Reuben Cousin

Sunday night I was watching The Next Iron Chef and Chef Mullen won the challenge with an Asian inspired reuben. He was describing all of the components, and it sounded so crazy it might work. The judges loved it and were commenting how there isn't a person out there who doesn't love a reuben! I had to feel a little silly at that point, because I've never had one!

So, with corned beef leftovers in my fridge, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try at least a reuben cousin - my variation, with what's on hand.

2 slices wheat bread, buttered
corned beef, sliced
cheddar cheese
dill pickle slices
brown mustard

I pretty much just cooked it like a grilled cheese! I buttered both sides of the bread, assembled it, and reduced the heat and put a lid on. I left it alone for about 2 minutes on each side so the inside could get hot and everything melty and crisp.

When I cut into it, I have to admit I felt like Sophia! She always creates complex flavor combinations (most times with cheese!) that I would never think of. This was pretty out there for me, the most daring my grilled cheeses have gotten before this is adding sliced ham!

All in all, I really liked it! There was the salty tenderness of the corned beef, the cheesy goodness, and then the tart backgrounds from the pickle and bites of the brown mustard. All balanced by a crusty, buttery bread!

I also finally did something with my Twitter account! There's a link in the taskbar on the side, if you want to follow me! I found a lot of you to follow, but I still need to track some of you down...