Published by mel on September 5, 2008 in entree and recipe.
The idea for this sandwich started out as a vague thought about Vietnamese-style tacos. Why Vietnamese-style tacos you ask? Well, I’m not sure. I was thinking that taco toppings are like Vietnamese-style salads with generous amounts of fresh herbs, cabbage, onions and hot peppers.
So, I tried it. I marinated some pork tenderloins with shoyu, honey and ginger. I made a slaw from mango, cucumber, serrano peppers, mint, cilantro, green onions and lime juice. (Napa cabbage would be great here, but I didn’t have any.) Then I stacked everything on a corn tortilla. Hmmm, interesting, but ultimately the corn flavor of the tortillas didn’t complement the Asian flavors.
Not to be deterred, I tried again with ciabatta rolls. Much better this time! The sweet and spicy slaw was perfect on the pork and the ciabatta roll didn’t compete with the other flavors. I love a good sandwich for dinner, and I think this one might be making another appearance soon.
Continue reading ‘pork sandwich w/ spicy mango cucumber slaw’
Published by mel on July 9, 2008 in dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
Nothing says summer like watermelon and mint. Watermelon is a summer staple - so juicy, sweet and refreshing. Ricotta salata is a firmer, saltier version of standard ricotta and resembles feta in texture, though it’s slightly creamier. It’s also the perfect contrast to the sweet melon.
I love this salad because it’s so versatile. You can serve mini versions as an hors d’ouevre as I did on Saturday night. Or as an appetizer, snack or even dessert. Depending on how your serving it, you can season it differently. If you’re going savory, drizzle the salad with some good-quality olive oil and a pinch of salt. If you’re serving it as a dessert or snack, drizzle it with honey and a sprinkle it with a coarse, finishing sugar.
Either way, it’s a delicious and unique salad perfect for hot summer evenings.
Continue reading ‘watermelon, ricotta salata & mint salad’
Published by mel on April 30, 2008 in recipe and sides & bites.
It’s like everything I make lately is stuffed into a wonton wrapper! I actually made these dumplings last week, but the new steaming method I used didn’t quite work out so I didn’t want to post the recipe. I thought about it a little more and decided that didn’t matter because the stuffing and sauce were a hit.
Where did I go wrong? Well, my new microwave has a “steam” button and even came with a special dish for steaming. I thought that would be better than the pan-steaming I usually do. Nope. Wrong. The wrappers dried out and became too chewy, which was really sad!
For the stuffing, I browned Merguez sausage (no casing) with some green onions, then added some raisins and pine nuts. Dumplings are no fun without a dipping sauce, so I blended some greek yogurt with mint leaves, garlic cloves and pinch of salt because lamb and mint are a match made in heaven.
They had a great Middle Eastern flavor, and if you’re not into mass-producing dumplings, the sausage stuffing would be perfect tossed with pasta. If you go that route, I’d skip the yogurt and sprinkle some mint leaves over the top right before serving.
Continue reading ‘merguez dumplings w/mint yogurt dipping sauce’
Published by mel on April 14, 2008 in recipe and sides & bites.
My parents threw a Cuban-themed party last week and served made-to-order Mojitos. To make a long story short, my mom had about 2 pounds (yes, pounds) of leftover fresh mint. I promptly came to the rescue and packed up about half the amount for myself. I forsee a lot of minty recipes being featured on the site in the next week or so.
Anyway, I had a lot of mint. I also had a few people coming over for Sunday supper. I decided to make a ricotta spread with lots of mint, garlic and freshly ground pepper. Instead of just putting it in a bowl as a dip, I smeared it onto toasted baguette slices with a few drops of good olive oil and a pinch of pretty black poppy seeds.
The ricotta was creamy, the mint was refreshing and the olive oil lent a nice richness to the toasts. This spread would also be great on sandwiches with fresh greens and prosciutto or as a dip for pita chips or crudite. It was quite a hit with the supper crowd and makes an easy, delicious addition to the hors d’ oeuvres table.
Continue reading ‘refreshing ricotta & poppy seed toasts’
Recent Comments