Micro-Bakery Diaries

Father’s Day Breakfast

June 14, 2014

EGG OVER TOAST

At the beginning of our marriage, I was eager to learn all of my husbands favorite meals. For breakfast he loved eggs over toast. Which consisted of two whole wheat slices of bread toasted with two eggs over easy on top. I made this for him for years. As my cooking evolved, I came up with something a bit more sophisticated. My husband requests this every year on Father’s Day. It consists of toasted french bread, bacon, heirloom tomatoes, manchego cheese, arugula lightly dressed with sherry vinaigrette, an egg sunny side up, all on top of homemade basil-arugula pesto. Serve this with coffee and a side of fruit. Be prepared to make seconds because this is one tasty breakfast.

Time-30-45 minutes

Servings-1

Ingredients

loaf of french bread

1 egg

2 slices of bacon

2 slices of heirloom tomato

1 cup arugula

thinly sliced manchego cheese

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salted butter

kosher or sea salt

Ingredients for basil-arugula pesto

4 ounce carton of fresh basil leaves

1 cup of arugula

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation of pesto

Place basil leaves without stems, arugula, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and garlic cloves in food processor. Pulse a couple times then on low blend ingredients while adding olive oil until it becomes a paste. Taste the pesto for seasoning. You may not need the salt. I prefer my pesto chunky to use the remaining pesto later in a pasta dish.

Prep the individual components

Cook bacon in skillet to desired crispiness.

Slice two pieces of tomato to desired thickness.

Thinly slice manchego cheese enough to cover bread.

Slice french bread to desired thickness.

Melt salted butter and slather each side of french bread and toast on griddle.

Make vinaigrette with sherry vinegar and olive oil.

Lightly dress arugula in a bowl with vinaigrette.

Add butter to skillet and make your egg however you like it.

Building your breakfast

Slather the bottom of your plate with pesto. Place toasted bread on top. Then add manchego cheese, bacon, tomato slices, arugula, and egg. Finish with a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt on the egg. Enjoy!

Cook’s Note

1. You can make more of the individual components to make more servings. You will have plenty of bread, pesto and dressed arugula for more servings.

2. Dress your arugula right before making eggs because you don’t want the arugula to wilt.

3. Store bought pesto will cut your cooking time.

4. Serrano ham, crispy prosciutto, turkey bacon, and veggie bacon are great substitutes for bacon.

I’ve Been a Good Girl

June 3, 2014

by Karen Quinones

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Sandwich

Bánh Mi Sandwich

In one of my favorite magazines, I read Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park, California made a great bánh mi sandwich. Highland Park is a 25 minute jaunt from my house, so I decided to give them a try. It’s definitely a hot spot. Good Girl Dinette has all the elements of a hip restaurant. The brick wall, tangerine benches and countertop bar, retro-modern chairs, and a beautiful yet mysterious waitress who will one day dazzle us on the big screen. I ordered the bánh mi sandwich with the spicy fries. It was a large sandwich, and I doubted I could finish it as it was delivered to the table. To my surprise in about 7 minutes there was nothing left. I loved everything about it. Inside the heavenly bread was roasted pork with plenty of acidity from the pickled carrots and daikon which were paired perfectly with cilantro springs. The spicy fries had chiles, garlic and cilantro on top. It satisfied four vital food components, fat, acid, heat, and crunch. I washed it all down with a house made blood orange soda. I had to learn to make this sandwich to share with my family and friends. I’m feeling like a good girl for what I have come up with. If you can’t make it to Good Girl Dinette then you should try this recipe.

Time-30 minutes

Serving-6 Sandwiches

Ingredients

16 ounces of store bought Carnitas (I prefer Del Real from Costco)

2 french baguettes

1/2 pound of daikon shredded

3 ounces of pre-shredded carrots

1/2 jalapeño sliced

1/2 cup of rice vinegar seasoned

3/4 cup of water

1 cup light mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of sriracha

1 teaspoon of maggi seasoning

1 shallot thinly sliced

1 small package of basil leaves chiffonade or approx 15 fresh basil leaves

2-3 springs of fresh whole cilantro springs including a little stem per sandwich

salted butter

Preparation of pickled carrots and daikon

Place pre-shredded carrots in a bowl. Peel daikon and cut into thin rounds.

Place a few rounds on top of each other and julienne (match sticks) the daikon.

Once you have a 50/50 amount of carrots to daikon add daikon to bowl. Slice the jalapeño and add to the carrots and daikon. Pour rice wine vinegar and water into bowl and allow to marinade for 30 minutes. If you have more time allow to marinade up to 2 hours.

Preparation of sriracha mayonnaise

Combine mayonnaise, sriracha, and maggi seasoning in a condiment bowl set aside.

Preparation of sandwich

Cut each baguette into 3 pieces, then cut in half and keep them intact. Slather the inside sides of bread with softened butter and toast them on your griddle until nice and crispy. Slather the bottom piece of bread with sriracha mayonnaise. Build sandwich starting with carnitas, then top with the pickled carrots, daikon, and jalapeños. Add a layer of cilantro and basil. Finish sandwich with shallots and close up the baguette. I enjoy this sandwich with Kettle Jalapeño Chips and a Mexican Coke. Enjoy!

Cook’s Note

1. This is a Daikon. It can be found near the radishes or root vegetables. You might need to ask your produce man to find it for you. Asian and speciality markets are sure to have it. It’s very large and you only need 1/2 pound. I ask my produce man to cut 1/2 pound for me. If you can’t find it you can use radishes in it’s place.

