1.30.2010

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

     A favorite childhood memory is going to my aunts' house and having "Frosty" cookies. That's what they are called in our family, but they go by many names. They are a no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookie and they are great. Best of all, they can be whipped up in no more than 20 minutes, including getting ingredients ready and 1 minute of boiling.  We think they are best served with a tall glass of very cold milk....
                                Frosty Cookies (Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies)
Have all ingredients ready to go before cooking.
 
 

2c sugar
1/2c milk
1/2c cocoa
1/4# butter
pinch salt
Bring the above to a boil and boil 1 minute, stirring frequently. Do not over cook or the cookies will be too dry (see photo below). Remove from heat.


At 1 minute, add:
1/2c peanut butter - smooth or chunky, your choice
1tsp vanilla
Stir until peanut butter is incorporated.

Pour all over 3c quick rolled oats and stir until well mixed.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let cool and snack.
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As you see above, the very dry looking cookies were boiled too long ( that's what happens when a cook does not pay attention!!. Also, sorry the photo is a bit blurry). If this should happen to you, add a bit of warm water to the "dough" and stir well. Continue forming cookies.  When properly cooked, the cookies should be shiny, but not wet, nor stiff, like cookies on the right.

     I'm also making bread tonight. It is a no-knead refrigerator bread. Just 3 ingredients - yeast, salt and flour.
Dough is refrigerated up to 2 weeks(!) and can be used any time after the initial "rise". Below is a photo of just mixed dough. It is pretty wet at this point. Tonight it will rise and fall back on itself, then go into 'fridge. It is recommended to refrigerate at least 5 hours before using all or a part of dough. I'll have a full post and report next week.
carla5 039

1.27.2010

Puerto Rican Pork Chops with Rice and Beans

     Today is cooking day - my day off when I spend a portion of the day preparing meals for the next 3 or 4 work days. In my 'fridge, I had a pork roast that needed to be used. I remembered seeing Daisy Martinez of Daisy cooks the other day on PBS. She was cooking pork chops that looked very good. Thought I'd try a similar recipe made with my pork roast.  I found her recipe for "yellow rice", which was her suggestion for a side, and made my recipe for beans as a second side. The house smelled wonderful with all the aromas in the air. I also made a dish from Ivory Coast using chicken that I will post later. And I made my version of French Onion Soup, also to be posted later. Tonight, it's all Latin flavors - mainly Puerto Rican.
     To begin, there are 2 recipes that need to be made ahead, sofrito and achiote oil. Both are easy to make. There are almost as many recipes for sofrito as there are cooks. This is the recipe I used.

Sofrito - a recipe that might be compared to the Cajun trinity. It goes into so very many dishes.

1 small sweet onion
2 cubanelle peppers
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 aji dulce pepper - I have never seen these in any store - perhaps a Latin American grocery would carry  
      them. O raise mine. These peppers look like a Habanero, but are sweeter, sometimes hot, sometimes
      not,  and have a fruity taste. They are great and well worth growing .
1 paste tomato, peeled
1/4 bunch cilantro
1 red bell pepper, seeded

Dice everything in a fine dice. Refrigerate unused portion up to 3 days or freeze.



Achiote Oil

I found my achiote (or annato) seeds in a world foods market.

1c olive oil
2T achiote seeds

Heat oil and seeds over medium heat in a skillet - don't use a pan. As the oil heats, the seeds will begin to sizzle. At this point, watch carefully. When there is a steady sizzeling, remove from heat. DO NOT OVERHEAT!!! You will know if you do - things will be bitter and ugly. Store oil at room temp for just a few days. Use a tight fitting lid. When ready to use, strain what you need.




                                     Pork "Chops" made from Pork Roast

serves 3
1.5# pork roast - this size allowed me to cut 3 "chops" that were the approximate equivalent of 1" thick
        pork  chops that the original recipe recommends.
Make a dry rub of::
       1T salt
       1T onion powder
       1T garlic powder
       1T black pepper (or to taste)
       1/2 tsp oregano


Make marinade of:
        juice of 1 orange
        juice of 1/2 lime
        11/2tsp cider vinegar
        1 clove garlic, mashed

Pat rub into meat on all sides. Place in a close fitting deep casserole. Pour marinade over meat and let sit at least 1 hour up to 24.
     
