Ciabatta Panini with Garlic Basil Spread

I love Paninis! They’re just like your ordinary sandwiches, but jazzed up in so many different ways. From kids grilled cheese panini sandwiches, to Atcihokes and prosciutto with balsamic vinaigrette (fancy huh?) panini sanwiches. The possibilities are endless!

1 roll of Chiabatta bread

2-3 slises of Mozarella Cheese

Few slices of Turkey Breast (or your choice of deli meat)

1/2 tomato sliced very thinly

a handful of Arugula leaves, the somewhat bitter taste give it that extra kick in the sandwich.

For the Spread:

4-5 fresh Basil leaves

2 cloves of Garlic

2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp of Lite Mayo

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Make the Garlic Basil spread first by using your food processor or blender to blend all the ingredients together and set aside to allow the flavors to marinade a bit. Heat up your Panini Grill or any grill pan. Cut Chiabatta bread lenghtwise and spread your Garlic Basil spread on both sides of the bread. Add theTurkey Breast, Arugula, Tomatoes and Mozarella cheese. Place Chiabatta sandwich on the grill press or your panini grill. Place a heavy pot over your sandwich so it flattens out you can do this if you do not have a panini grill. Hold down for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown on one side. Repeat this on the other side of the sandwich… and voila!! You have this delicious restaurant style Panini Sandwich! Enjoy!!

Aiolli Sauce

I’ve always wondered what an Aiolli sauce is. I thought it was something so fancy because of the name. I saw the ingredients and I was surprised to see that all of them are in my kitchen! So I decided to try it out. It’s great with Chicken, beef or pork and it’s also a good way to jazz up your sandwiches and make it fancy.

1 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 egg yolks

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp Lime juice

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp Chopped fresh tarragon

Salt and Pepper

DirectionsMake sure all ingredients are at room temparature. Place garlic and egg yolks in a food processor or blender and process until well blended. With the motor running, pour in the oil, teaspoon by teaspoon through the feeder tube until the mixture starts to thicken, then pour the remaining oil in a thin stream until a thick mayonaisse forms.  Add the lemon and lime juices, mustard and tarragon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, then transfer to a nonmetallic bowl. Garnish with a tarragon sprig. Cover with a plastic wrap and let chill until ready to serve. This serves about 4.

Pork Stroganoff

I’ve always wanted to try making Stroganoff and replace the usual Beef and use pork loin instead to be on the healthy side a bit.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

12 oz/350 g lean poik fillet cut into 1/2 inch/1-cm thick slices

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups sliced  mushrooms

4 tbsp lowfat natural yogurt (plus extra to serve)

Directions

Heat oil in a large pan, Add the pork, onion and garlic and gently cook for about 4-5 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Add teh flour and tomato paste, then pour in the stick and stir until mixed thoroughly. Add mushrooms, season to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, then cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until pork is tender and cooked thorouhly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Serve pork and sauce on a bed of rice and sprinkle some chopped parsley with an extra spoonful of yogurt. Serves about 4.

This is about 220 Calories and a very yummy dish!

PaJeon (Pa Jun)

Here’s a recipe for Pa Jeon (Pa Jun) Pa means Scallions and Jeon are the actual battered ingredients. It actually has a variety of versions and names depending on what you put in it. Another version would be Hae-Mul Jeon which is the seafood variation and is the most popular of the “Jeons”. I haven’t really tried making it yet so I can’t provide this blog with a recipe for it…yet. Since my husband is Korean and he had the Hae-Mul Jeon back in Korea and he loved it, he requested for me to make them this weekend. So I’ll be posting that soon.

Pa Jeon or Korean Scallion Pancake:

2 cups of flour
2 cups water
2 eggs
5 stalks of scallions
Oil or cooking spray, salt and pepper       
         
For the dipping sauce:                            
 ¼ soy sauce                               
½ tbsp. vinegar                               
1 stalk scallion                               
Chili flakes                               
1 tsp Sesame Oil                               
½ tsp brown sugar Directions:
Combine all ingredients and whisk until it has a pancake like texture. You may add more water to reach your desired consistency. Let it sit to incorporate all the ingredients for about 8-10 minutes. Heat up a non-stick pan and put in oil or cooking spray for about 5 minutes. Scoop about 1/2 a cup of a ladel full of pancake batter this will give you about 5-4-5 inch size pancakes. Cook for about 7 minutes or until golden brown in medium heat and flip and let it cook for about 6 minutes.  This batch makes about 8-10 pancakes.
For the dipping Sauce, just mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together and serve in a small container on the side. Dip pancakes and enjoy!!

Spicy Miso Sauce

My hubby, myself and two of our close friends went to this Restaurant called Gorikee located in Woodland Hills, CA. One of our friends, Mike, ordered “Black Angus Rib eye steak topped with spicy miso…” Soooo good! My husband loved the Spicy Miso sauce so much that I thought I make my own version of it. So I did the other night and hubby loved it! So I want to share my own version of this spicy miso sauce. I’m sure  the ingredients are a lot different from Gorikee’s but…my hubby said it came pretty close! So here it is:

 Spicy Miso Sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 a cup of warm water
1 cup of water
1 1/2 tbsp of Miso Paste which you can buy at your local grocery store in the   Asian/Ethnic food section
1 tbsp Sriracha Chili sauce ( I used 2 tbsp for my husband because he likes his food spicier than normal people)
a pinch of pepper to taste.

Directions:

Place water in sauce pan and add the miso paste, whisk until miso paste has dissolved. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir regularly. Add dissolved cornstarch while whisking so the cornstarch will not clump up and add pepper. Add Sriracha and whisk for about 2 minutes till everything is well incorporated. Let it simmer again for another 10-15 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickens.

This Miso Sauce recipe is good with Steak and Pork. I’ve never tried it with chicken yet and fish, but I’m sure it’s gonna taste mighty good too!

Just to give props to Gorikee and their wonderful restaurant, click on the link below to see their menu and location:

http://www.sporq.com/woodlandhills/gorikeerestaurant/21799venturablvd?view=zoom

I rate this restaurant 5 stars for exceptional food! Also try their Sauteed Shrimp with white Truffle sauce….OMG!!!