Food

Using ingredients inspired by vietnamese food, particularly banh mi, I made seaweed rolls and baguette sandwiches to eat for lunches this week.

Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 celery stalks, cut in long narrow strips
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut in long narrow strips
- 3 leaves romaine lettuce, cut in long narrow strips
- bean sprouts
- green onions, with heads and tails trimmed, in long strips
- pickled ginger, cut in strips
- cilantro, italian parsley, thai basil
- soft baguette (not a style that's too crusty)
- about 6 sheets seaweed
- sauces

Directions
Vegetables: in general, it's easier to make the rolls and the sandwiches if things are cut long and narrow. Wash and trim the celery and cut each stalk in about 4 narrow strips. Similarly, peel and trim the carrots, cut crosswise in long flat slices, and then cut those into strips. With the parsley and cilantro, I pulled them off the larger stalks, but kept some of the smaller stalks (they're less likely to fall out of the rolls on stalks than as individual leaves).

Chicken: heat olive oil on high in a skillet. add the chicken breasts and sprinkle the top lightly with black pepper. Sear for 1-2 minutes, then flip and sear again for 1-2 minutes. turn heat down to medium, cover, and cook until done, about 10 minutes. Slice the breasts horizontally into two flat slices, and then cut those in long strips. Put in the fridge for a while before working with them.

Sauces: I wanted to add a creamy sauce with a bit of bite for additional flavor to complement the mostly simple, fresh ingredients. My first sauce was on a base of 2:1 nonfat plain yogurt and lite mayonnaise, with a good bit of sweet hot mustard and some sriracha. I added a bit of soy sauce and black pepper. My second sauce was more vietnamese in flavor. Again, a base of 2:1 yogurt and mayo, with a fair amount of nuoc cham and lime juice. I also added some sriracha for spice, and a few spoonsful of ground peanuts.

Assembling the rolls: arrange all the ingredients around in easy reach. Include a bowl of warm water and a couple of paper towels handy. Use a cutting board covered with wax paper for a work surface. Take a sheet of seaweed and lay it in front of you with the shiny side down, with the fold lines running left-right. Spoon out some of the sauce along the seaweed, an inch or two in from the end near you. Lay strips of chicken on top, and then add whatever combination of other ingredients sounds good. Fold the seaweed end close to you over the ingredients and then roll until you're a couple of inches from the end. Dip your fingers in the water and run them along the edge of the seaweed, to provide a seal when you finish rolling.

Sandwiches: cut a baguette about 8 inches long, and then cut in half partway across. Lay the baguette open in a V and then fill it in the same order as the rolls. The bread I used was a soft french baguette. I usually prefer crustier bread for sandwiches or just eating plain, but the softer bread is better to avoid having the sandwich fall apart.

Verdict
I haven't actually had the rolls yet but the sandwiches are delicious. The whole thing is a bit of work, just because you have to prepare everything and lay it out, but from those modest ingredients I made about 6 rolls and three sandwiches, which is a lot of lunches.

Variations
Use whatever vegetables you want. Red onions, red bell, anaheim, sweet, or jalapeno peppers, different kinds of lettuce or greens, etc. The sauces could be almost anything, though you want to make sure whatever you use in the rolls at least is thick enough that it wont all slide out the far end. Of course, the chicken could be replaced with thin-sliced grilled beef or pork, like traditional banh mi.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 08:27 PM | Permalink

Another basic "rice with stuff" meal with some simple but tasty shrimp. Very easy, little prep, tasty, and makes good leftovers.

The rice was basically the same recipe I've done several times recently, including yesterday with quinoa rather than rice. I tried adding quartered garlic cloves to the rice, but it was really a mistake -- you can do it with brown rice, which cooks for 45 minutes, but with white rice that only cooks for 20, the garlic remains too potent.

