Easy Banh Mi Meatball Sandwich

 INGREDIENTS

Spicy Sauce:

• ⅔ cup mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce (see note)
• 1 green onion, white and green parts finely chopped, white and green parts finely chopped

Relish:

• 2 large carrots, coarsely grated or cut into thin matchsticks (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 English cucumber, coarsely grated or cut into thin matchsticks (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Meatballs:

• 2 pounds ground pork, ground turkey or a combination
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (see note)
• 1 tablespoon sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons sesame or vegetable or coconut oil, for browning

Sandwiches:

• 4 to 6 6-inch baguettes or hoagie buns
• Bunch of fresh cilantro

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INSTRUCTIONS 

• For the sauce, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, green onions and sriracha. Cover and refrigerate. This can be made several days in advance.
• For the relish, toss together the carrots and cucumber. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, vinegar, salt and sesame oil. Pour over the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate. The relish can be made a day or so in advance.
• For the meatballs, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork (or turkey), basil, garlic, green onions, fish sauce, hot sauce, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Scoop the mixture into 1- to 2-inch meatballs. Heat the sesame oil (or other oil, if using) in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the meatballs in a single layer and brown on all sides.
• Transfer the browned meatballs to a foil-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining meatballs (adding additional oil if necessary). Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven (I like to place the cooked meatballs one by one on a layer of paper towels to absorb any excess grease).
• To assemble the sandwiches, slice the buns or baguettes in half. Spread the dressing on the top half of the bread. Layer cilantro to taste on the bottom half. Place 3 or so meatballs (will depend on how big you made them) on top of the cilantro. Drain the relish and place a heaping spoonful on top of the meatballs. Press on the sandwich top and devour.

MELS KITCHEN CAFE

Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos

 Prep Time: 20 mins    Cook Time: 15 mins     Serves 6   modernhoney.com

Mexican Grilled Chicken

2 lbs chicken breasts or tenderloin or thighs

1/3 to 1/2 cup canola oil

3 TBLS fresh lime juice (about 2-3 limes)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Street Corn

2 cups cooked corn (from cob or frozen white corn)

1-2 TBLS mayonnaise

1 TBLS lime juice

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 jalapeno, chopped

2 green onions, sliced

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Garnish

6-12 corn tortillas

1 avocado, sliced

1/2 cup Cotija Cheese

Cilantro

Mexican Crema

1 cup sour cream

3 TBLS taco sauce (more if you like more spice/flavor)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, stir together oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Pierce chicken breasts with fork.  Place in large ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken.  Let marinade for at least 1 hour (4-5 is ideal).  Preheat grill to medium heat.  Grill chicken for approx 5-6 mins per side, depending on thickness.  Internal temp should reach 165 degrees.  Cut into slices.

2. For Corn Salad:  cook corn and place in a bowl.  Stir in mayo, lime juice, chili powder, cilantro, jalapeno, green onions, and garlic salt.

3. Assembling Tacos:  Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet.  Place corn tortillas one by one in skillet and soften in oil for a few seconds.  Remove and let drain on paper-towel-lined plate.  Top with chicken, street corn, fresh avocado slices, and sprinkle with cotija cheese and cilantro.  Serve with Mexican Crema.

Grandpa's Fresh Ground Whole Wheaat Bread

Total Ingredients 

6 cups kernel wheat

 2 tsp. instant dry yeast 

3 cups water 

1 tbsp salt 

¼ cup powdered milk 

½ cup olive or canola oil

 ½ cup raw sugar or molasses

 I grind the flour and make the poolish immediately. A poolish is a fermented dough that allows the enzymes to break out the sugars trapped in the starches and develop acidity to balance out the grassy flavor of the bran and germ.

 I measure the total flour by whole kernel wheat rather than cups of ground flour because a cup of flour varies greatly depending on how it is ground, packed, etc. I grind 6 cups of kernel wheat, measured carefully and consistently, which produces about 8.5 cups of ground flour. 

Poolish Put 4 cups flour in a 6-quart mixer bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of instant dry yeast. Sift remaining flour through a fine sieve, putting the sifted flour into sealable container and adding the bran and germ that doesn’t go through the sieve into the flour and yeast in the mixing bowl. Seal sifted flour and store at room temperature. 

