There are very few things better than a delicious, fresh bánh mì from the Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia. Yes, you can get one other places too. I have also had plenty of good and great bánh mì in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Combine the crispy bread with the spicy jalapenos, pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro and pâté, and whatever else you’ve chosen, and you really have the ultimate sandwich (yes, this is true, despite the lack of pork belly).

I’ve made pickled carrots and daikon in the past, but sadly they were not toppings for my own bánh mì. Ideally, these sandwiches would be good for a group of people, making a large batches of pickled veggies and fresh baguettes, but maybe another time. In this instance, I came upon a recipe for carmelized pork bánh mì from Food 52. This version has you pickling some radishes, adding pre-made pâté and the kicker… caramelized pork tenderloin. I opted to make a couple for myself, with a smaller portion of pork, but the recipe from Food 52 makes 4 to 6 sandwiches. If you’ve had bánh mì before, they usually aren’t too large, and if you are really hungry, you could eat two of them. In this case, I dare you not to eat two.

Ingredients:
Makes 4-6 sandwhiches
Recipe from Food 52

1-1.5 pound pork tenderloin
3 tablespoons Fish sauce
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 slice ginger, minced
1 green onion, sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 loaf sweet French baguette (thin) or french bread sandwich rolls. Try to get the kind of French bread with a crisp crust and tender light center.
pickled carrot and radishes (see here or the food 52 version below)
sliced jalapeno chili peppers
cilantro
Pâté (optional, but recommended)
mayonnaise (homemade is ideal)

Cut tenderloin across the grain of the meat into ½ inch pieces. Flatten each piece to an even ¼ inch between two pieces of saran wrap using a meat pounder, rolling pin, or large bottle.

Mix ingredients from fish sauce to black pepper. Add marinade to the meat and use your hands, ensure all the meat is coated Marinate for 10-30 minutes (I opted to marinate overnight)

Using an outdoor grill or grill pan indoors: add vegetable oil to meat and stir to coat. Sear first side of meat until very dark brown on one side, then flip and sear on the second side. Be careful not to overcook it. The meat is thin so it cooks quickly, one or two minutes on each side and then set aside on a plate or platter.

To assemble sandwiches, slice baguette and spread mayonnaise on one side, pâté on the other. Add meat, pickled vegetables, cilantro and peppers and enjoy!!

Pickled radishes and carrots:
1/4 pound baby carrots, peeled
1 bunch red radishes or daikon
1/2 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Slice carrots and radishes into quarters (or smaller if they are larger) lengthwise. Mix all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning. Let stand as little as an hour or up to overnight. They keep for several days.**

**Store in a mason jar for best preservation.

Pork Bánh mì is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Chinese food is one of my favorite cuisines and with the limited to no Vietnamese food in the NYC area, and the Vegetarian’s slight dislike of Chinese food, Thai (or Mexican) is the standard delivery choice on non-cooking nights.

I’ve often tried making different Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes at home, sometimes with great success, other times, not so much. Kung Pao, while one of the more Americanized dishes, is one of my favorites. Sadly, few places really serve a good version. I often have tried coating meats in corn starch, only to find that the starch clumps up and ends up being pretty terrible. In this recipe, you mix corn starch with several other ingredients to form a marinade, as well as using some in the sauce to thicken later on. I don’t know why I never thought of this before, but this dish should make it into regular rotation.

I have been wanting to purchase a Chinese cookbook and after reading this great blog post on One Perfect Bite for “Kung pao-ish chicken,” I decided not only to make that dish, but to buy Nancie McDermott’s book Quick & Easy Chinese: 70 Everyday Recipes (which is partly what the post was based on). While I can’t officially review that book yet (review in upcoming post), this dish was a sure fire winner, and really easy to make.

