Fried Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil Ricotta and Red Wine Vinegar Reduction

photo by Dave Koch

We saw some really nice heirloom tomatoes at our Whole Foods the other day (we also saw San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom but that's another story) - and SippitySup's tomatomania contest was fresh in my head.  I came up with this recipe thinking about putting a new twist on the ubiquitous caprese salad.

By breading and frying the tomatoes, you get a little crunch, and their sugars begin to caramelize. Their natural sweetness is enhanced by the honey in the reduction and the acidity adds a POP that would otherwise be missing with only the cheese, basil, and tomatoes.

The key to pulling this off, is mise en place; getting everything set so that you can plate it in a jiffy, serve, and eat while it's still piping hot. Once you begin to cook the tomatoes, they’ll start to break down, so work quickly. Half the texture is in keeping a little bite to the tomatoes to contrast with the soft cheese.

Ingredients:

· 2 nice heirloom tomatoes, a red and a green preferably
· 1 cup of ricotta, I used "part skim"
· 1/4 cup of basil, minced fine
· 1/4 cup flour
· 1/4 cup bread crumbs
· 1/4 Parmesan cheese, grated
· Salt & pepper
· 1 cup red wine vinegar (homemade is best!)
· 1 tablespoon honey
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

Begin by reducing the red wine vinegar with the honey in a small pot over medium heat, this step will take the longest.  Mix your basil and the ricotta in a bowl.  Slice the tomatoes about 1/2 inch thick, thicker slices hold up better and are less likely to fall apart.

Combine the flour, bread crumbs, and the Parmesan cheese on a large plate so that you can dip the tomato slices into it easily.  Be sure to season the bread crumb mixture well with salt and pepper, about a tablespoon of each. It may seem like a lot, but not all of it will stick to the tomatoes.

I recommend a non-stick pan for this because the breading is likely to separate from the tomato otherwise.  Add a tablespoon each of the olive oil and the butter to the pan, and put on medium-high heat - you are not supposed to heat a non-stick pan dry. Once the butter begins to foam, quickly dip the tomatoes into the breading so that you get an even coat on both sides (don't do this ahead of time or you will make glue).  Place into the pan.

Fry until GBnD (Golden Brown and Delicious), about 2 minutes on each side.  Place one tomato slice on the plate, add a dollop of basil ricotta on top, then the other slice of tomato, then another dollop of ricotta.  Spoon a drizzle of the vinegar reduction around the sides.  Serve immediately.

Makes enough for 2.

What we've been reading... 4/19/2009

Slow Fish Challenge - Home - TerraMadre Rete delle comunità del cibo

Brilliant Brunch Ideas - A sophisticated start - Health.com

Trish's Food Adventures: My Family's Flaounes

Danger is My Middle Name - Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce — The Delicious Life

Burrata Cheese - Mangia Bene Pasta

The Secret Ingredient: Preserved Lemons | Serious Eats : Recipes

A New Sugar Substitute Joins a Street Fight - NYTimes.comppity Sup

Spuds and Cheddar: La Pizza Verace.....

Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | Tastes Like Summer: The Perfect Tomato Sandwich

Bacon, Peanut Butter, and Basil Sandwich

The B-PB-B!.  Kind of a shoddy photo for such a delicious sandwich (it was taken with my phone) but the muses were with me when I came up with it.

I know it sounds crazy but don't laugh until you try it!

The saltiness of the bacon and the saltiness of the peanut butter play nice together on the swings while the basil is is busy getting dizzy on the carousel.

There is creamy, crunchy, salty, and herbal all going on.  White bread allows all the flavors to shine but whole wheat would be good too.

Ingredients:

3 strips of bacon - baked, nuked, or fried

2 pieces of white bread, toasted

1 small handful of basil, about 6 large leaves

1 smathering of peanut butter - chunky or smooth, your call

Instructions:

Put everything in between the slices of bread.  Eat.

Don't Taze My Guac, Bro

photo by Dave Koch

The weather is warming up, the birds are singing, and the avocados are calling my name.  It is the beginning of guacamole season; that beautiful time of year where people gather around a molcajete with a cerveza in one hand and a tortilla chip in the other, jockeying for position to get the very best scoop.

Some people are looking for the biggest chunk of avocado, that somehow avoided being pulverized.  Some are looking for a particularly large dice of tomato.  Some poor saps are trying to find a smedge with no clear signs of cilantro, because they live their entire sorry existence in fear of biting into one of its pungent leaves.