Pour enough oil into a skillet to film the bottom. Heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Remove meat from marinade and discard marinade. Place meat in pan without touching. Cook until the meat is well browned on all sides., about 6 minutes. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook on medium heat an additional 8 minutes or so until done.
( I added a bit of cooking wine about 5 minutes into the final 8 minute cooking portion - I was afraid that by using a roast, perhaps things should be cooked with a moist heat for a bit longer and at a lower temp. So I turned heat down to not quite medium low and cooked a total of about 15 minutes. Meat was not fall apart done, but was not tough, either. And an added bonus was scrapping the fond out of the pan and adding it to the beans.)

Serve immediately.
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Along with the pork, we had Daisy Martinez' "Yellow Rice" and red beans.

Yellow Rice from Daisy Cooks by Daisy Martinez

serves 8
1/2c Achiote oil
1/2c Sofrito
1/2c pimento-stuffed olives
2-3T salt
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
3c long-grain white rice
Chicken Broth

Heat oil in heavy 4-5 qt pot with tight fitting lid over medium heat. Stir in Sofrito and cook until most of the water has evaporated. Add the olives, salt, cumin, pepper and bay leaves, and stir to combine.

When the mixture is bubbling, add the rice, stirring to coat and fix the color to the rice. Pour in enough chicken broth to cover the rice by the width of two fingers. Bring to a boil and noil until the broth reaches the level of the rice.

Stir the rice once, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook 20 minutes without opening the cover or stirring.

Gently fluff the rice by scooping it from the bottom to the top.

Serve hot.


Red Beans

Serves 4

!c red beans ( can use any bean, these are what I have on hand)
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 aji dulce
1/4 green bell pepper
1 seeded hot pepper, chopped or left whole (leaving whole, I think, means less heat)
1/2tsp coriander

Beans can be soaked ahead of time or cover beans with water and microwave on high about 1 minute. Let sit for 2-3 hours.    To cook. cover drained beans with water and add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until almost tender.

1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/4 onion, sauteed
a clove garlic, sauteed
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Add ingredients above to beans and finish cooking until tender. Mash a portion of the beans - I mash the beans in the pot with a potato masher.

Serve hot.

WE also had a side of corn relish (corn, onion, green peppers in  a vinegar-sugar "juice" seasoned with a tiny bit of pickling spice. Very tasty and I was pleased to see that it went very, very well with this meal. In fact, we liked the meat and rice better with a bit of relish juice dribbled over them.

Served this was, this is definitely a "keeper".


1.26.2010

dirty dishes


We all know that cooking means dirty dishes. For some of us, that means MANY dirty dishes. I couldn't resist a picture of my sink - before and after doing dishes to remind myself of the difference a little work makes to the feel of tidiness.

A place for everything and everything in it's place--almost. A gray cat in NOT where he should be!


1.24.2010

Creampuffs

     What is your comfort food? (I have so many, it's hard to choose. My waistline agrees!) Today, I was "craving" creampuffs. But only creampuffs filled with a custard my mom used for cream pies at their restaurant (actually, I think it was my grandmother's recipe). The puff recipe I use is found in The Joy of Cooking cookbook.  Here we go........
                                                Creampuffs

Bring 5 eggs to room temp. This is important so that the eggs cook properly when added to dough. You will probably only need 4 eggs - if using large eggs, 5 if smaller.

Preheat - very important - to 400 degrees

4 or 5 eggs at room temp
1cmilk
1/3c butter

1c flour
11/2T sugar
1/8tsp salt
Make sure the flour, sugar and salt are well combined. Set aside, but near pan with milk.


Bring 1c milk and 1/3c butter to a slow boil. Don't boil too much, or you'll have a mess. As soon as you see bubbles around the edge of the pan, add the flour in one fell swoop.

When you add the flour,  Stir quickly. The dough will look very rough at first, but will quickly come together. DO NOT OVER-STIR.

 
Add 1 egg at a time and beat well between additions, about 45 seconds usually does it.



When 4 eggs are incorporated, check consistency of dough. Should form what would be "stiff peaks" with meringue.



Drop by tablespoons onto very lightly greased pan. Sprinkle with a few drops of water before baking.




Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake another, approximately
40 minutes. Puffs will be deep golden brown. No not under bake, but don't burn them, either. Let them
cool in oven with door ajar. When cool, fill with your choice of fillings. My recipe follows.                      

This is my recipe - water stained and fading badly.

Creampuff Filling

2c milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1c sugar
1/4c cornstarch plus 1T
1tsp vanilla

Make a custard with all ingredients except vanilla. Cook over medium heat. Stir very often until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool and fill puffs.

Enjoy!

