One Offal Sandwich

So after a fair amount of schoolwork, traveling, and other less than legitimate reasons not to write, I have some catching up to do. I want to write about so much of the food I have eaten and traveling I have done recently, and after I learn the in’s and out’s of my new camera, I will get to that. Over this past weekend, I had a fair amount of time at home, and I found some beef tongue at the local coop that could fill some of that time in its preparation. As I do much of the time when cooking beef tongue, I started by simmering it for four hours in a pot with water, salt, onions, garlic, dried chiles, thyme, parsley stems, peppercorns, bay leaf, and dried chiles. Then I allowed it to cool some and put it in the refrigerator, covered, overnight. Doing this allows the now tender meat to firm up and hold its shape.

While at the coop, I also picked up some fresh chicken livers. I rinsed them a few times under cold water, then submerged them in milk and allowed them to soak for about six hours. After six hours, I removed them, gave them a rinse, cleaned them up a little, and drained them on some paper towels. When the livers were ready to be cooked, I started sauteing some shallots, garlic, thyme, sage, and just a few shitakes in butter and olive oil. I allowed them to soften up a bit then added a small amount of chopped green apple. Soon after, I added the livers. I cooked them for about two minutes on one side and 90 seconds on the other before adding some port to deglaze the pan. I cooked this for a minute to allow the alcohol to cook out, then threw everything in the food processor. I seasoned everything with salt and pepper and began to puree it all. I added a couple small chunks of butter to round out the flavor, and I added a splash of white wine vinegar and some parsley to brighten it a little. I then put the mixture in the refrigerator to cool a bit while I got the rest of the sandwich ready.

I sliced some hearty bread that I picked up at the Great Harvest Bread Company and began to toast it. Then I sliced the beef tongue. I cut about half inch slices, seasoned them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and began to grill them. They needed only to be heated through and given a little char on the outside.

When the bread was a golden brown, I spread some honey truffle mustard on one side. On the other, I spread some of the chicken liver mousse. I took a couple pieces of beef tongue and sandwiched them in the middle, then put the whole thing in the panini press for a minute or two so that the sandwich would come together. I was very happy with how the sandwich came out. The creamy mousse offered a nice livery flavor, the mustard offered a kick of dijon, a subtle earthy flavor of truffle, and some sweetness from the honey, and the beef tongue was extremely tender after being heated through while offering its superbly beefy flavor. The sandwich came together on a whim, and it is by no means a perfected dish. I do like the idea, and I think that I can have some fun with the idea in the future, looking to improve on something I already enjoy.

Homemade Falafel with a Twist

Israeli Salad

Tonight for dinner, I had two friends over (one being my roommate) and made falafel. My roommate gotmean ebelskiver pan as a gift, and had tried making falafel in it once before. My family thought it turned out fairly well, and my roommate wanted to try it. So I planned falafel for dinner, but I decided not to make the traditional style that I do on most occasions. I started yesterday making some Israeli salad. To do this, I finely diced red and yellow bell pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber, pasrley, mint, and very finely diced four cloves of garlic and three habanero peppers. I added the zest and juice of a lemon, a touch of olive oil, and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

Miso Tahini Hummus

Next I made a large batch of the hummus that I planned to put in the pitas. I made extra so that we could have some during the day and so that there would be leftovers for later snacking. I started with rinsed and drained canned chickpeas in a food processor. I added a couple tablespoons each of olive oil and tahini, miso, sriracha, salt, and enough water to reach the smooth consistency I was looking for.

Egg Sliced for the Sandwiches

This afternoon, I decided to prepare some additions for the sandwiches that would allow for some variation. On my last trip to New York City, I had an excellent Sabich sandwich at Taim Falafel. There was hard boiled egg and fried eggplant slices in the sanwich. To make the hardboiled eggs, I started with eggs submerged in cold water with a teaspoon each of salt and vinegar. I brought the water up to a boil, reduced the heat so the water was at a simmer for one minute, then removed the pot from the heat and covered it. After ten minutes, I put the eggs in an ice bath to stop the cooking. I later peeled and sliced them for the sandiwches.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pita

I wasn’t sure if I would end up making the pita at home, but yesterday I whipped up a whole wheat dough and it kind of worked out today… To make the dough, I added some warm water and about a tablespoon of honey to a packet of instant yeast. After about five minutes, the yeast was activated, and this was very apparent by the yeasty smell and layer of foam that had developed. In a large bowl, I put whole wheat flour and a few teaspoons of salt. I added the yeast and water mixture to the flour and mixe it in. The consistency was about that of cake batter. At this point, I continued to add flour until everything came together in a ball of what I thought might be the right consistency. I kneaded the dough for a few minutes, then put it into an oiled bowl and covered it with a damp towel. I let it rise for a few hours, then punched it down, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the fridge overnight.

A few hours before dinner today, I took the dough out and let it sit at room temperature in a covered bowl until it starte to rise again. When the dough was almost ready, I put a pizza stone in the oven and set the oven to broil. After about 30 minutes, the stone was hot enough, and I left the oven on broil. I pulled portions of the dough from the large ball and rolled them out to circles about a quarter inch thick. After rolling them out, I would place them on the stone about 90 seconds on the first side, and another 60 seconds after flipping. The dough puffed up nicely, creating a pocket for the sandwiches to be built.

Pita Sliced and Open

In making the falafel, I wanted to stick with the theme I had established in the hummus, adding a bit more of a Far East twist in flavor. I started with rinsed and rained canned chickpeas in a food processor. I them added a couple roasted red peppers, a handful of cilantro, a couple teaspoons of tamarind concentrate, lime juice, salt, and black pepper. I pulsed the mixture, adding some baking powder, then adding buckwheat flour untilit reached the desired consistency.

Falafel in the Ebelskiver Pan...

I then heated the pan, sprayed each semi-circle with canola oil spray, and added enough falafel mixture to them most of the way. I cooked them at a relatively low heat until one side browned, then I would flip them and let them finish cooking on the other side. I tried one when they had finished, and I still am fairly surprised at the quality of the falafel that one can end up with using this healthy alternative to deep frying. The flavor is slightly different without sucha thick, crispy crust. It tastes less like a fried product, but I think that in a sandwich with supporting flavors and textures, the overall quality is excellent.

Falafel and Pan Fried Eggplant Slices

The eggplant was done very simply. I sliced them into circles and salted them to draw out a fair amount of the water. I then ground some black pepper on them an pan fried them in olive oil until browned on both sides.

After constructing the sanwiches, I was very pleased with the results. The red pepper, cilantro, and tamarind in the falafel went very well with the miso-tahini hummus, and I made my version of a Sabich sandwich. I started with slices of hard boiled egg adding a meaty quality and a flavor that goes surprisingly well with the fried eggplant and hummus that I piled on. I then added the Israeli salad which brought a quality of freshness and some acid  to the experience. It was all held together by the fliffy homemade pita. It was my own take on what I had experienced somewhere else, and I am happy to say that it satisfied a craving that was starting to get to me…