The Reuben Inferno Sandwich -- A new take on a classic

Today we are going to do a new spin on a sandwich classic. It pays homage to the Reuben sandwich -- which is a smoked meat sandwich with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on dark rye -- while taking it in a fiery new direction!

I call it the Reuben Inferno.


To make the Reuben Inferno, you start by picking up some fresh rye bread at a local deli or bakery. Good rye is important! Either dark or light rye are fine as long as it is good rye.

Top one slice of your rye with a layer of Pastrami, followed by a layer of Montreal Smoked Meat, followed finally by a layer of Genoa or Mexican style spicy salami.

Top your meat slices with two slices of Swiss cheese.

Take your sandwich and place it open face in your oven with the oven set to broil and the oven rack placed at the highest level possible. Put the slice of rye with no topping yet in to broil as well.

Broil the sandwich, watching pretty closely, until the cheese has melted and is golden brown to your liking. This generally only takes 2-4 minutes maximum. Don't burn it!

Once the cheese is broiled, take the sandwich out and top with a nice layer of sauerkraut.

Finally, top with your homemade Reuben Inferno sauce.

You make the Reuben Inferno sauce by blending together thoroughly the following:

4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1/2 a large pickle sliced up in small cubes
1-2 teaspoons (depending on how fiery you want it) of a habanero style hot sauce (I used El Yucateco Chile Habanero Sauce, but any similar style of hot sauce will do)

These proportions should make enough sauce for 2-3 sandwiches.

Top the sauerkraut liberally with the sauce, top with the other bread slice and serve!

This is a delicious, spicy sandwich. Enjoy with an ice cold beer and an extra full sour pickle on the side!

See also: Dark Ale Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder with Sauerkraut

See also: The Sausage Hero -- Reinventing "Chunky Wiener Hero" Sandwiches -- Vintage Cookbook #TBT

The Reuben Dog!

Behold...the Reuben Dog!

Today I want to share one of my favourite ways to jazz up a grilled hot dog or sausage -- the Reuben Dog.

That's right -- the classic deli sandwich translated to hot dog perfection!

First, grill up your favourite hot dog. This idea works best with traditional ballpark style all-beef hot dogs or similarly tasting sausages.

Meanwhile take a slice or two of Swiss cheese and lay it down like a bed in your hot dog bun.

Put the grilled dog on top of the cheese. Then top the dog with a bed of sauerkraut. Add some fresh ground black pepper (to taste) onto the sauerkraut and then top with some Thousand Islands dressing.

I like a lot of the dressing!

Finally, add whatever fixin's suit your fancy. I try to keep it close to the sandwich so I normally only add some mustard and maybe a few onions. But, of course, the sky is the limit.

Enjoy on the patio with some beer and baseball.

Glorious stuff!