The custard can be used as a filling for creampuffs, or pie (coconut or banana), or as a pudding. Flavorings can be added, including cocoa (added to the sugar before the milk and eggs are added). It is very versatile.

I hope you like these creampuffs as much as my family does!




1.23.2010

Eggs

     I was thinking about eggs today. Eggs have a good amount of protein and experts say we can have (x) number of eggs per week. They are good for us. I never thought they were bad for anyone.
Generally, I  get my eggs from a local teacher who raises chicken, the side product being fresh eggs to sell. In a dozen will be all sizes and colors from light brown to brown to blue.



      Eggs are used in so many ways, but my favorites are over easy and scrambled.  The last several days, I have "eggd out", having had eggs for breakfast 2 days and supper twice. I've had scrambled and over easy, poached and shirred. I had never made a poached egg before! and a professional "chef" cookbook I have said to add salt and a bit of vinegar to the simmering water. No other cookbook I have said to do that. Apparently they help the egg white not to spread all over the place. Also, there needs to be at least 5" water in the pan to achieve the typical "teardrop" shape (I did not know they were supposed to be teardrop shaped!
carla5 014
     The eggs are slipped into the simmering water (bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer). They sink to the bottom, then rise to the surface of the water as they cook.



Cook eggs 3-5 minutes 'till they are as done as you like.
carla5 018       carla5 019
     It was a good egg, but no better than an over easy egg. Texture seemed to be more like a soft-boiled egg.
I think I'll stick with my fried ever easy eggs - then I don't have to wait for water to boil!! Or even sunny-side up eggs...
carla5 002
     And my old stand-by is pancakes and scrambled eggs...scrambled with just the right amount of milk and not cooked too dry (as opposed to two of my sons who prefer their eggs scrambled with no liquid - just eggs, and cooked dry, dry, dry and seasoned with salt, pepper, and hot sauce)


   
     And my shirred eggs? NO PICTURE! But - I can tell you that the professional cookbook I have? It made no mention of shirred eggs. In fact I had to go to cookbooks at least 25 years old to find a description - For what is just a baked egg! Yep, baked. Just butter a ramekin, add you egg - whole, not beaten - add about 1T milk and 1T butter, salt, pepper, a bit of basil and parsley and bake at 325 degrees about 15 minutes or to the doneness you prefer. I like a runny egg and 15 minutes was just about right. The butter and milk seen to give the eggs a velvety texture different from poached or soft boiled eggs. It is a difference not easily explained, but it is there. I like these eggs every now and then, and even though they take a while to make, they are worth it.

     If you haven't had an egg lately - go ahead and make some - have a breakfast meal for supper.






1.21.2010

Fog

     Just a very short post. The last several nights we have had lots of fog, visibility sometimes being only 1/8 mile!
But it can be so beautiful. In walking my dog before turning in for the night, the thick fog feels like it's wrapping you in a cloak.The tiny droplets of moisture touch the skin, but not like rain, more like a mist. For me, it is a beautiful time for a walk. And very quiet. If I don't have to be driving, I love to sit or walk and watch the fog and how it changes - here thick, there very light, another place as if in motion. I would have liked to get a photo from inside my house looking out the french doors to the back yard so "alive" with the fog. Alas, my camera is simply not up to such a shot. So I will just have to wait for the next time to enjoy that view.

1.20.2010

Korean Banchan

     OK, so I've been trying to decide about the banchan - what to cook. I thought to make a meal of these side dishes. I made a grilled beef dish that I could wrap in lettuce leaves with sliced garlic and ssamjang. Rice and kimchee, of course. The tofu dish I wanted to try is nixed because my tofu was bad - unopened carton was all poofy and I was afraid to eat it.  I  made a bean dish and a filled and rolled "crepe" with a spicy dipping sauce. 'Desert' is an unusual salad. I don't know if this would qualify as a "typical" Korean meal, but I like the idea of several sides making a meal. Somehow this idea sounds better with "ethnic" foods than it does with an american meal of vegetable sides and salad!
     Here are the recipes I chose:
) Braised beef with peppers
)Black soybeans
)Spicy dipping sauce
)Korean pancake with chicken
)Salad with apples, frozen grapes and nuts
)ssam jang
)Kinchee
)rice

For the Kimchee recipe I used, see post from 12-10-09
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carla4 138

                                       Braised Beef with Peppers
serves 8 as banchan (side dish)

1# beef, cut in to pieces the size of stew meat
4c water
1c soy sauce - regular or lite salt
1/4c sugar
8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
hot chili peppers to taste