Ingredients:
Makes 4 servings (or 2 servings with lots of left overs)
Based on Recipe from One Perfect Bite

For the chicken (can be done up to a day ahead of time):

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine (cheap and lasts a long time)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

For the Sauce (make just prior to cooking)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or Chenkiang vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt

For the Chicken:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
~1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used closer to 1.5 t)
~1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed (I used about 1 t)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger (small 1″ knob)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped green onion
1/2 cup cup roasted, salted peanuts
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Directions:

Cut chicken into 1″ chunks. In a medium bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients: soy sauce, shoaxing wine (or sherry), cornstarch, and vegetable oil. Add chicken and mix to coat. Set aside for about an hour on counter in cool space, or covered in refrigerator overnight.

In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients: soy sauce, Shoaxing wine (or sherry), vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

Heat a wok, or large skillet over medium high heat for about 2-3 minutes. Add vegetable oil and swirl to coat the pan, heat an additional 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and sichuan peppers. Stir and cook about 1 minute.

Add chicken and cook in single layer for 1-2 minutes without stirring. Add garlic, ginger, scallions, mix well to combined, and cook 2 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Add sauce to wok. Cook and stir, or toss, for 1 minute longer. Add peanuts and sesame oil and mix again. Serve immediately with white rice, noodles, veggies or on its lonesome. Enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Being from the Maryland/D.C. area, I know my crab cakes. Many places try and claim the best crab cakes around, however, I often find that they are poor excuses for crab cakes. Crab cakes that contain too much filler are hardly crab cakes, and those that are overly spicy or filled with lots of “stuff” aren’t worthy. The key to the best crab cakes is three things: old bay, crispy outside/soft inside and lots of lump crab meat.

I’ve honestly never really taken a stab at making my own before, however, I was craving crabs up here in Manhattan. Rather that trust some Maryland poser restaurant, I decided to take matter into my own hands. A pound of lump crab meat, old bay, a little panko, lots of bay and jalepeno (no seeds!), fresh lemon, and you have yourself a crab cake. Typically they are served with a tatar sauce and/or cole slaw, but I opted for a light, refreshing salsa that would mix well and not overpower the crab. For this I needed tomatillio’s and corn. Each are easy to make and would make a great appetizer if you made the crab cakes as mini cakes.

Maryland Crab Cakes:
Ingredients
Makes 6 large cakes, many small cakes as appetizer

1 pound lump crab meat, picked over for any possible shells
1/4 cup mayo (ideally homemade)
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 1/2 tablespoons old bay seasoning
juice of 1/4 lemon (~1 tablespoon), use remaining lemon to garnish crab cakes
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
1 cup Japanese panko bread crumbs (2/3 cup and 1/3 cup separated)
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
vegetable oil for frying

In a medium bowl, combine mayo, egg and beat lightly. Add mustard, old bay, lemon juice and jalapeno. Mix to combine. Add crab and blend and then add 2/3 cups panko, large pinch of salt and a pinch (or few turns on pepper mill) of pepper. Mix again to combine, cover and refrigerate about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat about 2 tablespoons or vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pout remaining panko onto a large plate.

When crab mixture is set, remove from refrigerator and form 6 patties, about 1.5″ thick. Coat patty in panko and place in pan to fry. Do not crowd pan, so work in batches if necessary. Cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.

Serve with tomatillio salsa (recipe follows) and lemon wedge atop a bed of arugula (or however you prefer). Pretend you are on the Chesapeake bay shore and enjoy!

Tomatillio and Corn Salsa
Loosely based on recipe from NPR

2 ears of sweet corn, removed from husk and each cut into 4 equal pieces
6 to 8 small tomatillos (about 2 cups, chopped)
1 green or red jalapeno (or to taste; the more seeds, the hotter the dish)
1 small white onion (about 3/4 cup, chopped)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice

Preheat oven to 375 and place rack in bottom third of oven. Line a baking sheet with foil. Add the corn cob quarters, chopped tomatillos, whole jalapeno and chopped onions in the center of the foil. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss until well coated. Turn edges of the foil up to create a ledge around the vegetables to collect the cooking juices.