In any case, I'm a guacamole freak.  If I found a big swimming pool filled with the stuff, I would be compelled to dive in.  I make a mean guac.  I make the kind that sings babies to sleep.  I make a guac that people write songs about.  My guac makes recent widowers momentarily forget to moarn.  It makes rap-stars write lyrics like, "My guacamole brings all the boys to the yard."

Unfortunately when dining out, I am all too often disappointed.  There's too much fluff, too much filler, too much salsa (if you're calling it guac, it's guac, not salsa with avocado - which is good, but it's not guac).  Sometimes there's onion powder, or garlic powder, or cumin; or worse yet a combination of the three.  Sometimes the color is off, it's green but it's awry - it's not natural, back away!

Too often I catch myself saying "hold the guac," not because I don't like guac, I love it, but because I like it so much, that I don't trust it in your hands...  I feel compelled so often to explain - but that can get confusing.  I can tell by the way you are moving your lips while you read this, you're about to taze my guac.  Don't taze my guac bro.  This is how it's done:

Don't Taze My Guac

Ingredients: 

• 4 Avocados, Haas are great but if you can find other varieties like the Bacon and the Fuerte, branch out
• 1/3 cup lime juice, about the juice of 2 limes, 3 if you're not getting much out of them
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 3 tomatos, diced
• 1/4 cup of cilantro, coarsly chopped
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper
• 1 serrano or jalapeno, minced, is OK but not necessary

Instructions:

Open a fine Mexican beer.  Lo ciento novato, pero Corona y Tecate don't count.  Try Negro Modelo, Bohemia, or even Pacifico.  Cut a slice out of one of your limes, insert into beer.  Throw all your ingredients into a bowl (not the beer, keep the beer in your hand).  Mix together, but not too well.  

If you want to make this ahead of time, go ahead, but squirt more lime juice on top and then cover with plastic wrap.  Oxygen will turn the avocado brown and acid prevents this (just like apples).

Enjoy.

Lastly I'll leave you with a hilarious tribute song to the green (although we disagree somewhat on the accoutrements), "Some add in serrano, some like jalapeno, don't make it to hot though, when serving it to gringos" 

Lemon Confit

photo by Dave Koch

Confit is a very old method of preserving, the word confit in fact comes from confire which means "to prepare."  It most often recognized as confit of goose (confit d'oie) or duck (confit de canard) but the principles are similar no matter what you are preparing.  In the case of meat, you cook the meat in its own fat and a hefty amount of salt, and it is stored that way - stored in the fat because as it cools, it solidifies.

For fruit; however, it is sugar that drives out the moisture, not cooking with fat.  Thanks to friends of ours, we have an abundance of lemons right now and preserving them was going to be the only way from preventing them all to spoil.

This is an adaptation of Tom Colicchio's Lemon Confit from his book Think Like a Chef.

Ingredients: 

• Lemons, lots of them - for the amounts below, use a dozen
• 3 Shallots
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 2/3 cup Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• Olive oil, a few cups

Instructions:

Blanch the lemons by dropping them into boiling water for about thirty seconds.  This removes any wax they might have been sprayed with, and should kill any mold spores.  Wipe clean and slice thin.  You could use a mandolin, but we weren't too picky so we used a knife.  

Mix the sugar and salt, put into a bowl.  Mince the shallots and the garlic fine, combine.  

Place a layer of the lemon slices at the bottom of a container, glass is best.  (We made this at a friends house so there are pictures of a Tupperware, but we transferred them into a glass jar when we got home).  

Following the layer of lemons, sprinkle some of the salt/sugar mixture, and then some of the shallot/garlic mixture.  Repeat until you run out: lemons, salt/sugar, shallot/garlic.  

Lightly pat down everything, we used a wooden spoon, and add olive oil until everything is covered and not exposed to air.  Make sure your container has a lid, put that on too.

Leave at room temperature for three days then place in the refridgerator.  They will keep for up to three months.  

Use in chicken, fish, or veggie dishes to add zest and color.  The acid and garlic supposedly mellow out and meld together with time.  Lemon confit and otherwise preserved lemons are common ingredients in Moroccan and Middle Eastern recipes, but I'll bet will make a fantastic condiment to almost anything.