The shrimp were defrosted and dried as much as possible, and tossed with salt and black pepper. They were then quick fried in a hot skillet with almost no oil to keep them dry. I threw in large slices of green onions, though they wilted more than I intended -- I probably should have tossed them in at the last minute and left them closer to raw.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 08:51 PM | Permalink

The quinoa is basically the sort of rice dish I've been making lately, but with quinoa instead (I realized at the last minute I was out of rice). The chicken breasts were simply baked in a covered skillet on the stove top, but I first crusted them with coarsely ground coriander and cumin seeds.

Yellow quinoa with mushrooms
Bring 2c water to boil in a pot. Add 1c quinoa and a couple sprinkles of turmeric. Cover, reduce to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, slice about 5 shiitake and 5 crimini mushrooms and 1-2 serrano or red jalapeno peppers (depending on how spicy you want it). Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high. When hot, add the pepper slices and seeds and saute for a minute or two. Add the mushrooms and stir fry. Add a little soy sauce and rice wine vinegar as you go, so that the mushrooms don't dry out -- you want a bit of a sauce to mix with the quinoa. The mushrooms should darken as they soak up some of the soy sauce. When the quinoa is done, add it to the skillet and stir until blended.

Coriander-cumin chicken
Coarsely grind about a handful of coriander and cumin seeds. Trim the fat from two boneless chicken breasts. Heat olive oil in a skillet on high. Sprinkle the ground seeds on the top of the chicken breasts and put them in the skillet, top side down. Sprinkle the bottom with the remaining seeds. Sear for 1-2 minutes and flip the chicken. Sear again for 1-2 minutes, then reduce to medium, and cover. The excess seeds will cook in the oil in the bottom of the pan; occasionally add a little chicken stock to the skillet to keep things wet and keep the seeds from burning. Simmer until the chicken is firm and just done. Slice the chicken and serve it over the quinoa, topping with the extra cooked seeds.

Verdict
Like brown rice, quinoa has kind of a coarse, grainy texture, but it tastes pretty good and does well, especially with a sauce. Next time I make it, I'll probably make more of a sauce to mix with it, using tomatoes or tomatilloes or something else wet. The chicken was good, with the ground seeds making a nice crust and providing an interesting topping. The cumin flavor was fairly dominant; I'd probably try this again with something subtler (fennel seeds?) for variety. And it was a very easy meal -- the only prep was slicing a few mushrooms and peppers and trimming the chicken. The actual cooking was easy.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 08:36 PM | Permalink

an impromptu dinner party for six: two roasted chickens, roasted carrots, parsnips, fennel, celery root and onion with bacon, green rice, and spicy chocolate ice cream.

Roasted Vegetables with Bacon
Fairly simple. Chop the vegetables and put them in the bottom of the roasting pan. Dice some bacon (we used five strips for a fairly large pile of vegetables) and saute it in a skillet, until starting to brown but not all the way cooked. Toss the vegetables with the bacon, black pepper, and olive oil. Add some chicken stock (depth of maybe 1/2 inch in the pan). Put the roasting rack over the vegetables and add the chickens (I'm not sure how E prepared them). Cook until the chickens are done. The vegetables need around an hour, so if the bird is going to go a lot longer, it's better to separate them.

Green Rice
Chop up bunches of basil, italian parsley, and fennel greens (the original recipe involved parsley, cilantro, and mint, but we made subsitutions). Heat 1:1 water and chicken stock in a pot. Process the greens in a blender or food processor with some of the liquid, adding the rest gradually, until it's as smooth as you can get it. Rinse the pot and heat olive oil in it. Saute a red onion and some ground toasted fennel seeds (which we didn't have) in the oil. Add the rice and toss to coat, then add the green slurry. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for about 20 minutes. (obviously, the rice/water proportions and time depend on the type of rice you use; we used basmati).

Spicy Chocolate Ice Cream
We followed a chocolate ice cream recipe and added a fair bit of cinnamon, some cayenne pepper, some white and black pepper, ginger, and a diced hot pepper (strain it out), to taste.

