I know you must be in shock that I can cook something besides dessert. Thanks to my wife, I am a recent subscriber to Bon Appetit magazine. In the first issue that I received, the cover featured meatballs and included "5 Amazing Recipes" for them. I don't know about you and your relationship with meatballs. For me personally, meatballs have been challenging. I've made them a few times for pasta and I'm always disappointed. I'm worried that they will be raw or undercooked in the middle so I tend to cook them into little dried out prunes. But hey, I'm always up for a challenge. When I saw "5 Amazing Recipes" to choose from, I had to go for it. I decided to make Pork Meatball Banh Mi sandwiches. As with any gluten free sandwich, the biggest obstacle is the bread. I did something that I can't believe I haven't thought of before. I made my French bread recipe but divided the dough into 4 smaller sub-sandwich sized loaves in the pan.
The original French bread baking instructions call for 35 minutes of baking, cover with foil, and bake another 35 minutes. I reduced the time by 5 minutes before covering with foil and reduced by 5 minutes after covering with foil for a total 60 minutes of baking. 
The results turned out great. I ended up with 4 hearty, rustic, sub-sandwich loaves.Here is the recipe for the inner working of this incredible sandwich:
Pork Meatball Banh Mi
inspired by Bon Appetit
Hot Chili Mayo:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions (finely chopped)
1-1/2 tsp Sriracha hot chili sauce (I used Huy Fong brand)
Meatballs:
1 pound ground pork (not Italian sausage)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil (I used 3 Tbs dried basil)
4 garlic cloves (pressed)
3 green onions (finely chopped)
1 Tbs fish sauce (mmm mmm good)
1-1/2 tsp Sriracha hot chili sauce
1 Tbs sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Sandwiches:
1 cup coarsely grated carrots
1 cup coarsely grated peeled daikon radish (I used red radishes)
1/8 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sesame oil
4 GF loaves of bread(see above)
1 thinly sliced jalapeno chili
16 large sprigs of cilantro
Prepare the hot chili mayo in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour, even 1 day ahead of time. I reduced the amount of sriracha sauce from the original recipe. I like spice and flavor but I don't like to burn my mouth off. (The amount listed in the recipe above is the amount I used.) Feel free to add more or less as you see fit.
In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix thoroughly with your hands.
Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Using a Tablespoon, scoop out 1 spoonful of meatball mix and shape into a roughly 1 inch diameter meatballs. Note: use a little water in the palm of your hand to help roll the meatballs without them sticking to your hand. Also, try to roll the meatballs just until firm and held together. Avoid compacting the meatballs too tightly. Place the finished meatballs on the plastic wrap lined pan. Cover the raw meatballs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. The meatballs could even be made the day before you plan to eat them.
For part of the sandwich filling; combine the carrots, radish, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
To cook the meatballs, heat 1 Tbs of sesame oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, cook the meatballs, leaving plenty of space between each one. Turn the meatballs frequently to cook all sides. it should take about 15 minutes per batch of meatballs. I used an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature. Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. As the batches of meatballs are cooked, placed the finished ones in a baking dish in the oven to stay warm.
Let's put it all together. Slice the bread in half lengthwise, leaving the back of the loaf attached like a little hinge. Spread the hot chili mayonnaise on the inside top and bottom of the bread. Drain the liquid from carrot/radish mix. Place 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of carrot/radish mix along with 4-5 warm meatballs inside the sandwich. Add a few sprigs of cilantro and some slices of jalapeno (if desired.) I can't even begin to accurately describe how all the flavors explode in this sandwich. You get some heat from the sriracha, a little sweetness from the pickled carrots and radish, tenderness from the meatballs, and crunch from the bread. This is one incredible sandwich. I can't wait to try some of the other amazing meatball recipes from Bon Appetit. Enjoy!!!
In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter. Microwave at 70% power for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the chips around. If they are not quite melted all the way, microwave for another 30 seconds.
Next, stir the peanuts into the melted chocolate/butterscotch/peanut butter.
Empty the package of mini marshmallows into a large bowl. Slowly pour in the 
Finally, line a 9x13 pan with tin foil. Pour the coated marshmallows into the pan and spread evenly. Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting.
There is a little Christmas magic in every bite. These bars are so simple and have such a great combination of flavors. Make some up today, you won't be disappointed. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!!