Sunchoke Soup

photo by Dave Koch

Also known as Jerusalem Artichokes, you can make Sunchokes into a quick, easy, and delicious soup in about 15 minutes.  Interestingly enough, Sunchokes are native to North America and are one of the continent's only tubers.  When they bloom, their flower looks much like a small Sunflower.  

The name Jerusalem artichoke is from the Italian name Girasole articicco (Sunflower Artichoke) because of their plumage and because the first group of Italians to snack on them thought they tasted like artichokes.  When the name came back to the New World, Americans had difficulty saying Girasole and thus converted it to Jerusalem.

And now back to the soup.  In full disclosure, these were the first Sunchokes I have had.  I peeled them, cut off a little piece to eat raw, and was blown away by how sweet they were.  My first thought was how tasty they would be raw in a salad, much like Jicama - maybe next time, soup was already in the works...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of Sunchokes, peeled and diced 
• 2 small carrots, or one giant one, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 tablespoon of chicken or veggie bouillon, I like the brand Better than Bouillon  
• 4 cups water
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Instructions:

In a medium/hot pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil, the carrots, celery, and the sunchokes.  Season well with salt & pepper and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.  When they yield easily to being prodded with a fork, add the water and the bouillon and bring to a boil.  

Hold the boil for 5 minutes, and when complete, blend thoroughly with an emersion blender (or transfer to a traditional blender in batches).  I garnished with a dollop of yogurt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few squirts of Sriracha Hot Sauce.

Enjoy!

Dr. Bronner's Magic Foaming Soap

photo by Dave Koch

We use a lot of soap in our house and I've always been a fan of Dr. Bronner's Magic Pure Castile Soap but the huge squirt bottle kind of sucks.  Really.  What I discovered recently is that the magic really occurs when you dilute it into a foaming hand soap pump.

Well, you've got to wash your hands, and you've always got dishes to do... so why not do them the Magic Pure Castile way?

Begin with a fancy foaming hand pump soap, we use Dial [don't you wish everyone did...?]  

Use it up.

photo by Dave Koch

I grew up on the stuff, usually the Peppermint scent.  It works great for cutting grease on dishes and it doesn't do a nasty toll on your "dish-pan" hands.  Unfortunately, it never has had a decent delivery system - until I tried putting it into foaming hand soap pumps.  Now it is complete.

We have used the Peppermint, the Lavender, and the Tea Tree Oil.  I even added a little Tee Tree Oil that I had sitting around to each batch.  Why not?  

photo by dave Koch

For each, add a small squirt (maybe an ounce or so) to the soap bottle, fill the rest up with water, cap it and you're done.  

I'm not the cheapest bastard in the the bunch but let's do the math:

A 32 ounce bottle of Dr. Bronner's costs $15 and will make about 20 batches of hand soap.  That's about 75 cents per batch and I swear it works as good as - or better than the stuff you have laying around.

Give it whirl!  I'm going to try the Rose or the Eucalyptus next...

What we've been reading... 4/12/2009

• Diary of a Fanatic Foodie: A Blog About My Love for All Things Food and Drink: The Perfect Spring and Summer Drink
• The Pink Spoon: Bahn Mi & Kiwi Knives
• Swordfish Kabobs with Mustard (Kaboom!) | Sippity Sup
• The Amateur Gourmet - Condoleezza Rice Pudding with Berries of Mass Destruction
• Diary of a Foodie: Diary of a Foodie : gourmet.com
• Foodaphilia: Sketch
• Eatwell Farm News
• Tapas Tutor Show and Tell - Blog Posts - Foodbuzz
• Ice Cube Junkie » Michelle’s Nasi Lemak
• Chicken with Tomato-Caper Sauce « PeanutButterMilk
• Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com
• Tuscany Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
• Never Buy Salad Dressing Again | A Veggie Venture

Tuscan White Bean, Fennel, and Arugula Salad

photo by Amy Koch

This salad is easy to assemble and is both refreshing and satisfying.  It is fulfilling enough for a complete weeknight meal - but would also make for an impressive first course.  The citrus vinaigrette adds bright flavors which meld well with with the earthy arugula and fennel.  

Both the vinaigrette and the bean and fennel mixture can be made up to two days ahead of time, then mixed with arugula and topped with Parmesan right before serving.

