Tried and Tested Recipe - Banh Mi Burger by Tasting Kitchen

I am not sure if I have mentioned that I love East Asian Cuisine. I was so thrilled to find a recipe that perfectly combined my love for this type of food and  my love for a good burger. Tasting Kitchen posted the recipe for the Banh Mi Burger on Pinterest and I just felt compelled to try it. It is very much like the Vietnamese sandwiches I love. What I love most about this is how easy it is to make and how awesome it is to learn how to pickle the vegetables in such a short amount of time. I love this recipe and the flavors it brings together. This one is a keeper. Here are some pictures of my home trial.

My very tasty Banh Mi Burger

 Cutting Daikon Radish into very thin sticks

Daikon Radish and Carrots 

in the quick sugar and vinegar pickling liquid

Home Made Pizza = Awesome

 I am sure that it is no surprise that I love cooking. I am also a big believer in not paying for anything that I can make at home myself. Today I will bid adieu to all the local and non- local pizza establishments because thanks to Pinterest (another one of my addictions) I found a recipe for great and very easy pizza dough from the blog Kayotic Kitchen. I am so excited I could make more but I really should not for obvious health reasons. Anywhoo here is a nice and easy recipe to make good use of your new found pizza dough making skills.

Semi-Healthy Home Made Cheese Pizza

Pizza Dough (Follow recipe. It will make about 2 medium size pizzas)

Sauce/Base
2 TBSP Butter
3 Small Green Onions (finley sliced)
4 Large Garlic Cloves (minced)
1 Large Carrot (Sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)
2 1/2 Medium Red Peppers (Blanched and skin and seeds removed)

Toppings
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Whole or skim, your choice)
Add whatever else your heart desires

Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Divide the pizza dough into two balls  and roll out in whatever shape you prefer. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Place 1 TBSP of butter in a frying pan heating it on medium heat to melt. Add the green onions and garlic and saute until well cooked and fragrant.

Place the carrot and red peppers in a food processor adding in the sauted garlic and green onions. Process until all the ingredients are finely ground.

Place the remaining TBSP of butter in the frying pan and saute your paste for about 10 minutes until it reaches a paste consistency.

Once you have your pizza dough rolled out to your satisfaction bush the edges with olive oil. Divide the carrot and pepper mixture in half. Spread on the pizza dough evenly.

 

Divide your cheese in half and sprinkle over each of your prepared pizzas.

Place in the oven one pizza at a time and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and the edges of the dough start to brown.

Allow to cool for five minutes, cut and serve. 

This recipe is also a great way to get the kiddies eating their veggies and they will love it. My daughter is a really picky eater and she gobbled it up.

Enjoy :)

Phylo Banana Ricotta Pastry

 One of the great things about phylo dough is that more often than not you will have a surplus by buying just one pack of it. This is particularly true if you use it sparingly like I always seem to do. I wanted to finish up a pack of it before it became completely unusable, so I concocted a little something sweet and savory. I took some ricotta, bananas, a little maple syrup (thank you Arianna for bringing me some real deal one from Toronto. You have made me immensely happy), nutmeg, Parmesan and of course the phylo and here is what I came up with.

Phylo Banana Ricotta Pastry

2 sheets Phylo Dough
3 TBSP Butter (melted)
1 1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 TBSP Ground Nutmeg
3 TBSP Maple Syrup
1 Banana (sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan (To garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Take your phylo one sheet at a time and brush with the melted butter. Lay one sheet on top of the other and fold in half. place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta, nutmeg and maple syrup until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Place this mixture on the center of your phylo dough and distribute evenly forming a strip about 2 inches in thickness making sure to end the strip about 2 inches away for each end and leaving enough room on the sides to allow room for you to fold the pastry over the filling.

Place the banana slices along the entire length of the ricotta strip. Fold the pastry over the filling and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until your pastry has reached a golden brown throughout.

Allow to cool before serving. You can serve this with a nice hazel nut or vanilla ice cream or just drizzle with either maple syrup or honey.

