Fit for Life

Many years ago, probably when I was in my early 20's, I remember testing out yet another fad diet in a desparate attempt to loose weight.  This one involved food combining; only eating certain foods together and at particular times of the day.  I had a book, which was my bible and it was called "Fit for Life".  I cannot remember how long I managed to stick to the diet or whether I managed to loose any weight as a result but I do remember a particular sandwich which I became addicted to.  The dietary requirements of the "Fit for Life" diet, were quite restrictive and complicated, so I seem to remember deciding that, the simplest thing to do was, eat this sandwich morning, noon and night. 

It sounded quite plain, just a combination of brown bread, tomato, avocado and mayonnaise but it was totally delicious.  If you have some really good tomatoes, a little pinch of salt, a perfectly ripe avocado, some really good wholemeal bread and a nice dollop of mayonnaise, really, there is no better sandwich in the world.  Even Hugh, the other half, who is the type of man who wakes you up in the middle of the night and makes you list, in order, your top five favourite sandwiches ever.......even he could not believe how good it was. It makes a fantastic lunch as it helps avoids the "post lunch energy crash" which I seem to have effectively managed to postpone from 2pm to 5pm. 

I imagine as a result of consuming all that bread and mayonnaise, I probably ended up putting weight on all those years ago, but I do still recommend an Avocado and Tomato Sandwich to this day. In fact I think it might even take the number one sandwich slot. 

My Favourite Sandwich - Avocado and Tomato
This recipe is adapted from Fit for Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. They call this “The Properly Combined Sandwich”. 
Serves 1

2 slices wholemeal bread
4 slices of a really ripe tomato or a handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half
Several slices of a perfect, ripe avocado
A pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mayonnaise

Spread the bread with mayonnaise and pile high with avocado and tomatoes.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Good Morning Vietnam

I can't seem to get enough of Vietnamese cooking at the moment.  I know I was banging on about it a couple of weeks ago when I made Pho Ga but since then I have added a couple more dishes to my repetoire. I think it is partly the Vietnamese use of mint which I am finding so appealing at the moment. Nothing says Spring to me like mint.  I don't know if it is its connection with Easter Lamb or the fact that it is one of the first sights of spring in my garden. From a completely barren wasteland it appears, year after year, from nowhere and before I know it I have a abundance of fresh green shoots with an aroma that is so utterly clean, like a new start. It is like Spring!


I don't actually like mint when it has been cooked.  It can be a little too reminiscent to toothpaste, but use it fresh like they do in the Middle East and in Asia and it is a different thing all together. Both of my recipes this week are just bursting with freshness and zing and guaranteed to wake you up after a sluggish winter and drag you kicking and screaming into Spring if the freezing weather has not managed to already.


First up, my Banh mi, a fabulous Vietnamese sandwich. It is so popular now a days that there is a whole website devoted just to the Bahn Mi sandwich, how to make it and where to eat it. It actually just means bread in Vienamese but since French colonisation it refers to a particular hybrid of French bread but less crusty and more sub like.  It is then filled with amongst other things roast pork, pate, chilli, mayonnaise, pickled carrot, mint and coriander. There is even a Breakfast Bahn mi, filled with bacon and eggs.  I am not actually a huge fan of roast or grilled pork, so when I discovered a Bahn mi with meatballs, I couldn't wait to give it a try.  I left the chilli out of my meatballs so that the kids can eat them too, so it makes a fantastic family lunch or supper, especially when it is warm enough to cook the meatballs on the barbecue.


My second recipe is for a Vietnemese Beef Salad.  This is just a really lovely fresh way to serve steak with a delicious vibrant salad.  Once again, a lovely recipe for the barbecue, but maybe wait until Summer. 

Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich)


For the Hot Chili and Garlic Mayo:
300ml Olive oil / sunflower oil, or a blend of the two
2 large egg yolks
1tsp Mustard (Dijon is my favourite)
Juice of half a lemon
3 fat cloves garlic
1 tablespoon hot chilli sauce (such as Sriracha)

For the Meatballs:
600g minced outdoor bread pork
3 garlic cloves
Large knob of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 stick of lemon grass, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla or Nuoc Cham)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the Pickled Carrot:
2 Carrots, pealed and julienned on a mandolin
1 daikon (Japanese white radish), pealed and julienned on a mandolin Optional
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

For the sandwich:
4 10-inch-long individual baguettes or four 10-inch-long pieces French-bread baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
Sunflower oil
Lettuce (I use baby gems)
Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh Coriander
Fresh lime

Hot Chili Mayo:
Thoroughly mash the garlic and a little salt into a paste. I use the side of my knife or you could use a pestle and mortar. Put the egg yolks in a small bowl with the mustard and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until thoroughly blended. Add the oil very slowly, to the egg mixture, whisking well after each addition. When all the oil has been incorporated, check seasoning and add lemon juice and chilli sauce to taste.

For the pickled Carrot / Daikon
Mix all ingredients and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.

For the Meatballs:
Whiz up the garlic, ginger and lemongrass with the fish sauce with a hand blender or in a small food processor, until you have a smooth paste. In large bowl, mix the mince with the paste, the spring onions and the salt and pepper. Using moistened hands roll the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Fry gently in a little oil in a frying pan until golden brown and cooked through. Alternatively cook on the barbecue.

To assemble the sandwiches:
Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. If using the barbecue, lightly char-grill. Spread with hot chili mayo. Pile in the lettuce, pickled carrot, meatballs and herbs. Add more chilli sauce if you like.

Vietnamese Beef Salad

500g sirloin steak, all fat removed
60ml sunflower oil, for frying

For the beef marinade:
2 sticks lemongrass, bashed and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp palm or caster sugar

For the dressing:
2 tbsp palm or caster sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 red chilli, de-seeded
2 garlic cloves
1/2 half tsp salt

For the salad:
100g rice vermicelli noodles
170g cos or baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
70g cucumber, cut in half, de-seeded and cut into chunky 1/2 cm half-moons
Small handful Thai basil leaves (if available)
Handful picked coriander leaves
Handful of Fresh mint leaves
100g bean sprouts
100g roasted salted peanuts, lightly crushed
3 banana shallots, very thinly sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Salt

Blitz all the marinade ingredients with a hand blender to form a paste. Rub the paste all over the beef and set aside for a couple of hours at room temperature or in the fridge over-night. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Whiz up all the ingredients with a hand blender until smooth.

Heat an couple of inches of vegetable oil in a saucepan. When hot add the thinly sliced shallots and fry until golden brown. Stir regually and do not burn. Remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt. (Alternatively you can find ready fried onions in Asian Supermarkets)

Now prepare the salad. Cook the noodles as instructed on the packet, drain and rinse under cold water. Toss the lettuce, carrot, cucumber, basil, coriander and bean sprouts in a large bowl. Add the chilli, the noodles and the dressing and mix well.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan or wok. Season the beef with salt and then sear the beef on each side for a minute or two. Then cook further until rare. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few five minutes or so. Slice thinly and scatter over the salad. Finally sprinkle over the fried shallots and the crushed peanuts.Serve at once.
                                  

"Awesome!"

I have to say that in our household we are not really cutting edge with the latest technology.  Partly a deficit of money and partly due I guess to our age, we often find ourselves several years behind the latest trend.  I remember taking delivery of my new computer in 2002 which was the size of a small house, and on the advice of a friend I connected to the Internet.  I just used to sit in front of it and wonder what on earth I was meant to do with it. E-mail was alien enough, let alone blogging. I had never even heard of it. Ten years later, I have just about got my head around blogging and everybody else has moved on to Twitter.


So when I tell you that Hugh has a new addiction, you can guarantee it is a bit out of date.  He has discovered Man versus food, probably about  four years later than most people and has been watching it obsessively on Dave on Monday nights, raving about  the fantastic food in America, especially the sandwiches.   Due to our lack of SKY he only discovered the channel Food Network UK a few weeks ago but now that he has, he seems to be able to watch Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives pretty much solidly, every night.  And now my life is a constant barrage of requests for burgers, pulled pork, Texan chicken hash, smoked beef brisket and every sandwich you can imagine - Po' Boys, Ruben's, Clubs, Bahn-mi, Hoagies and Philly Cheese Steaks.  Guy, the presenter says "awesome" in every sentence, about the same amount of times as most English people say "You know what I mean".  First there is a quick run through on how each dish is made.  The ingredients always seems to be the same no matter what it is they are making; salt, sugar, vinegar, ketchup (containing salt, sugar and vinegar) and barbecue sauce (also containing salt, sugar and vinegar) feature heavily.  Then a huge amount of meat, is piled into some receptacle, be it Ciabatta, French bread, a taco, a sub roll, or a tortilla for example and then it is covered in more sauce, usually containing salt, sugar, vinegar, tomato ketchup and barbecue sauce and then Guy attempts to get as much as is humanly possible in his mouth in one go before proclaiming it "awesome!".  


I have to admit, a lot of those sandwiches look great.  I have already given the Rubens a pretty good attempt and I also make a fine Falafel Sandwich.  I have confronted all sorts of wraps from Chicken Shawarma to Chipotle Spiced Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli Tortilla, but to shut Hugh up, I decided to give my hamburgers a re-assessment, just to make sure that they were as good as they could possibly be.  

First I started with the burger.  I did a bit of research and just as I thought, true burger fans would not settle for anything in their burgers apart from top quality beef and a little seasoning.  Nothing else because the beef should speak for itself!  I used the best I could find - organic, 28 aged Aberdeen Angus beef.  Next the burger bun.  I went for a nice floury bap which I lightly grilled before using.  Ciabatta works well but steer clear of the ready made burger buns as they tend to be a bit lame.  Next, the filling.  I wanted avoid all the usual, commercial sauces. I wanted something fresher and cleaner.  So I opted for a home-made cherry tomato, chilli and avocado salsa with lime and coriander for zing.  I also chose some char-grilled fresh red onion, a little salad and finally a slice of swiss cheese.  Why?  Because those are my favourites.  In my considered opinion, that is what works best for me.  And that is what is so great about cooking a burger at home.  Because you can choose exactly what you like.  So all I needed now was some large guy to turn up and try and eat the whole thing in about three mouthfuls and declare it "awesome!".

Cherry Tomato, Chilli, Avocado and Coriander Salsa  
This is identical to one of my favourite salads.  I just chopped everything a lot smaller and added a little more chilli.

One clove of garlic (very finely chopped)

Two Fresh Red Chilli (very finely chopped)

2 spring onions (finely sliced)
200g cherry tomatoes (quartered)
2 ripe avocados (pealed and chopped into large bite size pieces)
Juice of one or two limes
Bunch of Coriander (very finely chopped)
Glug of Olive Oil
Good pinch salt
Freshly ground pepper

Mix garlic, chilli, lime juice and olive oil together.  Season well.  Stir in rest of ingredients.  Make sure avocado is well coated in lime juice to avoid discolouration.

The Ultimate Salt-Beef Sandwich

I could quite easily write a blog just about sandwiches.  From a Classic Club to a Banh Mi, a Cucumber Sandwich to a Spanish Omelette Bocadillo, there are endless fantastic variations just waiting to be recreated.  But my latest obsession has been a perfect Salt-beef Sandwich.  I have been reading a lot about The Rubens Sandwich and I wanted to give it a go.  So last week I put a fantastically cheap piece, of the somewhat neglected cut, brisket into Brine and now it is now bubbling away gently on the stove, as I write. 

The first meal will be a simple supper, as Nigel Slater would say, of poached salt-beef with just the accompaniment of some boiled New Potatoes, Carrots and Celery from the pot and some horseradish or mustard. In fact I think I have some beetroot in the fridge left, from my Riverford Vegetable Box so I might knock up some Chrain - Horseradish and Beetroot Relish.

I have made this Salt-beef recipe (or corned beef as they call it in Ireland and across the pond) many times before and it is from the fabulous “Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing” by Michael Rehlman and Brian Polcyn. 

I am very keen to invest in a Smoker for my back garden.  Ever since giving up smoking a few years ago, I have been constantly drawn towards products which are smoked in some sort of desperate, nostalgic recreation of this lost pastime of my youth.  Instead of sitting on the deck in my back garden smoking, I have images of sitting feeding exotic woodchips into my smoker before tucking into home-smoked Hickory Mackerel and Maple Cured Smoked Bacon.  In the meantime, I am still saving up for this expensive piece of kit.  Well, at least the ones I have my eye on are.  It’s a tossup between the Weber 47cm Smokey Mountain Cooker or a ProQ Frontier at the moment, and if anyone out there has any advice into helping me make up my mind, your comment would be very much appreciated.