Verdict
Everything was good, especially for an impromptu dinner party. The bacon with the vegetables was great. The rice was pretty good, though for how green the slurry was I was hoping for greener rice -- it came out a nice pale green. I also would probably try that recipe with a thicker stickier sushi-type rice, because I prefer that consistency to basmati. The chickens were perfect. The ice cream was very good, with a bit of a burn that built up over multiple bites. The initial flavor was fairly mild; I'd prefer to have it be a little sharper at first without the afterburn, but we experimented a bit and couldn't figure it out.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 09:27 PM | Permalink

I've been dissatisfied with my wraps involving tortillas lately, so I decided to experiment with something else, and picked up both some seaweed sheets and some rice paper wrappers. I laid out my ingredients on the table and just combined them in various ways to make rolls

Ingredients
ground beef, sauteed w/o oil (so it's dry rather than greasy) with minced garlic and jalapenos, and ground anise and fennel seed
leftover non-grilled chicken
sushi rice, prepared and stirred with some vinegar and sugar
steamed "asparation" (that broccoli/asparagus stuff) and snow peas
enoki mushrooms
carrots cut in long thin strips
cilantro, chopped
romaine lettuce, cut in long strips
red onion, chopped in medium pieces
rice paper wrappers
seaweed sheets

Directions
For the seaweed sheets, lay the sheet down shiny side down. About an inch from one side, make a long base of rice. Lay ingredients on top of the rice, then roll up the seaweed. If you wet the end slightly, it will stick to itself. For the rice paper wraps, soak one in warm water until it softens, then lay it carefully on wax paper. Pile up your ingredients in a line near one side. Fold the side over, then the ends, then roll the whole thing.

Verdict
The asparation worked very well in the wraps, especially the seaweed. I made a couple of rolls that were rice and asparation, along with enoki and carrots. The chicken was fairly good, but the beef didn't really work (though it was better in the rice paper wraps than the seaweed). The problem with the whole thing is the amount of labor involved in each wrap. It's kind of fun to do with friends, but it gets a little monotonous if you're doing it by yourself, hoping to make enough to eat for leftovers all week.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 07:52 PM | Permalink

Another salad topped with meat, this time chicken. I didn't have the time to stand over the stove grilling the chicken in the grill pan, so instead I basically stir fried it in almost no oil, trying to keep it dry. I had the chicken over a typical salad with nuoc cham dressing.

Ingredients
1/2 lb chicken breast, cut in medium slices
lettuce, carrots, celery, cauliflower, tomatoes, red onions etc
nuoc cham
cilantro, chopped
seedless red grapes, food processor ized
unsalted roasted peanuts, ground

Directions
Toss the chicken with a bit of salt and some herbs or spices. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high with a tiny dab of olive oil. When heated, toss in the chicken and keep it moving around rapidly so it doesn't stick or burn. Prepare the salad and toss with nuoc cham, cilantro, and grapes. Add peanuts to taste and toss some more. When the chicken's done, serve it over the salad.

Verdict
The dry stir fry thing worked fairly well on the chicken, producing something with some of the feel of grilled chicken but requiring less hands-on work. A bit of salt and pepper or whatever is all you need, if you plan on serving it with something that's already flavorful. The salad was the usual, except for the grapes -- at the last minute I thought it could use a bit of a sweet flavor.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 07:38 PM | Permalink

The Principle of Sympathetic Shapes states that: foods that go together should be of similar shapes.

This is practical as well as aesthetic: for example, carrots added to a noodle bowl should be cut in matchsticks rather than disks so they can be easily picked up with the noodles by chopsticks. For the same reason, other good things to put in noodle bowls include onions cut as half or quarter rings, been sprouts, and chinese long beans.

