Graham Avenue Meats and Deli Sandwich

You see that baby up there? It’s a pound of veggie glory—fresh buffalo mozzarella, eggplant cutlets, roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, peperoncinis, lettuce, tomato, red onion, topped with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and sprinkled with Mike’s special seasoning. This was my 4th sandwich from Graham Avenue Deli and Meats and each one was different since Mike likes to freestyle. It was the savory equivalent of a Kinder Surprise each time I unwrapped my sandwich.

I tried to replicate it last week to no avail. Perhaps because Mike makes most of the ingredients and each sandwich is carefully composed (they take about 10 minutes) with thought and care. So obviously using ingredients from Trader Joe's isn't going to cut it. Stop by the deli the next time you’re in Williamsburg because this is one meatless sandwich that isn't haunted by the specter of cold cuts.

Graham Avenue Meats and Deli
(off Graham Ave. L Stop)
445 Graham Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Signed,
The derelict basterd who hasn't been cooking since switching coasts

what to do with green bell peppers?

one answer is to stuff them with angela's leftover broccoli cheesebake. yummy.



anyone else have any recipes involving green bell peppers?

Homemade M&M Cookies

we had a party to welcome my new roommate last weekend, and the invitation mentioned that m&m cookies were my favorite cookies of all (that crackle of chocolate covering! those colors!).

lorie and jericho showed up with a box of homemade m&m cookies, and they were hands-down the best i've had. the cookie was dense and rich, and there was a sprinkle of sea salt on top (gourmet!!).

lorie used the new york times' recipe (adapted from jacques torres). and, YES, they waited 36 hours before baking the dough!


katy perry, whatchu got


cheeky packaging


thanks lorie and jericho!!! (above, in the beards - long story. also, yes, that's alex with a creepy moustache and ira glass pillow.)

Basterdized Fried Saimin

It's redundant to say that many local dishes in Hawai‘i are bastardized—that's the nature of a place that has had migrant groups from Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico and yonder mixing their dishes for generations. "Saimin" isn't the word for "noodle" in any Asian language. It's just a weird evolution of the aforementioned mish-mash, a type of noodle that's a combination of pancit, ramen and egg noodles. So while it's funny to think that these very local dishes in Hawai‘i can actually have a proper way of being made, it's not wrong to say that fried saimin has a general ingredient list that should be familiar to anyone entrenched in Hawai‘i food culture. This roughly consists of saimin, fried Spam (I swear I'll one day post something that doesn't mention Spam) and/or char siu, kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), green onion, sometimes egg and some kind of sauce base—usually shoyu and an oil.

What I've made this time doesn't truly represent the fried saimin you'll find on menus at the fading number of mom-and-pop-owned drive-ins and diners in Hawai‘i. But in the vein of Lisa's post about different uses for ramen and out of good old necessity of using up leftovers, here's what I made last week.

Ingredients:

One package of ramen. According to a friend, Sapporo Ichiban is the shiznit for fried saimin. You may, of course, use saimin (only found in Hawai‘i), yakisoba or whatever noodles suit your fancy.

Deli turkey

Ho Farms string beans from my O‘ahu Fresh CSA delivery

Shredded carrots

Sliced onions

Egg

Shoyu/soy sauce

Sesame oil

Sautee the turkey, string beans, carrots and onions to your liking, set aside. Boil the ramen for about two minutes (You want the noodles to be al dente, as the cooking process will continue as you stir-fry all the ingredients together.) Drain the noodles and drizzle with sesame oil and shoyu, as well as the flavor packet (optional). Fry the suckers up with your meat and veggies, and add a fried egg on top. As we basterds know, a fried egg atop anything beats a cherry any day.

Ramen salad

When I was a kid, I used to love to eat dry ramen as a snack. That irresistable crunch! That salty powder! Just mash it up in the bag, add the powder, give it a good shake, and eat it straight from the bag. Delicious. No hot water necessary.

But now I am a responsible healthy eater (most of the time), I rarely get to eat ramen (I limit my intake to horribly hungover mornings), and never dry ramen out of a bag, god forbid. So how thrilled was I when my good friend Marisa brought this salad to a dinner party!

The dressing is vaguely Asian - I added more vinegar and more soy sauce. Also beware proportions - the recipe below is for a big bowl of salad that you'd bring to a potluck (my dressing bottle runneth over).

Dressing
9 tbl sugar
9 tbl white vinegar
3 tsp salt
3 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Notes from Marisa:

yes, 9 tablespoons is a weird amount. i keep meaning to figure out what it's equivalent to, but still have not. we usually use olive oil, and stick the whole thing in the blender...and i'm not that strict about measuring...

i just used the mixed greens (plastic box) from costco. and then, anything that you'd put in a "chinese salad": chicken, ramen (beware of stale), tomatoes...oh, and black sesame seeds make it seem super fance.

one tip: since there's so much vinegar, definitely don't mix until ready to eat. this one wilts greens super fast.

Here I used edamame (frozen from Trader Joe's), red bell pepper, sesame seeds and CILANTRO (so key for maximum Asian flavor).

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli

Mamabasco bought me a a head of broccoli that's been languishing in my fridge for a while. I hopped onto foodgawker and came up with this recipe from Ina Garten, who is probably my favorite Food Network chef. Very easy to make, simple, yummy. Love the flavor mix of lemon zest and parmesan. Ate it atop of a bowl of salad greens.

On another note: anyone have any suggestions of what to make with leftover Boston baked beans?

Spam Báhn Mì

It seems appropriate that my first post represent where I currently live — Honolulu, Hawai‘i. What would a good Hawai‘i food post be would be without a mention of the beloved SPAM? Unless you're a vegetarian or something more extreme than that, there isn't a reason to love the pink cube of mysterious meat. If you're a meat lover and don't like Spam — you just don't know how to eat it properly. Same thing can be said for foods such as tofu. If cooked the right way(s), it's one of the most delicious things in the world. A perfect way eat Spam is fried and balanced out with some kind of carb, be it rice, noodles, bread or whatever else your creativity can think up. Just look at the annual Spam Jam event website to get some ideas of what you can do with the stuff.

Combining my love of Spam (which I think I eat on an average of once every two or three weeks) with my latest obsession with Vietnamese food, I thought a Spam Vietnamese sandwich (or bánh mì) would be perfect. You always see the sandwiches offered with ham, pate and headcheese, among other things. Why not Spam? Probably made of the same products, anyway. The salty meat balanced out with things cool, crisp, pickled and spicy sounds like an ideal meal experience.

The Battle of the Bánh Mí website was helpful in creating my first sandwich of this kind.

1 Vietnamese-style baguette (you can use any other kind of baguette if you can't find the Vietnamese kind)

Mayonnaise (the original spread is a mixture of egg yolks and vegetable oil. Sometimes I just use butter and mayo)

Do chua (pickled shredded daikon and carrots)

Cilantro

Cucumber slices

1 slice of fried Spam

Tomato slices (optional)

Jalapeño slices (optional)

I assume you know how to assemble a sandwich. Thưởng thức! Bon apetit!