Non-Recipe: Pandebono Beef Tongue Sandwich

Posted on November 13, 2019November 13, 2019 by anon

This isn’t really a recipe, more a storytelling post for my own entertainment.
tl;dr I had the great idea to combine two things that probably are not often or at all put together: pan-fried beef tongue and pandebono (Colombian cheese bread).

I made a trip out to Industry City with my roommate for the Brooklyn Crush Wine & Artisanal Food Festival last weekend. Since we were out there anyway, I explored the area on Google Maps to see if there was anything worth stopping by. Turns out Japan Village is around the corner, so naturally I had to do some grocery shopping. Roommate (and 5 bottles of mead–see postscript) in tow, I excitedly roamed around the supermarket. While it was smaller than I’d hoped–I’ve been spoiled by the huge supermarket-cum-department-stores dotting Hong Kong–I found myriad enticing items. God yes- fresh soy milk! Beef tongue! Sashimi-grade fish! Pickled plums with ume!

Inspired by the abundance of rarely-seen items, I suggested we do a Japanese dinner with sushi and fried beef tongue. An hour train ride and an hour of waiting for the rice to cook later, I make a salmon avocado roll, a chopped toro and scallion roll, and slice the remaining salmon for sashimi. Half of the beef tongue gets pan-fried with salt and pepper; my new darling cast-iron skillet gets deglazed with red wine and some garlic powder for a simple pan sauce.

Long context short, I had a portion of beef tongue left over. Sunday I went on a very nice date and had Colombian food for the first time. I’d mentioned I like bread so he very thoughtfully suggested we go get Colombian food and I could try pandebono, Colombian bread. It was about an hour to get to Jackson Heights, but it was worth it. We had a pleasant and conversation-filled brunch and a nice walk after.

So I had an extra pandebono (we bought two). I had an amazing idea and decided to halve the bread and use it as a bun for my remaining beef tongue. I garnished with garlic and scallion and had a red wine and garlic pan sauce on the side.

Ingredients

pandebono
about 1.5 oz beef tongue, thinly sliced
1 scallion
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste
(optional) 1/4 cup red wine

Toast pandebono at 400 F for 3 minutes if kept at room temperature. If kept in the fridge, toast for 6 minutes.
While bread is in the oven, season beef tongue with salt and pepper. Pan fry on lightly oiled pan until slightly browned on both sides (any more and it gets tough). Slice into strips.
Slice the clove of garlic and scallion.
(Optionally) De-glaze the pan with red wine and add a few garlic slices as the wine is simmering down.
Halve the pandebono and pile the beef tongue strips on top. Garnish with garlic slices and scallion- attempt to fit all the scallion onto the bun and fail dramatically.
Eat with pan sauce for dipping.

To be honest, I started thinking about making this on Sunday night, but I didn’t get the opportunity to until Tuesday night, which was about the last day I could safely keep the beef tongue in the fridge anyway. Definitely worth the wait.

Story

Brooklyn Crush invited many, many vendors to the event. The venue was super packed and each vendor only got about 6 square meters of space, approximately. That’s why when we got to a vendor called All-Wise Meadery, manned by two young men, I simply noted that the Asian guy at the table was pretty cute and went about washing my glass out. Roomie taps on my shoulder and whispers something completely unintelligible in my ear. “Eh?” I turn.

“What?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“That’s Zack from Suite Life of Zack and Cody…”
The actual transcript of our whispered conversation in front of Dylan Sprouse.

I whip around to check, of course, and am completely flabbergasted. The next step is to crack up. Long story short, I end up buying five bottles of their mead. Highly recommend the Dirty Show.