Ingredients:

Bean and fennel mixture

• 2 - 14 ounce cans of cannelini beans
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
• 1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
• 1 orange, supremed (reserve juices for vinaigrette)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Vinaigrette

• Juice of the orange after it was supremed
• 2 tablespoons of white balsamic or white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup of Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

- 5 ounces of arugula (one standard bag)
- Parmesan, shaved (I used a vegetable peeler)

Instructions:

Combine everything for the bean and fennel mixture.  Toss with half the vinaigrette.  When ready to serve, lightly coat the arugula with the remaining vinaigrette.  Top with bean and fennel mixture.  Shave the Parmesan on top.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4 as a main course, serves 6 as a first course.  Enjoy!

photo by Amy Koch

Community Supported Agriculture

photo by Dave Koch

Compelled to eat more vegetables, eat more locally, and eat more organic, we signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box.  It is delivered from Eat Well Farms in Dixon, California and we pick ours up only a few blocks from home.  We opted to go with the semi-weekly box because there is just the two of us.  The cost?  Just $27.

This week's box contained: 

• Marjoram
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Stir-fry mix (dark, leafy greens - like chard)
• Radishes (red and a milder white variety)
• Broccoli
• Green Garlic
• Navel Oranges
• Carrots
• Jerusalem Artichokes (AKA Sunchokes)
• Lemons

We are well stocked for the week and have already made some fun dishes.  I like that they send you some items that you might not pick out on your own.  To help out those that may be stumped with something in there, they add a few recipes in the box.  This batch had instructions for a Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, Sautéed Radishes with Radish Greens &/or Arugula, and Carrot-Cous Cous Salad.

They also run a blog, check them out!

You can also, find a CSA farm near you.

Hibiscus Bubbles

 photo by Dave Koch

Here is the perfect Spring drink to celebrate everything coming into bloom.  

Hibiscus Bubbles

It is pink.  It has bubbles.  It is easy.  You can make the extract ahead so that you have more time to spend with your guests.  What more do you really want?

Hibiscus is most commonly found in the form of a drink at Mexican restaurants as an agua fresca commonly called jamaica.  You often find it on ice, in large jars, with metal ladles.  It is tart, fragrant, and absolutely delicious.    

My only complaint is that in aguas frescas, I think its wonderful astringency is often masked with too much sugar.  But then again, I don't drink it everyday so... who am I to blow against the wind?  

You buy hibiscus as dried flowers like these:

 Bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil.  Turn the heat off.  Add 1 cup of dried hibiscus flowers.  Allow to steep for 20 minutes.  Strain to get your hibiscus extract.  The extract can be added with water and ice in a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio for making aguas frescas.

Dried hibiscus flowers can be found at any Mexican market, and remember: they are almost always found under their Spanish name jamaica.  

You can also get them online at Mexgrocer.com:

Once you've made your hibiscus extract, to make Hibiscus Bubbles, add about a tablespoon to each Champagne flute and then fill with a sparkling wine.  We used a "California Champagne" but an Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava would also be fantastic.

 As long as it is sparkling, it doesn't really matter.  My only advise?  I wouldn't use something very expensive because the tartness of the hibiscus and the added sugar take center stage.   They will mask any subtle nuance you may have paid for.

We dropped in a flower into each glass for presentation.  Enjoy! 

Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn Pudding Snacks

photo by Dave KochI found these in the refrigerator of a friend of mine and was so shocked, I had to tell the world.  First of all, the Buttered Popcorn Jelly Beans are the grossest, sickest excuse for a candy I know.  I would rather eat a handful of the Harry Potter Bertie Botts Earthworm flavored Jelly Beans than then a single Buttered Popcorn.

They are so horrible, they knock the wind out of me; I can't breathe.  My eyes roll into the back of my head when I eat them.  I begin to have visions of Hieronymus Bosch's Hell in The Garden of Earthly Delights.  Blood runs from my eyes, my head swivels on my neck, my world goes dark.  I may be exaggerating a little, but I really don't like them at all.  

Continuing on.  I didn't eat the pudding but I imagine it tastes like a pile of vomit at a movie theater.  I'm simply amazed that they would take something as disgusting as a buttered popcorn jelly bean and try and market it in different forms.  What's next?  Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn Non-Dairy Creamer?

To exacerbate my shock of finding these in the home of someone I know, this culprit went to culinary school!  She shall remain nameless so as to protect her identity, possibly her job, and definitely her standing in the community (could you imagine the shame?).  