This is in contrast to the Principle of Variety which states that: foods that are juxtaposed should contrast. The contrast can be in shape (as in long-shaped roasted carrots and green beans are laid over a round scoop of rice), in color, or in flavor. I guess there's a principle of sympathy for flavors too; contrast is good, but it's good if different elements in a menu carry some similarity as well. A theme with variations. Obviously at this point I'm just rambling and should think this out more some other time.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 01:44 PM | Permalink

A sandwich wrap with vietnamese-inspired flavor

Ingredients
about 1/4 lb of thinly-sliced beef, cut in strips (left over from last night's salad!)
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and chopped in long narrow strips
a couple of slices of red onion, chopped
1 medium crimini mushroom, sliced thin
a handfu of cilantro, chopped
a leaf or two of romaine lettuce, chopped in long narrow pieces
1/4 c roasted unsalted peanuts, ground
nuoc cham
light mayonnaise, fat free plain yogurt

Directions
Mix two parts yogurt to one part mayonnaise to make 1-2 tablespoons. Add nuoc cham to taste. Spread in a line down the center of the tortilla. Lay the beef strips on top. Add the lettuce, carrots, onion, and cilantro. Top with mushroom and sprinkle with peanuts. Roll in the tortilla and wrap in foil to hold.

Verdict
My version could have used a bit more nuoc cham in the sauce, to bring out the flavor better. This would also probably be better (and more vietnamese) using spring roll wrappers rather than tortillas. Otherwise, pretty good.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 01:18 PM | Permalink

A salad with vietnamese-inspired flavors, topped with thin slices of grilled beef.

Ingredients
about 1/4 lb of thinly-sliced beef
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and sliced
a couple of slices of red onion, coarsely diced
a handful or two of cilantro, chopped
a cup or so of hearts of romaine, with some leaves
1/4-1/2 c roasted unsalted peanuts, ground
nuoc cham
salt, black pepper, white pepper

Directions
Combine the carrots, onions, and cilantro in a salad bowl. Add enough nuoc cham to soak everything. Toss and let sit for half an hour or so. In a bowl, sprinkle the beef with a bit of salt and white pepper and toss. let sit a while. before grilling, add a bit of black pepper to each side. grill on a nonstick grill pan (with no oil) at med-high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, until just cooked through. Add the lettuce to the salad mixture and toss thoroughly. Grind the peanuts in a food processor until they're a mix of medium-sized chunks and finer powder. Toss with the salad until the peanuts are thoroughly distributed, somewhat coating the ingredients. Serve the beef on top and garnish with some more ground peanuts and sprigs of cilantro.

Verdict
This is really a simple recipe and how well it works depends primarily on how good your nuoc cham is. I'm still working on my nuoc cham, but this attempt was pretty good. There's also a definite difference between the grilled meat I make and what I get in a vietnamese restaurant, and I have no idea what the difference is. I actually included a shallot in this attempt, but it was too strong raw; red onions, with some time to soak in the nuoc cham, are perfect. In all, a good simple dish.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 07:34 PM | Permalink

Basic spaghetti. I wanted to do something good but fairly easy, so I made meat sauce rather than bother with full-on meatballs. The sauce is based on a mix, with various things added.

Ingredients
1/2 lb lean ground beef
a handful of spaghetti (I like Ronzoni's whole wheat blend thin spaghetti)
4 cloves garlic, food-processorized
4-6 white button mushrooms
1 red jalapeno pepper, sliced, with seeds
grated fresh parmesan cheese
6oz can tomato paste
2c water
packet french's "thick and zesy" spaghetti sauce
olive oil, ground fennel seed, rosemary, and thyme

Directions
start water boiling in a pot. heat olive oil to medium high in a skillet. add the garlic and jalapeno and saute until you can smell them. add the meat. break it up but not too much -- leave chunks like mini meatballs. brown the meat. add the tomato paste, about half the water, the mushrooms, and the herbs. reduce heat to medium. at this point you can simmer (reduce heat after a few minutes), adding water as needed for as long as you like. when the water boils, add the spaghetti and cook until done (7 min for the Ronzoni). serve the sauce over the pasta in a bowl, topped with parmesan.

