Reuben reuben I've been thinking: what about a reuben casserole?

Ninety million years ago, when Annalena was in grammar school, occasionally we had what would pass for music instruction, with one of the most unpleasant humans in the world:  Mr. Peters. UGH. I hated that class.  And what we had to sing.  Including a number, the lyrics of which are in the accompanying links
http://www.musiclegacy.com/Pages/reubenre.htm

Annalena remembered this song, unfortunately, when she read a recipe recently that was intriguing to say the least. 

Now, before we head into this recipe, she should tell you that this one is far from the standard Annalena recipe.  It is in fact a "recipe of all seasons," as there is absolutely nothing fresh in it.  You can make it anytime of the year.  It is NOT good for you.  It has no redeeming values.

Except it tastes so goshdarn good.    Annalena found this recipe, when looking through her  Penzey's spices catalog.  They publish recipes regularly. Most of them, Annalena just dispenses with as vehicles to use weird spice mixes.  Others are very elementary, although she gives kudos for printing, with every issue, a recipe for saffron rice.  Would that everyone made saffron rice once in a while. 

But as usual, she digresses.  This one struck home because it is a deconstruction, without saying so, of a classic reuben sandwich, one of Annalena's favorite forbidden foods.  You know the Reuben, yes?  Piled high- VERY high in the case of Carnegie Deli, with sauerkraut, corned beef, melted cheese, Russian dressing.  Oh yes.  So delicious.  So bad for you.  As one former friend once said "an embolism on a plate."  The old adage "small portions" really doesn't work here. Annalena defies anyone to not try to finish a whole reuben sandwich, notwithstanding the consequences.

Well, what caught her eye, was the use of rye bread crumbs, for that very same issue had a recipe for rye bread, which yielded much more of a tasty rye loaf than Annalena and the Guyman could use.  Hmmm.. And the farmers needed to be fed.  And away we went. 

It is good.  It is VERY good.  A warning:  it is NOT cheap if you buy good stuff for it.  It IS very easy.  And you should make it, once in a while, as Annalena will.  She does believe she found the first item for her New Year's repast.

Abbastanza. Let us get to our work.  First, turn your oven to 350 and get yourself a 9x13 inch glass or ceramic baking dish.  Pour out, and spread over that, two pounds of drained sauerkraut.  Now, take a nice hefty tablespoon of caraway seeds, and sprinkle that over the sauerkraut.  Next:  two pounds of thinly sliced corned beef.  (Next time, Annalena will use pastrami, or a mixture).  You can rip this into small bits, and indeed, Annalena ripped up one pound into small bits, and then covered that, with thin slices.  Now, the cheese.  A full pound of Swiss, please, grated.  If you had slices, presumably you could use that as well. 

Good corned beef and good cheese are expensive.  Console yourself with the fact that you are making a lot.

Now, the Russian dressing.  This is not a staple of Annalena's kitchen, so she improvised, by taking 2 cups of mayonnaise (that is a full jar, ragazzi), and mixing it with 1/2 cup of ketchup.  Spread this over the cheese.  And, finally, you need the crumbs.  DO NOT DO THIS WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN RYE CRUMBS.  Get some rye bread, toast it, and then pulse it in your food processor. You will be wanting a generous 2 cups or so.  Do not worry about even crumbs.  The oddities of texture make this more fun.  Evenly pour that over the "Russian."

Now, get yourself a crane, and move that dish to the oven, for a good half hour.  After about fifteen minutes, you will begin to get the wonderful smell that baked mayonnaise gives off. Then you will get melting cheese. And then, burning cheese, perhaps the greatest aphrodisiac the world has ever known.  After half an hour, stop the cooking, get your crane and remove the casserole, and let it cool.

This fed a goodly portion to seven very hungry, hard working farmers. Those with less strenuous jobs, should in fact consider small portions. But as in Rome, where traffic signs are suggestions, not rules, so too here.  If you wish to pig out, do so.  Annalena will tell you her experience however.  She took a tablespoon of it, and it was good, so she had  a second.  And a third.  At that point the queeze factor took  over in her belly and she had to stop.    So keep this in mind.

Now, with this hefty killer recipe, you might think that our next project will be something light and delicate. Hardly.  Next time, ragazzi, we are going to make... flan.   Stay tuned