Lunchtime Pastrami Reuben

We had pastrami on sale at our local Sprout's Market recently, so I had to pick some up. We also had some seedless rye on hand, sauerkraut, and some 1000 Island dressing so around 9AM I started craving a Reuben sandwich. Really craving a Reuben. Bad. I only had Muenster cheese, so that was going to have to do.

I actually had the willpower to hold off until 11:30, though I have no idea how. While my cast iron skillet and grill press were heating up, I laid a few slices of cheese on a slice of rye, and spread a bit of dressing on top of the cheese. I like to do it this way for a few reasons- the dressing doesn't make the bread soggy, and it mixes in nicely with the sauerkraut, which went on next. I use a fork to strain the sauerkraut well, you don't want a watery mess trashing your nice crispy Reuben, right?

Lastly, the pastrami. I suppose I could've added a bit more meat, but I've had a lot of over-the-top Reubens all across the country- Carnegie Deli, Stage Deli, Katz's, Art's, Jerry's Famous Deli, Canter's, Junior's, and a zillion in between, so I've gotten a bit put off by the 6" tall tasty monstrosities I've encountered, so I figured to best err on the side of caution. Besides, I could always make a second one...

A bit of butter in the skillet and on top of the sandwich, and into the skilled it went. I like to start grilled sandwiches with the cheese towards the heat, to get it melting, then finish the sandwich after flipping it with the cheese melting through all the other good stuff. Not too hot to start, you're trying to heat everything through, once you're confident that everything's good and hot you can raise the heat a bit to get the bread nice and crisp. A grill press, like the one below, really helps things along, retaining the heat, and helping to hold the sandwich together.

So, how was it? Awesome, though I'd like a rye bread with a little more character next time, but the Muenster was a nice change.