"So ______, I hear you eat Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn Pudding Snacks..."

"Uh, yea."

"You're fired!"

Now I'm just teasing her - but nevertheless, here is a rundown of the ingredients in them (there are no less than 15 mind you!):

"Nonfat milk, water, sugar, modified food starch, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: soybean oil, canola oil, sunflower oil), contains 1% or less of the following: natural and artificial flavor, salt, xanthan gum, disodium phosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, yellow 5.

Contains: milk"

Did you notice it does not contain butter OR popcorn...?

Homemade Croutons. Duh.

photo by Matt Haas This might be the biggest no brainer ever.  

Ingredients:

• Bread
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parmesan Cheese  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut bread into cubes and toss with oil, salt & pepper and a generous dusting of parm.  Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Add to your soup or salad while still warm.

photo by Matt Haas

Notes: I always have some frozen bread in the freezer - maybe half a baguette, the end of a rustic loaf, whatever.  Fresh bread is fine, but this is a really great use of leftovers.  I love cooking up a small batch of homemade croutons and tossing in a salad while they are still a little warm.  Trust me.

photo by Matt Haas

Homemade Vinegar

photo by Dave KochI have never been a fan of red wine vinegar, and simply because they always seem watered down.  The gold standard brand, Regina, is often all you can find at the store - and although it does the trick, it is lacking both depth and character.  There are spectacular balsamic vinegars out there and most people have tasted them before.  Why then, is red wine vinegar so often ignored?

A friend of mine recently started making his own vinegar with a mother he purchased at our local homebrew supply store, San Francisco Brewcraft.  They are wealth of information by the way on any and everything fermented: beer, wine, and vinegar.  My friend's vinegar mother regenerated and he gave my two discs of mother.

For my wine selection, I wanted to go with something deep, dark, and tannic; the antithesis of your typical store-bought red wine vinegar.  I chose a superbly rich Petite Syrah (which is also called Durif).  It looked like black ink.  I bought a glass jar at The Container Store and removed the wire and lid.  I poured in the wine, added the mother, secured a coffee filter with a rubber band, placed it in the cupboard, and began the waiting process.

Tasting it every few weeks allowed me to follow its progress.  At 6 weeks, the wine-y flavors had definitely moved aside and the distinct pungency of vinegar took over.  After three months, it was strong enough to take your breath away... literally.  It was so potent at this point, taking a sip could asphyxiate you.  It was delicious.

photo by Dave Koch

I found a nice little retro glass salad dressing container and diluted it 1:1 with water.  At this strength, the acidity mimicked what I was used to, but my creation was a heck of a lot more flavorful.  With this in my armamentarium, my Perfect Vinaigrette is complete.  It is tangy, earthy, salty, and nutty.  It enhances the vegetable's flavor without overpowering them.

Perfect Vinaigrette: 

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the grassier the better
• 3-4 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar, homemade is best!
• 1 heaping tablespoon Mustard, I prefer Dijon
• 1 heaping teaspoon Brewer's Yeast, I like TwinLab
• Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Whisk everything together or put into a mason-type jar and shake well.  Taste before adding salt as brewer's yeast is naturally salty (and nutty, and delicious).  You can adjust the oil to vinegar ratio to you liking.  I like mine with a lot of black pepper.  

Toss over salad and enjoy! 

I Love Complimentary Tasings!

What we've been reading... 4/4/2009

• Grow Tomatoes from Seed
• F&E Chicken Vindaloo : Cheap Eats
• Magic Curry Kart | Thrillist
• Spicy Pineapple Sauce Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network
• Christmas Pasta Recipe : Rachael Ray : Food Network
• Knife and Sharpening Steel Hardness - Equipment & Gear - Cooking For Engineers
• Cook sister!: Curly kale risotto for winter's last gasp
• The Delicious Life: Tyler Florence Makes Me Melt - Lemon Ginger Ice in Sugared Lemon Cups
• Hip Sips 01 - America
• Reading While Riding «
• That Thar Is Arctic Char | Sippity Sup
• Egg Mcguffin (with asparagus, smoked salmon) and Mustard Sauce | Sippity Sup

Sweet Heat: Hot Brownies

photo by Dave Koch

Mixing chili and chocolate was the status quo in Aztec times and has always been popular in Mexico but has only recently become more prevalent in the US.  I see the pair frequently at chocolate boutiques and really enjoy how well they work together.  After a long week of work, the sweet-tooth fairy came out to play and we decided to make some Hot Brownies last night.  

