Leftover Steak Sandwich

For Independence Day dinner yesterday, I charcoal grilled a moderately sized tri-tip steak. We seem to eat like birds because there's still a big chunk of leftover. Today, I diced a few slices and added to sauteed mushrooms and filled whole wheat folded flat bread. Delicious and satisfying sandwich/es!

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Dark Rye Bread and Corned Beef Tongue

delicious with slices of warm corned beef tongue topped

with barbecue sauce, Dijon mustard, and creamy horseradish

Rye bread is not one of my favorites specially the sour dense variety but I was willing to give it a chance to wow me. I baked a small batch and surprisingly this time, it did. I used a 3 to 1 ratio of rye/bread flour with a rye sponge in place of sourdough starter. The dense dark bread has no flavorings nor seeds like caraway that in my opinion mask the earthy somewhat smokey flavor of rye flour. I love that it has a bit of chew and is sweetish too. I prefer the bread untoasted with just a little butter or duck liver paté and with corn chowder, but I love it even more with thick slices of corned beef tongue.

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Food Friday: Pulled Beef Barbecue

pulled beef barbecue and coleslaw sandwich

I did a boneless beef spareribs version of Pulled-Pork Barbecue meant for The 4th of July but it was so good we finished it before the week was over.:D

Banh Mi

homemade roast chicken banh mi

I went to the Vietnamese shopping center (a 3o+ minute drive) to look for plastic mooncake mold/press and to eat banh mi. Although there are several superb Vietnamese restaurants in and around my city, incredibly not one of them sells these sandwiches. I did not find the molds I wanted but was able to eat an 8-inch banh mi filled with Vietnamese ham, liver pate, and the usual pickled vegetables and trimmings. The sandwich was so delicious and I love the bread's crackly crisp crust and soft airy crumbs. I ate the whole thing before I realized I didn't take a single photo. I could get addicted to this sandwich that has all the flavors that we as Asians love: salty (fish sauce), sweet, spicy.

Yesterday I baked some Vietnamese style mini baguettes. I followed a recipe I found online. They don't look as pretty and they are not as airy as the restaurant's. I have to change something either with the ingredients or in the procedure. I also have to score the unbaked bread just on the surface and not as deep as in regular French baguette because the breads spread so much. They were very crisp though and the crumb very soft. I could buy the bread from the numerous bakeries at the center but they should be eaten the same day they are baked or the crust would lose its super crispiness which I think is what makes this sandwich so good.

Vietnamese Mini Baguettes

1 cup rice flour
1 cup pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups hot water, about 120°F
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1½ teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
4 cups all purpose flour

• Mix the rice flour, pastry flour, instant yeast, and baking powder in a bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add the hot water and stir for 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt and mix for 1 minute. Cover with plastic film and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Remove plastic film and add 2 cups of flour, mix on low for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the flour, half cup at a time and mix on low for 2 minutes. Remove paddle and replace with dough hook. Knead on medium speed for 3 minutes. Cover with plastic and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Knead again for 2 minutes on low speed. Transfer into a bowl, cover with plastic film and let rise for 1 and a half hour, or until double in bulk.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, it will deflate by itself. Cut the dough in half, and then cut each half into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, and flatten a little. Cover the dough balls with plastic film and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Flatten the balls into a 6 inch oval with the palms of your hands. Deflate any gas bubbles in the dough by pinching them. Fold the dough in half lengthwise by bringing the far edge down over the near edge. Flatten the dough again into an oval with the palms of your hands. Press a trench along the central length of the oval with the side of one hand. Fold in half again lengthwise. This time seal the edges together with the heel of one hand, and roll the dough so the seal is on the bottom. Roll the dough back and forth with the palms of your hands into an 8 inch long roll. Place the rolls, seam side down, 1 ½ inches apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silpat. Cover with plastic film and let rise for 1 to 2 hours or until double in size.
• Preheat the oven to 425F. Slash the dough by running a razor blade or a sharp knife along the length of the baguette. Bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden in color, rotating the baking sheets after 10 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving. Best eaten the same day it’s baked.

Note: The above is not the recipe I used for the mini baguettes, I made adjustments to the original to adapt to my kitchen temperature and humidity and the type of flour I use.

Next post: Vietnamese roasted or grilled chicken

Vietnamese style roast chicken with lemongrass, shallots,
garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: Left-over

leftover shredded chicken adobo sandwich

It's left-over this week at Lasang Pinoy, Sundays hosted by SPICES. There's plenty of tiny containers in my refrigerator to choose from but nothing beats "aged" adobo which tastes better after a few weeks in the refrigerator. I toasted the chicken flakes on a hot skillet until crispy and crusty and layered them with cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, and an egg omelet on dark rye bread. Weird combination, I know, but the sandwich is yummy. I washed it down with iced banaba tea.

Chicken Tandoori Sandwich

It seems all I cook these days is chicken. I actually cook other stuff but get lazy writing and posting about them. A week ago I smoked a 4-pound ham (which btw is waaay better than store bought) that I will feature in a future breakfast post. Anyways, last Sunday I read a tandoori chicken slider sandwich featured in a magazine restaurant review and I drool each time I see the photos of the sandwiches. I love tandoori-style chicken and the sandwich version looks really good. And it is so good, at least the one I made.:=)

For the tandoori I diced the chicken meat instead of ground and used aluminum rings for making crumpets to keep the meat patties from crumbling. I wanted to charcoal grill the patties but the weather was threatening (to rain) yesterday. Frying in very hot skillet worked just fine. I served the sandwiches with tzatziki broccoli slaw, shaved mini cucumber, and lots of tomatoes. Yummy! My daughter slathered homemade Greek yogurt cheese on the bottom bun and added tzatziki on top of the chicken for a triple dose of yogurt. Yummier!

