Category Archives: Adapted Recipes

Momofuku 5:10 Eggs

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510 Egg

As I was initially typing this, I was getting a little proud of the fact I was finally able to take a food photo with full natural light again. Now as I’m staring a little closer I realize I chose beyond wrong on the plate color. Coconut rice and an egg – yeah, a white plate totally makes sense. Ugh.

In my defense, I was excited because I had made Loco Moco from the Love & Olive Oil cookbook, Breakfast for Dinner (minus the fried egg, obviously) and couldn’t wait to dive in.

On a side note – the Loco Moco is awesome – so get the book…so you can be classy like me and tweet things like this to the authors:

 

Anyway, the Momofuku 5:10 egg is not a recipe, but a method – and it works every single time for me. Think of a perfectly poached egg, that never leaves its shell while cooking. When it is cooled, the egg seamlessly steps out of it’s shell, like that one girl in high school after 3 bottles of  Smirnoff Ice.

Momofuku 5:10 Eggs (You can do as many eggs as you would like, as long as the water in the pan of your choice will cover all of the eggs.)

Bring a large saucepan of water to a full rolling boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. When the water is boiling, gently lower your eggs into the water and set a timer for 5 minutes and 10 seconds, exactly (one time, I counted an extra 5 seconds for fun and they were just fine).

When the 5:10 boil is over, remove the eggs and place in the bowl of ice water. After a few minutes, lightly tap all over and very gently peel under cool running water. Be very careful handling the peeled eggs.

Whether it is on Loco Moco or a simple piece of buttered toast, slice into your egg and watch in amazement:

510 Egg 2 (2)510 Egg 2 (1)

510 Egg 4 (1)

510 Egg 4 (2)

Yes.

 

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Pork Meatball Bahn Mi Sandwiches

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I read somewhere that the majority of families rotate the same meals every week. Our family isn’t immune to this either. Sure, we mix it up and try new meals very frequently, but there are some weeks that if someone suggests pasta one more time, I’m going to stab my eye with a fork. This was one of our new favorite additions!

Sandwiches are one of my favorite things – you’ve got carbs, fun fillings, and condiments. They’re able to be personalized to taste, which is highly important at meal times in our house. 

When I showed Alora the recipe for these online, she was so excited because it had so many things she loved on it; meatballs, cilantro, carrots, cucumbers and mayonnaise. She kept calling them ‘Vietnamese Meatball Subs’.

Plus, they are so easy to make but give off a ‘I’ve been cooking these for hours’ vibe. Oh you picked vegetables? Why, yes, yes you did.

Pork Meatball Bahn Mi Sandwiches

Ingredients

Recipe taken from bonappetit.com with a few revisions for the sake of picky palates in my house. You can find the original recipe here.

Hot Chili Mayo

  • 2/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 green onions, finely chopped
  • 1 heaping tablespoon sriracha sauce

Meatballs

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 green onions, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha
  • 1 scant tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Sandwiches

  • 2 cups coarsely grated carrots
  • 2 cups coarsely grated radish
  • 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • 4 10-inch-long individual baguettes or four 10-inch-long pieces French-bread baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
  • Thinly sliced jalapeño chiles
  • cilantro for topping

Preparation

Hot Chili Mayo

  • Stir all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Meatballs

  • Line baking sheet with foil. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Roll meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs and line them on the baking sheet.

Sandwiches

  • Toss first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, tossing occasionally.
  • Preheat oven to 450°F.  Place the lined baking pan of meatballs in and cook for 10 minutes per side.
  • Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. Pull out enough bread from each bread half to leave 1/2-inch-thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo over each bread shell. Arrange jalapeños, then cilantro, in bottom halves. Fill each with 1/4 of meatballs. Drain pickled vegetables; place atop meatballs.
  • Top with the top of the baguette and shove it in your face piece.

So yum.

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Meet Your New Best Friends: Chole and Pattice

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I love re-creating something I’ve eaten outside of my own kitchen. Maybe it’s my Mom’s Cabbage Rolls or most recently the Silk Handkerchief pasta I had in Orlando, but I enjoying challenging myself.

This is an attempt at a dish our local vegetarian Indian restaurant calls  Tikki Channa Chaat. It is described as “Delhi style friend patties served on a bed of curried chickpeas, topped with onions, cilantro and chutneys” and it is heavenly.

Every time Michael and I eat there, we order this appetizer. I love it so much. Without fail, I always leave the restaurant and by the time I’m in the car, I decide they should make it bigger, with more potato patties and consider it a main dish. I get to make these kind of decisions, you see.

Except I don’t, so I made it myself.

Is it the most authentic thing? Doubtful and laughable. But it does hit the spot on days when I can’t make the drive out to get it.

For the Chole (Curried Chickpeas):

  •  2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 1 cardamom pod
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

In a pot, cover the chickpeas with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the beans are simmering, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add in the oil – the whole spices and toast until fragrant. Toss in the onion and jalapeno, stir to combine. Cook until beginning to soften and add the dry spices and garlic-ginger paste. Cook for 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomato puree and diced tomato. Drain the chickpeas from the water, add them to the tomato gravy and simmer for 10 minutes.