We didn't have everything planned ahead of time but we based this recipe on Brownies Cockaigne from of the Joy of Cooking.  We didn't have unsweetened chocolate like it called for, and doing it over, we may omit some of the sugar.  I guessed at the amount of chili to add and I think it was a good educated guess because it worked out.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 ounces milk chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups sugar (this looked like too much)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cayenne chili powder

Directions:

"The Joy" recommends that everything starts out at room temperature, which is fine - unless you are making them on a whim like we did.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with butter or spray.  

In a double-boiler (or a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water) combine  the chocolate chips and the butter and melt slowly.  Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.  In another bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, walnuts, white chocolate chips, and cayenne chili powder.

Once the chocolate and butter mixture is melted set aside to cool.  Once cool enough to handle, mix in the vanilla, sugar, and then the eggs. Incorporate the dry ingredients and be careful not to over mix. Working the batter too much at this point will begin to form gluten and make the brownies tough, not gooey.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, begin checking them at 25 minutes.  They are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with no wet batter stuck to it.  Allow them to cool for 15 minutes before trying to remove them from the pan.

photo by Dave Koch

The chili flavor is barely perceptible while the heat is coy; not noticeable at first, but sneaking up after a few bites.  The burn is like seeing someone who you think you recognize.  You exchange glances, holding your gaze longer than normal, wondering if you can find what it is about them you recall.  Then it hits you - yes!

One very "cool" effect is that the warmth lingers for a few minutes after you have finished your last bite, warming you from the inside.  If you were to add only 1 tablespoon, the chili would add only a subtle nuance.  I'd be willing to bet that no one would be able to pick it out.

But what would be the fun in that?

Make mine hot!

What do you think of the new site?

photo by Dave Koch

We've changed some things up to make Papawow more readable.  What do you think?

Turkey Meatball Sandwiches on Whole Wheat Buns

Turkey Meatball Sandwiches on Whole Wheat Buns - photo by Dave Koch

Coincidentally enough, Chow.com's Recipe of the Day last Tuesday (March 24th) was the Meatball Sub.  This is my lighter version of the standard meatball sandwich.  I used ground turkey instead of beef, whole wheat buns in place of white bread, and bake the meatballs instead of searing them in oil.  A guilt-free, easy to prepare meal that the whole family will love!

Ingredients

• 1.25 pounds ground turkey
• 3/4 cup yellow onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup dried italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 10-12 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 6 whole wheat hoagie or hot dog buns

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl combine turkey, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, parmesan, and parsley. Mix ingredients to combine, however, do not over mix as meat will become tough.

Form mixture into balls and place on a sheet pan sprayed with olive oil. Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes, until just barely cooked through.  While meat is baking, combine marinara sauce with canned tomatoes in large saute pan and let simmer. 

Place cooked meatballs in tomato sauce and let simmer together 3-5 minutes. Serve warm meatballs in buns with slice mozzarella.

Serves 6

Total Satisfaction in a Pub

photo by Loren Tama

Someone somewhere at sometime decided to adjoin a phenomenal authentic Thai restaurant with a classic English pub.  I want to shake that someone's hand.

The pub/restaurant is the Churchill Arms located in London's posh Notting Hill.  As I sit here now, sleepily allowing my food coma to abate, I reflect on the sublime combination of spicy Thai, Winston Churchill memorabilia, and refreshing Albarino.  All this following five hours without food.  I lift the bottle of Pol Roget - Churchill's favorite Champagne - perched on a shelf next to me.  It is empty.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't care either way.  Right now I am reflecting.

This euphoric condition began with nothing more than toast, marmalade, and musli about 300 miles northeast of London.  As the drive back to London came to a close, the hunger set in.  The perfect answer turned out to be pad ga praw (one order of chicken, one of beef); kaeng kiew waan, or green curry (chicken); and the classic pad Thai.  With shrimp.  Spring rolls kicked off the feast, which was enjoyed by no more people than my tiny girlfriend and myself.  Halfway through the feast, two words escaped my mouth: goodness gracious.

I just experienced total satisfaction in a pub.

photo by Loren Tama