Vietnamese Hoagies

Wow. You may not change one thing about this recipe. Unless you can't find a daikon radish in which case a regular one would suffice. I am madly in love with this dish. I was so excited when I saw this and it didn't disappoint. It's a Vietnamese Banh Mi which is basically a hoagie. Um, two of my favorite things combined?! I love a good sandwich hoagie (which is why Danny's Market is my favorite place back home) and I have a soft spot for almost any type of Asian cuisine. 

Anyway, don't be intimidated by the list of ingredients! It's really not a lot and it's totally work it. I was skeptical of pickling the veggies but they added a nice sweetness to the sandwich to balance out the spicy mayo and jalapenos. Plus it was super easy: pickle veggies, leave for work, come home and bam! We all know I'm a sucker for Sriracha mayo and it was perfect for this dish. The meatballs were divine and reminded me of the filling from some dumplings I've had. Good flavor and sauteing them in the sesame oil adds a little something special.

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

(From Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
Hot Chili Mayo
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Pickled Veggies
2 cups coarsely grated carrots
2 cups coarsely grated peeled daikon radish (or other radish)
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Sandwiches
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
4 10-inch-long individual baguettes
Thinly sliced jalapeño chiles
16 large fresh cilantro sprigs
Directions:

1. Pickle your veggies an hour in advance. Mix together rice vinegar and sugar. Pour over the carrots and daikon. I kept mine separate so the daikon didn't turn orange. Let them sit at least an hour and then drain the juice.

2. Make your hot chili mayo by combining mayo, hot chili sauce, and green onions. Season with salt to taste.
3. Meatball time! Gently mix all meatball ingredients together, do not over mix! Roll mixture into small one inch meatballs (about a tablespoon of meat), set aside on a tray. These can be made one day ahead and refrigerated.
4. Heat sesame oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Saute meatballs until brown and cooked through, turning often, about 10-15 minutes. You may have to make them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
5. Slice each baguette and pull out some bread from each half. Spread chili mayo on each side. Add jalapenos and cilantro to bottom half. Fill will desired amount of meatballs and top with pickled veggies. Press down the baguette tops and enjoy!

The Condiments!

Spicy Mayo, Daikon, Carrot, Jalapeno, and Cilantro

The Frittata Save!

It's a good thing I had this frittata as my main dish because Mr. Lawyer was not a fan of the spring roll texture. A frittata is always a good bet. Plus the leftovers will make a good breakfast which is key because I may have forgotten to pick up the Mister's cereal at the store today. This frittata was not as fluffy as my previous one (which had three more eggs and a half cup of milk). I must say that I liked the fluffy version a little more. The taste was spot on though....except the feta cheese didn't shine through as much as I would have liked. One thing I did change was the amount of cumin. Cumin is not one of my favorite spices and I feel that it can overwhelm a dish very quickly. Instead of 1/2 teaspoon I just did three quick little dashes and it was the perfect amount.

Mushroom-Poblano Frittata

(from Bon Appetit Magazine)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz. assorted mushrooms thinly sliced
1 large fresh poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, thinly sliced into strips
1 cup chopped scallions or 1/2 cup chopped chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (I used less)
1/3 cup crumbled low-fat or fat-free feta
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Heat oil in a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add poblano and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms and poblano are lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Add scallions, season with salt and pepper, and remove pan from heat.
2. Whisk eggs, cilantro, and cumin in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat skillet over medium heat. Pour eggs evenly over mushroom mixture and use a heatproof spatula to evenly disperse ingredients. Sprinkle feta over top. Cook until bottom is set, about 2 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until eggs are just set, about 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 2 minutes. (OR place eggs and veggies in a oven proof bowl and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.)
3. Run heatproof spatula around edge of pan to release frittata. Slide frittata onto a warmed plate and cut into wedges to serve.

It burns! It burns cause you're wicked!

That was one of our catchphrases in high school and man oh man did this dish burn! I do love a nice spicy dish and the balance of flavors in this one is perfect: ginger, garlic, sesame, soy, and spicy hot! The  Boy snarfed it down pretty quick and then went back for seconds because he obviously enjoys pain. I had two tums just as a precaution before even touching dinner. After I made it I realized that even though it was marked as a vegetarian dish it was not going to fill us up (although I'm sure it would do the trick if you threw in some stir fry veggies!) so I augmented the dish with some steamed dumplings from downstairs.

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Peanuts and Basil

(adapted from Bon Appetit) 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 pound fresh Chinese egg noodles or fresh angel hair pasta
12 green onions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves
Directions:
1. Heat peanut oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl. Add next 6 ingredients; whisk to blend.
2. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain thoroughly and transfer to bowl with sauce. 

3. Add sliced green onions and toss to coat noodles. Let stand at room temperature until noodles have absorbed dressing, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour. 

4. Stir in peanuts and Thai basil; toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

IT BURNS! (In a good way)

Happy New Year!

Woo! The first post better be something amazing right? Behold Brussels Sprouts! I suppose it's like a New Year's Resolution: More veggies! Healthier eating! Which I think will be pretty fun and easy with all my new toys.

Side note: things that are carbon steel (like my wok) or cast iron need to be cared for properly. One of the tips I have come across while researching recipes is that you should wash your pan immediately (warm water and sponge), dry it and put it back on the burner. The residual heat will ensure that all the moisture evaporates and won't rust your pan! Easy Peasy! 

Yet another recipe (3rd one!) from the January Bon Appetit: Stir-Fried Brussels Sprouts! Which just happened to be one sale at WF the other day. Cheap and healthy, score. The New Year is off to a good start. Even though I didn't have the oyster sauce it still came out fine. Mr. Lawyer liked it better than the Martha Stewart Maple and Cayenne Brussels Sprouts because he preferred the savoriness of this recipe over the sweetness of the Martha one. I am on the fence. I loved the sweetness (um, it's maple = amazing all the time) but the savoriness was very delicious and it had a nice underlying asian cuisine flavor.

Stir-Fried Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Chile

(adapted from Bon Appetit) 

Ingredients:
4 cups halved brussels sprouts
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
1/4 cup oyster sauce (I didn't have any but it came out fine!)
4 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon (or more) 1/8"-thick slices of red Thai chiles
Pinch of ground white pepper
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
Directions:
1. Blanch brussels sprouts in a large pot of boiling salted water until bright green, about 15 seconds. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and stir until light golden brown, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a small bowl.
3. Increase heat to high; add brussels sprouts. Stir-fry until they begin to soften, 2–3 minutes. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, pepper and chiles. Stir fry for 30 seconds.

4. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced slightly, about 2 minutes; add more chiles, if desired. Stir in garlic.

Ginger-Chicken Soup

January's Bon Appetit has been really awesome (the broccolini was from this issue and there's a brussels sprouts recipe I want to try). I saw this recipe for Cleansing Ginger-Chicken soup and it looked delicious with the added benefits of everything ginger is suppose to do (anti-inflammtory, boost immunity, upset tummy fixer, etc) and being chicken soup. I'm having some residual sinus headaches from last weeks cold so I figured chilling in the kitchen all day huffing sauteing ginger and garlic while simultaneously making ginger-chicken soup was a good idea. Inflamed sinuses begone!

I compared a couple of recipes and couldn't decide which one I liked more. Some used homemade stock but I already had cooked chicken. I liked the idea of Bon Appetit's Cleansing soup with just broth and chicken but others got extra flavor from other veggies. Some strained the veggies and others didn't. I decided to piece together my favorite bits and pieces of each one. It came out pretty good! The broth was super yummy and gingery before I added the chicken but once the chicken was in it mostly just tasted like chicken soup which was a let down. To solve this problem I minced up some ginger and topped each bowl with a bit. This perked it back up and gave it a nice little zip. I ended up eating the strained veggies for lunch, they were nice and spicy!

Jenni's Bits and Pieces Ginger-Chicken Soup

(adapted from Bon Appetit, Real Simple, and various other recipes)

Ingredients:

1 carton reduced sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup ginger, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, roughly chopped

10 whole black peppercorns

1 handful of sliced mushrooms

Desired amount of chicken

Directions:

1. Combine broth, ginger, garlic, onion, carrot and peppercorns. Simmer till your apartment smells amazing.

2. Strain out all the vegetables and eat them for lunch.

3. Add chicken, simmer till meat is warm and feed the boy dinner.

Using my new Spider (Skimmer/Strainer) to skim out my lunch!

Revamped

We had some poor broccolini leftovers languishing away in the fridge. They were delicious five days ago at Christmas dinner but now they were on the verge of getting a wee bit slimy. So I decided to breathe a little life into them by throwing them in the frying pan with this spicy vinaigrette. Evidently it worked because Mr. Lawyer went back for seconds and cleaned up the pan. 

Broccolini with Spicy Sesame Vinaigrette 

(adapted from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
2 bunches broccolini (1 lb.)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. toasted white sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes plus more to taste
2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Cook broccolini in a large pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl of ice water. Drain and dry well. Halve broccolini, if desired. Place in a large bowl.
2. Finely chop 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds and 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes in a spice grinder (or finely chop with a knife). Transfer to a small bowl; stir in both oils, vinegar, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over broccolini; toss to coat. Transfer to a platter; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. sesame seeds and more red pepper flakes, if desired.

SU and Birthdays and a Dinner Party oh my!

Happy Dinner Party/Birthday Amanda/Go SU! We certainly had lots to celebrate Friday night. For my birthday I couldn't decide which cupcakes to make: Irish or S'mores? Obviously I went with the Irish ones and had to wait for an opportunity to make the S'more ones...enter Amanda's birthday! They were a bit messy to eat but they certainly tasted like a S'more.

Ingredient/Technical Difficulties: Marshmallow Fluff is harder to find around here then I thought. The local stores had all sorts of peanut butter, jam and jellies but no fluff! Just as I was mentally preparing to make it from scratch Mr. Lawyer found some Ricemallow Fluff from Whole Foods. It tasted fine, a bit sweeter maybe but it did not hold it's shape which posed a problem with making the garnish. It oozed all over the place and didn't harden up. I charred up some mini marshmallows which worked wonderfully and looked more visually pleasing (you can see both toppings in the photo). I would recommend using fluff for the filling but going the normal marshmallow route for the topping. Either way prepare for a mess, I was very angry at marshmallows while making these (who on earth would ever make something so sticky and messy!! Grrr...). However I thought that the toasted marshmallow on top added some of the best flavor, nothing like nice toasty caramelized sugar to zing up a cupcake. Also, Cupcake Corer.  Best five dollars I ever spent.

S'more Cupcakes

(Bon Appétit Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 packet)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup plus one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme (Or 7oz of marshmallows)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
12 1-inch pieces broken graham crackers (for garnish)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk graham crumbs, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla. Add graham-cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with graham-cracker mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups.
2. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center come out clean, about 22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool completely.

3. Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm.
4. Core cupcakes with a  cupcake corer, apple corer, spoon, etc. Spoon 3/4 cup marshmallow creme into resealable plastic bag, pushing into 1 bottom corner. Cut 1/2 inch off corner. Pipe into holes in cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake.

5. Preheat broiler. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Spoon dollops of marshmallow creme on sheet (or marshmallows!). Broil until slightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon dollop of charred creme over each cupcake; garnish with piece of graham cracker.

Poorly behaving Ricemallow Fluff and well behaved but messy mini marshmallows.

Final Product? Amazing.

There's a bunch more so I will use a super obnoxious page break. Read on for the rest of our goodies!

Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon

I was trying to be healthy and have a salad for dinner but I always get carried away with toppings which negates the potential healthiness of my poor salad. I started with some romaine, a little bit of onion, a couple of carrots, dried cranberries and some sunflower seeds. Then came the hard boiled egg, Cabot Cheddar and the Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon (often known as candied bacon). All of this was topped off with some Hendrickson's Sweet Vinegar and Olive Oil dressing. But everything is better with bacon right? Like scallops. They're fine by themselves but so much better when they are wrapped in bacon.
I first had this wonderful bacon when Melissa made it at the Lawyer's graduation brunch. It's amazing and completely addicting. It's great by itself or on a salad or with waffles or with anything really. Best of all it's incredibly simple (or worst of all?....)

Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon

(Bon Appétit Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 pound applewood-smoked bacon slices or thick-cut bacon slices
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Directions:
Position 1 rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place large rack on lined baking sheet. Arrange bacon slices in single layer on rack. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over. Bake until bacon is crisp and glazed, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and serve.

Behold the mega-salad!

Coooooookies!

This past Sunday we got together with Mr. Lawyer's high school crew to watch the Eagles lose. Boooooo. Since I really have no clue as to what's going on with football my contribution was cookies! I was a little overzealous with the nut grinder attachment to our new blender (it was SO much fun!) so instead of coarsely crushed peppermints we got more of a peppermint powder but you know what? It was fine! Who wants a piece of chewy peppermint candy when you're munching on a nice soft cookie?

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

(Bon Appétit, December 2010)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (not to exceed 61% cacao; 15 to 16 ounces)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 large eggs
4 candy canes or 16 hard peppermint candies, coarsely crushed
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir 2 cups chocolate chips in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth (or use a double boiler). Measure 2/3 cup melted chocolate; transfer to a small bowl and reserve for drizzling.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Add sugar and extracts, beat until smooth. Add eggs, beat to blend. Beat in melted chocolate from medium bowl. Add dry ingredients, beat until just blended. Stir in remaining chocolate chips. Chill dough for 20 - 30 minutes if too warm to form into balls. Measure 1 level tablespoonful dough and roll between palms to form a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.
3. Bake until cookies are cracked on top, 8 to 9 minutes. Cookies should remain moist. Do not over bake. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely.
3. Finish cookies by rewarming reserved 2/3 cup chocolate in microwave or over saucepan of simmering water. Drizzle chocolate over cookies using a fork. Sprinkle crushed peppermints on each cookie. Chill until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes. 

Yummmmm! They were a hit and quite wonderful for any chocolate mint fiend. They reminded me of my ever famous birthday cake which I'm sure will be making an appearance soon!

Home Run!

So we had this poor little sad bag of tortellini in our cupboards. The lawyer and I both agreed that one of us could eat the whole 8 oz bag by ourselves so I had to find a way to beef the dish up. I promptly dug through all of my food magazines and found this little gem from Bon Appétit: Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel and Mushrooms. I tend to find Bon Appétit recipes slightly intimidating with all their long and crazy list of ingredients but this one seemed manageable (especially since they weren't making their own tortellini!!). I was also skeptical of cooking with fennel as it is not one of my favorite flavors. However, I am learning to appreciate cooked fennel but still abhor fennel seeds so I omitted them from the recipe. I did add the fennel fronds for garnish and while they looked pretty I thought they kind of tasted like seaweed and would probably omit them in the future. This dish was surprising simple and easy to make. It tasted delicious and I will be making it in the future for a dinner party. I served up this scrumptious dish with some local artisan bread with Pino’s Press Tuscan Herb Dipping Oil from Syracuse on my new Vermont Bread Board (side note: make sure you always screw the cap on tightly after using any bottled substance. Evidently I did not do this after the pita chip experiments and when I went to shake the bottle BAM! Olive oil on my floor! While it was only around two tablespoons it looked like a ton and my kitchen still smells like a well seasoned Italian kitchen) 

Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel and Mushrooms 

(this is the full recipe, I halved it because I only had 8 oz of tortellini)

(Bon Appétit, December 2010) 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced lengthwise (about 3 cups), fronds chopped

1 pound spicy Italian sausages, casings removed, sausage coarsely crumbled
1 8-ounce package sliced fresh crimini (baby bella) mushrooms (of course we added extra!)
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed (completely omitted by Jenni)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 16-ounce package dried tortellini with pesto filling or fresh tortellini with 3-cheese filling
1 5-ounce package fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional (for serving)
Directions:
1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel bulb, sausage, and mushrooms; sauté until sausage is brown and cooked through and fennel is almost tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add garlic and fennel seeds; stir 1 minute. Stir in cream, then 1 cup broth; boil until liquid is reduced and very slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook tortellini in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain tortellini; return to same pot.
3. Add sausage mixture to tortellini in pot. Toss over medium heat until blended. Add spinach; toss gently until spinach wilts. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese; add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten if dry. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds, and serve, passing additional cheese.

Mr. Lawyer said it was a “home run” and it reheated wonderfully the next day. I definitely recommend it to anyone!