There is no better sandwich for me than the Rueben. I usually make it with turkey for the health benefits but just after Thanksgiving I am pretty tired of turkey. So I made the classic corned beef rueben tonight for dinner. I served it with leftover dill potato salad and a crisp pickle spear.
There are so many ways you can put your own spin on the reuben. I have customers that make it with smoked salmon, chicken breast, turkey breast or pastrami. There is a also a smoked salmon pastrami on the market from Ducktrap Rive of Maine that is amazing for this application.
The important thing with building and cooking your perfect reuben is having all the ingredients ready to go before getting started. This is true of all cooking and is the basis for the French term Mise en place or “everything in its place”
It is hard to find good thick swirled deli rye bread but the thicker the better to hold this sandwiches bulk. Finally you really need to build a solid crust on the bread to make this a hand held instead of fork and knife. This means cooking on both sides until you are just afraid bread will be burned.