Peanut Butter Jello

I came across the Serious Eat’s Wednesday contest and thought I would come up with something for this week’s challenge, hangover remedies.

The easiest ingredients to find and cook with on the Serious Eat’s linked website’s list of hangover remedies is: water (obviously : ), tuna, apple juice, orange juice, honey, peanut butter, almonds, ginger, sugar, lemon juice, pickles, asparagus, peanuts, coconut water, and bananas.

So seems like an easy, quick recipe using multiple hangover remedy ingredients would be a sandwich made with 1 can tuna fish, ½ cup chopped almonds, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp grated ginger, topped with pickles and asparagus spears, with a glass of water/coconut water or orange/apple juice on the side.

I personally tend to prefer an Irish breakfast, however (preferably from a diner in Yonkers or the Bronx).  Nothing like the combination of blood pudding, bacon, tomatoes, eggs, and toast to get me back on the wagon. Tomatoes have lycopene, which is thought to prevent some types of cancer.  Blood or black pudding is boiled in pig’s blood in a length of intestine, and other intestinal recipes, like menudo, are reputed hangover remedies. The eggs are protein, the bacon provides some needed grease, and the toast has carbs to absorb the alcohol.  A balanced hangover meal, I think at least : )

But, in the spirit of the items listed on the hangover remedies link, I decided to try to remake one of the suggestions – the peanut butter and banana sandwich.  I have been intrigued by savory jellos since the tomato gelee (or jello) recipe we entered that earned us a place as finalists in the Red Fruit Fest, so I thought I would try a peanut butter jello with bananas combination.

Peanut Butter Jello with Banana Sandwich

1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

½ cup cold water

½ tsp salt

1 package gelatin

1 banana

Crackers or bread

Celery (optional)

Heat peanut butter with ¼ cup water over low heat until hot.

Mix gelatin and ½ cup cold water.  Mix the hot peanut butter into the gelatin mixture and pour into bowl or dish.

Chill in fridge for 4 hours.

Slice banana, celery and plate.  Spread jello on crackers with banana and/or on celery.

Lawyers with food trucks

Since I, like many other DCers, are fascinated by food trucks, I thought it would be interesting to see how many lawyers turned food truck vendors I could find.  So turns out a couple lawyers across the country have decided to run a food truck rather than review documents (although not as many as I’d expected).  Cupcake trucks appear to be winning (for now) among the lawyer turned food truck owner crowd.   But I’m sure that will change with the market for lawyers continuing to be difficult and as entrepreneurial lawyers catch on to the food truck craze (I admit, I sometimes think about it myself…).  Although their trucks and cities vary, and they come from a range of law school tiers, lawyers turned food truck vendors have practiced law for 8 years or less,  and none appear to be former “biglaw” attorneys.  

Buttercream (Philly) – University of San Francisco School of Law

Buttercream offers a variety of cupcake flavors, from “vanilla vanilla,” a yellow cupcake with vanilla frosting, to red velvet and cream cheese frosting cupcakes, and occassional special flavor cupcakes.   The founder, Kate Carrara, worked for time in Scranton at the law firm her grandfather founded, Lenahan & Dempsey, for 6 years, followed by working for 2 years at another firm where she did coding.

Washington Post article on Buttercream here

 

Cupcake Stop (NYC) – New York Law School

Cupcake Stop has a host of delicious and fun flavors, including Boston Cream, Black and White Cookie, Hostess Cupcake, Drunken Raisin, and Nutella Crunch.   The founder, Lev Ekster, is a recent New York Law grad turned cupcake entreprenuer.  Seems from the press and his success that he’s probably making more money than many of his law school peers. 

Inc.com coverage on Cupcake Stop here

 Curbside Cupcakes (DC) – George Washington University Law School

Curbside Cupcakes sells mainly traditional flavor cupcakes like vanilla, red velvet, chocolate, and lemon, with some less traditional flavors like almond joy, key lime, and cookies and cream.  The founder, Sam Whitfield, a 2002 graduate of GW law, was a contract attorney before starting his truck.   I’ve waited 45 minutes in line to buy a couple and they were delicious.

