Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Special Grilled Cheese

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Grilled cheese is so damn good. Regardless of the type of cheese or bread, one can usually make it turn out really good.

That said, there are some things you can do to bump a grilled cheese up a notch. Better cheese, better bread, and a few additions make this version fantastically good.

What’s so different? In this case, the cheese, the jam and a little trick I learned from Serious Eats to make the bread more crispy. Read the recipe to find out the trick!

What you’ll need for 2 sandwiches:

  • Four medium-thick slices of bread—the best types for grilled cheese sandwiches are those that toast well
  • Enough slices of soft or semi-soft cheese to cover a slice—I used brie, but you could also use camembert or Taleggio
  • 2 slices of American or Jarlsberg cheese
  • Enough raspberry or other dark-berry preserve to cover 2 faces of bread
  • Enough mayonnaise to cover 6 faces of bread (about 6T)

What to do:

Begin heating a large frypan over medium heat. The pan should reach 325-350 degrees for cooking the grilled cheese. How do you know the pan temp? Use an infrared thermometer. They’re indispensable for cooking.

Lay out the four pieces of bread on a large cutting board. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice and place them mayo-side down in the pan. Cook for about 3.5 minutes, until the cooked side is toasted. Remove from the pan and place the bread toasted-side up on your cutting board.

Spread a thin layer of preserves on two of the slices, and top them with an even layer of cheese slices. Keep the cheese no less than 0.25 inches from the edge of the bread so it doesn’t melt and spill out while cooking. Top the cheese with the two remaining bread slices, cooked-side against the cheese. Spread mayo on the top slices and flip the sandwiches mayo-side down into the frypan.

At this point, you’ll have the un-toasted side of the bread slices facing upward on the cooking sandwiches. Carefully spread mayo on these un-toasted sides of the slices, either in the pan using an offset spatula, or carefully remove the top slice from the cooking sandwich without disturbing it–careful, the cheese may already be melting. Cook for 3.5 minutes, or until the bottom slice is toasted.

Flip the sandwiches over and cook for another 3.5 minutes. At this point, your sandwiches should be ready.

Enjoy!

Vietnamese Pork Meatballs (Nem Nuong) with Sweet-and-Sour Peanut Sauce

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This is a winning recipe. I found this in a library book and copied it years ago, but have completely forgotten the title and the author. I did find the exact recipe online, but the poster did not attribute the recipe to the cookbook author.

These were outstanding in both their flavor and texture, and the keys to success are using really finely-ground pork and being sure to make the sauce that goes over the meatballs when cooked. Of course, they’d be better if grilled, but broiling them in a hot oven worked quite well.

Know ahead of time that these call for the mixed meat and spices to chill for 2-3 hours before forming and cooking, so please plan ahead for maximum flavor!

What you’ll need:

For the meatballs:

  • 2t peanut or sesame oil (sesame oil adds a nice fragrance)
  • 4 shallots, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb ground pork (a finer grind will result in very tender meatballs)
  • *2T nuoc mam
  • 2t Vietnamese five-spice powder (not Chinese, they are different)
  • 2t sugar
  • 2 cups bread crumbs or 2T potato or corn starch (I used starch)
  • Salt and pepper 
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, stemmed (optional)

For the sauce:

  • 2t peanut oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 red Thai chili, seeded and minced
  • 2T roasted peanuts, finely chopped
  • *1T nuoc mam
  • 2T rice vinegar
  • 2T hoisin sauce
  • 0.25 cups coconut milk
  • 0.5 cups water
  • 1-2t sugar

*To make a quick version of nuoc mam, mix these ingredients. Don’t worry about leftovers, it’s so good that you’ll find plenty of uses for it. Or just halve the recipe.

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup lime juice or vinegar
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
  • 2 finely chopped small red chilies

What to do:

First, make the sweet-and-sour peanut sauce. Heat the oil over medium heat in a small wok or heavy pan, then stir in the chili and sauté for a couple of minutes. Now add the peanuts and garlic, stirring for a couple more minutes. Be really careful that the garlic doesn’t burn, otherwise you’ll need to start over with new garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the sugar. Boil the mixture for minute. Stir in the sugar, and adjust sugar and salt, to taste. Set aside to cool.

Now, it’s time to make the meatballs. Heat the oil over medium heat in a wok or small frypan. Add the shallots and sauté them until they begin to brown a bit. Now add the garlic and continue cooking until the garlic just starts to take on some color. Immediately remove from heat so the garlic doesn’t burn. Set aside to cool.

