Pickled Veggies and Simple Pickle Brine

This is a great base for most any sort of pickles. Leave out the dill if you don't want that flavor note (especially for pickled peppers).

(Makes 6 Pints)

6 C White Vinegar

2 1/4 C Water

1 Tbl Sugar

Dill (2 sprigs per pint)

Garlic Cloves (2-3 per pint)

Hot Chilies, Sliced (2-4 per pint)

1 Tbl Kosher Salt per pint jar

1 Tbl Pickling Spice per pint Jar

6 Pint Jars with Lids and Rings

Method:

Sterilze pint jars, lids and rings in boiling water.

Pack each Jar with 2 sprigs dill, 2-3 garlic cloves, 2-4 hot chilies, 1 Tbl Kosher salt and 1 Tbl pickling spice.

Pack jars with cut veg. Blanch items, as needed. (For Okra, trim woody ends and let soak in 1 Qt water mixed with 1 Tbl Kosher salt for 2 hours in refrigerator. Drain and pat dry before packing into jars.)

Bring vinegar, water and sugar to a boil. Pour hot brine into packed pint jars, leaving a1/4” head space. Cap and ring the jars and turn them upside down. Let them cool for 15 minutes and flip them right-side-up. Let them cool in refrigerator until vacuum seal has been created.

Will keep for about 4 weeks in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Baguette

3 C Bread Flour

2 C Whole Wheat Flour

1 T Sugar

1 T + 1/2 t Kosher Salt

1 t Instant Yeast

2 T EVOO

1 3/4 C + 1 T H20 (Room temp/70 degrees)

Proof yeast in water with sugar...5 min. Add flour and then remaining ingredients. Knead on low speed 7 minutes. Let rest 2 minutes. Knead on low speed 3 more minutes. Dough out onto floured board. Divide dough into 8's. Brush with EVOO and into a 400 hotel pan. Cover with plastic wrap and into refrigerator or 2 hours - 2 days.

Proof @ 80F for 1 hour. Bake dough @ 400F for 20 minutes.

Next Day Pickles

2 Jalapeno, Thinly Sliced

2 Habanero, Thinly Sliced

2 Knuckles of Ginger, Peeled, Thinly Sliced

2 Carrots, Peeled, Thinly Sliced

2 Clove Garlic, Peeled, Thinly Sliced

1/2 C Hot Water

2 T Light Brown Sugar

1 1/2 t Kosher Salt

1/2 C + 2 T White Vinegar

Into a pint jar with a lid, add the water, sugar and salt. Put lid on and shake until dissolved.

Next, all vegetables into jar. Add vinegar. Put lid back on and shake to distribute vegetables.

Into refrigerator for 24 hours, and you're good for a week or so...crispy, tart pickled vegetables that make a great addition to any sando.

A Damn Good B.E.A.T.

Courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law.  This is an amazing sammich.  It's one of those things that simply defies being labeled.  I would be as excited to eat this for b-fast as I would for dinner.

Thanks guys!

Anderson B.E.A.T.

4 slices bacon

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Good bread (baguette or similar), 

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon minced green onion

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs

4 slices tomato

1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced

Directions

In a small skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove from pan, and drain on paper towels. Drain grease from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon.

Spread butter over each side of bread. Place 4 slices of bread, butter side down, on skillet over medium heat. Flip bread and toast the other side. Remove to serving plates.

In a small bowl, add cream cheese, parsley and green onions together. Add salt and pepper. Spread onto 1 side of each bread slice.

In same small skillet, fry the eggs in reserved bacon grease over medium-low heat. Crack the yolks and flip. Place each egg on top of 2 pieces of toast. Cover each egg with 2 slices of bacon, 2 slices of tomato, and 2 slices of avocado. Top with another piece of bread and serve immediately.

Envy, Adoration and Sour Grapes?

Pain Porc @ Cafe Claude. This is as illustrative way as any to draw out my true feelings toward the French kitchen.

Envy. All you gotta do is taste this sandwich. Perfectly fresh. Perfectly balanced. Perfect.

Adoration. It's a roasted pork tenderloin sandwich. I know that all parts of the pig are good, but there's a reason the saying is 'livin' high on the hog'. Sure a buttress, ham or even a loin would be fantastic. But it's just so French to use tenderloin. Kinda like a Foie burger or frying pommes in duck fat. Just a better way of doing things...health, food cost, and whatever else be damned.

Sour grapes? Well, not really. Replication is not easy. Perhaps it's that food always tastes better when someone else makes it, but that's not it in this case. That's just what I continue to tell myself as I try to wrap my mind around how the hell they manage to make this perfect sando.

No, sour grapes it isn't. I'm not trying to rationalize why I don't want it. Rather, I'm trying to convince myself not to break into the place under the cover of darkness to try and figure out the secret. Did Aesop ever write a fable about epicurean-related B&E?

If you're ever in SF, give it a go. If you're let down, you're wrong.

Always A Classic

As I was making my breakfast sandwich this morning, I was thinking about simpler times.  To clarify, I was thinking about last week.  Those times were simpler, as I have recently gone grocery shopping and now have more choices from which to draw the goods that will make up my b-fast sando.  

No, friends, last week was much simpler.  What I had on hand then was 2 pieces of toasted white bread, a fried egg cooked in butter, a slice of melted cheddar and a piece of ham.

This might be the cheapest way to encapsulate and manifest the word 'yum'.  And, it can be done for under $.25.

Pretty amazing...

Lemon Juice and Feta Vinaigrette

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice (gotta be fresh squeezed)

1 T Sugar (to cut tartness)

2 Cloves Garlic

1/8 Cup Parsley Leaves

1/8 Cup Lemon Thyme

Zest of 1 Lemon

1/3 Cup Feta Cheese

1/2 Cup EVOO

Blend.  Add S&P to taste.