What the heck? Is that even English? Actually, no. The Banh Mi is Vietnamese and the Griot is Haitian. It was quite the worldly food this week. (And you're probably asking if I'm ever going to go back to Dude Ranching. The answer is yes. Someday. I've got pictures, I just need to write about it!)
But as for now, I'll do food. And maybe I'll get a head start on another posting, so I can do more than one a week!
Here is this week's menu.
Griot with Sauce Ti-Malice, pan-fried plantains, and rice. What the heck is that you ask? It is a traditional Haitian pork dish. While it isn't very labor-intensive, it takes an extremely long time to make. The pork has to marinate for 12-24 hours, is then braised for an hour and a half, sauteed until crisp, and finally cooked with some of the braising liquid until the meat caramelizes.
Ti-Malice is a bit interesting. It's a Haitian condiment that's named for a trickster in voodoo mythology, so named because it's a sour sauce that covers the sweeter pork. I'll let you know if any black magic heads our way.
I just ate this for lunch today and it was good. I'm not gonna lie, I won't say it was great. And I guess if you're going to put that much time into it (remembering to marinate a day ahead), then it should be pretty darn good.
Banh Mi-Style Roast Beef Sandwiches with Carrot Sticks. For me, this is pretty much a meal made from pantry staples - soy sauce, rice vinegar, and fish sauce - and if you do much Cooking Light cooking, these will become your staples, too. Dow and I ate this meal for lunch yesterday, but I have to admit it was a little dry. Great flavors, but could have used some mayo or something. If nothing else, the sauce over the matchstick carrots and radishes with some cucumbers might make a great salad.
Also, here's something I learned the other day. I was going to buy flank steak, as the recipe called for, but I saw a flat iron steak right next to it for half price and looked like a similar cut of meat. I asked the butchers and they said they actually preferred it (flat iron) even to a tenderloin steak. After basically just searing for 5 minutes on each side, I would have to agree with them. Cheaper and delicious!
This cheesy dish is actually Tex-Mex Lasagna, the vegetarian dish. Very simple to throw together with lasagna noodles, black beans, corn, and salsa. I couldn't tell you how it was, though...I only made one casserole and sent it on it's merry way.
This Easy Penne and Tuna Salad is truly a Cooking Light recipe. The theory behind this meal is that more is not always better. By using a few high-quality ingredients, you can have an easy yet delicious meal in minutes. I would have to say it's true. First of all, yes, I know that's not penne, but I used what I had on hand...pasta tastes the same to me. Secondly, they suggest using a jar of PREMIUM tuna, such as Ortiz, but try as I may, I could not find such a thing. So I grabbed a packet of PREMIUM tuna, which did not come out looking like their picture. Better luck next time. Also, usually whenever a recipe calls for broiling my own roasted red peppers, I skip it and by the jarred kind. I thought in this case, the texture would be noticeable, so I did actually roast my own. It was worth it.
And last, but not least, was the Chicken with Lemon and Olives, with Green Pea Rice. This is a budget meal meaning you can feed four people for under $10 ($2.39/serving). I thought this was probably the best meal of the week. It does dirty a lot of dishes though - marinate in a bowl, brown in a skillet, bake in a 9x13, and boil the sauce in a saucepan. One person suggested just grilling the chicken and pouring the sauce directly into the pan, lowering the dish usage to 2 - marinating bowl and saucepan. I think that would give the chicken great flavor! Finally, that rice was AWESOME! I could barely stop eating it after taking a sample bite! The bad news...it's not listed with the main meal online, so I don't know how to find it. If anyone is dying for it, let me know and I'll type it up.
That's it for this week of cooking. Only 2 weeks left to go!
Happy Cooking!
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