The Oscars may be old news, but the food lives on. This is a recipe that I tried for an Oscar party, and it’s truly a winner.
Watching the Oscars has always been a fun idea, even though it takes hours. For that reason, I want to have a bunch of snacks on hand to keep me out of the kitchen. After toying with this recipe a few times, I got it down to being simple and yet layered in flavors. The flavors are inspired by my visits to New York City, where I always stop by Katz’s Deli.
Katz’s is all about super comfort food. It is probably the most iconic delicatessen in the world for several reasons. I have been a fan since my F.I.T. days in NYC. Gray’s Papaya and Katz’s Deli were the go get ‘em sites for great munchies. Katz’s also has movie cred – the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in “When Harry Met Sally” was shot at there. The internet is always flooded with people doing social media blast from Katz’s. The beautiful thing is that people-watching is part of the experience of eating at Katz’s. The best times to go are around 10-11 a.m. because of the notoriety and crowds. So, comfort food that holds up well after prep time was my goal for this past Oscars. Even a Latvian film, “Flow,” won this year. Paldies (Latvian for thank you) to the voters.
The simplest of ingredients for a complex flavor treat.
Referencing my Latvian heritage and having a blessed childhood, I take pride in experimenting with my culinary journey. Sharing experiments and testing a new dish on friends is truly a perk that is part of my joy when writing this column. Speaking of joy, what about that movie “The Menu” from 2022? That’s one cinematic treat for the bucket list, certainly entertaining and a fine post-MasterChef viewing must. Without spoiling the end, simple is always best. That is why these reubenesque corned beef puff pastries are just perfect.
Simplicity. You take your shopping bag through the mercado and grab a few items, stand in front of the Publix deli, and have those wonderful servers do the heavy lifting. I am always respectful and aware that we are very blessed in this country. My immigrant parents and family taught me that. But sometimes people forget to say please and thank you.
That’s the perfect amount of kraut.
Now, everyone can see there are countries suffering greatly with no electricity or water let alone a supermarket where you can order corned beef and cheeses sliced to your desired thickness. But every little thing matters in keeping this planet clean and healthy. It’s a blessing enough to have the server at the deli offer you a sliced taste, let alone putting individual sheets of plastic between your sliced cheese. How “Ameri-cant” is that? Every time I go through this blessing, I say in a loud bellowing voice, “No need to use sheets of plastic between the slices because that is wastefully bad for the environment.” Then I stick around for a few minutes to see who follows suit. Give me a break and stop choking the sea turtles and filling the stomachs of helpless whales with toxic plastic.
Rolling in the dough.
Anyhow, a great add to the reuben “puffs” is Russian dressing. But for the sake of this article, I’m gonna call the condiment Ukrainian dressing. I hope you don’t mind.
Puff pastry has always been an impossibility to make, maybe because I have not yet given myself a true test of my baking skills. That means I would never attempt making an authentic phyllo. When made by an experienced baker, these pastries totally lend themselves to a fine roll or packed stuffing, if you know what I mean. Who doesn’t appreciate a great flake? The patience to place layers of pastry over and over is what makes that Bettina croissant crispy and flaky. Great layering makes that sfogliatella from MiMi’s Ravioli superbly crusty. So I used Publix-machined “puff” pastry layers and got proper results. The trick is to get the ingredients rolled up properly. If anything, four years in the college system taught me how to roll well. My years after that have taught me just about everything else.
A view of all the pre-baked ingredients.
This is another tasty, savory appetizer for your repeat performances when watching the next Oscars… you will be smellin’ what I’m tellin’.
CHEF SID’S Reuben Pastry Puffs
Serves: Party appetizers for a few hours watching the Oscars or other award shows
INGREDIENTS
Reuben Corned Beef Pastry:
½ lb. Boar’s Head corned beef, sliced thin
½ lb. Swiss cheese, sliced medium thin
½ cup sauerkraut, well drained (bottled is great)
3 tbsp. deli mustard
1 tbsp. caraway seeds
Close-up goodness of the Reuben Pastry Puffs.
¼ cup Swiss cheese, shredded large
One package puff pastry (2 sheets) at cold room temperature.
Large baking pan lined with parchment paper
PREPARATION
· Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
· Thaw the puff pastry until it’s room temperature
· Place the pastry flat on cutting board and keep neat.
Four perfect Reuben Pastry Puffs.
· Layer the thin sliced Swiss cheese covering 2/3 of the pastry.
· Layer the thin sliced corned beef covering 2/3 the pastry.
· Add a swipe of great deli mustard to taste over the meat.
· Sprinkle drained sauerkraut over the corned beef
· Sprinkle a good amount of caraway seeds on top of the sauerkraut
The best view before the final bite of goodness.
· Roll the final layers into a log and cut into 1 inch thick slabs (about 8)
· Place on baking pan and cover each with shredded Swiss cheese.
· Bake in over until golden light brown, about 13-15 minutes.
· Serve warm with side of pickles and “Anti-Russian” dressing. Let’s call it Ukrainian dressing.
Ukrainian Dressing
(Not Russian)
½ cup Duke’s mayo
½ cup Ketchup
½ cup Sweet pickle relish, very well drained
½ oz Worcestershire sauce
· Mix all ingredients and keep refrigerated until use.
Try dill pickles or pickled tomatoes as side condiment.
Sid Hoeltzell is an awardwinning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He frequently photographs for Royal Caribbean cruise lines, Christie’s and Sotheby’s
Sid Hoeltzell