Tortas Ahogadas - Drowned Sandwiches

This was my experiment for Easter this year. I ate this at a friend's on New Year's Day and have wanted one (or two) ever since. They are just that good. The only expensive part is the pork, though I read online that some people use carne asada (grilled skirt steak) which I may try next. Some of the recipes I read online had two sauces, a tomato sauce and a spicy sauce with no tomato, so that one could choose the level of spiciness that they preferred. I combined them for simplicity and to appeal to my families tastes. The baby, who is almost 3, was not interested in the spicy sauce at all, but gladly ate the meat by itself. When I made this, the gas was off, so I cooked the meat at a friend's house and made the sauce in the microwave. Special thanks to Lizbeth Guerrero, Kristian Guerrero, and Cecilia Ramos for helping me get the recipe right.


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NOTE: When handling chilies, it is smart to wear rubber/latex gloves or you are sure to end up with some serious pain to your skin, face, eyes...

INGREDIENTS

4-6 lbs. boneless pork loin or shoulder, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 Tbl. Tony Chachere's Spice N' Herbs Seasoning (If you can't find this, substitute salt, garlic powder, and chili powder in equal amounts.)
16 oz. Cola flavored soda or pineapple juice
16 oz. sour cream
7 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 Tbl. garlic salt AND 2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper AND 1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Onions, purple or white
Lemon juice or vinegar
Arbol Chilies (We got the El Guapo brand, 2 1/4 oz. and used about 1/3 of the package in the sauce.)
1 T. Sesame seeds
1 C. water
1 C. vinegar
29 oz. can tomato sauce
2 Tbl. or 2 cubes tomato bouillon powder with chicken flavor (we use the Knorr brand)
Sourdough Rolls (You need a hard bread that won't go soggy in the sauce. For my 6 lb. roast, we used 12 rolls.)




The Meat
4-6 lbs. boneless pork loin or shoulder, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 Tbl. Tony Chachere's Spice N' Herbs Seasoning (if you can't find this, substitute salt, garlic powder, and chili powder in equal amounts)
16 oz. Cola flavored soda or pineapple juice

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the cubed meat in one layer in a roasting pan or casserole dish. (When I did this, I had to divide 6 lbs. between 2 glass casserole dishes.) Sprinkle the onion soup mix and the seasoning over all the meat. Add enough soda to cover the meat (approximately 1 cup for every 3 lbs. of meat). (Plan on cooking for about 25 minutes for every 2 lbs. For my 6 lb. roast, I did 75 minutes and it was perfect.) Put the meat in the oven, uncovered, and cook at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn over the meat halfway through the cooking time. All of the liquid should boil off and leave a delicious coating on the meat that has a slight onion flavor and has a little sweet and a little spice to it. When the meat is cooked with no pink left in the center, remove it from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before use. While the meat is cooking, make the rest of the parts for the sandwich.



Chipotle Spread16 oz. sour cream
7 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 Tbl. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper

Take 2 or 3 chipotle peppers from the can. Slice the chilies lengthwise, and remove as many seeds as you can. Slice the chilies. Into the sour cream, mix the chilies and a spoonful of adobo sauce, garlic salt, and pepper. Return the spread to the refrigerator to allow the flavors to mix while you prepare the rest of the meal.



Pickled Onions2 Onions, purple or white
Lemon juice or vinegar

Thinly slice the onions. Place them in a container with a lid. Cover with the lemon juice or vinegar. Place it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.



Arbol Sauce - I made my sauce in the microwave. It can be made on the stove just the same way, just stir constantly so that the sauce doesn't burn and don't overcook as it will make the sauce bitter.

Arbol Chilies (We got the El Guapo brand, 2 1/4 oz. and used about 1/3 of the package in the sauce.)
1 T. Sesame seeds
1 C. water
1 C. vinegar
29 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbl. or 2 cubes tomato bouillon powder with chicken flavor (we use the Knorr brand)

Place a large handful of the chilies (about 1/3 of the package), stems and all and the sesame seeds in a microwave safe bowl. Add the cup of water, add a little more water if the chilies are not covered. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Pour the chili mixture into a blender and puree until it is all well chopped. (We used a hand blender which tends to put a lot of chili into the air which made everyone in the house cough like crazy.) Strain the mixture, discard the solid stems, seeds, and skins part. Put the liquid into a microwave safe bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Microwave on high for about 12 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes, until it thickens.



Build the Sandwich
1 sourdough roll per plate
2 Tbl. Chipotle Spread per roll
1/2 C. cooked meat per roll
Pickled onions
Arbol Sauce

Slice the sourdough roll. Spread both sides of the bread with Chipotle Spread. Spread the meat on the bottom half of the roll and pickled onions on the top half of the roll. Depending on your tastes for the spicy Arbol sauce, either add several spoonfuls of sauce to the inside of the sandwich, "drown" the sandwich in sauce, or put the sauce in a small bowl for each person to use like a French dip sandwich (this way is much less messy). This is a very messy sandwich either way. Serve with a nice cold cola drink or lemonade to put out the fire. It would also be good with chips and dip or sliced fruit to help cool the fire.



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