Pork Meatball Banh Mi

We took some time to try out Bon Appetit's meatball sandwich. This one is a bahn mi version. It was delicious. We sub'd the tablespoon of sriracha in the spread with a tbsp of liver pate. Since I remembered my friend Tung saying that was the key to the spread. But I put in a squirt of srircha just in case. I wasn't going to make a special trip to get diakon, the carrot worked well.


Here the recipe:

makes 4 sandwiches

Recipe by Jeanne Thiel Kelley

January 2010
Ingredients
Hot Chili Mayo

* 2/3 cup mayonnaise
* 2 green onions, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)*

Meatballs

* 1 pound ground pork
* 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 3 green onions, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
* 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Sandwiches

* 2 cups coarsely grated carrots
* 2 cups coarsely grated peeled daikon (Japanese white radish)**
* 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
* 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
* 4 10-inch-long individual baguettes or four 10-inch-long pieces French-bread baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
* Thinly sliced jalapeño chiles
* 16 large fresh cilantro sprigs

*
*Available in the Asian foods section of many supermarkets and at Asian markets.
*
**Available at some supermarkets and at Asian markets.

Preparation
hot chili mayo
Stir all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

meatballs
Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant tablespoonful for each, roll meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Arrange on baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

sandwiches
Toss first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, tossing occasionally.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of meatballs. Sauté until brown and cooked through, turning meatballs often and lowering heat if browning too quickly, about 15 minutes. Transfer meatballs to another rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs.
Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. Pull out enough bread from each bread half to leave 1/2-inch-thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo over each bread shell. Arrange jalapeños, then cilantro, in bottom halves. Fill each with 1/4 of meatballs. Drain pickled vegetables; place atop meatballs. Press on baguette tops.

Easy Mini Popovers!

My family loves popovers. So super simple and the kids devour them like they're a limited edition. We love them now with sliced oscar meyer beef hotdogs. M loves to find the ones with more than one slice inside. I do them so often and it's so eay I remember the recipe by heart. Here it is:

1 c flour
2 eggs
1 tab veg oil plus more to grease
1 c milk
pinch of salt
2 hot dogs, sliced thinly (optional)

Mix all the ingredients (except the last) with whisk. Grease mini muffin cups with oil. Add heaping spoonfuls of batter to cups til almost full. Top or tuck in hot dogs into batter. Put in 400 degree oven for 20 min. Once they've browned you can pierce the popovers and heat for a little longer to release steam. But we don't care if they deflate. We are so eager to devour them. M likes honey and butter. I like tucking in a 1/4 slice of American cheese (while hot) into the holes and letting the steam melt the cheese.

Play dough recipe

We finally get around to making some play dough again. I previously swore off making it because finding dried crumbs and crusty carpet wasn't making me thrilled. I figured now that M is 5 he can finally figure it out. Although KK (16 mo) didn't get what it was and figured it was another item to put in her mouth.
1 c flour
1 c water
1/2 c salt
1 tsp veg. oil
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Food coloring

Mix all but the last ingredient on a medium/low saucepan. Until it all forms together (feels like thick mashed potato) Turn it out onto a floured board and mix a few drops of color. You can get about 3 cups of playdough.
Store in airtight containers. It lasts for months.

HK Domestic Transformer

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For those slow to pick up their prizes there's something called "swoop" where you can claim a prize if the named person doesn't (within the week)
I can't say I've swooped or won anything but it's all eye candy!

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