My tandoori-style chicken recipe is here.

Gazpacho, Asparagus Chicken Sandwich, Hummus, And More

gazpacho and chicken asparagus pita sandwich

The past 4 days I haven't turned on the stove and we have been eating cold food and loving it immensely. Yesterday I made gazpacho, a Spanish cold soup with fresh tomatoes and cucumber. I have plenty of steamed asparagus and bought strips of roasted chicken which I made into pita sandwiches. I also made hummus and served it with wholewheat mini pitas...wonderful. My daughter and I have been making all sorts of combinations with the chicken, asparagus, fresh spinach, shaved cucumbers, tzatziki, hummus, and pita. She smeared spinach leaves with both tzatziki and hummus, added shaved cucumbers and chicken then rolled the spinach, delicious! We can get used to this.;-)

This is the first time I made and have eaten gazpacho. It always reminds me of the guy that one of my best friends dated many years ago. The guy, a French Canadian, prepared an elaborate dinner for my friend in his well-appointed house (he did all the interior decoration) in Makati. The first course was gazpacho that he made earlier in the day and was chilling in the refrigerator for over 4 hours. When the time came to transfer the gazpacho in a soup tureen, the bowl slipped from his hands and left a pool of tomato/cucumber soup on the flour and soaked his Italian loafers. According to my friend he was upset the whole night over the spilt gazpacho. She later fell asleep on the couch while watching a boring artsy French film. Good thing my friend did not end up with him because he turned out to have plenty of issues and perhaps a questionable sexual orientation.;-)

Anyways, back to dinner. I fell in love with this refreshing cold soup that pairs very well with the asparagus and chicken sandwich. We used to have this sandwich in the house of the friend mentioned above. They were prepared by their cook who used canned asparagus instead of fresh which is also very good although a bit mushy and she sliced them into thin fingers. They were really tasty, light, and different and have become one of our favorite sandwiches.

Gazpacho Andaluz
1½ pounds tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 slices day-old baguette, crusts removed, soaked in water and squeezed out
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups water

for garnish
garlic croutons, chopped tomatoes, and chopped cucumbers

• In a food processor combine all the ingredients except garnish and process until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down hard to extract all the liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
• To serve, pour soup into bowls and pass the garnishes separately.

Chicken Asparagus Sandwich

store-bought or leftover roasted chicken breasts, cut into strips
steamed asparagus, cut into 3 -4 inch pieces
mayonnaise
salt, optional
watercress, torn spinach
whole wheat pitas or sliced bread

Hummus

1 16-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzos)
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1½ T tahini
1 tsp salt
extra virgin olive oil
for garnish: chopped flat leaf parsley, paprika, or cayenne, optional

• Drain chickpeas, reserve ¼ C of liquid. Place all ingredients except olive oil and garnish in a blender, add the reserved liquid and blend on low speed until smooth. Transfer into a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour olive oil in the well. Serve with pita triangles.

a delicious meatless dinner

Longaniza And Sardines Sandwich

pandesal filled with longaniza, brisling sardines, shallot, red chile, and oregano

My lunch today was inspired by the movie and novel by Laura Esquivel, Like Water For Chocolate. It is a quirky strange dramedy that was released in 1992 but I never was interested to watch it until Raissa recommended it a few weeks ago. I watch a ton of foreign language movies but I usually ignore Spanish and Italian movies because I find them too melodramatic. I finally watched the movie and I enjoyed it a lot. I also borrowed the book from the library and will read it this weekend. The first chapter has the recipe for the Christmas buns which has the most unusual combination of chorizo and canned sardines mixed with oregano, canned serrano chiles, and chopped onion. I made my own sandwich version using Filipino Vigan-style longaniza, brisling sardines in olive oil, shallots, and fresh red chiles. I had the sandwiches, yes I ate two, with pickled green mangoes and tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt. The sandwiches are very good, strange but good. BTW, the book also has a recipe for making matches just in case anybody wants to make and eat them.:-)

Longaniza And Sardines Sandwich
½ pound longaniza, Vigan-style
1 can brisling sardines or Spanish sardines, drained, deboned and cut into chunks
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 hot red pepper, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
10 pieces pandesal

• In a medium pan over medium heat, boil longaniza and 3 T water, covered, until all the water has evaporated. Remove casings, lower heat and let sausages fry in its own fat. Do not let longaniza get brown.
• While longaniza is frying combine sardines, chopped chiles, onion, and oregano. Coarsely chop the cooked longaniza and add to the sardine mixture, mixing gently. Leave for 30 minutes.
• Slice pandesal and fill with longaniza and sardine mixture. Heat in a 300 degree oven for 12 minutes or until top of pandesal is golden brown. Serve with pickled green mangoes and tomatoes, or salad greens.

Next food inspired by a movie: Adam's Apple Pie from the Danish film Adam's Apples.

Chicken Adobo Sandwich

Last week I read in the newspaper a very pretty lobster sandwich in a bun. What made it interesting for me is the layer of potato crisps. I made my version of the sandwich with chicken adobo flakes on sliced bread. The potato crisps add texture and wonderful flavor to the already very tasty chicken adobo. What can I say, it's super crunchy, yummy, and...excuse me but I have to go and eat one more. Yay, carbs!

To make: Spread a thin layer of mayo on toasted bread, layer salad greens, sliced tomatoes, adobo flakes and plenty of potato crisps.