Sandwiches, burgers, and wraps
The Reuben is one of the best-known hot sandwiches at American delis: corned beef, drained sauerkraut, and melting cheese are pressed between slices of rye bread and toasted in butter. The sauce is made with mayonnaise, ketchup, and chopped pickles; it cuts the tang of the sauerkraut and holds the sandwich together. This recipe is written entirely with beef and contains no alcohol.
Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, finely chopped pickles, grated onion, and hot paprika. The sauce should drip slowly from a spoon; if it is watery, the pickle liquid was not squeezed out and will soak the bread. Refrigerate.
Leave the sauerkraut in a strainer, then squeeze it firmly in your palm to remove the liquid. Toss it in a dry pan over medium heat for 4 minutes, until the steam has escaped. This mellows the sauerkraut’s sharpness and keeps it from releasing liquid inside the sandwich.
Spread sauce on one side of each of the eight bread slices. On four slices, layer half the cheese, the sliced corned beef, the warmed sauerkraut, and the remaining cheese, in that order. The cheese needs to be in two layers: the bottom layer sticks the meat to the bread, and the top layer binds the sauerkraut to the other slice. Close with the remaining slices, sauce-side down.
Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the sandwiches and press them down with a heavy pot or plate. Toast each side for 4 minutes; the bread should turn golden and the cheese should show at the edge when pressed. If the heat is too high, the bread will darken before the cheese melts. Transfer to a board, rest for 2 minutes, then cut diagonally.
Do not add the sauerkraut without draining it, and squeeze it once more in your palm after draining; sauerkraut that releases liquid will soak the bread from the inside and make the sandwich fall apart in the pan.
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