10-min Recipe: Grilled Basil, Tomato, Mozzarella Sandwich

I am not very fond of cold sandwiches because I think hot or grilled sandwiches are just so much better.

When I was in Italy last year, besides pasta and pizza, I fell in love with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese - apparently made from buffalo's milk rather than cow's.  I was impressed that the AutoGrill chain off of the A1 highway was selling these really yummy grill-to-order sandwiches...buffalo mozzarella with prosciutto was my favorite.  If only the US would have chains like these!

If you buy fresh mozzarella cheese, they are so good as a snack or as an appetizer when served with thinly sliced prosciutto (another newly found love in the food department for me!).  Let me digress for a second about prosciutto...If you don't like prosciutto, chances are you haven't had good prosciutto because there is a large number of counterfeiters out there :-)  My favorite brands are Prosciutto "di San Daniele" and "di Parma", which apparently are the areas that make really good prosciutto per wiki.

The recipe below is borrowed from the hostess of one of my bookclubs.  I also love the basil taste.  Add prosciutto or salami if you want some meat.  This dish is definitely great for any big get-together because it is simple and quick.  

Grilled Basil, Tomato, Mozzarella Sandwich Recipe   

Pictures:  On the left is the pre-grilled sandwich and on the right is the post-grilled version.

Ingredients: Serves 1

2 large slices of light/airy Italian or French white bread
2 basil leaves
1 fresh mozzarella cheese ball, cut in round slices
1 tomato, cut in round slices
1 garlic clove (crushed and diced) or garlic powder (powder might taste better but I haven't tried it).
2-3 teaspoons of olive oil
Salt to taste


Preparation:

1. If using fresh garlic, combine the garlic with 1 tsp of olive oil and brush one side of the bread with the oil+garlic mixture.  Brush the other side of the bread with some of the olive oil.  If using garlic powder, brush both sides of the bread and then sprinkle the garlic powder on one of the sides. 
2. Assemble your sandwich by placing 2 slices of mozzarella cheese, 2 slices of tomatoes, and then then the basil leaves on the garlic side of one of the pieces of bread.  If you are using fresh garlic, you may want to sprinkle some salt to suit your taste.  Note that some garlic powder already has salt if you are using the powder form.  Put the other piece of bread on top.  
3. Add some olive oil on a pan and turn the heat to medium or medium high.  Place the assembled sandwich on the pan.  I find that putting something heavy on the sandwich (like a bowl) will help melt the filling.  
4. Flip the sandwich after 1-2 minutes or until it starts having that golden brown grilled look.
5. Serve while still warm and with a mixed salad if you need to meet your veggie quotient.  Enjoy!

Thoughts on Cooking...and 30-min Shaking Beef Recipe

About 6 months ago, I found myself eating out almost every meal.  Although I love trying a new restaurant/cuisine/dish, at least half if not more of the meals weren't really up-to-par, and yet I am paying good money for them.  Some of the meals even made me wonder how the restaurant owner had the gumption to open for business with food like that.  I know I am sounding like a snob, but I am "serious" about my food!!!

Since I often found myself thinking "I could make this dish better than this restaurant", I started wondering why I didn't just walk the walk and start cooking more at home?

*I think* I am a good cook because my discerning palette knows how to season food well and what good food tastes like.  I used to dislike cooking because I would not be in the mood to eat my own food if it took me longer than 30 minutes to prepare.  It didn't help that my mother is a phenomenal cook, and so I grew up liking eating more than cooking :-).  Also, for at least 10 years (not anymore though), my mom would do this epic all-day cooking of preparing a gizillion meals to stock up the freezer whenever I came home from college or when she came to visit me.  Of course, I would have to be on my feet all day helping!

I knew from previous relapses that I would need to be realistic and keep my dishes to 30 minutes in order to stick with cooking.  I am proud to say that have been cooking at home a lot and even amped up to 5 nights a week (except Friday and Saturday) for the last 2 months.  

Moving forward, I will start blogging about my favorite dishes to share good recipes with friends and motivate myself with my cooking effort -- kind of like the "Julie and Julia" food blog.  

My cooking philosophy:  Although I will list quantity of ingredients in recipes, I follow the golden rule of tasting my food and then tweak the seasoning as needed.  If it's my first time trying a new recipe, I often mull over what could be changed next time.   So I encourage you to do the same.  

RECIPE 1:  VIETNAMESE SHAKING BEEF

Foreword:  I didn't really care for shaking beef before living in SF because I am a confessed picky beef eater.  However, when I had shaking beef at Slanted Door several years ago, I just absolutely loved how tender and tasty it was. Then it dawned on me that what I loved was the tender filet mignon!!!  

Source:  This recipe is from Chef Luke Nguyen on the Cooking Channel. I tinkered with it a bit to fit my own taste.

Picture:  I added extra sauce today and so the beef looks very saucy in the picture.  Don't do this.  I think the dish is better with less sauce.  

Ingredients for Shaking Beef: 

• 1 lb of filet mignon or filet mignon tail, cut into cubes.  Note: Luke's recipe uses sirloin.

• 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce 
• 1 tablespoon of hot water
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil (Side note:  This oil adds a lot of taste to wonton filings)  
• 1 teaspoon of sugar or Splenda
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 small onion, in long slices
• 1 tablespoon of butter or cholesterol-free butter substitute
• pinch of salt
• pinch of course cracked black pepper 

Ingredients for Side Dishes:  

1. Dipping sauce:  A mixture of soy sauce and chili (fresh or from an Asian chili bottle).  I also add a bit of vinegar.  The Shaking Beef is very good without the dipping sauce.  So try it both ways.  
2. Salad:  Mixed spring salad with grape tomatoes, olive oil + balsamic vinegar dressing. 
3. "Optional" baguette or  brown/white rice:  I typically skip the carbs.  If you want rice, I would recommend cooking it in advance or use the low-maintenance 90-sec brown rice.  

