Home made Banh Mi

I know, I know, the seedy baguette isn't right but it was what I could find. I made home-made Spicy Lime Mayo, Do Chua and Black Pepper Marinade Pork Loin. Incredibly delicious. In the future I am hoping I can get the "right" bread at the best asian market.

Limeade: Part Deux

I'm channeling David.

I used:

1 cup fresh lime juice

~1/2 Tbsp lime zest

3/4 cup sugar

3 cups water

Combine the sugar, zest, and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil... stir and remove from heat, your sugar should be dissolved.

Combine lime juice and the other 2 cups of water in a pitcher, and strain syrup into it.

Chill and/or serve over ice.

Keep in mind that this is just kind of a guideline.  I figure I'm sweet enough, so I only put in 3/4 Cup of sugar... others I know put in a full cup.  Course, a lot depends on how tart the limes you have are.  So make sure you taste as you go along.  Just as if you were cooking... season and taste, season and taste.

Black & Blue Berry Pie

My favorite type of pie is Black & Blue Berry Pie. And the blackberries are ripe now; you should all try it!

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups fresh blackberries
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter

Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir in berries to coat. Turn filling into pastry lined pie plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice, dot with butter. Cover with top crust; cut slits. Seal and Flute. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes. Cover edges with foil to prevent burning before baking, and remove them for the last 12 minutes of baking.



First you make up your pie crust.



Then you make up your filling.


Then you assemble and cook it.

Then you eat! (with or without ice cream)

Medicinal Mojito

Start this recipe by picking a warm summer day. 88° is good. I think today was around 90°, which is even better.

Go out and wipe yourself out. Yardwork is always good for this. Especially on the warm day. My example would be weeding and tilling the garden. I'm dirty, hot, and sweaty.

Go shower and get cleaned up. Then find some fresh mint and cut several sprigs.

If you know where the cheese store is, pick some up. A little good cheese never hurt anybody.

Pour out some Oil and Balsamic for dipping the crusty sourdough bread that I know you bought when you bought the cheese and crackers...

Next, get a tall glass, throw in a generous pinch or two of sugar, the juice of half a lime, about ten mint leaves that you cut earlier, and some ice. Then muddle the mint leaves into the sugar and ice to release the mint oils. Top off with a couple ounces of white rum, and then fill with soda water.

It's a Mojito, and if it's before noon, it's medicinal. If it's evening... you've earned it.

And let the porch creeping commence!

Done right, this recipe will last well after sunset.
It's all about quality of life.

**Author Update**

Everybody knows how to make "a" mojito right? But "a" mojito isn't really useful for most occasions. So I've been tweaking my recipe, and here it is... for a decent amount.

Use a pitcher... throw in 20 Mint Leaves, a couple handfuls of crushed ice, and 12 tsp Sugar, Muddle that. Add 3 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice, 10 oz of White Rum, and top with 22 oz of Club Soda!

A Different Kind of Kalbi

Matt made this last summer while I was crashing on his living room floor. It's good.
Really Good.

Get yourself another onion named Ingrid... and a can of 7-up(yours).
This is going to make up your premarinade.

Wow... That fish I ate last night must've gone bad.
It's really putting the zap on my mind.
Crank up the Floyd man.

Um, yeah. Anyway, grate the onion. You'll need a 1/2 cup of it.

Mix the grated onion, 2 Tbs of Honey (I subbed the 7-up(yours) in for the honey.)
Then let your meat soak in this for a couple hours and then drain. You don't need to get all the onion off of the steak, it's ok. I'm using a flank steak for this bit.

Now you'll need to make up your real Marinade... prep some garlic & onions. Maybe six onions and 8 - 10 cloves of garlic.

Add the garlic and onions to:
1.5 c soy
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c sesame oil
3 Tbs vegetable oil

Let this marinate at least a couple of hours... or longer.
Note - reserve some of the marinade for reducing on the stove to make an insanely flavored drizzling sauce for the meat... or your rice... or whatever. I'd probably eat cardboard with that sauce on it.

Introduce your meat to the grill.

I served the steak up sliced thin, with mandarin orange squeezed over the top. Sides included grilled asparagus, grilled scallions, salad, and a brown/red/wild rice mix.

This marinade would be wonderful on most beef. I think next I'll do skewers with it.

Coleslaw

Those of you that know me, which is like... everybody, you should know that I have had a fascination with Las Margaritas coleslaw for years now. I've tried several times to get the recipe out of Gabriel and Jose Louis, not to mention several others. I've even considered getting a job there as the token white guy washing dishes to see if I could somehow get turned on to the recipe.

But hey.
I don't need the recipe. This one works just fine for me...

You'll need some Ingredients.

Like an onion named Ingrid, and seasonings.

 

The base is, of course, cabbage. You want to shred your cabbage. So take this...

And turn it into this...

Next you'll want to add some vegetables. I usually put in one whole sweet onion, shredded like the cabbage, and a handful of baby carrots. I've seen people use bell peppers here too, but due to some wicked cases of heartburn in the past, I don't need no stinking peppers!

Now make the dressing.

For the dressing combine:

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 cup cider vinegar

in a saucepan over medium heat. Then bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and toss well. Then cover and refrigerate.

This slaw is tangy and really complements smoked meats.

Hint... Hint...

(someone make me a pulled pork sandwich!)