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I was excited when Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla chose Chef
as the film for Food n' Flix this month. I had been wanting to see it and now I had my chance!
Chef is the story of a chef (ha - never would have guessed, would you?) who becomes unhappy cooking for someone else. On a whim, he starts a food truck business. The cast is filled with lots of big names: Sofía Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jr. and Emjay Anthony. This is such a sweet, entertaining film, perfect for foodies and non-foodies alike.
As you would imagine there is plenty of food inspiration and I'm afraid that I took the easy way out. You see his food truck serves Cuban sandwiches. At first I was going to be creative and try and put a different spin on the Cuban. Replacing the pickle with chow chow - a Southern favorite and doing a few more things. Then life happened. Particularly prom season - and as a photographer I have been swamped photographing sparkly dresses and sparkling faces! Besides I decided, why mess with a classic? The only thing I did change up was the bun, substituting a pretzel roll - which worked extremely well with the sandwich. I would like to take credit with that bit of ingenuity, but alas it was because Earth Fare didn't have the classic bread that I was looking for.
Needless to say, these were wonderful! I used some leftover ham that I had sliced and frozen from Easter, did a quick sear and roast on a pork tenderloin and used my Simply Good Dill Pickles that I put up last summer. I'm sort of putting the recipe below, but really it's just the concept because you can use as much or as little of each ingredient as you'd like. The other thing I did that was a little non traditional is that I used the oven. Since I was serving these with baked sweet potato fries, and the pretzel rolls were already quite crispy, this sounded like a good alternative and it worked perfectly. The cheese was melted and everything was warmed through.
The Pretzel Cuban Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 slices pork tenderloin cooked
- 2 slices ham cooked
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 2 slices swiss cheese
- 4 slices dill pickles
- 2 pretzel rolls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Spread the melted butter on two halves of the pretzel rolls and spread the mustard on the remaining half. Top with pork, ham, pickles and cheese. Wrap each sandwich tightly in aluminum foil.
- Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Lou Lou Girls says
Okay, I’m drooling right now! Looks so good. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7, we can’t wait to party with you! Lou Lou Girls
swathi says
Very nice, sandwich, lovely story too. thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning, tweeting and sharing in google plus.
Debbie says
I love how mouth watering your sandwich looks.
Amy | Amy's Cooking Adventures says
I love the idea of using the pretzel bread! I bet it works beautifully with the Cuban flavors!
Debra says
I like the twist you were thinking about, but I love the pretzel rolls used. Yes, life gets in the way with lots of my fun, too.
Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm says
I loved this movie and I love your version of the Cubano Sandwich.
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
Pretzel rolls are a great idea, never had one but want to try now! And just perfect for that gorgeous Cubano!
Ann says
Mmmmm, pretzel roll. I have never had a pretzel roll before but I'd like to try one.
Monique says
Just wanted to tell you your photography site is so beautiful..the videos are so cool too.
well done Pam..so well done!
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
I loved that movie. I was just thinking about it yesterday. I agree even non-foodies would love it. I am so glad that you couldn't find the right bun, because the pretzel roll is so much more fun! Pinned!
Joanne says
A movie about a food truck and I've never heard of it?! That's crazy. I must see it!