Simmer all ingredients until tender - about 11/2 hours.
Shred meat and serve in the broth.
**NOTE: if made with regular soy sauce, this is very salty. I don't care for really salty foods, so I used lite soy sauce. Shoyu may also be an option. I think I might add just a bit of sesame oil to meat and serve with a bare minimum of broth.
*** This dish can be served with rice and the meat broth. I initially  was going to  wrap this in lettuce leaves, but did not, in the end. Instead, I mixed a little of the ssam jang into the meat and broth and that was GREAT. I really liked those flavors together and would use this as a main meat course in future.
                                      Ssam Jang
This condiment is highly variable. This is the version I made:

2T miso (Japanese soybean paste)
1/4c sriracha - should be a Korean chili paste, but can't be found in my neck of the woods, so I substituted
             recipe - see post12-27-09 for recipe.
(additional pepper, minced, to taste)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4c minced onion, green onions, chives, shallots - your choice
1T sesame oil
1T soy sauce
(water to thin, if needed)
1/2tsp sugar
1tsp mirin

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit at least 1 hour.
(I liked the flavors here - not sure I would try this recipe with Korean chili paste.)

                                       Black Soybeans
serves 4
1c black soybeans, canned goes much faster than soaking beans if you can find them. Canned beans can                            be  found at asian groceries or at some health food stores.
1c water
1/2 soy sauce - again, I prefer lite
1/2c sugar
1T sesame oil

Canned beans are pretty tender. I  heated beans in water, then added other ingredients and heated through at a simmer until heated through.




                                       Korean Pancake with Chicken
should give 2-3 pancakes

1/2c flour
1/2c water
1/4tsp salt
11/2T mirin (Japanese cooking wine that is sweet. Asian groceries and health food stores carry it)
1/2tsp soy sauce
1/2tsp sesame oil
1/4# chicken cut into matchsticks
1/2 bell pepper - choose all green or mix colors
1/4c shredded cabbage - I had regular cabbage, but use Napa if available

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin for at least 30 minutes.

Mix flour, water, and salt together for the pancakes. Most recipes say to make a pancake 3-4 inches in diameter. I don't have the patience to cook that many, nor roll that many. I made mine about 6inches in diameter. Be sure they are as thin as crepes would be. They will cook fast, don't let them brown too much.

Saute vegetables in a bit of oil. Salt can be added if you wish. I think my dipping sauce is salty enough to allow me NOT to add salt here. Cook each vegetable separately until crisp-tender.

Cook chicken through.

Place a few veggies and some chicken on a pancake, roll tightly, and dip in dipping sauce (recipe follows)
(A very good recipe worthy of being a main meat course).
                                      Spicy Dipping Sauce

1/3c soy sauce
1/3 c rice wine vinegar--- I don't care for a really vinegery flavor - I used a tad less than 1/4c here.
1T sesame oil
chili pepper flakes to taste
1T scallions - minced onions will substitute
1tsp minced garlic
1/2tsp sugar - I add this to offset the vinegar

Mix all together and serve.

Can also be used for fried dishes like tempura, dumplings, or even veggies.

And is you have room for a salad that may also stand in for desert,
                                      Salad with Apples, Grapes and Nuts
serves 4  Thank you Naomi Imatome-Yun

6c mesclun greens
1 apple, washed and sliced
1/2c frozen grapes, sliced in half. (Need not be frozen)
 1/2c nuts of your choice
2 scallions, green only, chopped
Korean Chili Say Salad Dressing (follows)

Make dressing and set aside.

Toss remaining ingredients, except scallions, with dressing.

 Garnish with scallions.                                      


                                           Korean Chili Say Salad Dressing


1/4c soy sauce
3T rice vinegar
4T water
3T sesame oil
(3T Korean chili powder) - I will have to search for this - I substituted red chili flakes
crushed sesame seed - optional

Whisk all ingredients together. Refrigerate until use.


There it is! Not really that much work. I thought the flavors went well together. I feel guilty about the amount of salt, though. These dishes really are heavy on the soy sauce.Using lite soy sauce helps, but I wonder if I could cut back on the amount of soy sauce without sacrificing flavor.  I think, for myself, next time I would try to find banchan that are not so dependent on soy sauce for flavor. I'll use this as an opportunity to look further into the world of Korean cooking.

