JACKO

Coincidentally, I came across this photo today which I shot just this past winter. Five gold stars to anyone who can name the location. Rest in peace, Michael.

Salmon Salad Vietnamese Sammies (Banh Mi-esque)

I'm always looking for variations of my favorite foods and armed with the knowledge of the traditional components of Banh Mi (sketchy pate, gnarly cured pork, canned chicken, etc.), I have no problem bastardizing the recipes. I came up with the basic idea for this while at the market, bought the buns, knowing I had enough of the essentials to make this close enough to call it a "Vietnamese Sandwich."

I started with a can of sockeye, mixed in 2 tbsp mayo, 2 tsp sriracha, 1 tbsp chopped capers, 1/4 cup minced white onion, pinch of salt, and some white pepper.



Then I whisked together 2 tbsp rice vinegar with 2 tsp white sugar for the tang for the "slaw."
Today the slaw is composed of: 1 large carrot, matchsticked;
1 large leaf of kale, minced.



Then I sliced the buns without going all the way through (I use what my supermarket calls an Italian- feel free to use any form of baguette or Portuguese bun, unless of course you have a line on a real Vietnamese sub bun made with rice flour). Slather a good tbsp of mayo on top and bottom and fire into a toaster oven (or oven) until they start to golden.

Pull the buns, spread a few tablespoons of salmon, top with:
slaw, cilantro (unstemmed), jalepeno rings, a shot of soy sauce and a little white pepper.
Close, slice in half if you like, enjoy!

Salmon Burger on Pita with Asian Noodle Salad

We had some wild salmon patties in the freezer- the fish joint was blowing them out @ $5/4, so we had to give 'em a try. With what I had on hand I decided to grill them and serve in a pita (our new burger bun of choice) with a wasabi chili garlic mayo, romaine, and onion. Everyone was a big fan, especially Sharv, who's generally iffy with salmon. I whipped up a noodle salad with an asiany dressing and a good veggie content. Again, four big fans.





Wasabi Chili Garlic Mayo:
1/2 cup light mayo
2 cloves garlic
1/2 jalepeno
1/2 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp wasabi paste
pinch of salt
white pepper

Asian Influenced Cool Noodle Salad:
W/W spaghetti noodles, broken, boiled, rinsed well in cold water (or soba or rice noodles)
red pepper
asparagus
baby corn
cilantro
mint
basil
toasted sesame seeds

Dressing:
ginger, garlic, jalepeno, brown sugar, warm water, olive or canola oil, splash of sesame oil, fish sauce, sriracha

Pork & Beans and World War III

OK, let's get started. I've soaked some pintos overnight with plans to use a leftover fist-sized piece of 2 day marinated, slow roasted pork loin which was prepared with al pastor intentions.
The tacos were fantastic, with grilled tomato salsa, salsa fresca, guac, both homemade and store bought corn tortillas, and spicy pickled carrots with radishes.
Today the beans will be slowly simmered with as much vegetable matter as possible (maybe grilled onions), some rehydrated pulverized chillies, toasted + ground cumin/coriander, and the precooked pork loin, chopped. I'll serve with sour cream, avocado slices, cilantro, diced white onion, and lime wedges. And I'll stick some freshly fried, oversized tortilla chips for dipping and presentation.
I suppose I'll take pictures to bring this whole blog thing together.





I had reasonable intentions, but as it turned out I decided to leave the chillies whole (with kids in mind), didn't bother to grill the onions, my megagrocer was out of cilantro, and after 3 hours of simmering Que Pasa got my vote for tortilla chips. So I finished it up with chopped green onions and muchos jalepenos. Muy bueno!


As far as WWIII is concerned, Mr Ahmadinejad says the vote was fair. That's good enough for me. He seems like a nice enough guy- I'm sure the whole Israel hate-fest is merely Mahmoud showing the world that "there is no such thing as bad press".
At this point I predict at least another solid year of good eatin'.