But back to my sandwich. There are many questionable stories into the history of The Reuben’s sandwich which is basically melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island or Russian dressing and salt-beef, in toasted rye bread.  But I wanted to know how it held up to my all time favourite of salt-beef, half/half mustard (half American - sweet, and half English - for the kick) and loads of pickle cucumbers, also on Rye.  

I made up my Reuben’s, and I have to say it was damn fine.  The only thing I wasn't sure about is the Sauerkraut but I reckon that is because it is shop bought and not home made.  I tried my own favourite again.  That was damn fine too.  And then I had an idea.  The ultimate Salt-beef sandwich.  Just put everything in it - so I did, and it was fantastic!  Here it is.  The first ever recipe for "The Melman" -The Ultimate Salt-beef Sandwich. 

I felt I needed to work on the Sauerkraut. The best I had managed to  find was Krakus, in my local polski sklep but it wasn't great. Sauerkraut is cabbage with has been fermented and also, more importantly in times before refrigeration, preserved. It is immensely popular in many European countries including Germany and Poland but also Alsace, where the name comes from, and France where it appears in the famous dish, Choucrout Garni. This is a substantial meal with the addition of sausages and potatoes. The very thing to sustain you through the cold winter months.

The fermentation process in the cabbage produces Lactic Acid Bacteria and therefore is Bioactive and probiotic like those expensive little drinks such as Yakult. Interestingly there are versions of recipes based on fermented cabbage from all round the world. Kimchi from Korea, Tsukemono from Japan, Suan Cai from China and Atchara from The Filipinos.

The recipe I have used is in the very same book I was using for the salt-beef. I have always been slightly put off by the thought of fermenting barrels of cabbage out-side my back door, but this recipe sounded fairly straightforward, so I decided to give it a go. It is one week into its two week fermentation and looking good. I will let you know how it turns out.

The Melman (The Ultimate Salt-beef Sandwich)


Rye Bread - Cucumber Pickle Juice Rye loaf

Salt Beef
Pickle Cucumbers (Sweet and Sour)
English Mustard
American Mustard (French's Classic Yellow)
Swiss Cheese
Sauerkraut
Thousand island dressing

Butter one side of your slices of bread and place the slices buttered-side down on a large piece of wax paper on a flat surface. Spread with half/half of the mustards. Top with a slice of Swiss cheese. Cover in slices of dill pickle and then slices of salt-beef. Using paper towels, squeeze out excess moisture from the sauerkraut. Top with sauerkraut. Add another layer of salt-beef and a second slice of Swiss cheese to each sandwich. Coat the second piece of bread with thousand island and place dressing side down on top of the cheese. Butter the side facing out.

Preheat a griddle or frying pan to medium heat. Cook the sandwiches on one side until the bread is golden brown. Use a spatula to carefully flip the sandwiches over and finish cooking on the second side. Cut the sandwiches in half before serving.

Sauerkraut

The Brine - 4 litres water and 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons / 200g Kosher salt
1 green cabbage, about 3lbs / 1.5 kg, shredded or thinly sliced.

Combine the water and salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and let cool, then chill. Combine the cabbage and brine in nonreactive container. Cover the cabbage with a piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Weight the cabbage and cloth down with a plate, pressing down so that the cabbage is completely submerged. Cover loosely with cling film and set in a cool place for 2 weeks (no hotter than 70 to 75 degrees F. / 21 to 23 degrees C. or non beneficial bacteria can begin to thrive.) Drain the cabbage, reserving the brining liquid; the cabbage should have a pleasant sour-salty flavour and although its green colour will have paled, it should still be crunchy. Strain the braising liquid into a pot and cover and refrigerate the cabbage. Bring the brining liquid to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, them chill. Pour enough of the cold brine over the sauerkraut to cover it completely; discard the extra brine. Store, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Thousand Island Dressing
Mayonnaise
Tomato Ketchup (a good quality one if possible)
Lemon Juice
Tabasco
The mix is up to you.