1.18.2010

Gnocchi in Basil Cream Sauce

     Several weeks ago I purchased some potato gnocchi. Because I did not use them within a week, I froze the package and forgot it. It literally fell out of my overstuffed refrigerator's freezer today. Thought it might be a good idea to finally use them.....and this Basil Cream Sauce would be good. If it's good with pasta, why not with gnocchi?
                                                    Basil Cream Sauce
 Make a roux of: 2T butter and 2T flour.
Melt butter and add flour. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.



Slowly add:
2c half and half
1/8tsp garlic powder
Cook with stirring until thickened.
Stir in 2-3T fresh basil or 2-3tsp dried ( I love basil and it is hard to have too much for me. Add more if you want, I could so with an additional tablespoon)
Optional - add 1/2c chopped deli ham of your choice
Stir in 1/4c Parmesan cheese. PLEASE use a good quality cheese.
Stir until smooth.

Serve over cooked gnocchi and garnish with fresh basil. I used potato gnocchi for these, purchased and not homade.


     Have you ever tried to make gnocchi from scratch? I did that today. Sweet Potato Gnocchi's. My mom is a new diabetic, and I thought she might not want the regular potato gnocchi from above. I found them to be very similar to making knoepfli ( a flour and egg dumpling my family puts in some soups. They take the place of bread or crackers). They did not get too heavy, a problem I sometimes have with knoepfli. I haven't figured out what I do wrong - I make knoepfli the same way each time, yet sometimes they are light, sometimes not. I wonder if I overcook them, either in the initial water or in the soup??
                                            Sweet Potato Gnocchi's


1/2 large sweet potato baked until soft enough to mash.
an equal amount of flour.
1/2 egg, small
1-2T milk, if needed
     * have your sauce ready before cooking gnocchi*   a suggested recipe follows
     Mash sweet potato and add flour. Work in well. Add the egg and mix well.


If dough is too dry, add just a bit of milk until dough is workable. Take about 1/2tsp dough and dip in flour. Roll into a ball and set aside on wax paper. When all dough is rolled out, start the process of shaping the gnocchi. Take a ball and push/roll it off the very end of a fork. Each one should have indentations from the fork tines, and on the opposite side, an indentation from your finger.

   ( The gnocchi above are my first attempt, so are not so pretty. They are made with 1/2tsp dough. I would recommend 1/4tsp - recipe I had was not clear in how much to use. These were OK, but I think they would look nicer if they were smaller.)
     Bring a pan of lightly salted water to a gentle boil. Add half of the gnocchi to the boiling water. they are done in about 3 minutes - when they float to the surface of the water.
carla4 112

     Serve with sauce.

      Suggested Sauce - a variation of the Basil Cream Sauce above. This is a Garlic Cream Sauce:

Saute 1/2 small onion, finely minced along with 3 cloves garlic, finely minced. Make the roux. Add the onion/garlic to the roux. Continue with recipe. Parmesean may be omitted if you wish.
I was a little disappointed with the recipe as listed above. So, I added 1tsp brown sugar, a few flakes of hot pepper, a dash of smoked paprika, 1/8tsp salt. I liked this sauce much better.


This is all that was left -

1.17.2010

Kimchee Banh Mi

     I was so pleased with the flavors of the Pork Meatball Banh Mi I made the other day that I decided to try another version: the Kimchee banh mi.  The original recipe came from The Guilty Carnivore, but, as so often happens, I did not have all necessary ingredients and so used what I had on hand. This makes for a new taste, but since I have no idea what the original tasted like, I never know how my version compares. I am satisfied with the results of operating this way.
                                              My Version Of Kimchee Banh Mi

serves 1 well ( 2 sandwiches)

1 pork chop ( or your preferred cut) or 1 chicken breast
MARINADE:
1 stalk lemongrass, crushed very well
3 cloves garlic, mashed
hot chilis, minced, to taste. I like the aji limon *
1/4tsp ground ginger - fresh if you have it
fish sauce - about 3T
1T sugar
1/8tsp sesame oil
1/4 onion powder
(* Actually, I like almost any of the Aji varieties. These are hot, fruity and sometimes a bit sweet peppers generally from South America. You will need to raise your own, as I have never seen them in stores here. And seed is hard to find. But their flavor is unlike anything I had ever tasted. If you order fron Seed Savers Exchange - a place I highly recommend for theor work with preserving seed diversity - the members will occasionally send additional seeds to try at no cost.)
Mix all ingredients together and marinate pork chop or chicken for 2-4 hours.

