All New Yorkers have logged time at Katz’s Delicatessen, which is still churning out amazing Jewish deli food on Houston Street. And in the annals of deli sandwiches, the Reuben has to rank near the top, if not at number one. You need a really good Jewish rye bread with caraway seeds for this. Some old-school bakeries, like Orwasher’s in New York and Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Michigan, still make it. Sometimes called corned rye, it’s dusted with cornmeal and has a great sour rye smell. If you don’t have a good Jewish bakery near you or don’t want to order online, go with Levy’s; that’s what we use at Knife. At Knife, we make our own pastrami (you’ll find a recipe on here) and sauerkraut, but if you’re not that ambitious, use the best-quality fresh deli pastrami you can find. If you can’t get fresh sauerkraut from a deli or farmers’ market, bagged or jarred will work. I’d avoid the canned stuff.
It may be traditional to put Thousand Island or russian dressing on the Reuben, but to me that’s sacrilegious. It’s a much better sandwich without all that sweetness—a liberal spread of mustard goes much better with the briny, pickled flavors of the meat and kraut. You can melt the cheese on the stove top, but I love the way finishing it in the oven preserves the integrity of the sandwich while just softening the cheese.
SERVES: 1
⅓ cup sauerkraut
5 ounces thin-sliced lean pastrami
2 slices New York–style rye bread
2¼ teaspoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 thin slices jarlsberg cheese
Kosher dill pickle, sliced in half lengthwise, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the sauerkraut in some of its brine.
In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm the pastrami. You want a little of the fat to melt, but you don’t want to cook or crisp it. Remove the pastrami from the pan.
Spread one side of each slice of rye bread with ¾ teaspoon of the butter. Melt the remaining ¾ teaspoon butter in the pan. Place the bread, buttered-side down, in the pan.
Spread ¼ teaspoon of the Dijon mustard over one side of each slice of the bread.
Put 2 slices of jarlsberg over one side of each slice of the bread. Pile the pastrami on one side of the bread.
Drain the sauerkraut and pile it on the pastrami. Top with the other slice of bread and press down gently. Place the pan in the oven for 4 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
Remove the pan from the oven, place the sandwich on a plate, and cut the sandwich in half straight across. Put the pickle halves on the plate and serve.