Preliminary studies for commission Cuban Sandwich

Above are three studies for my commission. The painting will be 30x48 inches. I am just trying to work out the basic composition and palette at this stage so that she has something to see. After she gives me feedback on these, I will cut a piece of mat board in the correct dimensions as a study like 3 x 6 inches to make it more panoramic. She wants blue, pink and dark gold for the color scheme. She definitely wants palms and field flowers in the painting. This should be great fun and I'm very excited about this project. I ordered a nice piece of Masonite today from my cabinet maker. Bt the time it comes, I should have it straight in my mind on what she wants me to do and it will not take long. I think by late March I should have the painting on it's way. I will be gone through March 8th and hope to get started on it right after I get back. I love a new project.

On Friday I will start loading up the car for my trip and that will allow me time to get my studio cleaned up and ready for painting and for my open studio class in March the following Sunday. I am sick of living in a state if disarray. I have a thing about coming home to a clean studio. I always have. I want to walk in and have everything tidy and in it's place. I will be exhausted and ready to go back to work and having to clean a mess would be overwhelming, so when I leave March 2nd, the studio will be clean and organized. Of course, there is probably no DSL or wireless Internet at the state park so I will have hundreds of emails to read when I come home. I bought the notebook computer so I would be able to travel and work too. I think that is the only place I go without Internet connections now.


Today's Recipe:


I'm very lucky to live in Florida because there is a large Cuban American population here. I have many Cuban friends who are delightful and also marvelous cooks. I was introduced to Cuban cuisine as a young art student. I had a studio in Ybor City in a drafty old cigar factory. It was a wonderful space, but for the Pigeons and no heat or air. It was huge, so I was able to spread out and do large, very bad paintings. One of the best things about Ybor City was all the great food. In those days there were tiny Cuban restaurants and food kiosks everywhere and the food was great and super cheap. Two of my many favorite foods were Cuban sandwiches and those Delicious deviled crabs with hot sauce. Oh what I would give to have one of those right about now!! Yesterday I bought a Cuban sandwich from the Publix Deli and brought it home. I pressed it on the griddle and it was pretty good. Not like the real thing but not bad at all. Below is the best recipe I found which closely duplicates the sandwiches I remember from Ybor City. The main best ingredients were the crusty Cuban bread and the roast pork.

3 thin slices of ham

3 thin slices roast pork hot or cold (I use hot, slow roasted pork)

3 thin slices of Swiss cheese

3 or 4 slices of pickles

1/3 cut Cuban bread hard crust (or French bread)



You should be using fresh, crusty Cuban bread, but you can always use a 12" loaf of French bread cut in half. Slice the bread open face so that both halves are still barely connected and spread mustard on both halves. Add the ham, and then the roasted pork. When in a hurry, you can use one whole piece of roasted pork. Add your Swiss cheese and then a few pickle slices. Make sure to spray your sandwich press with a little butter flavored Pam, or for a tastier sandwich you can brush some softened butter on the outside of the bread. Place the sandwich in a Cuban sandwich press and press down until the cheese is melted and the bread is slightly hard to the touch. For those of you without a press, you can also place the sandwich in a hot skillet and press down on it with a heavy kitchen object, maybe a baking pan (some, believe it or not, use a brick wrapped in tin foil when nothing else is available).

I use a cast iron griddle to grill my sandwich and put two cast iron skillets on top. That works great.