Roast until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Heat broiler and continue to cook under broiler, about 5 minutes, until a nice char forms.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob and reserve half. Cut off the top of the jalapeno pepper and peel off the skin and remove seeds (for hotter sauce, include seeds). Transfer the charred vegetables (with only half the corn) and any juices to a food processor or blender; add cilantro and lime juice. Blend to a coarse puree. Place in a bowl, and stir in remaining corn kernels. Season with salt, to taste.

Maryland Crabcakes with Tomatillio Salsa is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Who doesn’t love poached eggs, with that runny yolk dripping all over what lies beneath. If you don’t love poached eggs, then you should stop reading now.

To those who to chose to continue reading, that was a wise choice. Poached eggs are a bit intimidating in that they seem very difficult to make. They definitely take some practice to get them to come out perfectly every time, but if you follow the method I’ve been using from Smitten Kitchen, which I detail here, you will end up with delicious poached eggs.

One thing that seems to be more difficult is poaching several eggs at a time. You want to ensure you have a large enough pot as to prevent the eggs from attaching to one another. I made two at a time, twice, to achieve the 4 poached eggs for this dish.

Way back in 2010, I posted a recipe for French Bread Eggs Benedict with Asparagus, and this idea was sort of a take on that, except full credit goes to the Vegetarian, who said these ingredients would go together perfectly. I decided to roast some potatoes and asparagus and top it with the poached eggs (and a touch of old bay and pepper). The result is deliciously crispy potatoes, asparagus and a velvety smooth egg with a yolk that drips over everything. In order to achieve the crispy potatoes in less baking time, I boiled the potato chunks until they were nearly cooked through. Here is how you do it:

Ingredients:
Serves 2

4 eggs – poached and set aside on a paper towel
~1/2 pound asparagus, hard bottoms removed
~1/2 pound small yellow potatoes, cut into small cubes/chunks
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
old bay

Place oven rack into lower third of oven and heat to 400.

Prepare pot of water for poaching eggs and water to boil potatoes. Cook potatoes until semi-fork tender, the point where they are edible, but not completely cooked. Strain potatoes and place in a medium bowl. Add vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to coat and place on one half of a baking sheet in a single layer.

On the other half of the baking sheet, arrange asparagus in a single layer and top with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to coat asparagus well with oil. Place in oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of asparagus. Near to the end of the cooking time, begin poaching eggs.

When eggs are poached and set aside, remove asparagus from oven, set aside and cover. Change your oven over to broil and cook potatoes 3-4 minutes, or until they are crispy. Arrange potatoes and asparagus on two plates and top with two poached eggs.**

Top with a bit of pepper and old bay seasoning and enjoy!

** If the potatoes and asparagus take a bit longer than expected, you can reheat your poached eggs by placing them back into poaching pot for 30 seconds. You can increase heat slightly to a low boil to ensure they heat and do not cook in that time.

Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus with Poached Eggs is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Leeks are softer than they appear

Almost a year ago I posted a recipe for Garlic Confit, which utilizes a ton of garlic and extra virgin olive oil, yielding delicious soft garlic made to use with just about anything. I recently came across a recipe for leek confit, which made me do a double take. I had never heard of that before and wondered why there was so little fat required. The leek confit only required a few tablespoons of butter, a little salt, water and of course leeks.

Apparently the resulting leek confit is very versatile and can be used as a spread for bread, a condiment for cheese and crackers, something to toss into an omelette or a frittata or as a base of a quiche. The possibilities seemed endless, just like the garlic confit, though the process of making it was even simpler.

The confit can be made ahead and stored in a mason jar in the fridge for a few weeks, though I highly doubt mine lasts that long.

Ingredients:
Makes 2 cups
Recipe Courtesy of Bon Appetit

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 5 cups)
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in large pot over medium-low heat. Add leeks and stir to coat.

Stir in water and salt. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook until leeks are tender, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Uncover and cook to evaporate excess water, 2 to 3 minutes.

Store in a mason jar or other sealed container for up to 2 weeks. Serve warm however you want!

