Meat

Open- Faced Irish Reuben Sandwich

My favorite thing about St. Patrick's Day is left-overs, and my favorite left-over is an open-faced Irish Reuben sandwich. I started making my Rubens open-faced years ago, they are slightly less messy and I did like that you could put more "stuff" on it when you eat with a fork.

I assume everyone knows the standard fare for a Reuben, Rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, and Russian or thousands island dressing and Swiss cheese. My version uses more beef and sauerkraut, more Russian dressing and cheese and since it's a left over I always make sure I have plenty of soda bread to go with it.

The one "trick" to this recipe is to let the corned beef chill, it is so much easier to slice thinly when cold

Directions

Like all recipes, other than for certain sauces and baking, there is no wrong or right way to do it.
The order in which you stack and the amount you stack are up to you.
Take the stock and place it in a pot and bring it up to a simmer.
Slice the corned beef against the grain as thinly as you can and place in the stock to slightly heat up.
In a separate pot gently heat up the Sauerkraut.
Butter one side of the Soda Bread and spread a generous layer of dressing on the other side and place butter side down in a sauté pan or frying pan, that has a lid and is on medium heat.
Layer the Swiss slices over the dressing, remove the corned beef from the stock drain and pat dry and layer on top of the cheese.
Now drain and layer the sauerkraut on top of the beef.
You can finish with more dressing and cheese if you wish.
Cover the pan and allow the cheese to melt and the buttered side of the bread to come to a golden brown.
Plate and serve.
The Scott's-Irish in me also uses the left over potatoes, from the St. Patrick's Day meal, to make a dill potato salad to go with it ( http://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/category/recipes/salads/dill-potato-salad/ ).