BEER-BRINED PORK BELLY CUBANOS
Exclusive Recipe from THE CULINARY BRO-DOWN COOKBOOK by Josh Scherer

There’s nothing wrong with a standard Cuban sandwich, and I’m not saying the alterations I’ve made are necessarily improvements on a dish rooted in history, except they totally are. First, sub out that easy-to-f*ck-up pork shoulder with hard-to-f*ck-up pork belly. You’ll be grateful for the extra fat in there, trust me. You’re going to be brining it for 12 hours, which, I get it — that sucks — but it’s totally worth it, and you will look back on this recipe and thank me one day. Second, replace Swiss cheese with its creamier, more processed counterpart, white American. Any time you can increase the meltiness factor of a dish, I say go for it. Third, slap some slices of pickled green tomato (the brand Bubbies makes a great pickle) on there instead of your typical dill pickles. If you’re not already on this pickled-green-tomato-hype train, you need to jump on real fast.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
2 cans of your favorite light beer
2 cups orange juice
¼ cup lime juice
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
3- to 4-pound slab boneless skinless pork belly
2 baguettes
¼ cup yellow mustard
1 pound thin-sliced deli ham (spring for some good sh*t)
4 slices white American cheese (way better than Swiss)
4 thin slices pickled green tomato (or regular dill pickles, whatevs)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS
- Whisk together your beer, orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper in a bowl large enough to fit the pork belly.
- Put the pork belly in the bowl and use your hands to massage the marinade into the meat — get in there all nice and deep-like. Then seal the bowl with plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge. Flip the meat every 6 hours and make sure it marinates for at least 12.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Take the pork belly out of the marinade and wipe off any chunks that might be sticking to it. Put a roasting rack on top of a baking sheet, toss the pork belly on there, and put it in the oven.
- Bake for 1 hour, then, when the marinade has started to caramelize and the pork is browned, drop the temp down to 275°F and bake for another 2 1/2 hours, until the pork is fully cooked and fork tender. The low temp is going to help the fat render.
- Take the pork belly out of the oven and let it rest at room temp for at least 20 minutes. Take a dangerously sharp knife that you probably shouldn’t be trusted to handle — but, hey, I’m still here — and slice the pork belly as thinly as possible. It’s going to start flaking a little, but that doesn’t matter. Roll with the punches.
- Cut the baguettes in half lengthwise, then in half… Widthwise? Lay down a solid schmear of mustard on the cut sides. Top with pork belly, ham (ratio should be 2:1, belly to ham), American cheese, and pickled green tomato, then pop that top bread on.
- So I’d just heat a half tablespoon of butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat, then, when it’s melted, throw a sandwich on there — work one half-baguette sandwich at a time — and use a saucepot to press it down. Griddle it off for about 3 minutes on one side, or until golden brown, then flip and do the same for the second side. Add more butter to the pan and repeat the process for each sandwich.
- Enjoy with an ice-cold trash beer.

For more, check out The Culinary Bro-Down Cookbook by Josh Scherer. Published by Grand Central Publishing. Copyright © 2017 Josh Scherer.
Available August 29, 2017!
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Books-A-Million, Kindle, Nook, iBooks