Leek Confit is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

When spring arrives, so do the delicious little ramps. Ramps are really just wild leeks that are much smaller and harder to come by. While I find them to be a really nice cross between garlic, onions and leeks, in some ways, they might be a tab bit overrated. Every restaurant in the country grabs them by the handful, using them in a variety of different ways. I’ve read a few articles that actually say that this over picking of wild ramps has caused supplies to dwindle and the cost to rise — as with any supply/demand chain for short season produce. Last week was my only attempt at cooking them, and likely my only attempt for the short season.

Despite the fact that wild leeks might be in short supply, I still think they are pretty delicious. And once a year, I don’t see it as a huge issue to cook them once and eat them at a few different restaurants (hopefully those that are finding them locally). Ramps don’t need a lot of things around them, as you want to get the full flavor of the ramp. I decided to take a simple recipe from Mario Batali’s Babbo which was just pasta, ramps, oil and chili flakes and ramp it up (yea, I went there) and add peas and mushrooms. The flavor still came through, and the ramp stems add a nice earthiness to the dish.

Ingredients
Serves 4
Recipe inspired by Mario Batali

1 pound dry spaghetti
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces fresh ramps*
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
kosher salt
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (or fresh if available)
1 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
Parmesan cheese

*To prepare ramps, cut off bottom root tip and the thin layer of skin that may be dark and discolored. Cut white portion off from stem and keep separated.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Add the spaghetti to the pot and cook according to the package direction, until tender but still al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, add olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute for about 3-4 minutes, until starting to brown. Add the ramp white root ends to pan and cook for 3-4 more minutes, or until tender. Add a pinch of salt, peas and chili flakes.

Right before adding the pasta, add the leafy ramp tops. Let wilt briefly and then add pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water to thicken sauce if necessary. Drizzle with a finishing olive oil and a bit of Parmesan. Toss well to coat pasta and serve immediately.

Spaghetti with Ramps, Peas and Mushrooms is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Every year during Passover when I was growing up, my dad would make Matzo brei, which is basically crumbled up matzah that was soaked in water mixed with eggs. The version I’ve always had was very basic, nothing else added except salt and pepper, after it was on my plate. I have only made the breakfast (or lunch or dinner) dish a few times in recent memory… until now. I cam across Mango Tomato’s blog post on a delicious matzo brei with red peppers, olives and parsley. Rather than cooking it in a pan, she used a large cast iron skillet and made a large amount that could be divvied up to each hungry eater.

The mazo brei in that post was almost like a Passover version of a frittata. Using the cast iron skillet is genius, as you get a nice crispy exterior that way, and flipping it over part way through gets you that crispiness on both sides.

I happen to have a couple small cast iron pans I use for individual servings of mac and cheese or baked eggs which are perfect for this dish. Looking through my pantry, all I had were roasted peppers, parsley, onions and capers, no olives. I decided to do the same thing with Trader Joe’s roasted peppers, capers, parsley and onion. Unfortunately I only topped the dish with capers, though it would have been far better had they cooked inside. This a delicious recipe, and I think would be great with the olives as well. You could even use feta cheese (which I’ll have today for round 2 of matzo brei’s).

*As I get ready to post this, I’m eating a second version with roasted peppers, feta cheese and fresh basil. Definitely worth a try, depending what you have available.

Ingredients:
Makes two individual portions in small cast iron pans
For a large cast iron pan, use 3 eggs and 3 pieces of Matzah
Recipe courtesy of Mango Tomato

2 eggs
2 pieces of matzah
1 red pepper, roasted, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 scallions, bottom removed, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Olive Oil Spray
Fresh Pepper
Kosher Salt

Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to each pan and heat over medium heat.

Meanwhile, soak matzah in a medium bowl with hot water for 30 seconds. Strain water and set aside. Beat eggs in a medium bowl and add matzah, roasted pepper, parsley, scallion and a pinch of salt and a black pepper. Add matzo and mix well.

