The Ultimate Reuben Sandwich with Bacon Fat Fried Rye Bread, Russian 1,000 Aioli, Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef, Peppered Bacon, Melted Emmentaler Cheese, + Sauerkraut

The Ultimate Reuben Sandwich

I might lose some followers because of this, but I am a self-proclaimed Reuben Sandwich hater. It's true. I never could get on board with the idea of boiled, pickled brisket... the pungent rye bread... that weird cabbage stuff (a.k.a. sauerkraut)... and that kinda bitter, extra sharp swiss cheese. Just not my thang. I do, however, love Russian/Thousand Island Dressing. I mean it's great on just about everything. Although Reubens look delicious (in theory), I just strayed away from them. Well, that was until my Mountain Man + I moved back to Atlanta and started eating lunch at our favorite, little sandwich cafe/gourmet market, Star Provisions. If you ever come to visit ATL, go to Star Provisions. Their sandwiches are TOP-KNOTCH... our favorites are the Shrimp Po'boy, Reuben, & Pork Belly Banh Mi. Anyhoo, my Mountain Man decided to order one of those-sandwiches-that-I-used-to-hate. I was instantly pissed. I mean, how could I eat half of his meal if I didn't like it. Boo hiss. He kept urging me throughout the meal to try it and he wouldn't stop raving about it/moaning throughout the whole process. Okay, I thought, the worst that will happen is that I have to spit it up. Not very classy, but gets the job done nonetheless. I bit into the buttery Reuben and it's like the heavens opened up and welcomed me into the "cool kid club". Since then, I have been hooked. What I especially love about Star Provision's Reuben is its' slight differences than a classic sandwich. Their fresh-baked rye bread had been fried in butter (score) and it featured a cheese other than swiss (double score). I had never heard of this dairy product before, but apparently it's just a higher quality swiss. Luckily for me, they carry blocks of it in their dairy department, so I snatched up a block to recreate them at home. Using their sandwich as inspiration, I concocted the Ultimate Reuben Sandwich (well, in my eyes). I purchased some seriously peppered bacon because even though bacon doesn't go this normally, it probably should. With the cut of brisket, a heavy pepper presence only enhances the taste of the meat, so I really believe it gave it a nice spice and smokiness. After that, I fried my rye bread slices in the peppered bacon fat, ya know, 'cuz you have too. You could also just fry them up in some Irish butter if you haveeeeeeee to. This week, I already posted the recipes to the Homemade Russian 1,000 Aioli and the Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef, so take a gander at those for the rest of the components. All that is left is to add on the Emmentaler cheese and sauerkraut. This Ultimate Reuben is gooey, cheesy, saucy, spicy, vinegary, and everything else wonderful in the world. So go make it, NOW!! Enjoy :)

Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef + Peppered Bacon

Sliced Up + Ready to be Sandwiched

Sliced Emmentaler Cheese

Take a big 'ole bite of this hot mess...

For One Sandwich:

2 Slices of Peppered Bacon, Cooked until Crispy

2 Thick Slices of Rye Bread, Fried until Golden Brown in Bacon Fat

Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef, Thinly Sliced

Thin Slices of Emmentaler Cheese (or Swiss cheese can be substituted)

Homemade Russian 1,000 Aioli, For Spreading

Sauerkraut (drained of excess liquid)

Directions:

1.Cook the slices of peppered bacon in a skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan, but reserve the fat. Fry or toast the slices of rye bread in the bacon fat until they turn golden brown and begin to crisp. Remove to a plate and set aside.
2. Preheat the broiler to high on your oven.
3. Assembling the Sandwich: Spread one slice of fried bread with a thick slather of Russian 1,000 Aioli, and then top it with slices of honey mustard glazed corned beef, peppered bacon, and Emmentaler cheese. Toast the sandwich until the cheese just begins to melt and is gooey. Remove the sandwich from the oven and top with a pile of sauerkraut. Smear more aioli on the other slice of toasted bread and mash the sandwich together.
4. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy its’ messy glory!!

Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef

sliced up honey mustard glazed corned beef

I'M BACKKKKKKKKKKKK and ready to blow this shit place up! I got a new blog up and running... well sorta, I still have to finish my recipe index-- bare with me here it is a shit-ton of work, lemme tell you. I can't tell y'all how many "bless your hearts" I have gotten from family & friends during this process. I was beyond upset that the blog I had put three years into had suddenly vanished to an anonymous buyer that goes by the name of Chevy Chase. I mean really, Chevy Chase did this to me? I know it's not really the famous actor, but notgonnalie, I might hold a tiny grudge against him. But that's all in the past for now. It's time to get back into the swing of things, and that includes posting more delicious recipes for all of y'all to enjoy! Yippee-dee-do-dah... #amirite? As many of my loyal followers know, we have been in Atlanta for almost a year now, but deep down, we will always be true "Savannahians" at heart. Savannah is fabulous. It's almost like if you've been gone for a whole year, the second you return, it just picks right back up from where you left off. And possibly the most depressing thing about leaving was missing out on the over-the-top annual St. Patrick's Day celebration. We have had so much fun celebrating that it is easily creeping into my top three all-time favorite holidays, fo'realziez y'all. What sucks for us is that we couldn't make it down there this year because the celebration fell on a Monday and my Mountain Man just couldn't get off work. So, we had to settle by enjoying the Irish spirit by cooking classic comfort food. This obviously meant.... corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. But DUH. P.S. did you know that I hate corned beef?? Yes I absolutely turn my nose up at the stuff, there is just something about boiled meat that really gets my gag reflex going (TMI??). But, I thought I would give it a shot by using a relatively new method of glazing it with honey mustard, sprinkling it with brown sugar, & broiling it until it has a nice, adhered crust. It turned out fab! Who would've known that everyone would like it so much. I bought a 4lb brined/pickled corned beef brisket thinking that it was enough for us to all eat dinner, but still have some leftover for sandwiches. Boy was I wrong... all four pounds were gone in about 15 minutes flat. I have actually already gotten requests to make it again this weekend.... this time though I will prepare ahead and make extra so I can make some killer grilled Rueben sandwiches to enjoy at lunch the next day!! Enjoy :)



honey mustard glaze + a lot of fresh cracked pepper



perfectly glazed

it doesn't get much better than that, y'all

see the tangy honey mustard drizzle-- perfection.



For the Honey Mustard Glaze:

2T Honey Mustard

2T Extremely Grainy Mustard
1T Dijon Mustard + 1T Mayo
3-4T Light Brown Sugar (depending on how sweet you like, but you will need some on top)
Pinch of Salt + Fresh Cracked Pepper (the more… the better)
A Sprinkling of Ground Cloves or Freshly Grated Nutmeg
¼C Reserved Cooking Water (that you used to boil the corned beef)

 For the Corned Beef:

1 4lb Already Prepared Corned Beef
Included Spice Packet + 2T Mulling Spices
Water, For Boiling (enough to cover the beef)

Directions:

1. To Make the Honey Mustard Glaze: Whisk together the honey mustard, grainy mustard, Dijon Mustard, Mayo, and Brown Sugar… along with a pinch of salt & pepper. Set it aside while you boil your corned beef.
2. Prepping the Corned Beef: Bring a big pot of water to a boil and add the included spice packet, as well as the mulling spices. Let it boil for about 2-3 minutes, and then gently place the corned beef into the hot water. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 45-50 minutes per pound. I cooked mine for roughly three hours before removing it and glazing it (keep in mind that if the meat is fork tender, then it is done and no longer needs to be boiled). Once it is done boiling, remove the corned beef to a paper towel lined plate and dry it off as best as you can, if there is any excess moisture it can cause the glaze to slip off instead of caramelize.
3. Broiling the Beef: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a pan with a Silpat. Place the dried-off corned beef onto the pan and liberally spoon half of the honey mustard mixture all over the top of the cut of meat. You can also use a pastry brush to help you get spaces that the spoon won’t reach. Lightly sprinkle the top with some more brown sugar and ground cloves, and a little bit of salt before covering the entire thing with a decent layer of fresh cracked pepper (we love a lot of pepper, especially when it comes to this cut of meat, so you can do as little or as much as you want). Now that is has been completely glazed, place it into the oven and cook for another 20-30 minutes or until the honey mustard adheres to the beef and becomes somewhat sticky.
4. During that time, pour in about 1 ladle of the corned beef boiling liquid into your remaining honey mustard. This will thin the mixture out quite a bit, but you are going to drizzle it all over the sliced beef once it is done cooking. This means it will be extra flavorful & extremely moist, but not covered in globs of sauce.
5. Serving the Corned Beef: Remove the glazed corned beef from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Now, I know many of you do not have a crème brulee torch, but this is the perfect utensil to brown the outer area of the corned beef, so that the glaze is perfectly browned and not burnt (you can use your broiler, but you will risk burning it if you don’t keep an eye out for it). After resting, thinly slice the glazed corned beef and drizzle with the remaining half of your thinned-out honey mustard, all over every slice. Serve with some cabbage and potatoes!!