The Funky Kitchen

Let’s play a game, shall we?

The Funky Kitchen has opened up a deli/sandwich shoppe. (Wouldn’t that be fun?) Say you were one of my regular customers, someone who could come in and say, “Hi Dana, I’ll have the regular please,” and I would be able to tell what it was.

What would your regular have on it? What would it be on? I ask because people’s answers vary so much, and due to the extremely adaptable nature of a sandwich, there are a lot of interesting ideas out there. If there was a signature sandwich with your name on it, a perfect sandwich for you, what would it be?

The Dana

(Sopressata sandwich on an English muffin, with all the right fixings)

Start with an English Muffin, vaguely toasted. I really like the size of English muffins for a sandwich, and also the spongy texture. I’m not known to be the greatest advocate of toasted bread, but a lightly toasted English muffin is perfect for the Dana sandwich. The little bit of crunch adds to the texture.

To the bottom side of the sandwich (depicted at the left) add a little bit of mustard, and to the top side (depicted at right) some mayonnaise.

To the bottom of the sandwich: a few slices of sopressata. Sopressata is my favorite deli meat by a fair measure. To the top of the sandwich: 2 or 3 layered pieces of romaine lettuce. I love the crunch of romaine, and the slight bitter flavor it has.

Atop the sopressata: a few shavings of old cheddar cheese. Atop the lettuce: A slice of tomato with black pepper cracked over top.

Stack the sandwich parts together, and voila! My most favorite sandwich. If you don’t have English muffins available, or are looking to have a larger sandwich, rye bread would be a close second choice for me.

Mr’s signature sandwich seems to be a riff on a club sandwich, and is much more gargantuan than mine. From the bottom, he has: toasted white bread, mayo, pepperjack cheese, bacon, chicken, toasted white bread, kolbassa (coarse garlic sausage), lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, more bacon and a third slice of toasted bread. Quite a sandwich! Maybe that’s what I should make next.

I’m looking for interesting ideas for what to put between slices of bread; what would your perfect sandwich be?

This time last year:  Spaghetti with Spicy Italian Sausage, Roasted Acorn Squash and Labneh

Last Thursday we jetted off to Osoyoos for a birthday party at a vineyard for one of Mr’s aunties. It was quite a weekend! We stayed right along the Similkameen River, and in addition to a smashing success of a birthday in a picturesque landscape, we got to: float down the river in kayaks and dinghies, eat fresh local pears, make pizza in a wood burning pizza oven, and taste some fantastic wines at the Forbidden Fruit Winery. We came home with some of the Impearfection, which is truly delightful.

After a scenic drive through the mountains, we got to spend a day in Vancouver (and the Greater Vancouver Area), in which we took in some more of the sights and paid a visit to Granville Public Market.  It made me pine for my kitchen, or at least to have enough time before flying home to cook with some of the amazing produce. Not unlike a child in a candy store told that no purchase will be made, it was a little bittersweet to see the splendor in front of me but know that there was no time, nor a kitchen available, in order to put it to use. I did have a splendid hot pastrami sandwich on rye from the market, though, crusts shared with the birds.

Ultimately, though, it was a fantastic trip. Good weather, a beautiful location, fantastic people and well prepared food can’t really go any other way.  I hope I get to see beautiful British Columbia again soon.

Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

1 sheet of puff pastry (Remember your all butter promise?)

4 oz goat cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 sprigs thyme

3-4 sage leaves

4 tomatoes

Directions

Roll out the puff pastry, using a rolling pin, into a roughly 13′x9′ sheet. Remove the thyme leaves from the twigs and chop them finely, along with the sage leaves.

Using a fork, mash the herbs, salt and pepper into the goat cheese.

Spread the herbed goat cheese over the rolled out puff pastry, leaving a half inch border clear around the edges.

Turn up the edges, perpendicular to the pastry surface, so that they will help to hold in the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch rounds, and arrange in rows over the goat cheese.

Bake in a 375° oven until the tomatoes are puckered, and the pastry is puffed, golden and crisp. Allow the tart to cool, and then cut into pieces.

Consume the tart quickly, it disappears faster than you’d think. This one here disappeared so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to take a picture of it after it came out of the oven. It was a truly pretty tart, but I guess that you’ll just have to take my word for it. Fresh tomato season is coming to an end for some of us in certain parts of the world, that this is a great way to celebrate the beautiful fruit.

Mr says the tart was super light and flaky, with all the fresh flavors of summer.

This time last year: Kettle Corn

I love nights like these.

Where the sky is a solid block of mauve cloud because there is so much moisture in the air, but the weather is not quite ready yet to break. When the heat sticks around long after the sun goes down because it has nowhere to escape, stuck in the space between the solid earth and the semi-solid sky. The lights seem to be a little bit brighter, buzzing with the energy of the heat, the building static in the sky.

This glowing nighttime world smells a little bit salty, from the sticky heat of the people inhabiting it. My hair, washed hours ago, is still yet to completely dry, and the moisture in the air makes it riotously curly. When I get a drink, I am surprised by how quickly the ice melts, shocked by the icy sting of the condensation that appears from nowhere and drips down my hands, reminding me of the possibility of coolness.

Even though it is so warm, breathing in warm air that is heated even more by the time you breathe it out, these are the nights where I want to dance. Despite the stickiness, the heat that clings to every bit of you, seeping in through your skin, all I want to do is move, excited by the electricity these nights seem to build as the blanket of cloud looms, building enough electricity to break into storm.

The band playing on the barely risen from floor level stage must be melting under the pot lights, belting out rockabilly music on open mic night. Aerosolized oil from the bar kitchen that is out of view makes you think of food; salty crispy french fries would be so good in this moment but the thought of eating hot food is unbearable, and anyway all I want to do is dance.

These nights, hot and sticky, charged with energy and threatening ominously to break out into storm are the best nights of summer. These moments are too good, I hope sleep does not come soon.

Pico de Gallo

2 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno pepper

1 small onion

4 Roma tomatoes

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp kosher salt

• Prep step: Peel the garlic. Halve the jalapeno and remove its seeds and membranes. Take the skin off of the onion and quarter it. Quarter the tomatoes and scoop out their seeds.
• 
• Into the food processor goes the garlic and half of the jalapeno, because you want the pieces of these to be the smallest. Pulse until they are fairly well chopped up.
• Add the onion to the food processor and continue to process. (I have a manual food processor, so my arm got a workout).
• When the onion has been cut up to your desired size (I like my pico de gallo pretty fine), add the tomatoes and continue to chop away.
• Empty the contents of your food processor into a bowl, and stir in the lime juice, salt and pepper.
• Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.

Thank you Mister for hand modeling yet again

What is really awesome is that pico de gallo, on nights like the one above, is not hot so you don’t raise your temperature too much, but the spice certainly fits the hot atmosphere.

Mister says: It is important to remember to remove the seeds from the tomatoes because otherwise you end up with a  very watery pico de gallo. The fact that pico de gallo is uncooked makes it that much more refreshing. For him, half of the jalapeno is the perfect amount of heat.