Weston is located in foodie heaven - aka Cleveland, OH. C-town may have a less than sparkling reputation: terrible winters, unlucky history in sports, a burning river - we're sure you've already watched our tourism video, so no need to go on. All of that is more than made up for by our rockin' food scene: home to a ton of ethnic diversity, well-known chefs, and excellent restaurants.
So we decided to take advantage of this by paying tribute to some of our favorite dishes in the land of Cleve. This recipe is modeled after a phenomenal Breakfast Bánh Mì that can be found at Jack Flaps in Ohio City. If you're ever visiting Cleveland, be sure to stop in and partake in the real thing.
Ours is different, of course, because we made the Vietnamese Sausage from venison. We also topped ours with some peppers we had marinating in tequila for the past couple of months. And the kimchi is our own version. Otherwise, this is a pretty good doppelganger for the Jack Flaps Breakfast Bánh Mì.
Makes 12 sliders
- Ingredients -
Vietnamese Sausage
1 ½ lbs venison, cubed
4 star anise, crushed*
1 teaspoon whole cloves*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
2 teaspoons fennel seeds*
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper*
*you could instead substitute 3 tablespoons of Chinese Five Spice - we like to make our own
small handful fresh cilantro
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon pink salt
3 tablespoons fish sauce
Kimchi
1 head napa cabbage
1 daikon radish
ginger root - slice off 10 coins with the mandoline
6 sprigs green onions
1 ½ tablespoons sambal oelek
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Tequila Marinated Peppers
Get the recipe
here
(you can also substitute store bought pickled jalapeños)
12 eggs
baguette or ciabatta
whipped cream cheese
fresh cilantro
- Tools -
Weston Mandoline
Weston Vacuum Canister +
Sealer
Weston Meat Grinder
Weston Slider Press
Prepare the kimchi
Use a
mandoline to shred the cabbage (discard the root) and slice the radish & ginger thinly.
Chop the ginger and scallions. Place the cabbage shreds into a large non-reactive bowl and sprinkle with kosher salt. With a wooden spoon, toss the cabbage to distribute the salt evenly, then mash the cabbage with the spoon for about five minutes. The cabbage will leak, which is what you want. Toss with remaining kimchi ingredients, then transfer to a
vacuum sealer canister. Use a
vacuum sealer to seal the canister. Refrigerate until you're ready to use it.
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| Vacuum Sealer Canister filled with kimchi, attached to our new Pro 1100 Vacuum Sealer |
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| Quick kimchi - traditionally, kimchi is fermented over a longer period of time, however our vacuum canisters help the process along, so you can enjoy it in hours. |
Prepare the sausage
Grind the venison through the coarse plate of your
meat grinder. Hand mix the ground venison with all of the sausage ingredients,
except the fish sauce. Grind the meat through the medium plate, then grind half of that through the fine plate. Mix together all of the meat and pour in the fish sauce. Mix well.
Use a
Slider Press to press the sausage blend into patties.
In a skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until it's lightly browned on both sides.
Bánh Mì
While the sausage cooks, fry the eggs (careful not to break the yolks - unless you're no fun and like over hard eggs).
Lay out the bread, spread cream cheese over the top half, put a couple of sprigs on cilantro over that, then some of the pickled peppers. On the bottom half, place a couple scoops of kimchi.
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| Tequila-marinated peppers |
Once the sausage is ready, place the patties on the bottom halves of the bread, cover each patty with a fried egg, then place the top bun over that.
Enjoy!