To make sandwich:

Toast baguette and, if you choose, remove some of bread to make a pocket to hold the meat.

a kimchee banh mi deconstructed
Add cucumber for crunch, a layer of kimchee - minus liquid , cilantro or parsley or basil. I tried this with and without a tiny bit of the hot chili mayo from the pork meatball banh mi. I did not like the mayo, but when I tried just the sriracha sauce - just a bit, that I liked (my kimchee is not very hot, so the sriracha added the heat.)

This is an interesting sandwich flavor. It is one you will either like or totally dislike! I enjoyed it. Leftovers are going to work with me tomorrow.

PS The korean banchan I promised is in the works.........

Oh... and be careful of where you put your recipes---I had a small bon fire going at my elbow. While making sweet potato gnocchi (see tomorrow's post), my recipes got too close to the flame. Not good.



I have thought to get together info on locating hard to find seeds to make available for readers. If anyone has a variety they would like to add to the list, let me know. It may take me a bit to gather company names. Thanks.

1.13.2010

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

     Have you ever heard of a Banh Mi? I had not until just very recently. I was looking for something Vietnamese or Thai to cook. Nothing struck my fancy from my cookbook collection ( I have a number of Southeast asian cookbooks that have great recipes. But I have read over them so often, I wanted a fresh take on things). And so I turned to Epicurious and  glad I am that I did. A whole new world of sandwiches came into view! I quite literally stumbled on the Banh Mi recipe and was led to another web site - Not sure how I got there, I couldn't retrace my steps so I could give an accurate map. Anyway - a great site called Battle of theBanh Mi has quite a bit of info on these tasty sandwiches, along with several recipes.


     So what is a Banh Mi? It is describes as a Vietnamese hybrid sandwich, Vietnamese baguette sandwich and French-Vietnamese sandwich. It is, I suppose, best served on a true Vietnamese baguette, which differs from the French version by often containing rice flour. But, small town almost central Illinois does not have such a thing as a Vietnamese baguette. So I will have to content myself with the French style found here. The filling for this sandwich can be chicken, shrimp, pork, beef, vegetarian. Toppings generally include a spice mayonnaise, pickled carrots and daikon (radish), hot peppers and cucumber slices.
     Epicurious actually had 2 recipes for this sandwich, a pork version from Bon Appetit and a chicken version from Gourmet. I chose to make for my first Banh Mi, the pork version because I had pork I needed to use.  I present to you:

                                             Pork Meatball Banh Mi          as presented on Epicurious. Serves 4
photo by ric w

For the Hot Chili Mayo:

2/3c mayonnaise
2 green onions, finely chopped
1T hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)    see my post from      for a sriracha recipe

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground pork
1/4c finely chopped fresh basil
4 cloves garlic minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1T fish sauce ( such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1T hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)  -see 12-27-09 post for recipe
1T sugar
2tsp cornstarch
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
1tsp coarse kosher salt



For the Sandwiches:


2c coarsely grated carrots
2c coarsely grated peeled daikon (Japanese white radish)
1/4c unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4c sugar

Pickled veggies and Hot chili Mayo

1tsp coarse kosher salt
1T Asian sesame oil
4 10" long individual baguettes
Thinly sliced jalapeno chilis
16 large fresh sprigs cilantro




Preparation:

Hot Chili Mayo:
Stir all ingredients in a small bowl. Season with salt. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.


Meatballs:
Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant tablespoonful for each, roll meat mixture into 1" meatballs. Attange on baking sheet. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Sandwiches:
Toss first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature, tossing occasionally.


Preheat oven to 300 drgrees. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of meatballs. Saute until brown and cooked through, turning meatballs often and lowering the heat if browning too quickly, about 15 minutes. Transfer meatballs to another rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs.


Cut baguette in half. Pull out enough bread from each half to leave 1/2 inch thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo over each bread shell. Arrange jalapenos, then cilantro, in bottom half. Fill each with 1/4 of meatballs. Drain pickled vegetables, place atop meatballs. Press on baguette tops.  *** I would also add a few cucumbers for a crisp and clean crunch. This is not in the original recipe, but I think it adds a "little something" - that crunch, which I really enjoyed.



Serve and enjoy.

     This particular version has all the attributes so important to asian cooking: hot, salty, sweet and sour. 





I plan to try a number of other Banh Mi recipes in coming days. I'll keep you posted.


AND---- The temperature got up to 40 plus degrees today with lots of sunshine!! How great that was after the last weeks of COLD!  Hurrah!!!!!


