Sunday Lunch: Cuban Sandwiches & Homemade Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips
A savory treat from my guest bloggers, Braxton & Kazden Haugen.
(Braxton) While pondering what recipe to tackle this week, I was reminded of the fantastic culinary film, Chef, which highlighted Mojo Pork Cubanos. As it turns out, the recipe used in the movie was online, “Jon Favreau Wants to Open a Chef Movie Restaurant,” presenting some easy steps to follow in order to make your very own.
The quenching for the sandwiches was strong, so I organized the necessary makings and got to it. 
While doing so, another craving cropped up, homemade salt & vinegar potato chips. It looked like it was going to be quite the meal. When all was said and done, we’d made multiple sandwiches and enough chips to last us into the apocalypse.
If I were to follow-up with changes when it came to using this same recipe, I’d go a little lighter on the mustard use, as I graciously overdid it on my sandwich. Before this class, I only ventured into the kitchen to sample things my mom and brother created. Having the opportunity to create in the kitchen and get school credit has motivated my culinary desires.
(Kazden) Things we learned while preparing this lunch were how to slice using a Salad Shooter,
how to follow a recipe,
Heating meat and cheese before putting the sandwich together.
Buttering and heating both sides of the bun, then spreading a thin layer of mustard on the sandwich.
Putting the sandwich into the George Foreman grill at 350º.
how to deep fry
and how to use a George Foreman Grill to make a panini-style sandwich since we didn’t have an actual panini press like the recipe called for. 
We also made a substitution with turkey meat instead of pulled or grilled pork in the sandwich. I liked the Salad Shooter because it is easy to clean, disassemble and use. The salad shooter comes ready to use out of the box but we like to clean appliances like this before we use them. The gadget comes apart easily and goes back together quickly with the choice of slicing or shredding food items. I plan to use this gadget again to make our daily salad and maybe an apple pie. The recipe for Cuban Sandwiches was easy to follow because it had step by step instructions on how to cook, put together and finish. Deep frying was a little scary at first because of the hot oil but once we got the hang of it we had lots of fun making the potato chips. I even deep-fried a tortilla and put cinnamon and sugar on it, so delicious. The GF grill was pretty cool because not only was it pretty fun to cook with but when it came time to clean it was super easy because the heating plates came off. All in all, this was a fun experience and I got to use some really cool kitchen equipment. I cannot wait to make these again.
The only problems we had were Braxton burning his finger on the oil in the deep fryer when it got too hot which showed us how careful we need to be when working with hot oil. BTW, when you burn yourself, be sure to run the burn under cold water. The other issue was realizing how messy making lunch can be and how our mom made us clean it up ourselves.
Homemade Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips
- 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
- 2 cups vegetable, canola or peanut oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Vinegar
Wash and dry potatoes. Cut potatoes into wedges so they fit into a Salad Shooter or slice as thin as possible. Lay sliced potatoes on to a layer of paper towels and dry as well as possible. Drop into preheated oil (375º) in small batches depending on the size of your fryer. Fry 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil and spread thinly on a paper towel. Salt immediately and sprinkle on a few drops of vinegar.
Thanks boys! Below are a few product reviews of equipment used in this blog post.
Product Review: Presto Salad Shooter
My husband and I were married in 1990 and we received one of the very first versions of Presto’s Salad Shooter as a wedding gift. Just looking at the box made us all laugh as it seemed like a pretty silly kitchen gadget. Seriously, chopping was for knives and grating was for the box grater. Were we ever surprised 10 years later, to still be using our salad shooter on a regular basis. We grated piles of cheese and carrots and must have thinly sliced miles of cucumbers and more. It finally wore out and I hadn’t really thought of replacing it as I love my Shun knives and actually find chopping and slicing rather relaxing. Also, I wanted my kids to learn how to efficiently use a knife, so they get practice on a daily basis. The Presto Salad Shooter popped up on the internet one day and it was such a great price, I couldn’t resist. With all the salad that is consumed in my house on a daily basis, I am ready for a break. My boys loved the new gadget and as discussed above, they used the salad shooter to make their first-ever batch of homemade potato chips. Great time saving product Presto!
Product Review: Edison .5 Liter Deep Fryer
It looks as though this product is no longer available on amazon.com. It is a small deep fryer that is great for small batches. We are not serious deep fryers so it was enough for us. I liked the idea that we didn’t use much oil and could experiment around with a variety of foods.
Product Review: George Foreman GRP4842P 3-in-1 Multi-Plate Evolve Grill
I actually borrowed this from my mother-in-law as I have one of the original George Foreman grills but I misplaced mine in a rushed pantry cleaning. Plus, I was looking for a good excuse to borrow hers and see how they have improved. This is a terrifically versatile product. It worked great for our Cuban sandwiches and I may just hold on to it a little longer to try a few more things. We all appreciated the fact that the plates/grates are now removable for easy cleaning.
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