Best 7 Chef Johns Cuban Bread Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S CUBAN SANDWICH

Steps:

• Mix mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne together in a bowl to make the sauce.
• Trim off ends of bread. Cut loaf in half and evenly split bread to make tops and bottoms of 2 sandwiches. Spread each half on both sides generously with the mayo/mustard sauce.
• Divide sandwich ingredients between the two bottom halves in this order: 2 slices Swiss cheese, 3 slices ham, hot cooked pork, pickle slices, and 2 more slices of Swiss cheese. Place tops on sandwiches.
• Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches in skillet and press down with a heavy weight (such as another skillet or foil-wrapped bricks). Toast sandwiches until bread is crisp and filling is heated through, 3 or 4 minutes per side.

CHEF JOHN'S NO-KNEAD CIABATTA

Steps:

• Place white and wheat flour in a large bowl. Add salt, yeast, and water. Mix until a wet sticky dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise for 18 hours at room temperature. It should not be too warm.
• Punch dough down with a spatula and fold it over a few times.
• Lightly grease a heavy-rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with cornmeal.
• Lightly spray a work surface with water. Place a long sheet of plastic wrap on the damp surface to hold it in place. Sprinkle plastic wrap with flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Gently stretch and pull dough into a long, flat rectangular shape, 12 to 15 inches long. Bring plastic sheet to edge of prepared pan and flip the dough into the prepared pan. Reshape the dough, if necessary. Dust with flour. Cover with a light dry towel. Let rise about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Bake dough in preheated oven until loaf is nicely browned, 35 to 45 minutes.

CHEF JOHN'S MILK BREAD

Steps:

• Whisk bread flour, water, and milk for starter together in a small saucepan until very smooth. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, until very thick and just about to bubble. If you want to check, it should be at least 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Pull off the heat and transfer into a measuring cup; you will need exactly 1/2 cup. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Prepare dough: Combine bread flour, cooled starter, salt, sugar, yeast, warm milk, and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Beat on low speed until dough begins to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl, scraping down the sides as needed, about 5 minutes.
• Stop the mixer and scrape dough off the hook and into the bowl. Add butter and knead on low speed until dough is slightly tacky but very smooth and elastic, scraping down the sides as needed, 10 to 12 more minutes.
• Remove dough from the bowl and shape into a smooth ball. Transfer into a lightly buttered bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Very generously butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• Transfer dough to a work surface (you don't need flour.) Press and knead out all the air and shape into a 9-inch wide rectangle. Starting at one 9-inch side, roll dough lengthwise into a log. Transfer log into the prepared loaf pan with the seam down. Press on dough a bit to be sure it's evenly distributed. Cover the pan and let dough rise until it comes to just about the top of the pan, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Brush the top of the loaf with just enough milk to lightly coat the surface.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until the top is golden brown and the load is beautifully puffed up, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Very carefully remove bread and place on a wire rack to cool all the way to room temperature before slicing, about 1 hour.

CHEF JOHN'S WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour warm milk into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Sprinkle yeast on top and let dissolve until a few small bubbles begin to a form, 10 to 15 minutes. Add beaten egg, sugar, vinegar, baking soda, salt, cayenne, flour, and butter.
• Knead on low speed until dough begins to come together. Increase speed slightly and knead about 3 minutes more. Use a spatula to scrape the sides clean and gather the dough into the center. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Butter a spatula and a loaf pan. Scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula. Smooth out the top to distribute dough evenly. Dust the top with flour and press gently to even out the dough. Let rise in pan for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Use a sharp knife or razor to cut a deep slash lengthwise through the center of the loaf. You may need to go over it several times. Brush the top with most of the melted butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Brush hot loaf with remaining butter. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

