Jessy's Wrap

Jessy knows how to make simple, delicious food. Here's a quick guide to a late morning or afternoon snack inspired from the young master of taste...  

Jessy's Wrap

Shredded carrot

Pea shoots, baby lettuce, etc.

Grated cheese (or crumbled feta)

Optional: add a fried or scrambled egg

Pita bread

Mayo

Banh Mi a sandwich already!

It's true. I like what the Banh Mi Boys do.  A lot a lot.

from blogTO

from thegridTO

They're my non-existent Asian grandmother's BBQ secrets carefully written down and translated by my fictional Asian hipster cousins, presented to an adoring public in a club-like atmosphere to throngs in downtown Toronto. The food is killer so you wait. People do that here.  (You know the space is loud when you step outside after eating one of their high flavour, inventive sandwiches into one of Canada's largest city's noisiest corners and it seems quiet.)

I think about their sandwiches and cannot get them out of my mind. Off I go on my bike to Spadina and Queen.  I've turned Nick onto them and proudly introduced another friend to the taste that is BBB. Even Fresh has their version of the Banh Mi sandwich (not served in their restaurants, but in their latest cookbook).

I read a quote from Calvin Trillin in a New Yorker magazine inherited from a family friend with a subscription:  "The only good argument for colonialism is the banh mi sandwich."  Ah, colonialism  jokes, so precious. 

Here's a recipe you can follow and get inspired by.  Easily replace tofu with chicken, beef, pork, squid or grilled fish.  The bread must not be regular sliced bread. That would be borrring...

Banh Mi
(c) 2011 from "Fresh: New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes from Fresh Restaurants"

serves 4

the slaw

2 cups julienned daikon

2 cups julienned carrots
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup agave

the protein

4 Tbsp canola oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp tamari
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 block tofu slices 

the sandwich
small bunch of cilantro sprigs

slathering of good mayonnaise (or Veganaise is quite good)

16 slices cucumber
4 large crusty whole wheat buns or a baguette 

Marinate the tofu in the oil-tamari-garlic mixture for at least 30 minutes. In a separate bowl marinate the daikon and carrots in the vinegar mixture for at least 20 minutes.

You can either grill the tofu or eat it as is.   Pour the carrot mixture through a strainer to rid excess liquid.

Warm the bread and spread on as much mayo suits you.  Layer on the tofu, slaw mixture, cucumber and cilantro and press the bread halves together.

Serve with a side of sweet potatoes fries or green salad, if desired.  

CBC's Spinach & Grilled Cheese Sandwich

 

There it is.  You know it, and you and I both love it.  I learned a couple new tricks to make a simple melted fist of comfort worth sharing.

I was driving an Autoshare to get groceries at 7pm on a recent Thursday.  Listening to CBC to keep me company, they had a short (and fluffy) piece about national grilled cheese day.  There was audio of the host observing as her producer cooked in the CBC "kitchen" (is this true?) making a traditional grilled cheese.  On the line was one of the creators/judges of the grilled cheese championship out there in California.  (Emphasis on 'out there').  But, what is worth sharing is that they were grilling both sides of the bread in butter before adding the filling and grating the cheese for an even melt.  I didn't make the fists of comfort that night for dinner but I did buy cheese at the store, and they did comfort us the next day.  

My choice was to add chopped spinach to the sandwich and serve with roasted broccoli on the side.   

Home on the Grange; the historic kitchens of the AGO

Sometimes all a girl like me wants is to spend a few hours at the AGO.  I'm seated in The Grange for a bite before I venture into the gallery, when I overhear the older woman to my right ordering exactly the same thing I did:  Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Greens (on the side) and an Americano with milk.  It is an interesting coincidence that I attribute to both our shared appetite for simple, 'school lunch' food and the fact that the sandwich is the cheapest on the menu.

Post-Christmas Little Italy lunch & Homemade Ricotta

Left to my own devices I would probably not have eaten meatballs two days after Christmas, but I wasn't alone.  Nick and I were checking out Little Italy and it was lunchtime.  We didn't see any other choices that were calling out to us, and we couldn't get the taste of an Italian sandwich out of our heads, so we popped into Hey Meatball! to order a taste.