Grilled Scallop Sliders – Banh Mi Style

scallop sliders, banh mi
Scallop “Banh Mi” Sliders

Grilled Jumbo Sea Scallop on a Mini Crescent Bun
Pickled Carrot, Radish, and Red Onion
Fresh Cucumber, Jalapeño, and Cilantro
Sriracha Mayonnaise

The original idea was to grill some gorgeous scallops and build a petite sandwich in the style of the super-popular Vietnamese Banh Mi. My dilemma was how to make a scallop slider with the correct balance of bread-to-scallop. Slider buns or rolls can readily be purchased at the supermarket or bakery. But those buns are still way too big to fit a single sea scallop. After many phone calls to my friends (bakers and chefs), I decided to try manipulating Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls. Baking from scratch was not an option, as I was teaching a Cooking Class highlighting grilling (not baking). And it was important that the participants be able to easily re-create all the dishes.

I unwound the individual rolls, cut the dough in half, then reshaped and baked it for 12 minutes. Voila! The result: perfect scallop-sized buns. Just before serving, the mini buns were sliced, both sides of the interior brushed with a bit of butter, then toasted.

Dry pack, wild caught Atlantic sea scallops have a sweet, rich buttery taste. They contain no preservatives or additives and do not ooze liquid during the cooking process, unlike wet scallops that have been soaked in a phosphate solution. The scallops are simply tossed in olive oil with a bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper, then grilled on the BBQ using a grill pan over high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Simple, smoky, and sumptuous!

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The Kaleidoscopic Appetizer Course

banh mi, canape, colorful appetizer, best appetizer, easy appetizer
all-color appetizer course
bánh mì canapés

toasted french bread, sriracha aioli, cinnamon meatloaf,
pickled pink radish, cucumber, pickled carrot, cilantro
green jalapeño, diced red jalapeño, yellow marigold petals

kaleidoscopic appetizer
Silent Auction Donation by Taste With The Eyes

Donation to the Rolling Hills Country Day School Parents’ Club Social:

  • A seven course seasonal gourmet dinner catered in your home
  • Each course incorporates unique ingredients for a one-of-a-kind menu
  • Invite members of your circle of friends to enjoy dinner along with members of the school’s administration and faculty for a total of 16 people

Meant to kick off our recent Fundraiser Dinner with a riot of color (menu here), these wild-spicy-vibrant bánh mì canapés left no doubt that the evening’s menu would be all about intense flavor and hue, captivating the eye as well as the palate.

The appetizer course, which we plated on a couple large trays for guests to help themselves, was a kaleidoscope of color. Then, when the guests were seated for dinner, each individual course was conceptualized as a single-colored dish. Purple, green, yellow, pink, black, orange. How different from the previous post, the monochromatic black course!

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Cinnamon Pâté for Bánh Mì Canapés

banh mi canapes, banh mi crostini, banh mi

Bánh Mì Canapés with Cinnamon Pâté
Toasted Baguette, Chili Aïoli

Pickled Daikon, Carrot & Cucumber
Sliced Jalapeño, Cilantro Garnish

“There’s no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté.
You can just think of it as meat loaf.”
Julia Child

Our sage advice: Don’t wait for your next French or Vietnamese event to serve these canapés. In fact, they would most definitely be a hit at any gathering, perhaps even at your Superbowl Party?

Not only were we crazy about them as an appetizer on New Year’s Eve, we also thoroughly enjoyed them the next day at our New Year’s Day Brunch.

cinnamon meatloaf, cinnamon paté

For our fabulous NYE French-Vietnamese Repas du Soir, we passed Bánh Mì Canapés and drank Champagne while we prepared the next five courses for dinner.

Banh Mi Canapés were the perfect introduction to our meal – a blend of French and Vietnamese cuisines. We took the wildly popular Vietnamese Baguette Sandwich and transformed it into a colorful, spicy, exotic canapé.

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A Trip to Little Saigon & The NYE Repas du Soir

southeast asian table setting
A Trip to Little Saigon
The New Year’s Eve Repas du Soir
New Year’s Day Fabulous Leftovers Brunch

Best friends, great memories, stellar food – that’s how we celebrate the New Year! The old gang is together again, this time we take A Trip To Little Saigon & cook a NYE Repas du Soir together! My old dear friends, dating back to our restaurant days in the 80’s, are visiting for the holidays.

It was Tori’s idea to spend the day in Little Saigon. Eating lunch, laughing, taking photos, getting massages, and shopping. It was her idea that led to the inspiration to cook French/Vietnamese for dinner. We picked up authentic ingredients for our repas du soir and returned to my home in LA in the late afternoon to drink Champagne and create a six-course meal together.

southeast asian table setting

The dinner table was pre-set in a casually elegant Southeast Asian style with orchids, bamboo, and the color red to symbolize wealth and prosperity. We cranked up the holiday music and started cooking; everyone participated in the creation, photography, prep, and execution of the menu. We had a blast!

I had no intention of submitting this outing for the Foodbuzz 24X24 event until I read that the folks over at Foodbuzz were interested to see how Featured Publishers would be spending the last day of 2011. We had terrific culinary/cultural plans that turned out to be a fantastic way to ring in the New Year.

Extending a very special thank you to my friends FA, Al, Kirk, Tori, and Tom for your love & friendship and sense of humor & adventure! Thank you to Foodbuzz for choosing A Trip to Little Saigon & The NYE Repas du Soir as a participant in December’s 24×24 event. Foodbuzz 24×24 showcases posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers, highlighting unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour period.

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