lettuce

A Sardine Sandwich with Horseradish Cream

22 Jan 2012
sardine sandwich with pickled red onion

Sardines? Egads no! They look like fish, they smell like fish and they taste like fish. That's enough information to get many of us to swim for the hills. If there was ever a little fishy in need of a makeover it's the sardine. Un-loved and under-appreciated do not begin to describe the loathing attached to this surprisingly healthy and completely delicious tasting fish. I'll start the makeover with a sandwich that I know you'll love, if you just let yourself get past all those fishy miscoceptions. Sardine Sandwich with Horseradish Cream & Pickled Red Onion

Sardines are super tasty. Really they are. Oh, believe me, I know what you’re thinking. Even the very word seems a little unappetizing. Sar-deeeens. Just the phrase sardine sandwich can clear a room to the point of echos. Say it out loud and see for yourself. "Sardine Sandwich... anyone? anyone?"

But now I'm going to ask you to do something. I'm going to ask you to listen to my case for sardines. Especially canned sardines. First off, they're terrific from an environmental perspective. Seafood Watch rates sardines as a "Best Choice", because they're an abundant, fast growing fish that's low on the food chain and able to sustain its population. Sardines feed solely on plankton. Which may sound gross but what that means is they don’t eat other fish which may contain mercury or PCB’s. Unlike that canned tuna we're so fond of, sardines aren't bio-accumulating these toxins.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Sardine Sandwich with Horseradish Cream & Pickled Red Onion

Sardine sandwich
By jgreghenry Published January 22, 2012
Prep time: 5
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 0.25 c rice-wine vinegar
  • 1 t sugar
  • 1 t black peppercorns
  • 0.5 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 T mayonnaise
  • 1 T prepared horseradish
  • 0.5 t fresh lemon juice
  • 2 sli pumpernickle bread, toasted
  • 2 leaves red lettuce
  • 4 oz canned sardines packed in oil, drained plus 2 tsp reserved oil
  • 1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
  • 1 pn each kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

Bring vinegar, sugar, and peppercorns to a boil in a small saucepan. Add onions and remove from heat; let sit for 30 minutes, then chill. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, horseradish, and lemon juice; spread mixture over each slice of bread, and top each with 1 lettuce leaf. Divide sardines evenly between sandwiches, and top with pepper and pickled onions. Drizzle with reserved oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Source: From Saveur Magazine

Have Some Respect for Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Eggs

10 Jul 2011
Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Eggs

I thought I’d have some fun today. With both my palate and my perceptions. Could I create something from nothing? Well what I mean to say is could I create something from a lot less than nothing? Could I make something creative and delicious using SPAM?

Sesame Marinated SPAM Sliders with Quail Egg and Gingered Mayonnaise

It's easy to snub SPAM, but why would you after tasting these little sliders. Marinated in a spicy blend of sesame, soy and chilis, you might be reminded of the Hawaiian snack food masubi. But these little sandwiches are topped with a warm, oozing quail egg and a dollop of gingered mayonnaise– making them something else altogether.

SPAM is not something I buy everyday. Well in fact this is the first time I ever bought SPAM. Not that I haven’t eaten SPAM before. I have eaten and I recall liking it. Of course that may have been 30 or more years ago.

Well as soon as I had that block shaped blue can in my hands some repressed SPAM memories came flooding back. SPAM chunks in mac-n-cheese. That’s what I immediately thought of. Obviously I was served SPAM and blue box macaroni as a child.

But it was the sound that surprised me the most, ker-lunk-click. That’s the sound the top makes when you use your thumb and forefinger and pry open the special pull-tab top that defines SPAM packaging. The sound was one thing– metallic and false. I began to feel like I was making a mistake because the next sensory perception was aroma. I was beginning to worry that my experiment into SPAM would end badly.

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Sesame Marinated Spam Sliders with Quail Egg and Gingered Mayonnaise

Spam sliders with quail eggs
By jgreghenry Published July 9, 2011
Prep time: 180
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 c soy sauce
  • 0.333333 c brown sugar
  • 6 clv garlic, minced
  • 3 T rice vinegar
  • 2 T sesame oil
  • 2 T sesame seeds, toasted
  • 2 t fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 Thai bird chili, minced
  • 0.25 c mayonnaise
  • 1 cn Spam
  • 0 cooking spray, as needed
  • 16 fresh quail eggs
  • 0 fine grained sea salt
  • 16 slider buns, toasted or grilled as you prefer
  • 16 slider sized pieces of crisp lettuce,

Directions

Prepare the marinade: In a medium sauce pan set over medium heat add the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger and minced chili. Cook without boiling until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Make the mayonnaise: Add 1 tablespoon of the cool marinade and the remaining 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger to the mayonnaise. Mix well, set aside covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Prepare the Spam: Cut the Spam crosswise into 8 slices, keeping them together in a block and then cut them all in half clengthwise to form 16 nearly square pieces. Lay the pieces in a single layer in the bottom of a shallow dish. Pour the remaining cooled marinade over the slices and marinate 2 to 4 hours.

Drain the Spam slices, discard marinade. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Spray with a light coating of cooking spray. Brown the Spam slices on one side until nicely colored, about 3 minutes. Flip each piece and repeat the browning. Transfer to a tray, loosely covered with foil.

Fry the eggs: Using a fresh non-stick or cast iron skillet set over medium heat. Spray with a light coating of cooking spray. Carefully crack each quail egg onto the surface, gently frying the eggs with a few grains of salt on top, until the whites have set but the yolks are still runny 2 to 3 minutes. Work in batches if necessary.

Assemble the sliders: Lay the bottoms of the slider buns on a work surface in front of you. Spread a dollop of the gingered mayonaisse onto each. Top this with a piece of lettuce followed by the a Spam slice. Gently place a warm fried quail egg on top, taking care to keep the yolk intact. Add the top to the slider and serve.

Lobster Roll

lobster roll
By jgreghenry Published June 9, 2011
Prep time: 20
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb cooked lobster meat
  • 4 T mayonnaise
  • 0 T dijon mustard
  • 2 T shallot
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 T tarragon
  • 0 kosher salt & pepper
  • 8 small-medium sized leaves of Boston (or other soft leaf) lettuce
  • 4 “New England style” hot dog buns
  • 0 oz soft butter for grilling buns
  • 0 oz Enough sweet paprika to lightly dust the top of each roll

Directions

If cooking your lobsters from scratch, put a few inches of salted water into a large stock pot with a tight fitting lid, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water boils, remove any claw bands from the lobsters and quickly place them head down into the pan and cover to keep in all the steam. Steam the lobsters for 18 minutes, then pull them from the pot, place them in your kitchen sink and shower them with cold water until they are cool enough to touch.

Rip off the tail and two claws from each, and working with a hammer, lobster shell crackers, or poultry shears, cut or break the shell away from the meat. Rip the meat into small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Discard the empty shells, or reserve for another use.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, shallots, tarragon, and celery to the lobster, mix well and taste for seasoning. Add salt and black pepper to taste, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to make your rolls.

Wash, dry and place the lettuce leaves in the fridge until ready to use.

Slather some soft butter on the long sides of your four hot dog rolls, and grill them in a skillet until crisp and golden on both sides To assemble your roll, place 2 hot rolls on each plate and lay 2 leaves of lettuce in each. Spoon the lobster salad into each roll and sprinkle with a little paprika over the top of each. Serve with a healthy fistful of potato chips and some pickles.

Notes:

serves 4