Yum Ham w/ Sea Fungus (Laotian Ham Civiche)

Last year we had a Hawaiian themed party at a friend's house and I opted to make a dish similar to this. The flavor profile and textures are almost identical. Everyone knew that SPAM was going to be on the menu for that night but I wanted show the "versatility" of SPAM. I've never cooked with SPAM and maybe had it once upon a time but I couldn't promise you that I remember anything great about it. All I remembered was that it's like ham but saltier and maybe a little more delicate (polite words for mushy). This is a dish I've made tons of times but this time I decided to swap the ham for SPAM and instead of using the sea fungus I swapped that for glass noodles. In the end I think the SPAM was a great substitute for the ham.

(For my friend who asked me for this recipe I'll include the both recipes on this blog)

Ingredients:

5 Roma tomatoes (cored and julienne) 
5 scallions (cut to 2-3 inch lengths and quartered)
5 jalapenos (thinly sliced)
1 cup (or more) cilantro (roughly chopped)
4 servings of glass noodles or 4 dried sea fungus
2 cans of SPAM or 1/2 lbs of ham (turkey, pork, mystery meat, etc.) julienne cut
5-8 tablespoon lime juice (adjust tartness to your own palette)
5-8 tablespoon fish sauce (adjust saltiness to your own palette)
1 teaspoon (more or less) kosher salt (DO NOT USE TABLE SALT, YUCK!)
1 tablespoon dried crushed Thai chili peppers (Caravelle Brand is the best)

Directions:

Julienne the tomatoes, scallions, and SPAM or ham (if you want less heat from the jalapenos remove the seeds and julienne these as well). Place ingredients along with the cilantro in a large bowl and set aside. To prepare your glass noodles bring a pot of water to a boil and place the noodles in the boiling water. Almost immediately (15-20 seconds) strain the noodles in a callender while rinsing in cold water. If you cook the glass noodles for too long they'll become super sticky and unpleasant to eat and work with. Strain the water and use kitchen sheers to cut the noodles down to 3-4 inches in length (it doesn't have to be exact but it'll make it easier to eat). Place the noodles in the large bowl with the other ingredients.

If you decide to use the sea fungus, soak the fungus in warm water for about 10 minutes. Place the reconstituted fungus in a steamer and steam for 15 minutes. Remove the fungus from the steamer and let it cool. Cut and remove the hard core of the fungus. Cut the rest of the fungus into 1x2 inch cuts and place it in the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

Now comes the hard part (just kidding), add the lime juice to the ingredients in the bowl and mix well. Add as much lime juice to satisfy your sour palette. Next, do the same with the fish sauce and kosher salt. You'll notice that they'll be an almost perfect sour and salty balance with a hint of spiciness from the jalapenos. But it wouldn't be a true Southeast Asian dish if you didn't add more spice. So now add the dried crush Thai chili peppers and you should definitely feel the heat now.

Once you mix everything well, you'll notice that you might like it more salty or more tart adjust the flavors with fish sauce or a little more kosher salt and lime juice. Oh, by the way, you can also substitute the SPAM or ham for boiled shrimp or steamed chicken feet (another Laotian classic)!

Marscapone Crab Ravioli w/ Creamed Corn

My friend and her friends in another city love to host food competitions among themselves and every time they have one of these I always do what I can to help her out. Their next competition is supposed to be a pasta throw down and after chatting with her I came up with the idea of her making lobster ravioli. What better way to compete than to make your own pasta and use one of the best ingredients right?!

Well, after going to my local grocery store I couldn't procure the lobster fresh or frozen so I had to go to plan B. As I'm looking in the seafood aisle I come across lump crab meat. I'm thinking this will probably work and right now I'm way to lazy to even buy fresh crab, cook it and separate the meat myself. I was even trying to find frozen pasta sheets or wonton skins as a shortcut and I failed at finding those as well.

The next step was to decide on what the rest of the filling would consist of, so I headed back to the produce and pick up some cremini mushrooms. I strolled to the cheese section and debated on whether I should go with ricotta or marscapone, I obviously opted for the later. My reasoning was mainly texture, I preferred the smooth marscapone over the gritty ricotta.

To bring this dish altogether I decided on making creamed corn for the pasta sauce and chose baby carrots and green beans for the sides. I had no intention of creating a rustic dish but it kind of just ended that way.


Ingredients:

Filling
1 lbs lump crab meat
1 cup diced crimini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic (diced)
1 large shallot (diced)
2 tablespoon stick unsalted butter
8-9 oz marscapone cheese
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
2 ears corn
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Pasta
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Sides
1 bushel baby carrots
1 lbs green beans
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Filling
Saute the mushrooms, garlic, and shallots in the butter on medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Let this cool and mix in the crab meat and the marscapone cheese. Set aside in the refrigerator until the pasta is ready.

Pasta
Mix both flours together and create a well in the middle. Add the egg and egg yolks to the middle and scramble the mixture. Drizzle the oil and slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the eggs. Kneed the dough until it's consistent throughout. Wrap in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for an hour. After an hour cut the dough into 4 even pieces and roll it piece into a thin sheet.

Use a small melon baller and scoop the filling onto the pasta sheet leaving about 1 - 2 inches of gap between the fillings. Brush egg wash around the mixture and place another sheet on top of the mixture and begin to seal. Use a cutter to cut desired shape and use a fork to seal the ends.

Sauce
Shave the corn off the cob and place in a saute pan (add the cob as well and discard later). Add the butter and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 25 minutes and continue stirring every 5 minutes. Discard the cob and puree the mixture.

Sides
Add oil, salt, and pepper to the veggies and mix well. Saute each vegetable separately 3-5 minutes on high heat for the green beans and 7-8 minutes for the carrots.

Everyone has their way of plating food so make it your own. You can serve as a family style meal or individual plates. Either way, enjoy it!

Sloppy Joe Slider

This has been sitting in my draft for a long time but I made it last night with new photos so I thought I'd finally post it. But really, who doesn't like Sloppy Joe's?! It's the perfect balance of sweet and tangy rolled up in a bun. The combination of the sweet gherkins and the tangy pickled onions also helps enhance the flavor profile of this slider.

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground chuck

2 bell peppers (diced)

1 yellow or white onion (diced)

1 roma tomato (diced

1/8 cup pancetta (diced)

2-3 garlic gloves (minced)

4 cups ketchup

2 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 yellow or white onion (paper thin slices) for pickling 

3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

3-4 baby gherkins for garnish

12 whole wheat slider buns

Directions:

Start by rendering the pancetta in a large skillet until it's brown and crispy. Next add the diced onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook until garlic is translucent. Then add the ground chuck and continue cooking for 8-10 minutes on high heat or until meat is cooked through. At this time you should also drain most of the liquid from the pan. Next add the mustard, ketchup, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and tomatoes. Reduce heat to a simmer and let it cook for another 30 minutes so that all the flavors will come together. Stir every 5 minutes to keep the bottom from burning.

To pickle the onions, add the red wine vinegar, the other 1/2 tablespoon of salt, sugar and water to a bowl and add the thinly sliced onions. Mix well and let it sit for 20 minutes and then drain the liquid.

There's nothing left but to layer your buns with the Sloppy Joe, pickled onions, and gherkins! Enjoy!