Add the pork to a large bowl and stir in the cooked and cooled shallots and garlic. Now add the nuoc mam, five-spice powder and sugar. Season well with pepper, and add a bit of salt, if you want, but you shouldn’t need it. Using your hands, knead the mixture until just combined. Over-kneading will result in tough meatballs. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

About 30 minutes before cooking, begin soaking 8 wooden skewers. With about 15 minutes of skewer-soaking left, heat up your oven or grill and begin forming the meatballs. Remove the ground pork from the refrigerator and add the starch or breadcrumbs. Knead until the binder is well distributed throughout the pork.

With wetted or gloved hands, roll 20 equal-size meatballs, then thread them onto your soaked skewers.

Cook with whatever method you’re using, until the meatballs are cooked through and 165 degrees inside. Quickly reheat the sweet-and-sour peanut sauce you had set aside.

Arrange the meatballs on a platter with a bed of cilantro, or chop the cilantro and use as a garnish. Spoon the sauce over the meatballs and serve hot.

Hawaiian-style Fried Chicken

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I’ll throw out a blanket statement to which you can react: Japanese cuisine offers some of the best deep-fried foods the culinary world has to offer. Just think of the deliciousness of fried onigiri, katsudon, tori-no-kara-age, agedashi-dofu, tempura. The list goes on. While this recipe is not strictly Japanese, it is very closely based on tori-no-kara-age, and given that there are tons of people of Japanese heritage in Hawaii, it’s no surprise that someone developed this absolutely fantastic dish.

This version is similar to Cook’s Illustrated’s take on the recipe, which is as good as any.

That’s all I have to say about it. Make it. You’ll love it.

What you’ll need for the chicken

  • 3-oz piece of ginger, unpeeled, cut into 0.5-inch slices
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 cup water
  • 0.5 cups soy sauce
  • 3T packed light-brown sugar
  • 1T toasted sesame oil
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and halved crosswise—if they’re huge, cut them into thirds or smaller
  • *2.25 cups potato (or corn) starch—that’s a ton of it, you probably won’t need that much
  • 2T sesame seeds—I skipped these because I hate them
  • 1.5t baking powder
  • *3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil—doubt you’ll need even close to this much

*These seem like ridiculously large amounts. I’ll explain in the instructions.


What you’ll need for the optional dipping sauce:

  • 0.5 cups seasoned rice vinegar
  • 0.25 cups soy sauce
  • 0.25 cups lemon juice (about 2 fresh lemons, is using)
  • Black pepper

What do do for the dipping sauce:

Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and season with pepper, to taste. Set aside until the chicken is cooked.

What do to for the chicken:

Run the ginger and garlic in small food processor until finely chopped, then transfer to large bowl. You could also just mince both of these ingredients by hand, instead, or just thinly slice them. Add the water, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, whisking to combine. Add the chicken and submerge it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Alternatively, you could dump all that stuff in a sealable freezer bag and marinate it in there.

When you’re ready to cook, get a big plate and another big plate or a platter ready. Line the big plate or platter with paper towels and put a wire rack over it. 

Whisk the potato starch, sesame seeds, baking powder, 1t salt, and 1t black pepper together in large bowl. Use only 1 cup of starch to start, and add more if you need. 2.25 cups is a lot of wasted potato starch.

Working with a piece of chicken at a time, remove it from the marinade, allowing excess marinade to drip back in bowl. Dredge the chicken into the potato starch mixture, pressing to adhere. Gently shake off excess and transfer chicken to a large plate. When done with all the chicken, cover the plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. I skipped this step, because it was time to get cooking. Besides, one wouldn’t do that with regular tori-no-kara-age, upon which this dish is closely based.

Add about 2-3 inches of peanut or other neutral oil to a saucepan, wok, or whatever you deep-fry in. I really doubt you’ll need the 3 quarts that are called for. 

Heat the oil to 375 degrees, and carefully add enough pieces of chicken so they don’t touch. If they stick together, use cooking chopsticks or heatproof tongs to separate them. Keep an eye on the oil temp, too. If it gets too low, turn up the heat. Low-heat frying leads to greasy food. Cook the chicken until golden-brown. Remove the done chicken a piece at a time to the plate with the wire rack. Repeat until all the chicken is done.

Serve with dipping sauce. Enjoy!