2. Maggi Seasoning is also sometime hard to find. I found it in the latin section of my market.

3. This sandwich is perfect to wrap in plastic wrap and tailgate or picnic with.

East Meets West Part Two

May 14, 2014

by Karen Quinones

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Rice

LATIN STYLE FRIED RICE WITH PLANTAINS AND GUACAMOLE

This is the second fusion cooking recipe promised in last month’s blog. When I think about this style of cooking, I’m reminded of a dish my husband and I loved at a restaurant named Asia de Cuba in New York City. I did my best to recreate the flavors of this asian-latino rice. It has all the key elements of a traditional asian fried rice with an added latin flare. Once you dig in it is hard to stop eating. It is really that good. This rice is very satisfying all on it’s own. However, we accompany the meal with Carne Asada as well.

Time-40 minutes

Servings-4-6

Ingredients

4 cups brown rice cooked

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 green pepper chopped

1/2 red pepper chopped

1 tablespoon garlic chopped

1 teaspoon ginger chopped

4 green onions chopped

1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon of sesame Chili Oil

oil to coat bottom of pan for rice

Ingredients for fried plantains

1 ripe plantain sliced into rounds

1/2 cup of oil for frying plantains

Ingredients for guacamole

3 avocados smashed

juice of 2 limes

1/2 jalapeño chopped

kosher salt to taste for guacamole

Preparation of guacamole

Place avocado, lime juice, jalapeño and salt into a small bowl and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until rice is ready.

Preparation of fried plantains

Carefully peel the plantain by chopping off the tips with a knife and scoring the skin along the length of the plantain. This will make peeling easier. Then simply pull off the skin. Chop into 1/2 inch thick rounds and fry on medium high heat until golden brown on both sides.

Place fried plantains on paper towel and lightly season with salt. Set aside until rice is ready.

Preparation of fried rice

When making fried rice you must pre-chop all your ingredients because it cooks quickly (in about 10-15 minutes). Add oil to a large skillet on high heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté until softened (about 3-5 minutes). Add garlic and ginger into skillet for 1 minute then add cooked brown rice. Mix all ingredients together then add soy sauce and sesame oil, and mix again. Add the two eggs and scramble them into rice and turn off heat. Incorporate fried plantain into rice and garnish with green onions and cilantro. When plating add the guacamole on top of rice and enjoy!

What is your favorite fusion recipe?

Cooks’s Note

1. You can find plantains in latin, asian, and speciality markets. You will find green and ripe plantains. You will need ripe ones for this recipe. The ripe plantain is ready for frying when the plantain is approximately 50% yellow and 50% black.

2. I used pre-cooked organic brown rice from Trader’s Joe’s to save time.

East Meets West Part One

April 10, 2014

by Karen Quinones

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Steak

I had the opportunity to meet Roy Choi, founder and owner of the famous Kogi truck, Chego!, A-Frame, Sunny Spot, and POT. He is credited for starting the gourmet food truck phenomenon. He was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine in 2010. Choi’s new cookbook L.A. SON reads like a memoir and is an inspiring story for any Angeleno. Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Los Angeles, this L.A. son describes how the city of Los Angeles and Korean culture shaped him into a chef. All of this while weaving recipes throughout the cookbook. His Kogi truck melds Korean and Mexican flavors in a way we haven’t seen before. It’s exciting to read about his experiences in some of the same towns I grew up. Roy Choi will most definitely be known as a pioneer and legend of his time. He cooks food with high end quality ingredients and a low end price point. He inspired me to cook from my point of view and not worry about what’s trending. Choi got me thinking about food fusion. I had to consider the recipes in my wheelhouse to offer you. This month, in honor of Roy Choi, I’d like to give you two recipe’s that combine flavors from the east and west.

ROUND STEAK WITH POBLANO’S IN SOY SAUCE

Time-30 minutes

Servings-4-6

Ingredients

4-6 pieces of thin sliced round steak

3 poblano peppers skin removed and diced

1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of less-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of garlic chopped (4-5 cloves)

1/4 teaspoon of chopped ginger

1/2 jalapeño chopped

2 cups of long/extra long grain white rice

Handful of cilantro chopped

Green onion chopped for garnish

Olive or Canola oil for pan frying

Preparation

Roast poblano peppers over open flame until outside skin is blackened, then place into a gallon zip-lock plastic bag to steam for 10 minutes. Remove blackened skin and seeds, then chop poblano pepper and set aside.

Steam white rice and follow package directions of water to rice ratios. When rice is cooked incorporate chopped cilantro into steamed rice.

In a large non-stick skillet add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. At high heat, sear the round steak about 2 minutes per side and set aside. Lower heat to medium-high and add soy sauce. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the pan drippings. Add sugar, garlic, ginger, jalapeño, poblano peppers, and canned tomatoes with juices and simmer for 5 minutes. I break down tomatoes with a potato masher so they are less chunky. Place the seared meat with its drippings that might have collected on the plate back into the skillet and allow flavors to marry for 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat and garnish with green onions.

Place round steak with marinade over steamed rice and enjoy!

What is your favorite fusion meal?

Cook’s Note

1. Do not season steak or rice with salt. The soy sauce removes any seasoning normally required of your steak and rice.

2. When removing skin from poblano peppers, never run under water to clean off. You are removing all the flavor acquired during roast.

3. I always chop a little extra garlic and ginger to sauté up a quick vegetable (broccoli or green beans) to accompany the dish.

4. Rice cooking and water ratios vary. The rice I use is 3 cups of water to 2 cups of rice. The cooking time states 15 minutes but I find I like it closer to 8 minutes then I turn off the heat and leave the lid on for a couple more minutes. A rice cooker is fail proof.

5. Next blog East Meets West Part Two.

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