Happy New Year!!! (Bahn Mi and Goop's Vietnamese Salad)

Happy first birthday to this crazy little blog!  I only had 16 posts in 2013, so my goal this year is to double that number by 12/31/14.  Technically two recipes in one post should count as 2 posts, but whatevs.  I have a 2nd and 3rd blog post for 2014 right up my little sleeve, don't you worry.

This year was a very low-key New Year's in our neck of the proverbial woods.  It feels like the older we get the more appealing it is to be in bed by 12:30 (if not earlier), which allows one to wake up early on New Years Day and plan a sumptuous early afternoon soiree.

Our New Years crew over the years has evolved, as well.  In our 20s the folks we hung out with were the folks we went to bars with.  We drank, we smoked, we puked, and usually we spent the night at a beautiful cabin on Rock Creek, just outside of Red Lodge.  There are probably pictures hidden on an external hard drive of our first New Years at the cabin, back in like 2001 or 2002, that include me wearing some type of pelt like a New York socialite whilst Thad played dj and had the whole place bumping to Tha Dogg Pound.  Aw, the good old days.

Now, in our 30s, we hang with a crowd that prefers to celebrate New Years on 1/1, rather than trying to make it to the ball dropping.  I've never been good with the pressure for holidays to be awesome, so I like to celebrate them a day or two late, then the pressure to perform is lowered considerably.

I made pho a couple years ago for NYE, and it turned out surprisingly good for my first attempt at a rather long and involved international recipe.  This year I decided to spare myself the hours of preparation making my own stock and go with another Vietnamese staple: bahn mi.  I was first introduced to this dish by a dear friend who made a wonderful home version for me on a trip back to my hometown.  Tis a glorious concoction of meat and mayo, cilantro and slaw, crunch and chew.

I decided to try the Bon Appetit variation of the sandwich using meatballs and, on the suggestion of the same dear friend I mentioned above, saved myself the trouble of rolling a crap load of meatballs by turning the meat mixture into an Asian inspired meatloaf.  Once cooked I laid slices of meat in the sandwich  and it was just as delicious, if not more so, than the balls.  I made two full sandwiches, one with ground turkey and one with ground pork... both were delicious.

Since I was buying a crap-load of fresh herbs for the sandwiches I decided to make a slightly bastardized version of Goop's Vietnamese salad (no watercress, no shallots, no fresh ginger.... replaced with green onions and a tiny amount of ground ginger).  Whoa nelly, the flavor explosion from all the fresh herbs in this dish was just dynamite.

All in all New Years Day was a rousing success.  We played some games, ate up all the food, had some uh-mazing desserts, and everyone was home by 6!  A perfect way to spend New Years Day!