Yummy herbed-infused kofta burgers. Instead of ketchup, we use a lemony tahini.

Chef’s tip: Chilling the meat makes it easier to form patties. If you want all your burgers to be of a standard size, use an ice cream scoop.

Ingredients

Burger:
½ pound ground lamb
½ pound lean, ground beef
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs, soaked with water, squeezed dry
½ small red onion, grated, and squeezed to remove liquid (reserve the other half for condiment)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ egg
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground fennel
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½  teaspoon ground chili/ cayenne

¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tablespoons mint, chopped
½ cup roasted pistachios or almonds, chopped finely
¼ cup crumbled feta
2 Tablespoons canola oil

Tahini:
1 small shallot, peeled and quartered
1 small clove garlic, peeled
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ Tablespoon cumin, ground
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup tahini paste, at room temperature, stirred if separated
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Cilantro leaves
1 tomatoes, sliced
3 pieces of Iceberg lettuce
½ small red onion, sliced
10 mini brioche buns

Preparing the burger patties
1.    Combine the burger ingredients together. Chill for 5 minutes in the freezer.
2.    Mince the parsley, cilantro, mint and chop the nuts.  Mix into chilled burger mix.
3.    Form meat into golf ball size balls. Using your finger, make a hole into the patty, add a small half teaspoon of feta, and form the meat around the feta.  Gently form into 2-inch patties.  Using your thumb, make a small dimple in the middle of the patty.  Place on a slightly oil baking sheet.
Cooking the burger
4.    Preheat oven to 375°F
5.    Heat a fry pan over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, sear burgers 1 minute on each sides, drain on paper towels then transfer to a sheet pan.  Transfer the burgers to the oven to finish cooking, about 4 minutes for medium rare.
Preparing the tahini
6.    Mix together all ingredients in a blender, and pulse till it forms a smooth paste
Assembly
7.    Split and toast buns.  Assemble burgers with tomatoes, onions, lettuce and a smear of tahini sauce.

Serves: Makes 10 mini burgers

The Vietnamese sandwich gets its heritage from French croques.  The traditional banh mi includes a smearing of liver pate. But the signature part of a banh mi is really the sweet and sour crunchy pickles.

Chef’s tip: Removing some of the bread from the middle allows you to stuff more of the goodness into the sandwich. Store-bought rotiserrie chicken will help you reduce the time to prepare the sandwich by half!

Chicken and Marinade:
1 large chicken breast, bone-in, skin-on
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil

Pickles:
½ medium carrot, julienne thin
½ medium daikon, julienne thin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup warm water
¼ English cucumber, julienne thin
1 jalapeno, seeded, julienne thin
½ cup cilantro leaves

Mayonnaise:
2 egg yolk
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2  teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, minced

1 French baguettes or 5 mini dinner rolls
1 tablespoons liquid amino
¼ pound fine-textured chicken pâté, thinly sliced (optional)

Preparing the chicken:
1.    Preheat oven 350F
2.    Place chicken breast on a baking sheet, rub skin with salt, pepper and oil.  Roast for 35-40 minutes until chicken is just cooked (190F).
3.    Remove the meat from the bones, discard skin and shred the chicken.
Preparing the pickles and vegetables:
4.    Julienne the carrot and daikon into shoe-string strips about 1/8 x 1/8 x 3 inches
5.    Sprinkle salt and 1 tablespoons sugar over the carrots and daikon, mix well and let it sit for 5 mins.
6.    Rinse with cool water, pat dry.
7.    Dissolve the sugar with the warm water, then add the vinegar.  Pour vinegar mix over the carrot daikon mix and let sit at least 1 hour.
8.    In the meantime, remove seeds from cucumber and slice cucumber into thin long strips.
9.    Remove seeds from jalapeno and make thin juliennes.  Remove tough stems from cilantro.
Preparing the mayonnaise:
10.    In a medium bowl, whisk the yolk, mustard and 1 tablespoon olive oil together until an emulsion is formed.
11.    Combine the olive oil and the canola oil in a measuring cup.  While whisking the egg emulsion, add the oil mixture in a steady, thin stream.  Make sure not to add the oil too quickly – add enough to the emulsion and make sure it is blended smoothly before adding more oil.  Continue to add the oil in a steady stream, whisking, until all of the oil has been added.
12.    Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the chopped coriander and lemon zest.
Assembly:
13.    Split the baguette, then remove a little of the bread centers.
14.    Spread the cut sides of the bread with mayonnaise and layer the sliced pâté on the bottom halves, sprinkle on some liquid amino, then stuff with the shredded chicken, pickles, cucumber, cilantro and a strip or two of jalapeno.
15.    Cut baguette into 3 inch pieces, or if using dinner rolls, cut into 2.

Makes 10 mini sandwiches

Mini little scrumptious paninis. And a recipe to make your own garam masala, too.

Chef’s tip: Store the garam masala in a tightly closed jar in a cool place for up to 6 months.

