Monday, March 15, 2010

Reuben Sandwiches

My family isn't huge on having corned beef and cabbage in the traditional way (my mother-in-law calls it "boiled dinner" - not the most appetizing name). Being that I don't hold an ounce of Irish in my body, yet I'm half German, we do Reuben sandwiches on St. Patrick's Day. We still get the corned beef and cabbage (in the form of sauerkraut), but in a little different way.

Gluten-Free Reuben Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 corned beef brisket
1 can/package sauerkraut (we use the Silver Floss/Krrrisp Kraut without incident)
Swiss Cheese
Gluten-Free Thousand Island Dressing
Gluten-Free bread (we use Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread)
McCormick Brand Pickling Spices

Directions:
1. Place Corned Beef Brisket into crock pot, fill with water to just cover the brisket. Sprinkle Pickling Spices into the water (as much or as little as you want - I use a lot because it adds fantastic flavor). Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

2. Remove corned beef from crock pot and thinly slice. Build your sandwich on your gluten-free bread (we have a toaster OVEN** that we place our bread slices into with swiss cheese on one side to melt - do NOT use a toaster, as the slices will be vertical and the cheese will melt into the toaster and may cause a fire or ruin your toaster). After melting your cheese, put some Thousand Island Dressing, sauerkraut, and corned beef onto your sandwich. We often will cut our sandwiches into fourths because the gluten-free bread is pretty crumbly and it's easier to pick up a smaller piece of sandwich than a larger piece.


**If you do NOT have a toaster oven, but would like to melt your cheese onto bread, you can use a small fry pan/skillet on the stove. Place your bread into the pan and your cheese on top of the bread. Put the stove burner to medium heat. Place a lid onto your pan and let the cheese melt and your bread toast.