Enjoy :)

Roast Pork Slider Sandwhiches

A while back I posted about a nice roast pork I made. I had a lot of it left over so that week I had to get creative with ways to serve it up so that it would not be the same old thing. Since we had some slider buns and a bit of mild Feta cheese I decided that this would be a great way to make use of some of that roast pork. I just shredded the pork, placed the meat on the lower half of the buns and sprinkled them with feta. I popped those bad boys in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes, et viola. Here is the result of that venture.
 

 

 

Dough, Brooklyn - World's Greates Doughnuts

 

Last month, thanks to a great post by the lovely folks at With Love From Brooklyn (WLFB, my abreviation), I went in search of New York's best doughnut. This is how I finally got around to checking out Dough. I had been told about it by some of my friends,but it was the post by WLFB of the article by The Village Voice, 10 Best Doughnuts in New York, that finally got me there. They definitely deserve that number one spot. Their doughnuts are plump and fluffy, and the glazes are creative and packed with flavor. These are not your run of the mill doughnuts. With flavor combinations like passion fruit with cocoa nibs, strawberry jalpeno and hibiscus tea, this place will leave you wondering what new combinations they can come up with next. A trip here is a definite must for any doughnut lover as they are quite possibly one of the best in the world.

My half dozen in the picture above consisted of the following:

Top Row: Plain Glazed, Passion Fruit with Cocoa Nibs, Dulce de Leche

Bottom Row: Blood Orange, Coconut, Hibiscus

Word to the wise though if you are an out of towner (i.e. Not a Brooklynite) be aware that this doughnut shop is located on the border of the Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy neighborhoods. This area, while beautiful is still a place where one must exercise caution and make plenty of use of common sense. Please do not behave like tourists or show up in designer wear expecting to find lots of really cute boutiques around. Also, bring cash because they do not take credit cards.

My Birthday Surprise

Today I woke up and found my husband and daughter hard at work making me a cake. My husband made a powdered sugar frosting like the one used on cookies because he wanted my daughter to be able to paint flowers on it with food coloring. Here is the finished master piece. What a treat :)

Last Weeks of Summer Lime Bars

Last week I finally got around to using about half a dozen limes that I bought on impulse the week before. I was not sure what I wanted to make with them but finally I settled on something that would require lime curd. I set onto the task of making some lime bars using an oatmeal cookie crust to cradle the lime curd. I was inspired by the cookie crust used by Momofuku Milk Bar and the lemon lime bars form Baked. I guess you could say the result could be their love child.

For the cookie crust you can either use store bought oatmeal cookies or you can make your favorite recipe for these. I do recommend that whichever you decide on it is preferable if they do not contain raisins as these will most likely char during the baking process and give your dessert a bad bitter taste.


Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Aprox. 1 1/2 - 2 Cups Ground Oatmeal Cookies
2-3 TBSP Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the ground cookies with the butter, adding the butter a little bit at a time until you can form the mixture into a firm ball.

Place the ball on a square 12" x 12" baking dish. spread the mixture on the baking dish forming a crust that is approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.

Place in the oven for about 5 minutes to set it. Remove from oven and allow it to cool.


Lime Curd (modified form Baked Lemon Lime filling)

11 Large Egg Yolks
3 Large Eggs
1 3/4 Cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Lime Juice
3 TBSP Lime Zest
1/2 Cup Butter (Cut into small pieces and softened)
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the egg yolks, eggs, sugar, lime juice and lime zest in a sauce pan. Whisk to combine and cook over medium heat whisking constantly for about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens and heat bubbles start to appear. When done it should be firm like the consistency of frosting and the color will be an intense shade of yellow a  bit lighter than the initial color of your egg yolks.

Remove from the burner and add in the butter and heavy cream and whisk until evenly distributed. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove any large pieces of zest, pouring it directly onto the oatmeal crust making sure that the curd is evenly distributed. Tap the baking dish lightly on the counter top to level the curd.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until your curd is set. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once it reaches room temperature cover your baking dish with either a glass cover (if your baking dish has one), or plastic wrap (make sure to prop up some toothpicks strategically placed within along the lime bars to prevent the plastic from touching the lime curd). Leave in the fridge no less than 2 hours.

Once ready, cut, serve with a cup of your favorite coffee or tea.... and enjoy :)