Sandwich Day has been over and long past, but I couldn't resist this gorgeous panini from food blog Cream Puffs in Venice. Usually, I like the idea of paninis, but find that because they are squashed down in a panini press, don't look quite as fabulously photogenic as thick sandwiches that are piled high with ingredients. Perhaps it's the fact that the photo is an extreme close-up, perhaps it's the angle and lighting, but this panini made with pesto, artichokes, prosciutto and Asiago cheese definitely looks voluptuous enough!
The one time I tried a Cuban sandwich, I was in South Beach. It was early morning, and I was, uh, on my way back to our hotel from our evening out. As we often are after a long night of fun and frivolity, I was hungry, so I stopped to get something to eat. I had heard of Cuban sandwiches, so I ordered one, thinking that it would be some special, sweet bread stuffed with spicy exotic fillings. Boy, was I ever disappointed that it was basically a ham and cheese sandwich pressed on a grill.
Perhaps my disappointment was naive, or perhaps the particular sandwich I ate was just poorly executed with sub-standard ingredients. I mean how could something that looks as good as Kevin's take on the Cuban sandwich be bad, especially when a key ingredient is citrus-marinated roast pork? The classic Cuban sandwich is made with Cuban bread, though an Italian or French bread can be used. The bread is slathered with yellow mustard, then layered with baked ham, thinly sliced roast pork, thinly sliced dill pickles, and Swiss cheese. The whole thing gets pressed down, traditionally on a plancha, but any type of sandwich press, even a homemade one, will do.
Yep, today is the day. It's the day that we've all been waiting for. If you couldn't tell from our morning posts, itoday is Slashfood's Sandwich Day. We've been busy putting together sandwiches, eating sandwiches, even doing a little studying of sandwiches. Apparently, so have our readers. We've received links to other food bloggers' posts about sandwiches, photos of sandwich pron, and even suggestions for how to roll up an old classic, peanut butter and jelly. We'll continue to collect your sandwich stuff via our "tips" line throughout the day and post it all in a summary (or two if necessary) later tonight.
So come on in. Sit down and relax. Let us make you a sandwich.
In the news, THomas Keller's temporary Ad Hoc is open, Cindy Pawlcyn does fish at Go Fish, and Gary Danko tops the Zagat survey. Pan-Asian Red Ginger in El Granada and Oakland's country French JoJo both receive two and a half stars (**½). Mescolanza in the Richmond District gets two stars (**).
Just because it's homemade doesn't necessarily mean it's any heathier or better for you, but still, the novelty of re-creating things that we normally buy at the store is fun. Then again, I've always thought that storebought items were originally made in the home kitchen, and were made "convenient" by mass producing them for stores. After that, we just forgot how to make macaroni and cheese and soup at home, right?
Nonetheless, if your kitchen isn't too hot to fire up the oven, try your hand at these recipes for: Hostess Cupcakes, Almost Oreos (faux-reos?!), Pepperidge Farm's Orange Milano Cookies, and Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies. We've seen a giant homemade sno-ball before, and I'm sure I've seen a recipe for Twinkies somewhere, too.
Have you ever ingeniusly re-created a storebought food at home? Let us know!
I've learned now that the beauty of pesto that it is simple. The flavor of the pesto itself relies on nothing more than the extreme freshness of the ingredients, and heck, you don't even have to use any major appliances to make it (mortar and pestle works better than a Cuisinart, I've heard), let alone cook the actual pesto.
Since the pesto is simple, using it is simple as well. All you have to do it toss it together with some cooked pasta, throw in some grilled chicken, and you're good to go.
The idea for a bulgogi burger came to me last summer when I was thinking about entering a burger grill-off/competition. Little did I know that the "Bulgogi Burger" is already a standard menu item on fast food burger joints in Korea. I was slightly disheartened, since my idea wasn't original, and scrapped it for the competition.
But I never forgot about making it myself. I've never actually tried a bulgogi burger in Korea (it's been about 15 years since I've been there), and decided that I didn't want to know how it is made in tha' Motherland. I wanted to come up with my own. Besides, someone also told me that many "Bulgogi Burgers" are not burgers at all - they are real pieces of bulgogi slapped between the buns. Who knows? I didn't care.
Most pasta salads are simply dishes of mostly pasta that are served cold, thus making it a "salad." However, this dish is mostly vegetables, including lettuce, with only a little bit of pasta to satisfy the carb cravers. There's no meat in it, though it would probably make a pretty good main dish if you add grilled chicken or shrimp.
