Pick Up Some ‘Reuben the Great’ Casseroles For St. Patty’s Day

We ❤ us some St. Patrick’s Day here at The Culinary Center of Kansas City. We’re already gearing up for it! Chef Sergio cooked up some ‘Reuben the Great’ Casserole this week that is now available in our Dinners on Demand freezers in The Kitchen Shop. It’s an annual tradition around here – a fully loaded casserole with all the same delicious ingredients as a Reuben sandwich. If you love Reubens, you will love this! It’s great at any time of the year, but it’s a MUST in March.

Ever wonder where the Reuben sandwich got its name?
We hear that the story goes like this… 
The year was 1914. Late one evening a leading lady of actor Charlie Chaplin came into the restaurant and said, ‘Reuben, make me a sandwich, make it a combination, I’m so hungry I could eat a brick.’  He took a loaf of rye bread, cut two slices on the bias and stacked one piece with sliced Virginia ham, roast turkey, and imported Swiss cheese, topped off with coleslaw and lots of Reuben’s special Russian dressing and the second slice of bread.  He served it to the lady who said, ‘Gee, Reuben, this is the best sandwich I ever ate, you ought to call it an Annette Seelos Special.’  To which he replied, ‘Like hell I will, I’ll call it a Reuben’s Special.’
(from Patricia Taylor, daughter of Arnold Reuben, founder of Reuben’s, as described to Crag Claiborne of the New York Times in his book, ‘Craig Claiborne  – The New York Times Food Encyclopedia’)

Here’s the recipe for our ‘Reuben the Great’ Casserole.
Try it at home. Or stop by The Culinary Center and pick one up from our Dinners on Demand freezers. Enjoy!

‘Reuben the Great’ Casserole

• 1 loaf rye bread, cut into cubes, divided
• 16 ounces sauerkraut
• 1 ½ cups Swiss cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup Thousand Island dressing
• 2 cups corned beef, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place half of bread crumbs in 9 x 13-inch pan.  Spread the sauerkraut on top of bread layer.

In a small bowl, mix sour cream and dressing, and spoon half on top of sauerkraut layer.

Next, layer on 1 cup Swiss cheese, then the corned beef. Add a layer of the sour cream/dressing mix on top of the corned beef. Top with remainder of bread crumbs, then remainder of Swiss cheese. Drizzle melted butter over it all. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 8-10.

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BTW –
We know the perfect place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2017… 

Come for a bit of kitchen “Craic” at Third Friday Local Life in Downtown O’verland Park! Celebrate St. Pat’s in our kitchens with Irish Fare Cooking Demo and FREE tastings of Dublin Coddle. FREE live music with Leprechaun Johnny Murphy; FREE beer, spirits and wine tastings. Aye but the craic is FREE, too! As always, a cash bar with Guinness to boot! Small plates for sale: Coddle, Irish Soda Bread, Corned Beef Sliders and Guinness Brownies.