1.10.2010

Korean Ideas - banchan and ssam jang

     I had a bit of time at work tonight to look up some information about Korean food. This came about from the latest Saveur magazine. It is their "Saveur 100" issue - recipes, restaurants and gadgets. Included is a reference to a Korean condiment called Ssam Jang and a recipe for it. In "googling" this name, I found several recipes. It seems this is very much like catsup in that there are many different tastes , textures and consistency. In that issue, there was also a reference to Korean"banchan", or side dishes. Naturally, I could not pass up this opportunity to research recipes fitting these categories.  I found several promising dished to try. And while I have no recipes to share tonight, I'll leave you with this promise - this week I'll be preparing several banchan with an additional side of ssam jang and I'll keep you posted with the results.
     Please share your recipes for your favorite Korean dishes, the more the merrier. We can all learn together and share our cooking adventures.


     As a side note, the temp was below zero this morning and at noon was a whopping 9 degrees, But it was sunny - beautiful.When  I checked my solar heater, the air was warm. Air coming out of heater got up to 70 degrees !- a 60 degree air temp increase. I am soooo pleased. We still need to figure out how to automate this setup, since at present, someone must be here to open the system to the house and close it. I have no picture of this to share, I'll try to get one for the next post.
     Hope you enjoy a couple more photos from our ski trip.

1.08.2010

Pickapeppa Sauce, Shrimp and Mango Salsa


     I found a recipe in the 11/12 09 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen that I have been wanting to try. The holdup? No Pickapeppa Sauce. I tried looking for a Pickapeppa recipe  to no avail. It is a  product from Jamaica. Ingredients include tomato, peppers, onions,  sugar,cane vinegar, mango, raisins,and spices. It is not hot, like a hot sauce would be. It is sweet. And a taste unlike anything I have tried before. I have only used it in the following recipe, so I can't tell you how it would be as another sauce ingredient or by itself.
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My thanks to Michael Watz from Evanston, Il for sharing this recipe in Paula's magazine. Italics are my additions.

                                   Biloxi Spiced Shrimp W/ Pickapeppa Sauce and Mango Mojito Salsa

Serves 4  This is a long recipe with lots of ingredients, but once prep work is done, it goes together quickly. Is it basically a shrimp salad.

 Marinate Shrimp for 30 minutes in:
1/2c Worcestershire sauce
2T oil
12 jumbo shrimp. peeled and deveined--- I used shrimp my friend brought back from South Carolina. They are medium shrimp, so I prepared more. See blog dated 12-20-09 for prep of shrimp
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 Spice Mixture for Shrimp
(makes 2/3 cup)
1/4c chili powder -- I used Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning instead of plain chili powder
1/4c sugar
2T salt
1T ground cumin
11/2 tsp Spanish paprika -- I used smoked paprika
1tsp curry powder
1tsp unsweetened cocoa powder -- YES. you won't really taste it. Think mole' sauce.
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and set aside. Makes enough for a second recipe.

 For the salad

4C mesclun greens -- a variety of greens, not just iceberg lettuce really is preferred
1/4c balsamic vinegar --please use a good vinegar.

Toss together.

 Mango Mojito Salsa
Makes about 3c
2c peeled Mango, pitted and diced
1/4c Red or Green bell pepper -- red pepper is sweeter than green, I only had green to use
1/2c finely chopped onion, red preferred for color
2T olive oil -- I omitted this
11/2T fresh mint, minced -- winter in Illinois does not usually include fresh mint. I used 1tsp dried
1T fresh lime juice -- please do not substitute lemon juice
1T seasoned rice vinegar -- found in health food or asian grocery store
2tsp dark rum -- I don't like rum, so I omitted this
11/2tsp fresh cilantro, minced
1tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2tsp fresh garlic, minced
1/2tsp Serrano chili, seeded and minced -- I used what I had on hand, Aji Cristal. I think any mildly hot pepper would substitute
1/2tsp honey

In small bowl, combine all ingredients. Allow to stand at least 30 minutes. Stir gently before serving.
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 Pickapeppa Cream
1 7oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce -- I forgot this and the cream suffered for it. Only 1tsp will be used for recipe, so lots will be left over. Cut down amount used if a milder sauce is preferred.
2c Sour Cream
1/2tsp grated lime zest
2T fresh lime juice -- don't substitute lemon juice.
2tsp Pickapeppa Sauce
1tsp salt

Place chipotles in blender and puree. Place 1tsp puree in a bowl, reserving remainder for another use.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill. 


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER    

Remove shrimp from marinade and blot excess marinade on paper towels.

Lightly coat shrimp with seasoning mix.

