Southern Indiana cuban sandwich

I've been really tired since this weekend. I suspect that full days of yard work and a pretty bad sunburn are the culprits.

I also have realized that my battle with the rabbits is one where I can not gain any ground. It turns out that the blasted things can fit right through the chain links in the fence. It wouldn't matter how much patching I've done to the gaps, the skinny ones just hop right through the sound part of the fence. It's depressing at best. 

So here is a recipe from back at the end of April. It's what I made hubby for his birthday.   Back in Florida, we used to get the best Cuban sandwiches.  Even the ones from the gas station were good.   Here in Indiana, no one has heard of them.  They aren't served at any restaurant in town and the special bread is not available so I can make our own.  The bakers I've asked about it have stared blankly at me.  I finally decided that I'd just try to make my own. 

Here's the recipe I used for the bread.  The bread is where it's at with these sandwiches.  

1 T yeast

2 t sugar

1 1/4 c warm water

2 c flour

2 t salt

1/4 c lard   (you can not substitute here, but I did.  I used 1/4 c. coconut oil)

You just mix this up like any other fresh bread.  Dissolve yeast in warm water for 10-15 minutes.  Add sugar, salt, lard (or softened coconut oil) and mix well.  Add flour slowly, mixing well.  When it's sturdy enough, lay out on counter and knead dough well.  let rise in large bowl for 1 hour.  This makes two large loaves.  Divide into two sections and roll out in two loaves.  Let rise again for at least 30 minutes.  Gently cut the surface to allow for growth during baking.   Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.  

Allow the bread to cool, then slice lengthwise and get ready for some good Cuban sandwich making.  I tell more about making Cubans here, but here's the gist of it.

Lay out the bottom cut of cuban bread, add thinly sliced deli ham, next is shredded roasted pork, add swiss cheese slices, then dill pickle sandwich slices, next yellow mustard, and finally the top slice of bread. These are then cut in about 6 inch segments and pressed and grilled in a sandwich press or a george foreman style cooker. 

This bread recipe is a keeper.  Frankly, it's been almost 2 years since we've eaten a real Cuban sandwich, so this seemed a fair replacement.

The next night, we had all kinds of roasted pork left so I made up some more dough and formed it into bun like shapes. We had some yummy pulled pork barbecue sandwiches.