Reuben’s bold flavors can be dialed up or down
Reuben is not subtle. Rye bread. Corned beef. Sauerkraut. Those three are the flavor big brothers to whole wheat, roast beef and lettuce. (Yes, I know sauerkraut is made from cabbage and not lettuce.)
Swiss cheese punches up the flavor more than mild mannered cheddar or Colby.
Even the dressing — Russian or Thousand Island — isn’t exactly a shrinking vinaigrette.
This is a sandwich that pairs perfectly with a strong stout beer, Irish or otherwise.
Despite having just five ingredients, you can dial back the flavors battering your taste buds with each bite. Or, you can amp the flavor up to 11.
Insights
It’s the flavor equivalent of being at a packed Lambeau Field when the Packers are on defense and the crowd gets loud. What should be a cacophony of flavors unifies into a coherent salty sour beefy goodness bigger than individual ingredients.
Heating the sauerkraut and corned beef before building the sandwich gets the cheese melting before it hits the skillet.
Don’t overlook the step of draining the sauerkraut because it boosts the amount of crispy kraut bits while heating in the skillet. I’ve found frying kraut mutes the “sauer” nature of this fermented cabbage. I have a bias for the fried version. Draining less liquid and a shorter stint in the skillet will likely bolster the sauerkraut flavor.
Sauerkraut draining and frying are just the beginning for adjusting the intensity of your Reuben sandwich.
Light, marble or dark rye bread. I chose a swirled (marble) rye for presentation and it lands between light and dark rye on the scale of mild to strong flavors.
Swiss or baby Swiss cheese. You can intensify or mellow your Reuben experience based on which Swiss you pick.
Most Swiss cheese is made with a thermophilic culture that gives it a stronger flavor depending on age, said Jamie Fahrney, director of operations and master cheesemaker at Chalet Cheese Co-op in Monroe. Baby Swiss is made with mesophilic cultures and is a very mild cheese.
When it comes to meltability, Swiss is made with part-skim milk so it doesn’t melt as well as baby Swiss, which is typically made with full cream milk. Baby Swiss is more pliable than Swiss cheese because of the full fat milk and higher moisture. Still, it’s worth checking baby Swiss labels, Fahrney said because some plants make baby Swiss with part-skim milk.
“Depending on what you are looking for on the sandwich, Swiss is going to give you a more flavorful Reuben, but if you are looking for better meltability baby Swiss is what you want,” said Fahrney, who’s earned master cheesemaker certification for baby Swiss and is nearing completion of master status for Swiss. “My personal all-time favorite cheese is 10-month-old wheel Swiss.”
Russian or Thousand Island dressing. Russian is spicier. Thousand Island is sweeter. Typically.
Recipes are split when it comes to the dressing. Though, when Russian is favored, it often includes instructions to make the dressing from scratch. That could be because Thousand Island gets more of a store’s shelf space than Russian dressing.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to pick out which sandwich had which dressing as prepared. I had to dunk the grilled sandwiches in dressing between bites to tell the difference.
The Russian dressing (made by Wish-Bone) tasted like a spicy ketchup that clashed with the sandwich flavors. The Thousand Island (also Wish-Bone) provided complementary flavors. Perhaps a homemade Russian dressing, which looks easy to make, would fit better with this Reuben recipe.
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ABOUT THIS SERIES: I test recipes found on food packages in my very average kitchen with my moderately above average cooking talent. Contact me at dphiggin@gannett.com. Follow @HigginsEats
Frank’s Classic Reuben
Makes one sandwich
2 slices rye bread
1 ⁄4 pound corned beef
1⁄4 cup Frank’s Kraut, drained
2 slices Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons Thousand Island dressing
2 tablespoons butter
Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add corned beef and sauerkraut. Heat through.
Butter the outside of each slice of bread and spread dressing on the inside. Remove warmed corned beef from pan and set aside.
Place one piece of bread, buttered side down, in skillet. Top with a slice of Swiss cheese, warmed corned beef and kraut, second cheese slice and bread, buttered side up.
Toast sandwich on both sides. (Recipe from Frank’s Kraut) on Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook.