I think I’m the last person on the planet who has had the Vietnamese sandwich, banh mi, added to her food radar. The first time I saw anything about them was in one of my food magazines about a year ago. Anything with bright veggies gets my attention — especially if it’s salad. But a salad in a sandwich? This had to be good. Pickled carrots, cucumber with cilantro…and pork? I’d never heard of this particular kind of sandwich before. It was interesting that it was on a French baguette, too. An easy search led me to Battle of the Bahn Mi and then to White on Rice for some amazing renditions of this sandwich.

My first attempt follows.  After much procrastination, I’ve finally joined the ranks of those who love this sandwich.

Now, I need to find a local place that makes them.

I could eat them every day.

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

Recipe source:  Bon Appetit

The recipe can be found here.

Notes:

• We wanted to eat the meatballs before we made the sandwiches.  The aroma was amazing,
• You knew how lean pork was, right?  Here’s the deal:  there are a few more calories compared to ground chicken or turkey, but ultimately the calories from fat are significantly less:  half.  That’s quite the difference.  I used  California natural extra lean ground pork and doubled the quantity (2 lbs.).
• I used quite a bit of basil.  I couldn’t help myself.  I had a package that needed to be used and got carried away, so added about 1/2 cup to the mix.
• If you don’t have Sriracha, you don’t know what you’re missing but you could substitute any hot sauce you like.
• There was no daikon at my market.  Go figure.  I sliced radishes and added them to the carrots to pickle.  They were most likely a tame version of what the daikon would have been.
• I didn’t have jalapenos.  I couldn’t believe it.  I always have jalapenos.  Honestly?  If you used the Sriracha liberally, the extra heat isn’t needed.  The balls and the sauce are spicy enough.
• On the sauce:  I hate to mention this, but have to.  I couldn’t get my husband to consider eating anything with mayonnaise in it, so I made the sauce with ranch dressing.  Don’t get me started.  It was fine.  Don’t tell anyone.
• I used a store-bought baguette and cut it into three pieces to make our banh mi.  For the amount of meatballs I had, I could have fed 6-8 with small portions.  Great party food.

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You’re wondering what peposo is, right?  Or perhaps you know what peposo is and you’ve already wondered how it ended up in a sandwich.  If you’re like me, you may even just want to take a big bite of it right now because it’s dinnertime and it would be much easier to have a savory Italian sandwich magically appear instead of needing to make dinner.  Oh, how I wish that might be so tonight.

This sandwich has quite a long story behind it, so I’ll share it soon — along with the recipe for the peposo, the roasted pepper salad, and the focaccia.  But it’s Wednesday, and I’m supposed to be wordless — or nearly so.

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It’s the busy season for my husband so that means dinner is later with each passing week.  There is no complaint from me because I’ve gotten used to it over the last many years — and I’m not the one working late.

The later schedule allows me to think a bit longer about dinner if I’ve procrastinated, or, as in this case, have something ready that takes almost no time to prepare because it’s a) classified as something that can be made ahead of time — as in the day before; or b) it’s left-over.  You’re welcome to choose whichever version you’d like, but I’m going with choice a because that’s what I did.

Pork shoulder was on sale for some ridiculously low price if i purchased two roasts wrapped together, so I thought, what the heck.  Each weighed about 4-5 lbs.  I separated them when I got home, freezing them in ziplock bags knowing that I’d find something that struck my fancy.

My fancy ended up being Pulled-Pork Sandwiches but I had to roast the pork to begin with.  Now you could enjoy the slowly roasted pork for dinner one night, then the pulled-pork sandwiches the next, but my roast wasn’t all that big and I know that had we eaten it after it came out of the oven, there wouldn’t have been enough for the sandwiches.

This recipe caught my eye because of the capers.  I can’t get enough of those sun-dried and brined flower buds that grow in the Mediterranean region.  In fact, I no longer rinse them as most recipes advise, because I enjoy the tang the brine adds to whatever it is I’m cooking.  There’s never enough brine to lose the unique flavor of the capers no matter what I’m making — especially with this recipe.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
makes 3  giant sandwiches

1-1/2 T capers
2 c. cabbage, sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
3 T chives, minced
3 tsp. cherry pepper, chopped
2 T red wine vinegar
salt
2 c. shredded pork shoulder
good sandwich rolls
3 T olive oil

First you have to prepare the pork.

1 T kosher salt
1 T cracked pepper
4.5 lb. pork shoulder
1 lg. onion, quartered
3 lg. carrots, peeled & chunked
10 cloves garlic, smashed & peeled
1 c. chardonnay

Two days before you’d love to have your pulled pork sandwiches, rub the pork shoulder with a mixture of the kosher salt and cracked pepper.  Place in a ziplock bag and keep in the fridge overnight.  Before roasting the pork, remove it from the fridge and let sit at room temp for about an hour.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Roast pork in a baking pan in the center of the oven about 2 hours or until well browned and very tender, or about 30 minutes per pound.  Add the remainder of the ingredients to the roasting pan along with 1/2 c. water and roast for an additional 30 minutes.

At this point, this is a lovely piece of meat for dinner as long as you save some for the sandwiches!  And if you do, then shred the pork then instead of waiting.

Now on to the sandwiches.

In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and capers and mix with the vinegar and salt.  Let it sit to soften a bit for at least 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Prepare the rolls by slicing, opening, and placing down on a hot skillet or griddle to brown.

Reheat the pulled pork if necessary and load onto rolls.  Add some of the cabbage mixture to each roll and drizzle with olive oil.  Salt and pepper if wanted.

Dig.  In.

Notes:

• This is good.  No.  This is really, really good.  Hit the spot doesn’t even come close.  Sad but true that only once in a while do I bite into something that just sends me and this did.
• I confess that the sandwiches were quite large.  Oh.  Well.  I could have halved each of them, and then we would have gone for seconds.
• I could see a nice stone ground mustard on these if you had to, but it’s so not necessary.
• You could play around with the veggies, like add some peppers you have on hand.  Maybe some kalamatas?  Who cares?  It’s just one of those kinds of sandwiches.
• Good luck doing this with left over pork chops.  That roast is so tender, juicy and flavorful…
• The inspiration for this recipe came from Fine Cooking.  Essentially, I used half the pork but retained most of the quantities of ingredients for roasting.  Loved all that sweet, roasty garlic.
• I can’t say too much more except that I’ve been experimenting with my camera and learning more about custom white balances, using Curves in Photoshop, and shooting in RAW sometimes.  It makes for a fairly wonky collection of photos, but I’ll get there some day.  Maybe.

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It’s Friday, and much of the food world seems to be focused on one thing:  Super Bowl food. Okay, so maybe not, but I had to start this somewhere, right? Maybe it would be more accurate to say 50% of us use it as an excuse to have a party. What would game day be like without food?  We have to have something to munch on while watching those commercials!

This year, we have no plans to attend or host anything *yes*, but the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals just might make it a good game for a change. Too often, it’s not entertaining in my opinion, so food helps make it an occasion — and not a fancy one with a lot of prep.  We go easy on the appetizers — chips, salsa and guacamole — have a meal at half-time.

It’s casual meal usually of chili or ribs.  But it could be this instead: a spin on traditional stadium food, and which can be put out allowing people to graze at their leisure.

Southwest Sliders in honor of the Cardinals…

…and Bratwurst Dogs with Peppers & Onions in honor of the Steelers.

I’m not sure who I’m pulling for, but I am a Zonie by birth.  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Southwest Sliders

lean ground beef
canned green chilies, drained & chopped
minced red onions
dash dried oregano
minced garlic
chili powder
dried red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
egg
Dinner rolls, sliced

In a bowl with very clean hands, squish all ingredients together and separate the mixture into golf-ball sized balls.  Flatten them out making sure the edges are smooth and put them on a plate in the refrigerator.

Prepare your fixings and arrange on a bit platter:  Spicy mustard, Herdez Salsa Verde, extra sharp chipotle cheddar slices, avocado slices splashed with lime and sprinkled with salt, tomatoes, and fresh sprigs of cilantro.

Toast the inside of the buns until brown and pile in a big bowl.  Griddle or grill the sliders and add the cheese at the end of cooking time so it can melt a bit.  Arrange the sliders on a big plate.

Let everybody put their own together, and then laugh when they ask you, “Just how do youthink I’m going to get this in my mouth?”

Notes:

• Make sure the meat patties are flattened a bit larger than the buns to allow for shrinkage during cooking.
• Sure, if you twisted my arm, I’d put bacon on these.
• We’ve made a variety of these:  Greek inspired with lamb and some tzatziki and a sprinkle of feta; or BBQ style with grilled onions and a spicy sauce.  They’re fun to play with.
• Plan on at least 2-3 for the big guys.  One is plenty for me, but yes, I ate two.  They go down pretty easily.  Pile on the veggies and you don’t feel too guilty.

Bratwurst Dogs with Peppers & Onions

bratwurst, smoked sausage, bangers, or any other type of “dog” you enjoy
chopped garlic
thick sliced onions
sliced bell peppers
tomato wedges
cheese
seedy stone ground mustard
thick sandwich rolls, sliced

Cook your dogs either on a griddle or grill until piping hot.  While this is going on, in a skillet with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, add the onions and cook until beginning to soften and add the garlic.  Add the peppers and cook until the mixture is soft, beginning to brown, but still has shape.  Season with salt and pepper.  Put in a large bowl and keep warm.

Toast the sandwich rolls under the broiler, on a griddle or grill until brown.

On a large platter, arrange the dogs, buns, tomatoes, cheese, and mustard.  Place the bowl of onions & peppers nearby and let everyone make their own dogs.

Notes:

• These are so good.  Our grocery store has lots of different kinds of sausage so it’s fun to have a variety for people to choose from.  Andouille is excellent!
• Don’t overcook the onions and peppers.  It’s nice to have some crunch left when you take a big bite.

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Several factors have led to my interest in cooking.  Interest was first.  I’ve always been drawn to cookbooks and loved to look at the only one we had in the house.  Yes, I mention it all the time — that old Betty Crocker Cookbook that I still have.  It was the photos.  They opened up a world I would have not been privy to with the staples my mother created.  It’s where I first wondered what popovers tasted like, what Baked Alaska was, and how those flames could be on that “Peach Jubilee Dessert.”

Noticeably missing was a section with photos of sandwiches.  Maybe no one really thought it was necessary.  After all, sandwiches were something made with leftovers, or jam and peanutbutter from a jar, right?

Today, a good sandwich constitutes a whole meal as far as I’m concerned, and we do have them for dinner.  Although I’ll look at a recipe occasionally if the ingredients are unusual, it’s fun to just figure it all out.  I’m not just talking about roast beef and cheddar with a bit o’ mustard, here.  I’m talking about knowing which combinations of flavors you like, and that compliment one another to make a really great sandwich.    Mmmm…do I have a sandwich for you.  Or is it a sarnie?  Well, in this case, it must be a sarnie, because it’s my entry into “Show Us Your Sarnie!” being hosted by Marie at A Year From Oak Cottage.  What a great idea!

A perfect combination of flavors is roasted peppers, sauteed portobellos, and grilled onions.  The sweetness of the peppers, rich caramel of the onions, and earthiness of the mushrooms really works.  In fact, the combination is excellent for a pasta dish or a salad as well.  But to really get my heart singing, two more important ingredients are necessary….goat cheese, and arugula.  You have to try it.  But don’t get fussy about quantities, because that’s not how this works.  You have to be adventuresome.

Although my sandwich is meatless — yes, and it’s excellent — this combination would work very well with beef or chicken.  It just isn’t necessary with these gorgeous mushrooms.

So Cal Sarnie:  Roasted Veggies and Goat’s Cheese with Arugula on Ciabatta

Ingredients:  Crusty bread such as a whole ciabatta, two very large portobellos, three bell peppers (red, yellow, orange), goat’s cheese, dijon, fresh arugula, sweet white onion, olive oil, salt, pepper.

To begin:  roast the peppers. You can do this on the open burner of your stove whether gas or electric.  Just lay them on there until they’re black and blistered.  Make sure to turn on the fan because their fragrance is quite strong and will hover in your house…not something you want to smell in the middle of the night.  Next, place the peppers in a paper bag or closed container and let them sit for at least 15 minutes.  Remove them, and with you fingers, remove the blackened skin, the membranes, stem and seeds.  DO NOT RINSE OFF THE PEPPERS.  Sorry for yelling, but you want to retain the lovely oils and flavor from the roasting.  Set aside.

Next: While the peppers are sitting, cut thick slices of onion.  Keep the slices together, and place in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat checking occasionally to see how they’re browning.  Flip them over after they’ve browned to your liking.  Remove them from the pan until you are ready to use them.  You can break them up if you wish from the beginning and really cook them down to caramelized rings — quite tasty as well — but it’s your choice.  Keeping the rings together provides more of a bite on this particular sandwich er, um sarnie.

Now: Slice a couple of very large portobello mushrooms.  Mince some garlic as well.  Put a few splashes of olive oil in another skillet (the onions are in the other) and add the garlic when the oil is hot.  After a minute, place the mushroom slices in the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook on one side to brown, then turn to brown the other side.  This takes longer than you would think.  You may need to add another spash of olive oil to get the brown you want.  But avoid soaking the mushrooms in oil.  You don’t want an oily mess.

Okay: After you’ve removed the onions, wipe out the pan (or whip out your still new Panini pan that you got for your birthday) and place the ciabatta sections face down to brown them just a bit.  Then spread a bit of dijon on one piece, and softened goat’s cheese on both.

Ready? Place several mushroom slices on one piece, topped with roasted peppers, then onions.  On the other slice, load the arugula.  Carefully slap the two pieces together, then place in the panini pan.  Make sure the lid has been sitting in the pan while it’s heating so that it’s hot, too.  Place the lid over the sarnie and let it sit for a couple of minutes.  If you’re brave, turn it over and let it sit for another minute.

No panini pan? Using a cast iron skillet works just fine.  Sit something heavy on the sarnie and then turn it over and do the same thing.

No cast iron skillet? You’re kidding, right?  No comment, but, wrap the sarnie in foil and pop the whole thing in a preheated oven for about 5-8 minutes.  The arugula will be wilted, but that will be just fine.

Some variations:

• Use fresh mozzarella if you want a more mild tasting cheese that will melt a bit.
• Use any kind of pesto you enjoy and spread that on instead of the dijon.
• Use blue cheese instead of goat’s cheese and skip the peppers, but add tomato and switch the arugula with fresh spinach.

Have fun and enjoy experimenting with my version of a sarnie!  Oh, and chop up the leftovers and saute them with some pappardelle the next day.  It’s even better.

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I celebrated yet another birthday this past week — mine.  And although I’ve heard that many women don’t enjoy receiving gifts that have anything to do with kitchens, I’m not one of those women.  To be fair, I’ve worked this out over the years knowing that my husband likes to purchase several gifts instead of one large gift.  You won’t ever find me arguing with that strategy, of course.  But what that does mean is that I usually expect to receive something involving fragrance, or personal "upkeep," a few chocolates, and….

…a trip to Great News, a local cooking store.  I love Great News.  It is beyond rare that I’m not able to find what I need there when a unique type of cookware is called for, an odd ingredient (juniper berries…), or I just want a new pan.  And this year, that would be a panini pan.

Tah-dah……I just love this green color.  I’m not so in love with how heavy it is, however.  Of course I couldn’t resist putting it on the scale and was surprised to find that it only weighs 12 lbs. It seems heavier.  I’m not going to argue about whether my scale is not accurate because that would mean that I would weigh more than it says I do.  I don’t even want to think about that.  It’s a big problem to begin with.  What was I talking about?  Oh.  The pan.  My cute green pan.    I considered the Le Cruset rectangular pan (also in very cool colors…) but decided upon Mario Batali’s because I love the green, and I loved the price — about half of the cost of the Le Cruset.  The clerk did inform me that a warranty came with the Le Cruset products, but I ended up with the one casserole my mother owned which is now over 50 years old.  I don’t think a warranty is needed.  Do you?

So what do you make with a panini pan?  Paninis, of course.  And no, I didn’t use a recipe.  Yes, recipes are most likely out there, and I’m sure you may even be able to get a panini cookbook, but I don’t need one.  I love making sandwiches, and the combinations are endless.  It depends on what is in the freezer and/or refrigerator.

To inaugurate my new pan, I used chicken breast, basil pesto, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, and a rustic loaf of bread.  I’m drooling just remembering it…

1. Pound chicken breasts encased in plastic wrap firmly with a rolling pin until flattened.  Salt and pepper them, and add a sprinkling of whatever seasoning you enjoy depending on the other ingredients.
2. Prepare tomatoes by slicing thickly, and saute briefly in a skillet with a couple of splashes of olive oil and some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle on some herbs de provence or whatever type of herb you enjoy.
3. Rub the bottom and top of the pan with some oil using a paper towel or brush and heat on medium with the lid sitting inside.
4. While the pan is heating, slice the bread into 1" slices on the diagonal to increase the surface area for sandwich ingredients.
5. Place the chicken breasts into the pan and cover with the lid.  Cook about 3 minutes (depending on thickness and size of chicken breasts) on each side.  Remove from pan and slice into thick pieces.
6. Replace the lid so that it will get hot while you build the sandwiches.
7. Drizzle olive oil over the outside of two pieces of sliced bread.  Spread a bit of pesto on the inside.
8. Stack chicken, tomatoes, slices of fresh mozzarella, and red onions onto one slice of bread and top with the second.
9. Place the sandwich in the pan and put the lid on top, pressing a bit.  Heat for a few minutes on each side just to grill the bread, and melt the cheese. 
10. Slice and enjoy.

You can obviously make paninis with a skillet and either a cast iron skillet placed on top to press, or, a brick that has been covered with foil.  And if you have one of those pans with the ridges on the bottom, you’ll get great "stripes" on your paninis.  But come on.  It’s not going to be a chic green color.  And I don’t want to give my husband any ideas about wrapping bricks for my birthday. 

I do enjoy that the lid on mine is very hot when used, and that this does speed things up a bit.

I’m thinking this is going to be a pretty popular item in our house.  And I’ll have great biceps, as well!

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