Kosher Bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwich)

I discovered the joys of Bánh mì when I was living in downtown San Jose in my early 20’s.  There was a Vietnamese deli I frequented, as it was cheap and loaded with tasty treasures in celophane wrappers, some in dayglo collors like tapioca jelly balls and black sesame cakes.  I was hooked for life.

The following recipe is pretty easy, but the quality of your ingredients are key.  Let your inner Frenchman be picky and buy the freshest bagguette rolls you can possibly find!  Daikon is also key, as the do chua (picked daikon radish and carrots) is the most important flavor of the sandwich.  Daikon should be approximately 2″ (for the appropriate sweet flavor) and unblemished.

A note on the protein choice:  Traditionally, these wonderfull sandwiches have shredded or strps of chicken, strips of tofu, fish cake, pork loin, or pâté.  Those last two aren’t going to work for a kosher Jew, obviosly.  I can’t help with pork loin, but the pâté is easily replaced by chopped liver.  There are also some lovely vegatarian faux pâtés out there.

A note on Maggi Sauce: I don’t use it! Though it’s traditional in some circles, it’s also acceptible to use soy sauce.  Maggi Sauce is loaded with MSG and I am not sure if there are kosher brands out there.  Bragg’s is kosher, lower in sodium, and tastes fab.

INGREDIENTS:

• do chua (recipe follows this one)
• baguette roll/petite bagguette/7″ lenght of standard baguette
• mayonaise
• Bragg’s Amino Acids or soy sauce
• 1 peeled, seeded cucumber, cut lenthwise in thin slices
• bunch of cilantro, rinsed but not cut (or just cut off the bottom few inches)
• 1 jalapeño, cut into paper-thin slices

DIRECTIONS:

Set your oven to 200°F.  Slice your rolls almost all the way through and put them in the oven to warm (about 5-10 minutes).

Spread a thin layer of mayonaise on the top piece of bread.  Drizzle Bragg’s or soy sauce on the bottom piece.  Put 3-4 slices of cucumber, 2-3 cliantro sprigs, a couple slices of  jalapeño, and some do chua in layers into the bread.  Top with you protein choice .  Squeeze tight and enjoy!  The crust on the bread should be crisp and crumbly and the inner bread should be soft and warm.  There will be crumbs, so I hope you have a dog.

Do Chua (pickled daikon raddish and carrot)

• 1 large carrot, sliced into 2-3″ long matchsticks
• 1 pound daikon raddish, sliced into 2-3″ long matchsticks
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons, plus 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1 1/4 Cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 Cup lukewarm water

Put the carrot and daikon slices into a bowl and add the salt and initial 2 tsp of sugar.  Knead and sueeze the veggies.  The salt will draw a fair amount of liqiud out of them.  Continue until the daikon is pliable enough to be bent back on itself without breaking.

Drain and rinse.  Put in a jar or Tupperware.

Mix the remaining sugar, with the vinegar and water in a bowl.  Pour over the veggies and cover.  Let everything pickle for at least an hour.  Should last a month in the fridge!

 

 

Easy Apple Crisp

fresh from the oven!

This recipe originated with my sister Karen, and I have made some tweaks.  It never fails to please, especially if you find yourself with sudden guests in need of sweetness!  In the directions below I have also included the even easier version Karen taught me which will take less time to get ready than it will for your oven to heat up.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 apples (they don’t have to be the same kind!), peaches, or pears (or a combination thereof!)
• 1/3 Cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/3 Cup of Bourbon, rum, or Cognac (I prefer Bourbon)
• 1 package of generic yellow or white cake mix
• 1 1/3 Cup unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 °F.

Peel and core apples.  Chop into small pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl.  Work quickly enough to keep the apples from bowning too much.

Apple-cinnamon mixture spread into baking dish

Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and liqour to the bowl.  Mix.  (*see below for easier version)  Spread evenly into a 9×14″ Pyrex baking dish. Pour the cake mix over the apple mixture and use a spoon or spatula to spread it out evenly.Drizzle your melted butter over the top as evenly as you can.

cake mix spread over the fruit, and butter drizzled

Put the baking dish in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until brown and crispy on top.  Let the Apple Crisp cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Eat as is, or top with ice cream, yogurt, or fresh berries.

*For the easier version- omit the fruit, sugar, cinnamon, and liquor, and replace with a can of pie filling.  I especially like tart berry fillings, or cherry.

Apple Crisp a la Mode

Waffled Pain Perdu with Cinnamon-Swirl Bread

Challah French Toast has long been a Sunday morning fave for Jews for generations!  I have certainly made my share.  This recipe makes the awesomeness of challah French toast look pedestrian!  In my family, waffles were actually a dinner tradition so don’t wait for Sunday morning to enjoy this classic.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 loaf of cinnamon swirl bread or cinnamon raisin bread (here in San Francisco I use Semifreddi’s brand, which is KSA Kosher and available at Safeway and Mollie Stones)
• 5 eggs
• 2 Cups milk
• 1/2 tsp Almond extract (optional)
• cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

Heat up your waffle maker.  (I also usually spread a sheet of wax paper or foil underneath to catch egginess that extrudes during cooking.)

Cut the loaf to approximately 1 cm. thick slices.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in milk and the optional Almond extract.

soak until saturaed (the bread should not spring back when pinched)

Soak slices in the egg/milk mixture just before putting them into the waffler.  They should soak enough to absorb as much liquid as they can, still being firm enough to transfer to the waffle grid intact.  Don’t worry about your cinnamon-swirl bread not being square, as it will puff up during baking and in my waffler end up filling all the available space.

place the soaked bread on the waffle grid

With regular waffles you’d simply wait for the steam to decrease to know the waffles were done.  Since pain perdu isn’t a batter that would be too long.  Let the steam decrease a bit before you open the lid to check, but you will need to eyeball your waffled pain and simply cook them until golden.  Every waffle maker is a little different, so you’ll have to use your own judgement.  The waffled pain perdu should not be soggy, and the end result should be somewhat similar to a regular waffle (see image above).

I serve them with the regular margarine and syrup, but Rebecca eats them un-doctored saying they’re perfect on their own.  Go New England on them, put berries on them, whip cream them; It’s all good!

Stack of waffled pain perdu ready to be served!