Bahn Mi

Don’t ever go to the K-Roger when you’re hungry and they have a sale on pork.

Or, do.

This was delicious. I’ve had about what seems like 16 different meals from that little pork chop incident at the store. But, this was, by far, the best.

Ingredients

2 (6-8oz) pork chops, thinly sliced

2 demi baguettes or bolillos, horizontally halved

1 TBS fish sauce

1 tsp Truvia (use sugar if you roll like that)

1 TBS Sambal (sub Sriracha if it floats your boat)

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 green scallions, roughly chopped (are there other colored scallions? why do we say green?)

1 TBS cilantro, chopped + a few springs to top your Bahn Mi

1 TBS canola or coconut oil

1 TBS butter

Salt/pepper to taste

2 TBS hoisin sauce

Instructions

Place the fish sauce, Truvia, sambal, garlic cloves, green scallions (not the orange ones), cilantro, and oil into a mini food processor and zap until the ingredients create a loose paste/marinade. Set aside.

Place the thinly sliced pork into a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag, season pork with salt and pepper. Add the marinade into the bag over the pork. Remove air from bag by carefully rolling up the bag a bit and then sealing the bag. Once the bag is tightly sealed, massage the bag with your hands or roll around on the counter until the pork is completely covered with the marinade. Set aside.

Heat a skillet to medium-hi temperature. Butter the interior four sides of the halved demi baguette and place the baguettes open-side-down onto a skillet to toast. If you don’t butter your bread, why are you in the kitchen? Get out. You don’t deserve this Bahn Mi.

Once the buttered baguette is toasted, remove from skillet and set aside.

Open bag of marinating pork and add to skillet to cook. Increase heat to sear pork on all sides, stirring infrequently to ensure browning occurs. For best results, use a cast iron skillet.

While the pork is browning, you can use this time to make a quick pickle of cucumber and carrot for the Bahn Mi topping. Super easy. Ready?

Slice matchsticks of one carrot and one cucumber. Add to a bowl, add 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar, 2 tsp of Truvia, and season with salt and pepper. If you want, throw in a little cilantro. If you’re daring, throw in a few slivers of jalapeƱo. You’re welcome.

Back to the Bahn Mi. Once the pork is cooked through, remove from heat and set aside. Grab your BUTTERED and toasted baguettes, and smear some hoisin sauce on each side. Add a healthy amount of pork to the sandwich, top with your sweet and spicy pickled veggies, and don’t tell me I never brought anything good into your life.

Spatchcocked Rosemary Lemon Chicken

One of The Hub’s favorite meals is roasted chicken with crispy skin. So, for his birthday recently, I whipped this super simple recipe up just for him, and he loved it! I know you will, too!

Spatchcocked rosemary lemon chicken with garlic herbed roasted potatoes.

– 6lb whole chicken
– 1 small bag red potatoes
– 1 bunch parsley
– 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
– 3 large cloves of garlic
– 2 TBS olive oil
– 5 TBS softened butter
– 1 large lemon zested/juiced
– salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Par-boil the potatoes in salted water, drain and set aside. Chop parsley and divide into two medium-sized bowls. Chop rosemary and add into only one of the bowls. Chop garlic cloves and add 3/4 to the parsley bowl and 1/4 of the garlic to the mixed herb bowl.

Add one (1) TBS of olive oil and two (2) TBS of butter to parsley and garlic bowl. Toss par-boiled potatoes into the parsley and garlic bowl. Season with salt/pepper. Set aside.

Add lemon zest and juice to the mixed herb bowl. Add remaining butter to mixed herb bowl and combine well. Season with salt/pepper. Set aside.

Spatchcock chicken. Spread mixed herb butter mixture under chicken skin and over all sides of the bird. Season with salt/pepper.

Lightly oil large heated skillet. Sear chicken skin side down in large skillet for 5-7 minutes. Carefully turn over chicken and sear on the underside for 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add herbed potatoes and all mixture into the heated skillet and toss potatoes. Using a masher, lightly press potatoes to break open but not mash.

Add chicken skin side up over the potatoes and roast at 375F for 90 minutes or until thickest part of the breast is 165F. Remove chicken from skillet, set aside and lightly cover with foil to rest. Return potatoes to oven and broil until golden brown and lightly crisp.

Happy Elvis French Toast

Happy Elvis French Toast

This morning, as I was staring at the “end of the week” pantry contents with coffee in hand, trying to pep up and think of what to make for breakfast, I distinctly heard (okay, maybe imagined) Elvis talking to me…

“Listen here, little lady… what you need here is a peanut butter’n nana sandwich with bacon. Uh-huh-huh…………uh-huh-huh… ooooooohhhhh, yeeaaah.”

And, I agreed. Continue reading “Happy Elvis French Toast”

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