Chris and Carrie share their traditional Halloween Dinner

The Hubby and I were invited to Halloween Dinner at Chris and Carrie’s house. What is a traditional Halloween Dinner, you ask? Reuben Sandwiches, with Sauerkraut Soup. Laura even made an Apple Crisp for dessert! It was absolutely delicious, and Chris let me photograph his sandwich making process. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good shots of adding the corned beef or sauerkraut, because Chris is ninja-fast (and I have a tendency to shake the camera when I’m laughing at funny jokes and good times). I think you’ll get the idea though.

There is a heated Reuben Debate on the interwebs, regarding dressing. There is a group of vehement individuals that insist that Reubens must have Thousand Island dressing, and another proclaiming that the only acceptable spread is Creamy Russian dressing. There are still more folks that insist on mayonnaise instead of any dressing, and a final group that says mustard is the way to go. Well, Chris trumps them all. Horseradish. It’s awesome. I must admit, I had never tried a Reuben until Hubby introduced me to them years ago. Hubby does not like the Thousand Island version, so I thought Reubens were made with mustard. I like the tang that mustard brings, and I tend to find Thousand Island versions a bit on the sweet side. Although I enjoy Hubby’s version, I think that Chris has hit on a brilliant solution by using horseradish instead. There’s a bit of tang that is a brilliant counterpart for the cheese, but there is also a delightful nose-tingling spice involved. Seriously, if you like wasabi or horseradish at all, this ingredient is a bit of genius in the Reuben recipe.

Ingredients:

butter
dark rye bread
horseradish spread
sliced Swiss cheese
sliced corned beef
sauerkraut

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200°.
Melt butter in a medium-large skillet over medium heat.
Spread horseradish onto two slices of dark rye bread.
Add cheese to both sides.

Note: This is very important, and a point that Chris and I are in complete agreement on. If you have cheese on both sides of your bread, it can act like a delicious, melty glue to hold all your other ingredients in the sandwich. If you only cheese one side, the opposite side tends to slide around and your sandwich falls apart.
Besides, you can never have too much cheese.

Add two slices corned beef to one slice of bread, and top with sauerkraut.
Assemble both slices of bread and their respective toppings into one sandwich.
Put the sandwich in your frying pan and add a dab of butter to the top slice of bread.
Fry that sammich up good.
While the first side of the first sandwich is cooking, assemble your next sandwich. This is the other brilliant stroke of Chris’ assembly line process that keeps sandwiches in process, without overloading the cook.
Flip the first sandwich and add the second sandwich to the pan.
Once you’ve assembled your third sandwich, your first should be done. Keep cooked sandwiches warm in a pan in your preheated oven. That way, everyone has a delicious, warm, melty sandwich when it’s dinner time. That’s good cookin’.
Repeat as necessary until you’ve made all the sammiches you want. Serve toasty warm from the oven.

The Verdict:

Hubby and I both love a good, melty, tasty Reuben so it was the perfect end to a long weekend for us! I loved the horseradish (if you couldn’t guess by the fact that I called it “genius”). I think I’ve said it before, but it’s still true that making and then eating dinner with friends is one of my favorite experiences. I had such a great time with friends and family last night, and the food was so delicious. And I didn’t have to wear a costume. Or go out in the cold. It was the perfect Halloween!

Stay tuned for soup and apple crisp recipes to come…