CHEF JOHN'S BOSTON CREAM PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Spray 2 (8-inch) cake pans with cooking spray.
• Stir yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, water, and vegetable oil in a bowl until moistened. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Divide cake batter between the two prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cakes have risen and are lightly golden brown, 33 to 38 minutes. Check for doneness after 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes should come out clean. Allow cakes to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Cool cakes completely, about 40 minutes.
• Whisk 3 eggs, cornstarch, and sugar in a large bowl until well mixed and lemon colored, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Heat 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whole milk, and 1/2 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil.
• Reduce heat to low; pour egg mixture into cream mixture and whisk until thick, about 1 minute.
• Pour egg and cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard any chunks.
• Whisk vanilla and salt into the egg and cream mixture until combined. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap pressed against the surface. Chill in refrigerator to form a pastry cream texture, 3 to 4 hours.
• Place chocolate in a large bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon butter and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in a saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour cream mixture over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Set aside until cooled, but still pourable, about 20 minutes.
• Place one cake layer on a plate, flat side up. Spread pastry cream to within 1-inch of the edge of cake. Place second cake layer on top, rounded side up. Press gently to push pastry cream to the edge. Pour chocolate mixture over top of the cake and spread so it drips over the edge.

CUBAN BREAD

Steps:

• Grease a large bowl, and set aside.
• Take a small bowl and dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup of warm (110 degrees F) water. Place the bowl in a warm place and let it stand until it starts to foam and double in volume, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, measure out 1/4 cup of lard Heat in the microwave until melted.
• Place the water/yeast/sugar mixture in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add the rest of the warm water and the salt. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until blended.
• Take your measuring cup and sift together the two flours.
• Gradually add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the wet ingredients in your mixer -- mixing constantly. At the same time you are adding flour, gradually pour in the melted lard. Keep adding a little flour and a little lard until all of the lard is added.
• Continue adding more flour until you make a smooth and pliable dough. Try to add just enough flour to make the dough elastic -- just as much as necessary so that the dough hook barely cleans the sides of the bowl. Too much flour and your bread will be too dense! You will use approximately 3 1/4 cups of sifted flour to bring the dough to this point. (More or less, this is where the art of baking comes in!) Save any leftover flour mixture for rolling out the dough.
• Now let the machine and the dough hook go to work kneading the dough. Set the mixer on a low speed and knead for about 3 to 4 minutes, no more! Your dough will be fairly sticky at this point.
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the greased bowl.
• Flip the dough ball a few times to grease it up on all sides. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm place. Let the dough rise until it doubles in size -- about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, using the leftover flour you have in the bowl. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out. This recipe called for a large loaf, shaped to fit a long baking sheet diagonally -- about 20 inches long. So we try to roll out a 12 x 20-inch rectangle. BUT:( I prefer 4 smaller ones for individual rolls)Sprinkle more flour on the dough and turn it over a few times as you roll it out, to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. The added flour at this rolling stage should take care of most of the stickiness of the dough.
• Roll the dough up into a tightly rolled long cylinder, with a slight taper at both ends. Wet your fingers and pinch the loose flap of the rolled dough into the loaf, making a tight seam.
• Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
• Place the loaf diagonally onto the baking sheet, seam side down. Dust the top with a little extra flour and cover very loosely with plastic wrap. (You don't want the rising dough to dry out or stick to the plastic wrap.).
• Place in a warm spot and allow the loaf to stand and rise once again until it is about 2 1/2 times it's original size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cuban bread is wider than French bread, so expect your loaf to spread out quite a bit as it rises.
• Preheat oven to 450º F. Place a pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven.
• Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow seam down the middle of the top of the bread, leaving about two inches of uncut top on each end of the loaf.
• Brush the top of the loaf with water and place in your preheated oven on the middle shelf. After about 5 minutes of baking, brush some more water on top of the bread.
• Bake the loaf until it is light brown and crusty -- about 12 to 18 minutes total baking time.

CHEF JOHN'S PICADILLO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and break up into small pieces with a spoon or spatula as it browns. Cook until meat completely loses its pink color, 8 to 10 minutes. Add diced onion and salt. Cook until onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add pepper, cumin, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper. Cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
• Stir in red wine vinegar, crushed tomatoes, and water. Cook a few minutes while deglazing pan. Add currants; bring back to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until meat is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Gently stir in sliced olives; cover and cook another 10 to 15 minutes.