Verdict
The french's is a pretty good mix and makes things simple, but it's full of sodium and who-knows-what else, and this time it didn't come out flavorful/spicy enough. Next time I'd do things the same but replace the mix with fresh herbs and spices. More fennel seed or anise, plus standard Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, etc), and then hot red peppers for spice. To better bring out the spices and let the mushrooms saute and absorb flavor, next time I'll try sauteing the mushrooms separately with the garlic and herbs (except the fennel, which goes with the meat), and then adding them to the meat/sauce toward the end. Using sausage meat (not in casings) in place of the beef is good.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 08:04 PM | Permalink

Basic turkey sandwich with deli cold cuts, but in a wrap. easy box lunch. I had it with chips and carrot sticks.

Ingredients
deli turkey
sliced swiss cheese
tomato-basil tortilla
romaine lettuce, mostly hearts
sweet-hot mustard
maple syrup

Directions
lay the tortilla
slice the turkey and cheese into lengthwise strips, for easier tortilla-rolling. put a line of mustard down the center of the tortilla. lay the turkey and cheese on top, and top with lettuce, as much as will fit in the wrap. drizzle a little maple syrup on the lettuce (the sweet syrup cuts the bitterness of the romaine hearts a little). grip the tortilla tightly as you roll, so the lettuce gets compacted and it will actually roll up. roll the wrap in the foil to hold it together.

Verdict
Fine but unmemorable. It would be better to use meat simply grilled with spices and more of a variety of vegetables, and an interesting sauce. Microwaving it at work (wrapped in wax paper or plastic rather than foil of course) might melt the cheese a little.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 12:55 PM | Permalink

A fairly simple salad topped with grilled chicken, with a somewhat asian flavor from sesame oil and peanuts.

Ingredients
one chicken breast, grilled and cut in strips
romaine lettuce (mostly hearts, a few leaves)
tomato, sliced
celery, sliced
roasted unsalted peanuts, ground
sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, hot sweet mustard

Directions
grill the chicken on a ridged pan, with little oil and some salt and pepper. lay lettuce etc on a plate. mix oil, vinegar, and mustard in a bowl for dressing and pour over lettuce (reserving a little). top with peanuts (reserving a little). toss. top with the sliced chicken and the rest of dressing and peanuts.

Verdict
A little dull. The chicken could have used more flavor -- probably should be more thoroughly rubbed with some interesting spices. The dressing could also use a little spice in it. A dressing based on nuoc cham might be good here, for a more vietnamese salad (which would also be good with beef or pork in place of the chicken).

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 07:45 PM | Permalink

A simple sandwich wrap of grilled chicken and usual sandwich ingredients. I had it with chips and red grapes.

Ingredients
about one chicken breast, sliced to about 1/4" thickness
tomato-basil tortilla
half an anaheim pepper, cut into long strips
carrot, cut into long strips
tomato slices
italian parsley
grated cheese
black pepper, mustard

Directions
I'd actually made the chicken the night before. Cut it think and spice it with some salt and black pepper, or any spice you like. Grill on the stovetop on a ridged pan with no oil (or a tiny amount brushed across the pan) until cooked through. lay the chicken, some sliced tomato, carrots, pepper, parsley, etc in the tortilla, add some mustard and black pepper, and grated cheese. roll up the tortilla (wrap in foil for easier handling if needed).

Verdict
It's a decent sandwich-type lunch but (a) my tortilla-rolling skills are lacking something; and (b) the wrap doesn't really seem to hang together (aesthetically, not physically). It just seems like some stuff in a tortilla. Microwaving tortillas for 20-30 seconds beforehand may make them easier to handle, helping with the first problem. For the second, heating it and letting the cheese melt through, using more of a sauce, or some filler like sticky rice may make it feel like more of a unit. Not sure. Verdict: fine but unmemorable.

Posted by Mike Perkowitz at 01:30 PM | Permalink