Who didn't love popsicles when they were a kid? I know that I did. They were sweet, refreshing and turned your tongue bright colors - a crucial popsicle feature for kids. After a while, I acquired a set of plastic popsicle molds and moved away from the neon, ice-cream truck offerings. I would freeze sodas, fruit juices and, occasionally, stuff them full of semi-soft ice cream (so I could eat if off a stick). With summer coming up, I think it's a good time to relive those childhood memories and start making some popsicles at home. Popsicle-making is also a great activity to do with your kids, since they can pick out their own flavors. For the neon tongue look, take a tip from Elise and add a few drops of food coloring to the frozen popsicles. This mold will make 10 pops at a time and comes with 50 sticks, though it's not hard to find more at craft stores when you run out.
I have no idea why I'm reading Men's Health. Regardless, the magazine has an article that encourages men to cook these seven dishes from around the world at home, to keep them lighter than the restaurant versions that are always loaded with too much pasta, rice and potatoes. Men's Health says that the "secret isn't tiny, Frenchman-like portions; it's a redistribution of nutrients." Hey, if it makes you look like Mr. Cooking Guy in the photo, I'm all for it!
The recipes are for:
Curried Shrimp Kebabs with Basmati Rice (Indian)
Sausage and Pepper Pasta (Italian)
Steak and Bean Burrito (Mexican)
Pork Fried Rice (Chinese)
Teriyaki Salmon Bowl with Broccoli (Japanese)
Cajun Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato Fries
Broiled Lamb Chop over Cucumber Tomato Salad (Greek)
The recipes are for one portion though. I'd double it, and make dinner for yourself and your date!
I love artichokes. However, up
until last year, I had never prepared a fresh artichoke at home. I had always relied on artichoke hearts that had
been brined or marinated because the hard, spiky leaves, and danger of having someone choke on the hairy stuff inside
if I did it wrong, well, scared me.
Now, I have slayed spiny the dragon, and a fresh artichoke is a kitten in my hands. My favorite way to prepare
it, so far, is roasting it, which allows me to appreciate the vegetable as is, without any heavy accessorization with
creamy sauces or the distractions of other ingredients.
All it takes is a pair of very sharp kitchen utensils. With a knife, first, slice off the top quarter of the
artichoke, then slice it lengthwise into quarters. Using kitchen shears, snip the thorny tops of any interior
leaves that you missed with the knife. Using a teaspoon, scrape out the furry "choke," taking care to take
all of it out. Rub the cut side of the artichoke with olive oil, sprinkle with lemon juice and salt, place them on
a baking sheet, and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Serve simply with thin shavings of cheese.
Before
reading about the concept in the newspaper, I actually saw a show about this on the Food Network a few weeks ago. It is called Dream Dinners, based out of the
Seattle, WA area. Dream Dinners provides a "meal assembly center" where people come, pay a given amount,
and put together meals, mostly casseroles and stew type dishes, from ingredients that have already been washed, cut,
prepped etc., and following a recipe that is given to them. Then the person simply takes these home to freeze them and
eat over a period of a week, or even longer.
It sounds like a dream for a busy parent who has to get dinner on the table for a family of five every night and
doesn't want to order pizza all the time. It's almost as fast and convenient as frozen dinner from the supermarket, but
the person who "cooked" it can at least say they had a hand in it. They can consider it
"home-cooked."
However, the concept has its critics. Indian cookbook author and actor Madhur Jaffrey said of it: "People
basically don't want to cook but they don't want to be told they are not cooking. It's an illusion."
You probably don't think much about what you use to peel your vegetables, but the Seattle Times 
Just because it's homemade doesn't necessarily mean it's any heathier or better for you, but still, the novelty of re-creating things that we normally buy at the store is fun. Then again, I've always thought that storebought items were originally made in the home kitchen, and were made "convenient" by mass producing them for stores. After that, we just forgot how to make macaroni and cheese and soup at home, right?
Who didn't love popsicles when they were a kid? I know that I did. They were sweet, refreshing and turned your tongue bright colors - a crucial popsicle feature for kids. After a while, I acquired a set of plastic popsicle molds and moved away from the neon, ice-cream truck offerings. I would freeze sodas, fruit juices and, occasionally, stuff them full of semi-soft ice cream (so I could eat if off a stick). With summer coming up, I think it's a good time to relive those childhood memories and start making some popsicles at home. Popsicle-making is also a great activity to do with your kids, since they can pick out their own flavors. For the neon tongue look, take a tip from Elise and add a few drops of food coloring to the frozen popsicles. 
I have no idea why I'm reading 
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
