Another good Pastrami Reuben (Rachel) at home… I had bought a loaf of Arnold’s Jewish Rye bread earlier in the week (has seeds) and was thinking of fixing this again (been a while). Last night I fixed a batch of Catalina dressing that turned out really good. I had lunch at Maguro’s this afternoon.

I made a small batch of Thousand Island dressing tonight, and then fixed the Pastrami sandwich. Instead of putting the dressing on before I cut the sandwich in half, I cut it in half and then put Thousand Island on one half and the Catalina on the other. The Thousand Island dressing is better for this sandwich, although I really do like the Catalina dressing I made. *I made a Russian dressing, which made me rethink what the sweet, ruby red dressing was called, that I liked. I finally decided that Catalina was the correct dressing name. The Russian dressing had Worcestershire and dry mustard, and wasn’t bad tasting.

The key to this not being messy to fix is to butter the outside of the bread and toast it first, in the oven. Then flip it over and put on the Swiss cheese and melt that. Then you can put the sauerkraut on the cheese and then the preferred dressing. Lastly putting on the Pastrami. Keep the wet dressing from the bread so that it doesn’t make it soggy.

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[NOTE 03/02/25]: Several weeks ago I had thought that I hadn’t had a Pastrami Reuben in a long time, but I hadn’t chosen to put it on the menu yet. But a few days later, I was walking down one of the many grocery isles (may have been in LIDL) I visit each week, and saw a package of Hillshire Farms Pastrami on sale. I think it was under $4, which is a good deal so I bought it.

I ordered some Seeded Rye bread from Publix, but needed to reschedule the pickup because of an incoming winter storm. I thought everything had been rescheduled, but that Saturday when I showed at Publix, “no bread for me.” I hadn’t opened the pastrami, so I hoped that it wouldn’t go bad, and it didn’t.

I got a half-loaf of sliced Seeded Rye Bread at Publix earlier this week, and have made a Pastrami Reuben sandwich for lunch the past two days. I have enough Pastrami & bread for two more sandwiches. I don’t eat Rye bread very often. In fact, about the only time I eat Seeded Rye bread is when I choose to make Pastrami Reubens at home. And, I enjoy all the flavors that come together for these. I have used the Wegman’s White American cheese instead of Baby Swiss. I make the Thousand Island dressing which is a simple 5 or 6 ingredient recipe that tastes better than store bought. I’ve also come to make a “side” of sauerkraut mixed with the Thousand Island dressing, and since those flavors work on the sandwich, they definitely work as a side dish. And that side would work with a pork chop too.

I don’t need a lot of sauerkraut, so I’ve bought a 15 oz. can of sauerkraut at Wegman’s but the last time, the sauerkraut wasn’t that good (darker color of the cabbage) and the can was less than half full of the shredded cabbage. I threw that sauerkraut away and bought a large glass jar of Silver Floss sauerkraut at Walmart. That was good.

I only use one slice of the rye bread, which I cut in half, so I’m really eating a half sandwich, but at my st/age, that’s all I need.

Back in 2017 when I made my first Pastrami Reuben at home, I made such a mess trying to fry up the bread & cheese on the stove top. The resulting sandwich was blackened and very greasy. But since then I have the process down to an art. Easy to prepare. Easy to heat in the oven, and easy and delicious to eat. Not a messy sandwich, even with the outside of the bread being buttered toast.

I like a large, cold, Ranch Dill Pickle spear with this sandwich. I have an unopened bag of Wavy potato chips that I bought at IGA several months ago. I’ve been good, and not eaten any so far. [end NOTE]