Start by lining the bottom of your spring form pan with parchment paper. Take the cookie wafers and pulse them in a food processor a couple times. Add the sugar and nutmeg and pulse again until mixed. While the food processor is running, pour in the melted butter. Try not to spill it all over like I did. Take the crust mixture and pour it into the pan. I used a flat bottom drinking glass to press the crust evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Don't worry if the crust doesn't go all the way up the side. Just try to make it even throughout.
To make the ganache, bring the cream to simmer in a large sauce pan. Remove from the heat; add the chopped chocolate and Kahlua. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Pour about a 1-1/2 cups of the ganache into the spring form pan over the bottom crust to make a nice fudgy layer. Place the spring form pan with the crust and ganache in the freezer for 30 minutes. Keep the remaining ganache at room temperature.
While the ganache is cooling in the freezer; let's throw the filling together. Now is a good time to pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Using a stand mixer; beat together the cream cheese and sugar until thoroughly combined. Next beat in the gf flour. In a small bowl; combine the rum, instant espresso powder, vanilla, and molasses until the espresso powder dissolves. Pour the rum/espresso liquid into the cream cheese and beat until thoroughly mixed; scraping down the sides as necessary. Finally, beat in the eggs one at a time; scraping down the sides after each one.
Remove the spring form pan from the freezer. Pour the cheesecake mixture in, it will go almost all the way to the top. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the top puffs up and doesn't jiggle too much in the middle; about 50-60 minutes. (a little jiggle in the middle is OK) For the topping, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. After the cheesecake has baked 50-60 minutes, pour the sour cream mix over the hot cheesecake and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Take a knife and run it along the edge of the pan to release the sides. Fill a pastry bag with some remaining ganache and decorate your little heart out. Top with a few well placed chocolate covered espresso beans for a little more kick. Refrigerate for at least 6 more hours before serving. It is definitely best to make this the day before you plan to serve it.
Go ahead, dig in. You only have a couple more weeks before those New Year's resolutions kick in. Enjoy!!!
One day Chocolate and Sugar decided to hop in to a whirlpool to relax with a few friends. GF flour went in first followed by Xanthan Gum. Chocolate or "Cocoa" as some of his friends called him went in next. Sugar, Salt, and Baking Soda all joined the gang in the whirlpool. They took a spin around a couple times just until they were all dizzy and mixed up. They were having fun playing in the whirlpool but something just seemed to be missing.
Everything got very quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, Chocolate saw this figure with the sun glistening off of her skin. "Whhoo...whoo are you?" Chocolate stammered. "My name is Butter," replied the mysterious figure. " I just moved here." "Can I join you in the whirlpool?" asked Butter. Before Chocolate could say a word, Sugar yelled out; "Sure, there's room for everyone!" Butter was very tall, about 14 tablespoons tall to be exact. She made her way over to the whirlpool. As the whirlpool swirled around, butter eased herself into the swirling mix 1 tablespoon at a time until she was all the way in. Milk and Vanilla were always running late. They showed up and jumped in at the last minute.
It was getting a bit late. Butter said that she should hurry back home before her family starts to worry. As Butter tried to get out of the whirlpool, she realized that she was stuck to all her new friends. All that spinning in the whirlpool had mixed them together. "It's OK." said Sugar. "Tell you what, we'll all just come back to your house to meet your family." So the whole gang got out of the whirlpool together and formed into a log about 12-14 inches long. They wrapped themselves in a parchment paper beach towel and went to Butter's house located in the Refrigerator District. The new friends stayed at Butter's house for about 1-2 hours. They lost track of time because they were having such fun.
It came time for everyone to go home but they were still stuck together. What a dilemma. "What if we slice this log into 1/8" - 1/4" pieces?" asked Sugar. "Great idea!" said Butter. "But I'm so cold" exclaimed Chocolate. "Here, let's lay down on a parchment lined pan and cruise into a 350 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes to warm up." said Sugar. 
So all the friends warmed up in the oven before going their separate ways. Something magical had happened that day. Butter, Sugar, and Chocolate realized that they would be best friends forever. Little did they know, they were about to meet some more new friends who would transform them into something even more special. To be continued.............. 
The random number picker sat ready as all the comment numbers were placed face down on the table and shuffled around. 
The drawing started slowly but.......
every winner got a little happy dance after their number was drawn. 
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