Divide mixture between the two pans or all in one larger pan. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes in on large pan, or 5-7 minutes in two smaller pans. Don’t be tempted to move it around in order to develop a nice crust.

Turn off heat and place a small plate on top of the pan, flip over skillet onto plate. Add back to skillet with uncooked side down. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes in a small pan, 5 minutes in a large pan. Serve immediately. Enjoy!!

Personal Matzo Brei’s with Red Peppers, Scallions and Parsley is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Taken at the American Natural History Museum in Manhattan

History’s most awesome carnivore is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Say what you will about Whole Foods and their exorbitant prices, much of what they sell is pretty high quality. I’m guilty of highly enjoying some of their prepared foods and salad bar on occasion, and really like the locations that offer a large bulk section (Quinoa FTW!!).

However, one thing that has bothered me about Whole Foods for a long time now is their fish counter. Whole Foods has a color-coded chart that depicts how sustainable the fishing methods are for that particular fish. The third color on the list, Red, indicates that the fish in question is in low abundance and not sustainable in the methods for catching said fish. It has bothered me to no end that Whole Foods has had the audacity to show this chart and the sell those fish that are in the red. I actually had a discussion with someone recently about chart, expressing my displeasure. I even joked that they should have the chart for the meat to describe if they have friends and their favorite sports to play, akin to the first episode of Portlandia 

Just today I read an article on The Village Voice blog A Fork in the Road that Whole Foods is finally going to stop selling them starting on Earth Day. Per the Associated Press:

Among the seafood disappearing from Whole Foods shelves will be octopus, gray sole, skate, Atlantic halibut and Atlantic cod caught by trawls, which can destroy habitats. The company will stock sustainable replacements like cod caught on lines and halibut from the Pacific.

While prices may increase (if you thought that was possible), this is definitely a step in the right direction. Many restaurants in NYC and around the country pride themselves on only serving sustainable fish and meat that is farm raised and not pumped up full of hormones and other harmful chemicals. I can now finally stop complaining about the Whole Foods bogus rating system.

Whole Foods finally does the right thing is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian

Once in a while restaurants will tout a menu as the “grown-up” version of something, usually a classic dish like pizza. You know, pizza with sriracha sauce or something that now has pickled stuff and eggs on top. I will now do my best impression of this (though hopefully even more tasty) and offer a delicious mac and cheese (though there really is very little cheese) version that grown-ups, and maybe some adventurous kids, will enjoy.

I often buy vegetables this time of year without a plan. This happened with a bunch of leeks. I love leeks and always find something to do with them, whether it is just sauteing them and eating with eggs or making a soup. This time, I wanted to use them up for a nice lunch. The Vegetarian said why not pasta. This got me thinking of using macaroni, making a quick bechamel sauce, throwing in some shiitake mushrooms and some fresh herbs. The result was absolute deliciousness. Here’s what you do…

Ingredients:
Serves 4

10 Oz macaroni
2-3 medium/large leeks, thinly sliced*
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
7 or 8 large shiitake mushrooms, stem removed, thinly sliced
kosher salt
black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (I used lactose free)
Parmesan Cheese
1 tablespoon fresh sage and thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

*Normally you want to clean leeks prior to cutting, but here, since you will be cutting them into thin pieces, you can rinse in a colander to remove dirt. You want to use the leek up until the edge of the tender lighter green part.

Cook pasta in heavily salted water. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add leeks and increase heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes, until leeks start to become tender. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms are tender and leeks are slightly browned, 5-7 more minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, add butter and cook on medium-low. Once melted, whisk in flour and cook until light to medium brown, about 5 minutes. Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time, whisking continuously to ensure it is smooth. Once all milk is added, bring to low boil, continue stirring another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Strain pasta, reserving 1 cup water, and add pasta to large saute pan. Add bechamel sauce and herbs. Mix well and add pasta water if sauce is too thick. Season again with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!!

Leek and Mushroom Macaroni is a post from: The Carnivore and the Vegetarian