Above the Law coverage on Curbside Cupcakes here

 Green House Food Truck (Dallas) – unknown law school

The Green House Truck was started by a “nonpracticing” lawyer turned foodie, and serves up healthy, seasonal food under $10, like grilled sweet potato fries, miso flank steak, and watermelon gazpacho.  

Dallas Observer coverage here

Sabor’a Street (DC) – USC Law School

According to welovedc.com, this newcomer to the DC food truck scene plans on serving latin-inspired food, including interpretation of staples such as tacos and arepas.   It’s being started by a married couple; he’s a chef and she is a practicing immigration lawyer and 2003 University of Southern California law graduate. 

Welovedc.com coverage here

Are there any others…?

Gochujang Blue Cheese Burger with Gochujang Marinated Bacon and Blue Cheese Cole Slaw Contest Recipe

Gochujang Blue Cheese Burger with Gochujang Marinated Bacon and Blue Cheese Cole Slaw Recipe

Because I can’t resist a contest and making a new recipe (or at least a new take, this one using Annie Chun’s Gochujang sauce), and because the only reviews of it I found online suggested it wouldn’t be good on a burger, I decided to take up the challenge.  Below is the recipe I submitted (more pics to come). 

Ingredients:

1b ground beef

4-6 pieces bacon

Annie Chun’s Gochujang sauce (4 to 5 tbsp)

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 package/container crumbled blue cheese

2 cups red cabbage (shredded)

1 english cucumber

Jicama

Radishes

Mayonnaise (1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp)

2 tbsp dijon or grainy mustard

1 lime (juice)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp minced ginger

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp brown sugar

4 hamburger buns with seeds

Kimchee (optional)

Lettuce, sliced tomato (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:

Burgers:

1.         Marinate meat in mixture of 2 tsp gochujang sauce, ½ tsp worcestershire sauce, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 tbsps garlic, 2 tbsps ginger, 2 tbsps brown sugar for a couple hours or overnight, and form patties.

2.         Grill until done.

Blue Cheese Cole Slaw:

 

 

 

1.         Mix ½ cup blue cheese, the cabbage, ½ cup mayo, mustard, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl together. 

2.         Cover and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Pickled cucumber/radishes/jicama

1.         Cut cucumber, radishes, and jicama into pieces. 

2.         Bring ¼ cup rice vinegar, ¼ cup water, 4 tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt to a boil in a saucepan, then cool to room temperature. 

3.         Combine vegetables and let sit in fridge for a few hours or overnight.  

4.         Drain vegetables before using. 

Gochujang mayo

1.         Mix 3 tbsps mayonnaise with 1 tsp Gochujang sauce.

Gochujang marinated bacon

1.         Place bacon in plastic bag with 1 to 2 tsps gochujang sauce and shake to distribute the sauce. 

2.         Preheat over to 400 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack.  Cook for 10-18 minutes depending on thickness of bacon and desired crunchiness.  If bacon begins to stick to the foil, turn over. 

3.         Remove and drain bacon on paper towel.

Putting it together:

Spread gochujang mayo on bun.  Place burger on bun, gochujang marinated bacon on top, and sprinkle blue cheese.  Top with pickled vegetables and blue cheese cole slaw.  Optional: add kimchi, tomato, onions, and/or lettuce. 

Eat, Pray, Love Cupcake

The Eat Pray Love Cupcake placed third in Modern Domestic’s contest to depose the bacon cupcake.  The cupcake is an original recipe, combining the flavors of the three countries she visits in Eat Pray Love in a cupcake – Italy (lemon and basil), Bali (coconut), and India (cumin).  Recipe below:

http://www.moderndomestic.com/2010/09/we-have-the-winner-the-next-big-cupcake-flavor-to-depose-the-bacon-cucake/

Ingredients:

Lemon Basil Coconut Cumin Cupcake

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp basil

1 tsp coconut extract

Zest of 1 lemon

1 ½ tsp baking powder

2 eggs

½ cup butter

¼ cup milk

pinch of salt

Lemon Basil Syrup

2 cups fresh basil

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

zest of one large lemon

Vanilla Lemon Basil Icing

3 tbsp butter

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4-6 tbsp Lemon Basil Syrup

2 cups confectioners sugar

½ tsp cumin

Sprinkle with flaked coconut