I've had these interesting-looking sandwiches on my radar for a while now. I just keep having bread and no turkey or turkey but no bread. I finally managed to have both together though, so I took the opportunity to try this slightly luxurious lunch offering.

Turkey Melts with Pickled Apples

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2021

Ingredients

• 1 c. cider vinegar
• 5 Tbsp. honey, divided
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 apple
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise, divided
• 2 Tbsp. Roman mustard
• 2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp. dried)¹
• 8 slices bread
• 8 slices cheese (cheddar, Swiss, or a mix)
• ~400g sliced turkey (preferably smoked)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Core and halve or quarter the apple, then slice thin.
3. Combine vinegar, 1/4 c. of the honey, and the salt and bring to a boil².
4. Remove from heat, add the apple, and let stand for 5 minutes.
5. Drain³ the apple and set aside.
6. Whisk 1/4 c. of the mayo with the mustard, rosemary, and remaining 1 Tbsp. of honey.
7. Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with the remaining 1/4 c. of mayo.
8. Place the bread mayo-side down on a baking sheet and spread with the honey-mustard mixture (you may not need all of it).
9. Place a slice of cheese on top of 4 of the bread slices and top with ~100g of turkey.
10. Divide the pickled apple amongst the 4 sandwiches, then top with remaining cheese and bread (with mayo side facing out/up and the honey-mustard side facing in/down).
11. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 8-10 minutes, flip, return to oven and bake for another 5-8 minutes.
12. Serve with carrot sticks and/or a soup⁴ or salad of your choice.

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¹ Whoops! Just realized that I completely missed the rosemary in mine! Didn't even see it in the ingredient list until just now. Oh well... it was still delicious. But I do think it would've been even better with a bit of rosemary in the sauce. ^Back
2 The Cook's Country folks have you do this in the microwave, but, having done it that way this time, I think I'd actually prefer doing it on the stovetop in the future. Use whichever method works best for you. ^Back
3 The brine can be reused once or twice more. The ATK folks also recommend that it makes a good base for a vinegarette and that they often serve these sandwiches with a green salad. I didn't have any salad greens handy, so TF just reheated the brine, added a few more apples to it, and stuck it in the fridge for now. We've been using them to make more sandwiches when we need a quick lunch fix. Maybe I'll try using it for a salad dressing once the apples run out... ^Back
4 I think a soup featuring white beans, pumpkin, or butternut squash would go particularly well with these sandwiches. ^Back

Based on the ingredients it looks like this recipe was aiming for a galbijjim sort of vibe, only with less fruit in the marinade, no veggies in the stew, and made with steak instead of short ribs.

Personally, I found the finished dish a little too sweet for my tastes. I think I'd be inclined to cut back on the brown sugar and/or omit the honey next time. But it was quite good. And the meat was very tender. I did kind of miss the veggies though. I'd be tempted to toss in a carrot or two next time, just to lighten it up a bit. It's very nice overall though.

Korean-Style Beef Bowls

Slightly adapted from Healthy Instant Pot by Alexis Mersel

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, coarsely choppsed
• 1/2 c. soy sauce¹
• 1/2 c. brown sugar²
• 1/4 c. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2-3cm piece of fresh ginger³, peeled
• 2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. honey⁴
• 1 Asian pear
• 1kg stewing beef
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced thin
• 6 radishes, sliced thin
• seasoned rice vinegar⁵
• cooked brown rice, to serve
• 2-3 scallions, sliced (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Add the yellow onion, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, ginger, pepper, and honey to a blender.
2. Peel, quarter, and core the pear and add it to the blender as well. Purée until smooth.
3. Pour the marinade over the beef, turn to coat, cover, and marinate (in the fridge) for 4-24 hours.
4. Meanwhile, place the red onion and radishes in a bowl and pour in enough vinegar to cover them. Cover and store in the fridge for at least 15 minutes and as long as 2 weeks.
5. When the meat is done marinating, transfer it and the marinade to the InstantPot and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes followed by a 15-minute natural release.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the sauce, then switch the InstantPot to sauté medium for ~10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit.⁶
7. Serve the beef over rice, topped with sauce, pickled veggies, scallions, and sesame seeds (if using).

