The Best Thing I Ever Ate...

...between bread.

I watch the Food Network channel and their new sister channel, The Cooking Channel, a LOT.  A lot a lot.  I have The Cooking Channel on right now, actually.  I tend to turn the tv on and just leave it on in the background as I'm going about my day.  Ok, I actually spend a lot of time actually sitting and watching, too. 

The point being, there is a nifty show on Food Network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."  I love this show.  It's not a cooking show; instead it is various Food Network personalities talking about great food they have eaten and the restaurants where the food is.  Each episode is a theme, such as '...with fruit' or '...grilled.'  I saw one the other day entitled "The Best Thing I Ever Ate... Between Bread."  I told Dan that I think the best think I ever ate between bread are my veggie reubens.  Maybe it sounds odd to pick my own food, but it really makes sense.  I mean, I do make them exactly how I like them.  Why wouldn't the way I make something be my favorite?  If it weren't my favorite, I really am being silly, now aren't I?

Whenever I say 'veggie reubens,' I tend to get quizzical looks and questions. How do you make a veggie reuben, people wonder.  And, it must suck, I know they are thinking.  They're wrong.  My veggie reubens are awesome!  I have converted every single person who has ever tried them, including some true-blue meat lovers.  It may not have meat on it, but it is still a damn good sandwich.

There are few ingredients for my veggie reubens.  First of all, I do not make them out of what you may think are traditional reuben ingredients.  I use dark pumpernickel rye, instead of regular rye or marble rye.  I also don't use russian or thousand island dressing as the sauce.  I use instead a seasoned mayo that I make myself.  It's simple, but very tasty, and absoluteley key.  Then, you just need lots of good, sliced, natural swiss cheese, and a good jarred sauerkraut.  I am sortof picky about sauerkraut; I don't know, maybe it's because of my German heritage.  But there are lots of bad jarred sauerkrauts out there.  There are, luckily, a few very good ones.  The only thing about the sauerkraut is to make sure that it is pressed in a strainer - a wire mesh strainer works well - so that it isn't too wet.  Dripping sauerkraut can make the sandwich very soggy, and you don't want that.  You want it crispy and crunchy!

The mayo goes on both sides of the bread, as does the cheese.  Between the cheese slices goes a healthy dose of sauerkraut.  Then just grill it until it is nice and crisp on both sides, and the cheese is melty.  Everybody seems to have a different method for grilling sandwiches.  I don't butter the actual bread.  I always, always, instead, put a big dollop of butter directly into the hot pan.  When it's time to flip, I remove the sandwich, add a new dollop of butter, THEN put the new side down in the pan.  I swear by this method, and think that it makes a better grilled cheese/reuben/whatever you are grilling.  This is just my two cents.   I think if you have the rest of the reuben right, you can probably grill it however the heck you want, and it would still be tasty.

As a variation, I can also grill onion slivers in oil and some seasonings and add those onto the reuben with the sauerkraut.  This is also tasty!

Even if you are a meat eater, or even if you normally think you don't like sauerkraut, try this way of making veggie reubens.  It's sortof like the best grilled cheese you ever ate.  And, it's The Best Thing I Ever Ate Between Bread.  Happy eating!