Bahn Mi
I was duped into thinking spring had sprung…..I even started to clean the inside windows…..you only do these job when you think it’s spring right? Or you get duped by your kids who convince you to do it (so they can get more pocket money) and then they get bored within 5 minutes….and the job is yours!!
Well at least the upstairs windows are clean, and I am waiting for another springlike flourish to finish them off downstairs. Somehow when the weather is drizzly, windy and a bit cold, my motivation for such jobs wain!
As with at the start of Autumn, I fight the weather with internal heat (See my smoothies with spice!) and this format is still working for me!! There is nothing like a chilli kick to wake the brain and that internal heat system started. That’s probably why at a birthday breakfast this week I made us all share a Bloody Mary at Flour and Ash…..I know!
As with most folks, you have peak days when its super busy and you are back late, and dinner has to be convenient. Tuesday is ours, and we normally will have a pizza with a massive salad and homemade dressing. As nice as this is, it doesn’t check the chilli box, and when I had some beautiful rare roast beef left over, this dish sprang to mind: Bahn Mi I thought.
This is a true hybrid sandwich, borne on street food markets, with influences from Vietnamese and French cookery. From France, a lovely fresh baguette and pâté, and Vietnam, the pickles and heat. It makes for a fuss-free meal, uses up leftovers in a new way and tastes…AMAZING! This is my take on the dish to use roast beef, but you could equally use roast pork or chicken. It’s a great one to have all prepped and can be assembled in 5 mins! The best thing is that you can customise your sandwich, with less or more of your favourite things!
As always, using up what you have is a big criteria for me so feel free to use common sense and tweak quantities if you have too much or too little of something. Let me know what flourishes you add to yours in the Fuss Free Foodie Facebook group! Take a look at behind the scenes action and food reviews on the Fuss Free Foodie page, see my fuss-free life in pictures on Instagram or what I’m tweeting on Twitter. Don’t forget to keep seeing FFF in your feed, keep giving a little like, comment or share! Lisa x
Bahn Mi
Feeds two adults for dinner
85g carrot, cut into matchsticks
85g cucumber, cut in half, core scooped out and chopped into matchsticks
85g red or white cabbage shredded finely
50g pâté
150g-200g leftover roast beef, sliced thinly
1 baguette
1 red chilli, sliced thinly
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
Sweet chilli sauce/Sriracha hot sauce
A handful of coriander leaves (approx 5g)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 150℃/300℉/Gas Mark 2
- Place the baguette in the oven for 5 mins to warm through and toast slightly on the outside.
- Put all of the chopped vegetables in a bowl, with the caster sugar and vinegar, add a twist of salt and scrunch together to mix well and set aside.
- When the bread is heated through, cut the size sandwich you would like and cut it in half horizontally. Spread around half the pâté onto the bottom half of the baguette.
- Layer up as little or as much beef on top of the pâté and then layer on some of the pickled vegetables, sliced chilli and coriander leaf.
- Drizzle the chilli sauce of your choosing onto the top or spread it onto the other half of the bread, before closing up this delicious treat!
ENJOY!