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¹ I used a mix of dark and light soy sauce. ^Back
2 I actually used 1/4 c. of this Splenda brown sugar blend stuff which is supposed to be equivalent to 1/2 c. of brown sugar. I might try cutting it back to 1/3 c. of brown sugar or 3 Tbsp. of the Splenda stuff next time though, just to cut the sweetness a bit. ^Back
3 I used 2 Tbsp. of ginger paste in place of the fresh ginger for this. ^Back
4 I would consider omitting the honey next time. ^Back
5 The original recipe calls for white wine vinegar with a pinch of salt added to it. I already had some nice, vinegar-y cucumber and onion salad on hand, so I just used that in place of the onion and radish blend this time around. That said, if I were doing it again and didn't have any appropriately prepared veggies already on hand, I think I'd be inclined to just use seasoned rice vinegar here. ^Back
6 I was very, very tired by the time the beef was finished yesterday and I actually completely forgot this step. So we have very saucy beef indeed. Whoops! ^Back

Danmuji (Korean Pickled Radish)

I love gimbap. I've only had it once before, but it really made an impression on me.

I know that, to look at photos of it, you might just think it looks like sushi. But it really does have its own unique flavour. The rice is seasoned with sesame oil and the danmuji gives it a very distinctive sweet and sour kick. You can put all sorts of other things in it. Occasionally homemade gimbap may even forgo the danmuji (and just use egg and/or kimchi), but the radish really makes it special -- at least for me.

One of the main reasons I've never made gimbap before is because I've never been able to find the danmuji for it. Maybe I've just overlooked it at the Asian grocery store, but I've never seen it there. But I finally decided that if I couldn't buy it, maybe I could try making it. I've been told that proper danmuji takes more than a month to make. This isn't that. This is a quick pickle that I just tossed together last night. So I'm sure it's not super authentic. But I'm hoping that it'll still give me some of that characteristic danmuji flavour.

A note on vinegars: The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. of unseasoned rice vinegar to which you add water, sugar, and salt (among other things). I only had seasoned rice vinegar. And only about a cup at that. So I did some substitutions. I think you could probably make this entirely with seasoned rice vinegar and just omit the sugar and salt called for. I made it with a 1:1 mix of seasoned rice vinegar and cane vinegar, so I put half the sugar and a little less than half the salt called for. To be absolutely sure you get the right proportions and flavour, it's best to use unseasoned rice vinegar as suggested. But, in a pinch, you can swap things around a bit and adjust the other ingredients as needed.

Danmuji

From Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. unseasoned rice vinegar (see note above)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
• 2 bay leaves
• 15 black peppercorns
• 450g daikon radish, cut into long strips or discs as preferred

Directions

1. Combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns and bring to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and add daikon.
3. Press a paper towel into the surface of the brine to ensure the diakon is completely submerged and not in contact with the air. Set aside for 1-2 hours.
4. Transfer daikon and its brine to a clean jar. Store in fridge until ready to use.

I'd never really thought of trying to pickle grapes before. The flavours used sounded really interested. And I had a bunch of nice locally grown grapes that the Kidlet decided she didn't like, so this seemed like a good use for them.

Pickled Grapes

From Baking Sense

Ingredients

• 1/2 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1" piece of vanilla bean¹
• 5 white or green cardamom pods, lightly bruised or cracked
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns
• scant 1/8 tsp. red chile flakes
• 227g seedless grapes
• 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 c. (vanilla) sugar
• scant 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Place cinnamon, vanilla bean, cardamom, peppercorns, and chile flakes in the bottom of a 500mL canning jar.
2. Add the grapes into the jar on top of the spices.
3. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil.
4. Cook until sugar is fully dissolved.
5. Pour the hot brine over the grapes and seal the jar.
6. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. Once cooled, place in the fridge. Allow to sit for 1-2 days before using.

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¹ Rather than using one small piece of a fresh vanilla bean, I decided to try using a few large pieces of spent/empty pods. I also used vanilla sugar rather than plain granulated sugar to add some extra vanilla flavour to the mixture. I think this worked quite well and it made for a great way to get a second use out of spent vanilla pods! ^Back

Cuban Sandwiches with a Twist

Based on the Pork Cutlet Cuban Sandwich recipe card from the most recent issue of Cook's Country, but we subbed out the ham for bacon.

Cuban Sandwiches with a Twist
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2015/2016
4-8 slices bacon
4 pork chops, trimmed/de-boned
pepper, to taste
3/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. chopped dill pickle
I forget how much yellow mustard
4 kaiser rolls
8 slices swiss cheese
1 c. chopped cilantro

1. Fry bacon.
2. Remove bacon from pan and fry pork chops, seasoning to taste.
3. Remove pork chops from pan and add orange juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until syrupy.
4. Remove from heat and stir in pickle and mustard.
5. Lightly toast kaiser rolls.
6. Add 1-2 slices of bacon to the bottom of each roll. Add a slice of cheese to the top and bottom of each roll. Continue to toast until cheese is melt-y.
7. Top each roll bottom with a pork chop. Spread 1/4 of the sauce over each chop. Sprinkle with cilantro and cap with the cheesy roll top.