Preparation and cooking instructions:

1. In a bowl, create the marinade by combining oyster sauce, hot water, sesame oil, sugar, black pepper, and salt (season to taste).                
2. Add the beef and marinate for 10 minutes.                                                           Cooking Tip #1:  While waiting, prepare your side dishes (including dipping sauce) above.  
3. Heat the wok or pan to medium high heat, add butter, garlic, and onions.  Brow the onion/garlic mixture for 2 minutes or longer depending on how well you like your onions cooked.  Scoop the onion mixture out to a separate bowl and set aside.
4. Clean the pan with a wet piece of paper or cloth.  Turn the pan on high heat until smoking hot. 
5. Add the tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Add the beef and seal on each side for 1 minute.  The beef should be charred on both sides.  Cook the beef for another 1-2 minutes but don't overcook.  The beef tastes the best at medium rare.                                                                                                    Cooking Tip #2: Taste the beef and add more salt/pepper or seasoning if needed.  
6. Remove the beef from pan and plate it.  Leave some of the sauce in the pan OR create a little extra sauce with 1/4 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tbs each of oyster sauce + sesame oil + hot water.                    Cooking Tip #3:  Unless you need the extra sauce, I wouldn't recommend using it b/c this dish is supposed to be on the dryer side so that it is less like a wet chinese stir-fry :-)  
7. Put the onion/garlic mixture back in the pan with left-over sauce.  Twirl the mixture around for a minute or so and then plate it on the side next to the beef. 
8. Serve the Shaking Beef with the dipping sauce, salad, and/or bread/rice.  

Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

One of my local meetup.com bookclubs chose The Giver as our reading for this month.  The book turned out to be one of the most memorable and thought-provoking read I have had in a while.  It is also a short 1-day read.

It's a science fiction book for young adults that has received lots of awards.  It is on the banned list for some states but is on the school reading list for others (like Wisconsin).  I generally don't like the idea of books being banned.  With that said, this book is probably more meaningful to adults anyway and might cover topics that are not suitable for young adults.

Now about the book...Jonas, the main character, is a 12 year-old boy who has grown up in a utopia society called Sameness where there is no pain or suffering because everyone's life has been arranged by a committee to achieve harmony.  For example, husbands and wives are selected by the committee so that their temperament balance each other out, one boy and one girl are assigned to each family, and so on...To maintain this harmony, rules against things like boasting, lying, etc. are also in place.

Every child in this Sameness society goes through a coming-of-age ceremony when they turn 12, and they receive their life-long career assignments during this ceremony.  For example, if the assignment is to be a Nurturer, then the child will start receiving training that then evolves into their long-term career of taking care of newborns.  Each child has been observed by the committee from childhood until right before they turn 12 so that the assignment is supposed to match their intellectual capacity and temperament.  During this ceremony of the twelves, Jonas ended up receiving one of the rarest and most important assignment, and the training that followed set up of a chain of events that forever changed Jonas' life and his perspectives.  

This book might be a slow read starting out, but the eerie feeling that something was off with this perfect society kept me engaged...and it's an important stage-setting part for the book.  I liked the part after Jonas received his assignment the most because that was where the action picked up and Jonas' discoveries started.

I think this is one of those books where different people will pull from it different meaningful life messages depending on your own life experiences.  The book resonated with me and hit close to home because I had lived in a culture where there were more rules and less choices.  I also walked away with 2 meaningful messages...First of, to me, it seemed to be a cautionary tale against the lack of diversity.  As someone who likes living in places where there is diversity in people, experiences, and food (the most important factor for me!), I could not imagine not having those options.  The second message seems to be that both joys and sorrows need to co-exist in order for our lives to be fulfilled.  Sorrows give us more appreciation for joyous events.  While not experiencing pain or not having to make tough choices seems tempting, is living without choices and emotions still a LIFE?

A new lunch spot

Yesterday I found a new restaurant and I am very excited about going back. The fact that it opens all-day from lunch through dinner rather than stopping lunch service at 2:30pm is a find in my book b/c that means I can come here for a late "linner" sometimes. This place also has outdoors seating where I can chill, enjoy the cool air, and people-watch or read a book. Last but not least, I really dig their food...and it's European (mostly Italian) cuisine, which is one of my favorites.

So I splurged yesterday because I was having linner and I figured I had double the money to spend :-) I ordered a little bit of everything and was pleasantly surprised that I liked everything I got. Here is a breakdown of what I got and how yummy everything was:

• Mixed Salad: For most meals, I try to meet my vegetable quotient for the day by starting with a salad. Wasn't expecting much since sometimes restaurants tend to not focus on the salad and just give you some unexciting dressing and greens. Though simple, I really liked the flavorful house vinegarette dressing. Olives and gorgonzola cheese also helped to give the salad more umph.
• Risotto with chicken and spanish chorizo: Generally, I like risotto but it isn't something that jumps out at me when there are other more exciting options. Yesterday, for some reasons, all I could think about was how yummy the texture of the risotto would be and everything else on the menu paled in comparison. Who knew that slightly crispy spanish chorizo (like the kind in a paella) would be so good in a creamy risotto. Hmm...I can still taste the chorizo now :-)
• Mango Panna Cotta (spelling?): I loveeeee panna cotta ever since my first Vietnamese coffee (similar to a strong milky French latte) panna cotta. This one was soooo good. It's much softer than a creme brulee (also one of my favorites) and it's so creamy...and it was huge...I really did not need a portion that big but unfortunately I think I licked the plate clean.

Obviously, I can't eat here everyday but it's definitely a great find for when I want to treat myself to a nice lunch or dinner. I want to try their paella next!