This week we are having two small dinner parties, both informal, outdoors, not requiring anything other than good food and company. So for last night's dinner I wanted to do something a bit exotic and yet, well, informal.
Fred and Peggy are great friends of ours and we are all great foodies. Fred and I love to cook, so I guess you could say that whenever one or the other of us cooks a meal we try to do something that will impress the other--not competitive, but fun and just wanting to make sure we are doing something unusual and different.
After a recent trip to the Fremont district of Seattle to try the outrageously delicious Cuban Sandwich at Paseo on Fremont Street, ( I recently wrote a blog entry about this restaurant) I decided I wanted to try and come up with a Cuban sandwich of my own.
Another item on my menu was an Arugula Salad with Watermelon, Feta Cheese and Lime Vinaigrette. This I found in recent pages of Bon Appetit Magazine. So here are my recipes for this dinner.
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My Cubano Sandwich with Carmelized Onions and Garlic Aioli Sauce
1-5# pork shoulder
for marinade in a gallon zip lock bag place:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
juice from 1 lime
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 T brown sugar
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2-medium Walla Walla sweet onions
Seal zip lock and toss and turn bag mixing and spreading marinade evenly over the pork. Place bag in the fridge for at least 24 hours turning from time to time to keep all sides of the pork marinading.
Turn on y
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mFKHzBKDE6M/SngIb_XSAdI/AAAAAAAAGbI/J7fIaPKy6Bk/s200/paseocuban.jpg)
In a hot saute pan with olive oil, place chunks of 2 medium Walla Walla sweet onions and saute until browned and carmelized. Toss onions with the pulled meat.
For Garlic Aioli Sauce:
2-egg yolks
1 t-lemon juice
1 t-kosher salt
2-3-cloves of garlic
1 cup--Olive Oil
1 t-cold water
Mince garlic. Place in mortar, add salt. Crush with the pestle un
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mFKHzBKDE6M/SngJAeYKYnI/AAAAAAAAGbY/nsB3I-sDrxA/s200/alioli-aioli-garlic-mayonnaise.jpg)
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Arugula Salad with Watermelon, Feta and Lime Vinaigrette
3 cups--Arugula or mixed micro greens
3 cups--Watermelon, cut into 1-inch square pieces
4-8 ounces--Feta cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
1-2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T Grey Poupon Mustard
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground white pepper
Mix all ingredients together in a blender except oil. Blend ingredients adding oil slowly until emulsified. Chill for 24 hours for
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mFKHzBKDE6M/SngIi7pN2NI/AAAAAAAAGbQ/ldgRPVdcSko/s200/watermelon-arugula-feta.jpg)
Remember, as always, you should consider these recipes as a starting place for your own creativity. Don't like watermelon, try some other fruit like strawberries. Don't like pork, try a piece of beef or do chicken. Do a little research at any of the food websites found along the right margin of my blog and come up with your own creation or variation. Make it fun and make it your own! Bon Appetit!
1 comment:
Yum! That sounds delicious.
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