Ingredients

Garam masala:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 cardamon pod, seeds only
1 piece clove
1 small piece star anise
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cayenne
2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 oz salmon fillet, skinned
2 teaspoons canola oil

5 tablespoons greek yogurt, drained
1 small shallot, thinly sliced, and soaked in water
2 oz paneer (substitute with Cotija cheese)

1 baguette
Olive oil

Preparing the Garam Masala
1.    Toast the cumin, coriander, fennel seeds, cardamom, clove, star anise and black pepper over medium heat until fragrant, shaking the skillet often, about 2 minutes
2.    Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, grind whole spices. Mix together ground spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt
Preparing the fish
3.    Preheat oven 400F
4.    Coat the salmon with the spice rub.
5.    Lightly coat a large ovenproof skillet with oil, and place over medium heat.
6.    When the skillet starts to smoke, place salmon pieces into the pan.  Sear salmon until spices are golden and toasted, about 2 minutes each side, flipping once. Immediately transfer the pan to the hot and roast for another 5 minutes.
7.    Remove fish and mash with yogurt.  Add more salt if needed.
Preparing the Panini
8.    Thinly slice paneer /cheese.
9.    Thinly slice shallots and soak in water for 10 minutes, drain and pat dry
10.    Slice baguette into ¼ inch thick rounds, brush one side with olive oil.  Place on a baking tray, oiled side down.
11.    Smear on salmon paste, top with a thin slice of shallot, cheese and another slice of bread.  Brush the top with olive oil.
12.    Heat a Panini grill or a grill pan.  Place Panini on grill, press lightly till golden marks are created and cheese is melted.

Makes 12 paninis

The British have their dainty cucumber sandwich….eaten with raised pinkies. Malaysia, a former British colony, added a little a lot of spice to the cucumber sandwich, and came up with the sambal sandwich. The butter tempers the spice of the sambal, and the cucumber cools the palate.

Chef’s tip: This sambal recipe is very versatile. You can toss in some fried eggplants to get sambal eggplant, some cooked okras to get Sambal Ladies Fingers, or just eat it by itself! It freezes very well, too.

Ingredients

Spice paste:
3 fresh red chilies
2 small cloves of garlic
3 small shallots, sliced
2 teaspoons roasted belacan
½ inch piece of tumeric/ ½ teaspoon tumeric powder
½ inch of galangal
1 lemongrass, sliced, white part only

2/3 cup of dried shrimp, soaked

1 teaspoon tamarind paste mixed with ½ cup water
3 tablespoon sugar, to taste
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup canola oil

6 slices of brioche bread or white bread with crust removed
½ stick butter, at room temperature
¼ English cucumber

Preparing the spice paste:
1.    Grind all spice paste in a food processor, set aside.
2.    Drain the dried shrimps.  Separately, place in food processor and grind till fine.
Cooking the sambal:
3.    In a wok or a saucepan, heat ¼ cup canola oil on medium high.  Fry paste till fragrant, red and oil has separated, about 7-10 minutes.  Add more oil if necessary to prevent sticking.
4.    Add the dried shrimp and sugar.  Fry until aromatic, about 5 minutes.  Add tamarind liquid.  Continue cooking, adding more oil if necessary for another 10 minutes until the sambal is a dry and deep red in color.
Assembly:
5.    Slice cucumber into thin rounds
6.    Remove bread crust, and place two slices of bread on a cutting board.  Generously smear butter on one side of each slice of bread.
7.    Spread on a thin layer of the sambal, top with cucumber and sandwich with buttered bread.
8.    Cut bread into 4 diagonally, making 4 tiny triangles.

Makes 12 mini sandwich fingers

On the Silk Road path, the Uyghur cuisine in north western China uses a lot of spices and features goat and lamb dominantly. It’s not what one would typically think of as Chinese foods. The Uyghurs also serve most of their dishes with a chewy flatbread that reminds me of bagel just holeless.

This Xinjiang Lamb Mini Pita Pockets dish takes its inspiration from the flatbread and the grilled leg of lamb that you find in many Xinjiang restaurants.

I think Marco Polo would approve.

Chef’s tip: If you are buying whole lamb loins, freeze it for 20 minutes before cutting. It will help you make really thin slices.

Ingredients:

½ lb of lamb loin (or pre-sliced shabu-shabu lamb)
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried mint
1½ teaspoons ground fennel
1 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne/chile powder, less depending on preference, optional
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup watercress, daikon sprouts or any peppery micro greens
4 mini pitas

Preparing the lamb:
1. Slice the lamb as thin as possible (alternatively buy the pre-sliced shabu-shabu lamb meat).
2. Mix all the dried spices, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.
3. Marinate lamb with the garlic and spices, for at least 20 minutes, preferably overnight.
4. Cooking the lamb: Add ½ tablespoon of oil in wok or a cast iron pan over high heat till very hot, almost smoking. Sear the marinated meat in 2 batches, about 3 minutes or until meat is nicely brown and caramelized. Repeat with more oil for remaining meat.
Assembling the pockets:
5.  Cut pitas into 2. Stuff pita with 2 tablespoons of spiced lamb and some micro greens.

Serves: 4