Meatless Meatball Banh Mi

So Mr Humble decided he wanted to eat fewer critters as part of his new years resolution (perfectly fine by me, as he has always been the carnivore of the two of us). So, I'm finding ways to modify some of his favorite dishes. Lunch today is a spin on meatball banh mi, pescetarian style (since the fish sauce prevents it from being vegetarian. Though you could substitute it with a little light soy sauce, if you must do without).

Rather than using a meat substitute, which I am generally not a fan off, I went for chick peas, bread crumbs and spices to make my 'meatballs'. Sort of a Vietnamese play on falafel. I baked up fresh rice flour baguettes, stuffed them with my meatballs, cilantro, shredded carrots, daikon radish and my special sauce.

The result... deliciousness.



Not so Humble's Meatless Meatball Banh Mi:
makes roughly 25 'meatballs'
2 15oz cans of chickpeas drained
3 tablespoons chopped thai basil
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
5 cloves garlic
2 thai chilies
2 green onions chopped
1 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
1-2 teaspoons fish sauce (Nam Pla)
2 large eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs
chick pea flour

cilantro
carrot shredded
daikon shredded

Combine the chickpeas, basil, cilantro, garlic, chilies, white portion of the green onion, chili and fish sauce into a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds until well blended but still slightly chunky. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and blend in the eggs. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the remaining chopped green onions. Add the bread crumbs and mix well.

Using your hands, form the mixture into one 1 1/2" meatballs and roll in chickpea flour. Bake in a 350 for 15-20 minutes turning once. You can also flatten the balls and pan fry each side in vegetable or peanut oil over medium high heat until golden brown.

Place the meatballs into a baguette with fresh cilantro, shredded carrot and daikon radish and a generous amount of the following:

Special Humble Sauce:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 green onions, finely chopped
4 teaspoons sriracha chili sauce
few drops fish sauce (Nam Pla)

If you are feeling ambitious, you can make your own fresh crusty banh mi baguettes, too...



Simple Banh Mi Baguettes:
makes 6 medium sized baguettes
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon sugar
15 grams dry active yeast (two 1/4 oz packets)
1 1/2 cups warm water (100°F)
2 teaspoons kosher salt

In a bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes. While waiting on that, sift together the flours and salt.

Add the yeast to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and slowly add the flour on medium low speed. Once combined switch out the paddle for your dough hook and kneed on medium speed for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise for 2 hours, or until doubled. Punch down the dough and divide into 6 equal portions. Shape each piece into a slender almond shaped baguette and place on baking sheet. Leave enough room between baguettes for the dough to rise. Cover the baguettes lightly and allow to rise for two hours or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Slash baguettes with a razor or sharp knife and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.



Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm posting Vietnamese sandwiches and not science cookies, patience! Cookies take time.

Gobi Manchurian

I find that when traveling it is fun to not only try out the local food, but also the region's take on more exotic fare. I love seeing (and tasting) how a particular place interprets and adapts a foreign cuisine.

For example, seeking out 'American food' abroad tends to provide an interesting experience. I've sampled pizza in India, country fried chicken in Thailand, McDonald's in Paris, hamburgers in Belgium, chicken cordon bleu in Malaysia (and many others). Trying familiar things in unfamiliar places can be a fun culinary side trip.

I mean, you wouldn't believe how classy the Pizza Hut in Bangalore, India was. Decked out with marble, chandeliers, and crisp linens, they even had a host to seat you! Talk about stepping though the looking glass... and I would love to ramble on about eating abroad but I do need to get to the gobi at some point.

Now, I love Chinese food but when it comes to Chinese-fusion food, American-Chinese has nothing on Indian-Chinese cuisine. It isn't even a fair fight, that stuff is inspired. Who knew the marriage of a little soy with Indian spices could be so delicious?

When I lived in India, I ate a lot of 'Indian' egg rolls, dumplings and my favorite: Gobi Manchurian.

This is like a vegetarian hot wing. Florets of cauliflower, poached, battered and then fried. Tossed in a fiery sauce. As someone who loves spicy food, these satisfy with every sinus clearing bite.

(Mmm deliciously blurry)

One of my favorite gobi experiences was over a decade ago, sitting at a single table outdoor restaurant in Hampi (Southern India). Our adorable and very professional waiter, who was all of seven years old, took our lunch orders (Gobi, Vadai and Thumbs-UP colas, if I remember correctly). He brought us cold bottles of soda and then promptly got on his bike and peddled away. He came back from... somewhere, laden with fresh vegetables for our meal. These were taken back to his mother, our chef, who cooked them up for us.

Now, I might not be able to offer up anything as charming as that experience, but I can at least provide a recipe for good Gobi Manchurian.