Add 3 cups of luke-warm water to the mixing bowl, mix together enough to hydrate the flour. It should be a soft, coarse paste. Cover the bowl securely. (Allowing anything to enter from the room atmosphere will cause sourdough, which you don’t want.) Let sit at room temperature at least 4 hours. I often grind the flour and make the poolish in the evening leaving the poolish at room temperature overnight and finishing in the morning. 

Dough: Uncover the sifted flour and add ¼ cup powdered dry milk, 1 teaspoon of instant yeast and a tablespoon of salt. Uncover the poolish and add 1/2 cup oil (I prefer olive oil or canola oil), and 1/2 cup raw sugar (you can use an equal amount of molasses if you prefer, but I like raw sugar). Add flour mix to poolish and mix with dough hook just until all flour is wetted, scrapping down the sides to get all the flour. Dough should be sticky and show no inclination to ball.

 Let stand, covered, 10 minutes to allow new flour to completely absorb the moisture. Restart mixer and knead for 10 minutes. Dough should ball fairly quickly(within 2 or 3 minutes), but still be sticky. If it does not ball, it is too wet—add a few tablespoons of flour. If it isn’t sticky, it is too dry--carefully add a tablespoon plus or minus of water. Cover bowl and let dough rise to about double. 

While dough is rising, oil three (3), 1.1/2 pound loaf pans (8.1/2”x4.1/2”x2.5/8”), and oil counter space or board. After deflating, scrape dough from mixer bowl and divide into 3 equal pieces. I recommend using a good kitchen scale and measuring out 1 lb. 8 ounces per loaf. Hands must be oiled to handle dough. Shape dough and place in pans. Cover pans with flour-sack cloth or place in proofer and let rise. When the dough is cresting the lip of the pan, place in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. 

If you use dark, steel pans, reduce the temperature to 335 degrees. When removed from the pan, bread should be firm on all sides and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. Place on a rack and cool about 1 hour before cutting (If you can wait that long). Enjoy. Total Ingredients 6 cups kernel wheat 2 tsp. instant dry yeast 3 cups water 1 tbsp salt ¼ cup powdered milk ½ cup olive or canola oil ½ cup raw sugar or molasses

Cranberry Pecan No-Knead Bread

 Ingredients:

1/2 tsp yeast

 1 1/2 C warm water (110 degrees)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

3 C plus 2 Tbls flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbls honey

3/4 C dried cranberries

3/4 C chopped nuts (calls for walnuts-I use pecans)

Directions:

Let yeast, sugar and warm water proof for about 10 min.

Whisk salt, flour and cinnamon together.   Add yeast mixture and hooney and mix (I just use Kitchen-Aid).  Stir in cranberries and pecans.   Dough will be sticky.  Cover and let set for 18 hrs.

(I mix this up in evening and bake off after church on Sunday)

Transfer dough to floured piece of parchment and fold over a few times and form into ball shape.  Cover and let rise 30 min.   While dough is rising, preheat your dutch oven at 450 degrees for 30 min.

Score dough with an X on top and bake in dutch oven on the parchment for 30 min with lid on.  Remove lid and bake for an additional 8-10 min.   Remove from dutch oven and let cool.

I have made it with 1/2 wheat flour and I'm going to try and add sunflower seeds.  But--- I love this bread!

(Nancy Bertholdt)

Mom's Lasagna

I have been making this for years and never thought about writing down the recipe-- just made it like mom.   So, by request, here is what I do (approximately)--- if anyone has the actual recipe, please edit!

1 box of lasagna noodles

1-2 lbs hamburger

1-2 cans of spaghetti sauce

Lots of mozzarella

1 - 16 oz ricotta 

1 egg

1/2-1 cup parmesan

1- Cook lasagna noodles as directed on box.

2- Cook up hamburger and drain (I add salt/garlics salt while I cook)

3- In a bowl, mix ricotta, egg, and parmesan together.

4- In a 9x13 pan-- add a layer of hamburger on the bottom

5- Spoon a little sauce over the hamburger.

6-Add a layer of noodles (3 noodles per layer)

7-Spread half of ricotta mixture over noodles.

8-Sprinkle more hamburger over it.   Add sauce and then some mozzarella evenly across the layer.

9- Add another layer of noodles-rest of ricotta - rest of hamburger -more sauce - more mozzarella.

10- Top the mixture with last 3 noodles.  Spread some sauce over the top layer of noodles and then add mozzarella on top.

Cook 350 for an hour.  You may want to put foil on for the first 30 minutes if you don't want the top cheese layer to overbrown.   Let sit 10-15 min after you take out of oven.