For a thicker sauce, smash a few of the chickpeas with the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

For the Pattice (Potato Patties):

  • 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and boiled
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

In a large bowl, put your boiled potatoes through a ricer for a smooth consistency. If you don’t have one, give them a thorough mashing. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch, kneading the mixture together until combined. Taste for seasoning – when it’s to your liking, thoroughly mix in the cornstarch.

Get a plate for holding your patties. Using your hands, form the potato mixture into the size patties of your choice. I make a golf ball sized round and then smush them flat. Whatever floats your boat.

When you’re ready to pan fry the pattice, heat a skillet with your oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, gently add the potato patties. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

To Serve You’ll Also Need:

  • Chopped cilantro
  • Diced Onion
  • Diced Tomato
  • Plain Yogurt
  • Chow Mein Noodles (Note: Traditionally the little crunchies are something called ‘Sev’ but I did  not have access to an Indian market, and these seemed to do the trick.)
In a vat bowl, place the desired amount of pattice. Cover with a hearty portion of chole. Top as desired with onion, tomato, cilantro, chow mein noodles and yogurt.

 

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Fried Green Tomato Mozzarella Caprese

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The magic of a garden fresh red tomato still warm from the sun has never been lost on me. Drizzled with fruity olive oil and I’m in heaven - add slices of fresh mozzarella and basil and you’re never getting rid of me.

A green tomato is no different for me. The very sight of them conjure up memories of being little and watching my mom make fried green tomatoes with her mother’s recipe. We’d dip the warm and crunchy bounty into a bowl of chilled cucumber dip. The combination screams summer to me.

Well, the kid – the almost-as-tall-as-I-am child of mine has been begging for fried green tomatoes lately but the thought of oil and frying on a hot summer day just hasn’t sounded all that appealing. Out to dinner with two lovely friends, I saw that one of the evening’s specials was a fried heirloom tomato caprese salad. Say what?!?

No one ordered it, but the idea stuck in my head. A warm crispy tangy green tomato with soft cheese? Stick a fork in me. Once I had my grubby little hands on some lovely green tomatoes it was game on!

Thinking the texture of basil leaves would be a little odd with this dish, I opted for a basil vinaigrette to drizzle everything with. Happy happy joy joy!

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium green and firm tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • salt (for sweating – optional)
  • 1 cup corn flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups panko bread crumbs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil
  • 8 oz. fresh mozzarella
  • Basil Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Place the tomato slices on a layer of paper towels and salt lightly to draw the water out of them for 8 minutes. Pat dry to remove any access liquid.

Make a dredging station with three shallow dishes. In the first one, dump the corn flour. In the second, combine the eggs, hot sauce and buttermilk, stirring to combine completely. In the last dish, add the panko bread crumbs. Salt and pepper each dish lightly and stir to combine individually.

Turn your oil on medium heat. Dredge your tomato slices in the flour, wet ingredients and panko. When the oil bubbles with the additon of a sprinkle of flour, add the tomato slices, cooking 4 minutes per side until the tomatoes are soft, yet the panko is golden brown and crispy.

Continue the process until all of the tomatoes have been fried. Drain slices on paper towels and flip after 30 seconds to drain the other side. Keep warm until ready to use.

Slice the mozzarella into thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick.

For the Basil Vinaigrette (from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen):

  • 1 small shallot, roughly chopped (substitute with 1 tablespoon chopped onion or 1 garlic clove)
  • 2 slices fresh chili pepper
  • 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, torn
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons good white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (1/2 tsp table salt)
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Add the shallot and chili pepper to the blender. Next add the basil leaves, water, vinegar and sea salt. Blend. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you are blending.

Store extra basil vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

To Assemble:

Alternately stack layers of warm fried green tomato and fresh mozzarella. When ready, drizzle basil vinaigrette on your stacks of love.

Because you’re worth it. Two of my summer loves smashed together. It doesn’t get much better than that!





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Gougeres (with Smoked Cheddar, Caramelized Onions and Rosemary)

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On Friday night, Mike and I decided to take on another food project. Every couple of days we either pick a food to can or choose a recipe out of a cook book and make it together. (Apparently my ability to watch hours of Law and Order: SVU on Netflix isn’t as appealing to him.)

After flipping through one of my new favorites by Dorie Greenspan,  Around My French Table we decided on her recipe for Gougères but put a little bit of “us” into it.

Gougères are little cheese puffs that reminded me of the popovers my mother made when I was little. They’re puffy and slightly hollow on the inside. Perfect warm or at room temperature and equally delicious at breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

We took her original recipe and added smoked cheddar, caramelized onions and fresh rosemary for extra “oomph”.

The first attempt, I mis-read a portion of the recipe and added five cups of flour rather than the specified….one cup. We realized the mistake immediately and started over. Thank goodness we weren’t too far in!

The end result was exactly what we wanted – light texture but full of flavor.

Out of respect for the French Fridays with Dorie project, I will neither post the original Gougères or my adapted one – but I do encourage you to buy the cook book and play in the kitchen. It is truly a great treasury of recipes that I’m looking forward to working my way through.

In fact, if you check out the cover of the book – that’s tonight’s dinner, and I’m giddy to get cracking!

Happy Cooking!
Adryon




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