hard way.)

On the day you wish to feed the crowd put the sandwiches on end in a crock pot and warm them for about an hour or until they are warm to the touch. To economize on time you can stack them 32 high on a cookie sheet and warm them in a 350 oven for a while.   They can be eaten warm, room temperature or cold from the fridge.  I prefer them at room temperature.  ¡Buen provecho!

We reviewed a lot to bring past learned vocabulary back onto everyone’s ‘desktop’.

We had a vocabulary quiz on clothing today and there is an assignment on page 42  # 6 in which they will choose Verdad or Falso based on the each sentence they read.  Also on page 43 they are to draw the cartoon figure and then color his clothes according the the description in part 7 on page 43.

As I sit home and contemplate the year several things come to mind.

We have done well learning the different units of vocabulary ranging from animals to school vocabulary.  The class loves to sing.  We have master several songs and they performed two for the Carnaval celebration.  Thanks to all who helped.  The Goya juice was a big hit with the lower school students and some of the class also tell me they love  the Goya juices themselves.  Culture can sneak in in so many ways!

One point of note is that this group is so much fun to work with.  They eagerly learn and have excellent accents.  All in all a great first two trimesters with more fun to come.

On the 29th of this month grades 4 and 5 will form one group and sing three songs.  ”Me gusta el español”, “El rock de los números” and “Allá en el rancho grande” as part of the show celebrating Mardi Gras or “Carnaval” as it is called in Spanish.

After the performance the World Language Department will be offering both French and “Spanish” food to the young audience.  I will buy all the food stuff / materials needed but I am asking that a volunteer in each class prepare the food.   “Dulce de Leche” on Maria cookies, “Sopa Negra” in Tortilla scoops, and guava jelly and cheese on a small “tosta”  are all past favorites that I have or soon will prepare again for my classes but this time I want the students to be involved.  I am also asking each student to bring in a can of Goya juice / Nectar so that the young bcd students will have a Spanish drink.  The cans cost about a dollar.  I am asking my students to pick a flavor that they like in hopes that it will also be a good flavor for one of our younger students.  The flavors include, Pineapple, peach, strawberry, guava, apricot,tamarind and many others.  Please avoid the “Malta” as it is rare that a youngster likes it.  I will be collecting the Goya drinks starting Monday the 13th.  Thanks for your help.

Currently in class we are having great fun practicing the songs and  learning the days of the week.

This past week in honor of turkey day we ate Mole Poblano in class.  The students asked for a recipe.

Here is a link to one of the many recipes for Mole Poblano.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mole-poblano-recipe/index.html

Mole means grind and Poblano means from the state of Puebla.  The dish is the national dish of Mexico.  I like to slow cook the turkey and then pull it.  Many cooks just place the mole over a turkey slice or leg.  If you want a short cut you can use “Doña María” mole sauce.  It usually can be purchased in grocery stores in the Goya section.  Also, the Mercado near the movie house in Great Barrington has a selection of both green and the traditional chocolate.  If you are slow cooking the turkey use turkey broth as a liquid and then degrease and save it to mix into the “Doña María” mole sauce.  Reuse the container to mix about 4 liquids to one “Doña María” mole jar.  You want a consistency similar to gravy.  Once mixed and heated you have your mole sauce.

In class we have been practicing both jingle bells and Rancho Grande.  We are studying colors.

Spanish 4 is working on colors.  They are doing an art project in conjunction with Spanish class in which they will use the colors we are learning.  They enjoyed “Mole Poblano” today and sang “Rancho Grande” to celebrate the Mexican National Dish.

Thus we are holiday turkey Mexican style!

There is no homework for this weekend.

Welcome back and welcome to the adventure of learning Spanish.  We will sing songs, learn new words and how to use them to communicate in Spanish.  We will also learn about the cultures of Spanish speaking people.  We will use “Vale” as our base book but also use other sources to enhance our learning.  You also might get to taste some new tastes that will expand your ideas about the world’s foods.

I am looking forward to sharing my love of all this with you!

I passed back the quiz on days of the week.  Anyone who wants to improve their grade can come on Thursday between 11:30 and 1:30 to get help and then retake the quiz.

We are working on articles of clothing on page 44 in “Vale”.   They should be studying this vocabulary and making flash cards to help prepare for next week’s quiz.  They also should finish the home work on page 18 in their workbook.

We had and enjoyed greatly Cuban sandwiches and I have posted the a how to recipe for anyone who wouod like to make them.

We have been working on the Days of the Week and incorporating them into our vocabulary.

There will be a quiz on them this Wednesday.

Check here tomorrow for the “Sopa Negra” recipe.