Bedazzled Beef Chili

Posted on November 3, 2019November 5, 2019 by anon

I love to grocery shop, but it’s become a problem. I buy way too much and find myself scrambling to use up ingredients before they go bad. Trying to stay ahead of the curve, last night I made a recipe that is suited for a huge variety of produce: chili.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (85/15)
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
Veggie medley
2 small anjou pears, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 medium turnip, diced
about 1 cup carrot tops, chopped
Spices
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp gochugaru
1 tsp coriander
3 fresh Thai chili peppers, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Liquid
juice of 1 large lemon
juice of 1 large lime
1 cup decaf coffee
2/3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 small beefsteak tomato
about 3/4 cup tomato sauce or 1 cup drained canned tomatoes

Fry the ground beef in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Make sure that the meat juice evaporates and you’re left with the oil.
Add the garlic and onions. Sauté until fragrant, careful not to let the garlic burn.
Add the veggie medley and toss vigorously until everything in the pot is evenly distributed. Sauté for 2 or 3 minutes, turning often so ingredients at the bottom do not burn.
Add the spices and toss vigorously.
Add the lemon and lime juice and use a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Add the rest of the liquid mix and toss to combine. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the liquid is mostly reduced, about 20 minutes.

I’m going to experiment with a similar recipe next time but substituting Guinness in place of the lemon/lime juice. I was having a Kyoto matcha IPA while chopping up a storm when I had this stroke of genius, and now I can’t wait.

I was trying to make sourdough brioche at the same time, but that recipe will have to wait until I perfect it. The brioche came out hard and dense, but the flavor is great. Perfect for soaking in the chili and dipping in egg yolk, anyhow, so I’m not too upset about it.

I had the chili today for lunch, simmered in a small saucepan with a bit of added water because I wanted to steam some broccoli and add an egg. Covered the pan until the egg white was set, about 2 minutes, then removed the lid and cooked off a little of the liquid. Yum!

Overnight Sourdough Pancakes

Posted on November 1, 2019 by anon

The first pancake I ever made (not counting crêpes) was a sourdough pancake. It was extremely fluffy and delicious. Of course, I made it again. However, here was my downfall: I never measured my ingredients. I made pancakes time and time again, with increasing successes, but there were some failures. I decided I should probably start measuring my ingredients for extra safety.

In the process, though, I learned a few things:

Pancakes, as with many recipes calling for eggs, are not easily scalable. Nevertheless, substituting milk for the liquid needed from half an egg is completely fine. I would never recommend leaving eggs out altogether, however.
A thicker batter means stronger structure, which results in fluffier pancakes. However, if the batter is too thick, the pancakes will be dense. The weight of itself will dampen the rise.
Flip the pancakes as soon as you can after the bubbles appear. You want to trap the expanding air inside the pancake so that they fluff up. Otherwise, you’ll get dense, chewy pancakes.

I still get it wrong sometimes because I don’t like to measure my ingredients. The nice thing about pancakes, though, is that if the first one comes out poorly, you can adjust the rest of the batter.

My recipe is adapted from CulturesForHealth.com. This is a versatile recipe that works well with different spices. I’ve included my favorite below.

Ingredients

200 g sourdough starter, 100% hydration
80 g all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 heaping tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
about 1/8-1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cardamom (optional)
pinch of nutmeg (optional)
about 4 tbsp butter, solid or melted, for frying

Combine the starter and flour. Mix thoroughly and cover. Let rise overnight, at least 6 hours.
Add egg, honey, and salt and mix until well combined.
Add milk about 1 tbsp at a time, mixing constantly, until batter is the desired consistency. The batter should ooze but not drip off a spoon.
Add the baking soda and stir vigorously. The batter should expand within about half a minute. If the rise is not evident, add a bit more baking soda and mix again.
Stir in the cardamom and nutmeg, if using.
Heat a pan on medium-low. Add butter and wait until it stops bubbling. Drop a few spoonfuls of batter and spread with the back of the spoon until about 1/4 inch thick.
Flip when large bubbles break the surface. This should be before the edges have set, about 45 seconds max depending on the size of your pancake.
Cook for about 1 min 40 s on the other side. If the bottom is browning too quickly, turn the heat down.

If you want crispy edges, use enough butter to puddle a bit in the middle of the pan and use a bit of a higher heat. If you want soft pancakes, use less butter and turn the heat way down. You’ll have to cook for about twice as long each side or even more. Personally, I like a crunch on my pancakes, so I use medium heat and lots of butter. They’re a not-so-healthy treat for me, I suppose.

I love these pancakes with walnut butter and maple syrup, though they’re great with plain honey and fruit too. I haven’t tried them with whipped cream and berries, but something tells me that would be intensely addictive. Try experimenting with other spices or mix-ins, like chocolate chip and cinnamon or even brown sugar in place of honey.