Heat 1/4c oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook shrimp in batches, for about 2 minutes. If using fresh caught shrimp, they are done when they turn slightly pink and begin to curl.  Keep warm while remainder cook.

Toss mesclun once more and divide onto 4 plates. Top with Mango Mojito Salsa and Shrimp. Drizzle with Pickapeppa Cream. Serve immediately.  Enjoy.
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     As you know, my family went skiing for a few days. My youngest did not go along, which really hurt. Still, it was great to be with my other sons and my daughter-in-law. Two friends of my middle son came up also. The evening before we were to leave for home, a winter storm started. By Thursday, 8 inches of new snow had fallen, wind was gusting to 50mph, temperature was below zero, and it was still snowing. Roads were icy and snow covered a good portion of the way home.
     Skiing was good. We were at Chestnut Mt in Galena, Ill and Snowstar in Dubuque, Ia. I've posted a few pictures to share with you.
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1.02.2010

vacation

I will be away from this blog for a few days - family skiing vacation! Yeah!!. Back Friday. Hope to have good pictures. Take care. annie

1.01.2010

Artichokes with Fennel

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So a friend of mine has repeatedly told me how great artichokes are. I decided to give them a try. I searched and searched for an appealing recipe. Most of what I found were dip recipes, not what I was looking for. Since I also had a fennel bulb, I thought I'd see if I could find a recipe for the two of them together...not many of those out there. I finally found a likely selection on Food and Wine's web site. Never having tried artichokes before, I was glad this recipe gives basic preparation instructions. But if my friend had not told me how to eat them, I would have been lost.
                                                  Baked Artichokes with Fennel

Serves 4 as a first course

4 artichokes
1/2 lemon, plus 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4c olive oil, plus 3T
2 medium fennel bulbs- trimmed, halved lengthwise, cored and finely chopped
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1 large red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp thyme ( I used 1/4 tsp ground, dried thyme)
salt and pepper
2T chopped flat leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus 1/2c leaves
1/2c coarse fresh bread crumbs

1. Using a sharp knife, trim artichoke stems to 1 inch and cut off 1 inch from the top. Using kitchen shears, trim 1/2 inch from each leaf. Halve the artichoke lengthwise, and scoop out the small spiky leaves and the hairy chokes. Leave a few layers of leaves.
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Rub the cut parts of the artichoke with the halved lemon ( you'll see from the photo above, that they brown very quickly) and set them, cut side down in a basket steamer. Steam over boiling water about 10 minutes until the hearts are tender.


2. In a deep skillet, heat 1/4c oil until shimmering. Add the fennel and onion and cook over medium high heat, stirring until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, season with salt and pepper and cook until vegetables are just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes longer.
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 (as you see, I used a white onion, instead of a red because that is what I had on hand)
Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add chopped parsley.

3. Heat oven to 450 degrees. (Original recipe calls for toasting breadcrumbs in the oven. I melted a bit of butter and cooked them on the stovetop). While oven is coming to temperature, Heat 1T oil in skillet. Pat artichokes dry and add them to skillet, cut side down. Fry  over moderate heat about 4 minutes until deep golden.

4. Place artichokes cut side up in  large baking dish, Top with fennel mixture. Sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs and bake 15 minutes, or until heated through

5. Arrange 2 artichoke halves on a plate. In a bowl, toss the parsley leaves with the remaining 1T oil and 1/2 tsp lemon juice seasoned with salt and pepper. atop with a bit more parsley and serve.
 (I apologize for not having a photo of completed dish - the picture I thought I thought took was no where on my camera.)( To eat the artichokes, my friend explained that each leaf is separated and only the very bottom of the leaf is consumed. There is a small "meaty" area that is scraped out and eaten. Scraped out either with the teeth or a knife. I was surprised at how very little there was to actually eat.)

As for taste, the fennel mixture was very good. The artichokes, not so much. I was very disappointed with their flavor. Basically, the 'chokes were tasteless. I did not feel they offered anything to the dish, except as  a vessel for the fennel. Maybe this was just a bland artichoke in they way that winter tomatoes really don't resemble ripe summer tomatoes. No matter, I will not be trying artichokes again any time soon.

It should be said that I do not fault the Food and Wine recipe in any way. I suppose I just do not appreciate the delicate flavor of the artichoke. And my friend? She steams them and dips them in melted butter and loves them. I guess this is a case of "to each his own". If anyone has anything to change my mind about these, please let me know. And I cannot imagine making artichoke dip.