Not so Humble Gobi Manchurian:
serves 4-6
1 head cauliflower, cut into medium florets
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chick pea flour (or corn flour)
1/3 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped green chili
pinch of salt
warm water

Manchurian Sauce
this is very hot, consider yourself warned
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion (white part only)
1 dried red chili chopped
1 inch ginger minced
2 jalapeños seeded and finely chopped
1-2 thai green chilies seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup

cilantro chopped
green onion chopped

Core and cut the cauliflower into medium florets. Bring a pot of water with a little salt to a boil and add the florets, cook for 10 minutes until tender and drain.

In a wok or deep fryer, heat a few inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees. For the batter, combine the flours, chilies, garlic and ginger, adding just enough water to make the mixture smooth. Toss the florets in a bowl with the batter to coat, then sprinkle in an additional 1/4 cup of rice flour and toss gently. Fry the florets in small batches until they are a deep golden brown and crispy, then drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, saute the garlic in the sesame oil over medium high heat for about 30 seconds, add the green onion, garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for another minute. Add the remaining ingreidents and cook over medium heat for a couple minutes until thick and bubbly.

Add the crispy fried florets to a bowl and pour the sauce over them, tossing to coat. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve immediately.

Spiced Rum Cream Filled Donuts

Making these was a mistake. An epic mistake.

While crafting this recipe and all its components, I did a lot of testing and tasting. I don't think I've ever eaten so much of something while developing a recipe. I'm usually pretty good about moderating my nibbling but these donuts... and that cursed rum cream--it just kept making its way into my mouth and I'm paying for it now with a serious sugar coma.

These donuts have been on my to-do list of recipes to develop for a while now. I've long wanted to make a batch of donuts that were filled with some kind of spin on spiced rum or hot buttered rum. So this is what I came up with: A bite sized donut rolled in cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spiced sugars, filled with a rum and spice flavored whip cream-lightened pastry cream.



The result, something as easy to eat en masse as a profiterole and twice as bad for you. I'm pretty sure I've already burned my calorie allowance for the next three days.

(Note: I've recently revised this recipe for a possible magazine piece. I've changed some of the measurements from weight to volume to make it simpler for the non-kitchen scale wielding baker and I've even improved on the rum cream filling)

Not so Humble Spiced Donuts:
yields over 100 mini donuts
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
4 1/2 tsp. (2 envelopes) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (95 degrees F to 100 degrees F)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
4 ½ to 5 cups (638 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Vegetable oil, for frying 

Place the milk in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Scald the milk by just barely bringing it to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the shortening; mix until completely melted, then set aside to cool.  

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes. 

Once the shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm temperature (under 100 degrees F), pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the yeast mixture and mix on medium-low speed until blended. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix for two minutes until well blended. Reduce speed to low and gradually add 4 ½ cups of the flour. Mix until blended, then increase speed to medium and continue beating until mixture comes together into a dough. Switch out the paddle for the dough hook and beat at medium speed for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will still look sticky and won’t come away from the sides of the bowl, but it shouldn’t be spoonable like batter. If it is, add a little more flour until it looks more like a workable dough. 

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough overnight or up to 2 days. Just give it a little more time to rise. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1 centimeter thick (a little more than ¼ inch). Cover with a clean, lint-free towel or a sheet of plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick spray and let rise until doubled in height, about 1 hour. Using a 1½-inch biscuit cutter, cut circles from the dough and set aside for frying. 

Line 2 baking sheets with paper towels to hold the fried donuts. In a deep fryer or large pot, heat at least 3 inches of vegetable oil to 345 degrees F to 350 degrees F. Working in batches, add the doughnuts and fry for a few seconds. When they begin to color, turn them over and fry on the other side until golden brown, about 1 minute. Turn over again to finish cooking the first side, about 1 minute more. Remove from the oil with a wire skimmer and transfer to the prepared pans. Let donuts cool completely before glazing. 



Spiced Sugar
3/4 cup turbinado or natural sugar (available at most supermarkets)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg 
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside until donuts are glazed. 

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 to 5 teaspoons water 
In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and water until smooth. The glaze should be runny, not stiff.   
Place several donuts in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with a little glaze; toss until fairly well coated. Roll the glazed donuts in the spiced sugar and set aside. Repeat until all the donuts are glazed and sugared. They are now ready to be filled. 



Not So Humble Rum Cream:
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Myers's dark rum
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. rum extract 

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; set aside. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and place them in a medium mixing bowl; set aside. Place the pod in a medium saucepan, add the milk and set over medium heat; bring to a simmer. 

While waiting for the milk to warm, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl with the vanilla bean seeds. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Once the milk begins to simmer, remove from heat and whisk about 1 cup of it into the egg mixture. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly, and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, until thickened. 

Remove from heat and add the rum. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. 

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add the chilled pastry cream and rum extract; beat until smooth and fluffy. 

To fill the donuts, fit a pastry bag with a round decorating tip, then fill the bag with the rum cream. Alternatively, fill a squeeze bottle. Insert a small knife into the side of each donut and twist to make a small opening. Pipe in the rum cream until it just starts to come out of the opening.   

Serve immediately, or keep refrigerated and serve the same day.