Bun Rieu - Vietnamese Crab Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

5-6 pounds tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup tamarind paste (dried and condenses with seeds)
1 small can minced shrimp with spices
1 large can minced crab with spices
6 eggs

Directions:

In a small pot, add tamarind and add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. In large (6 or 8 quart) stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add dried shrimp to hot oil and fry for for 2 minutes, then add garlic for another minute. Strain the liquid from the boiling tamarind into the stock pot. (The seeds of tamarind pods are dried with the flesh, but the seeds are bitter so we only want the tamarind flavor in the liquid.) Add more water to the seeds and bring to a boil again. Continue this process of extracting the flavor from the tamarind until the water start to run more clear and you've extracted as much flavor as possible. (This process goes much more smoothly if you have already hot/boiling water on hand, i.e. in a kettle.) When you've finished with the tamarind, dispose of the leftover flesh/seeds. Add more water to the pot until about 3/4 full and bring to a boil.


Quarter the tomatoes making sure each quarter has a part of the head attached to it. This keeps the tomatoes from completely falling apart. When the broth approaches a boil, carefully add the tomatoes. (Don't splash yourself with the hot broth, I've done it once or twice. Not pleasant!) Simmer for an hour.

Empty both cans into a mixing bowl and beat together with eggs. Turn the heat on the stock pot to low and pour the egg/spiced seafood mixture into the pot slowly in circles making sure the mixture has room throughout the pot. Slowly simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve over vermicelli, traditionally accompanies with a spread of Vietnamese herbs, lettuce, lime, bean sprouts, and other unidentified items. So good and a great way to make use of tomatoes when they are in season, ripe, and cheap!

Chinese Watercress Soup

I grew up on soup. My mother made sure we had soup with every dinner. On the days when we wouldn't, dinner seemed incomplete. The slow-cooked taste of simmer low-fire Cantonese, or lou fo tong (老火湯, lǎohuǒ tāng), is a smell and flavor that brings me back to my childhood. Some people have chicken pot pie, others have roast beef. Cantonese soups are my comfort food, this being one of my favorites. 

Ingredients:

1 lb pork neck bones
2 bunches watercress, washed and drained
3 dried honey dates (蜜枣)
6 dried red dates (红枣)
3/4 cups Chinese South Almonds ( 南杏)
Salt to taste

Directions:

Take your soup pot and fill three-quarters (3/4) full with water and put it over high heat. Bring a second (smaller) pot of water to a boil. Put the pork neck bones into the water and let it boil for 5 minutes; this helps get rid of all the bloody water and any excess fat and discharge from the meat. Your end product will be a clearer, cleaner broth.

Turn off the heat and drain the water from the bones. Rinse several times with water until the water runs clear and all the grit is off the bones. Then add the bones to the large soup pot. Add the dried honey dates and the Chinese south almonds to the pot. Wait for the pot of water to come to a boil. If the pot is already boiling, give the ingredients 5-10 minutes in water before adding the watercress.

Lower the flame to a medium/medium-low heat and simmer the soup for 30-40 minutes. The watercress will turn brown and less appealing than the vibrant green when it first enters the pot but the soup you are left with is full of earthy flavor and super delicious!

Caramelized Onions

I truly do not understand when people say they don't like onions or garlic, both add the most wonderful flavors to food. One of my favorite condiments is caramelized onions. Slowly cooking onions over a low heat brings out all the sweetness and takes away the bite. They are great in sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, and I'm willing to try it on most other things too. Always make more than you need and bump up the flavors in your food for a week.

Ingredients:

2 lbs onions, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a pan with the olive oil over medium low heat. When the butter melts into frothy goodness, add sliced onions to the pan. Add salt to the onion to draw moisture out. As the onions begin to soften, lower the heat to low to prevent browning.

Cook the onions over the low heat for about 30 minutes. Stir the onions every 5 minutes or so to make sure they are cooking evenly. When the onions get a slight caramel color to them, turn the heat up to medium. Add wine to de-glaze the pan and season with salt and pepper.

 As the wine evaporates, cook for another 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another 5 minutes over medium/medium-high heat. This gets the sugar to have maximum carmelization at the end without burning over the long cooking time. Turn off heat and cool the mixture. Store in an airtight container and keep for up to a week in the refridgerator. (I don't think they will last that long though.)

This recipe multiplies easily so make as much as your heart desires! Happy cooking!

Hunger Games - Noodles in Green Sauce

How perfect that it is St Patrick's Day weekend because my next Hunger Games recipe is from the same meal as the paper thin beef carpaccio, noodles in GREEN SAUCE!

"The servers, all young people dressed in white tunics like the one who gave us wine, move wordlessly to and from the table, keeping the platters and glasses full. About halfway through my glass of wine, [Katniss] head starts feeling foggy, so [she] changes to water instead." Well let me tell you something, I will NOT be changing to water this weekend. And hopefully there will be young hot people dressed in GREEN keeping my glass full.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup onion, finely diced
3 cups milk
10 oz. frozen spinach
1/2 lb pasta
salt & pepper


Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add pasta. Follow directions on package; cook until pasta is al dente.


Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Put onions in with butter and sweat them for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add flour to the pan and cook for 2-3 more minutes. 

Whisk in 2 cups of the milk slowly. I use skim milk to keep it a little healthier but any milk you have on hand will do. Simmer for 5 minutes while the sauce thickens. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add the frozen spinach to the sauce and stir together. Simmer for another 5 minutes until everything is well combined and the sauce takes on a green hue. Stir in remaining last cup of milk until the sauce thins out a bit and reaches desired consistency. Taste and season with more salt and pepper. 

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Toss together and give the pasta a few minutes before serving.

Hunger Games - Lamb Chops with Carrot Soup

My second Hunger Games inspired recipe is Katniss's first meal after volunteering as tribute. She never got the chance to eat her fish stew with greens. Tearful goodbyes and nerves of steel must take a lot of energy because Katniss was able to chow down a big meal of thick carrot soup, green salad and lamb chops on board the Panem-bound train. 

After teetering on the edge of starvation most of her life, this was her first 'Capitol' meal and the sheer volume of it had her mind whirling. Hunger Games, the movie, is actually working with non-profit organizations - Feeding America & World Food Programme - to bring attention to issues of food shortage and those who don't have enough to eat on a daily basis.  

This meal is actually not that difficult to make. In order to minimize cost and effort, each component of the meal is 5 ingredients or less (water, oil, salt & pepper not included).

 Ingredients:

Carrot Soup - 
1 lb baby carrots
1 can (14 oz) diced carrots
1 small onion
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 bay leaf
3 cups of water
salt & pepper


Lamb Chops - 
1 lb lamb chops
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
salt & pepper


Kale Salad - 
2 cups kale, chopped
1 tablespoon shallots
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix garlic, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place lamb chops into the mix and make sure each one is coated in the marinade. Set aside while you prepare the carrot soup.

Heat a pot with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onions into the pot and season with salt. Sweat the onions for a few minutes and add the carrots and tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add water to the vegetables; season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.


Mix the shallots, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and olive oil into the vinaigrette for the kale salad. Rinse and chop the kale into small pieces. Since kale is a tough green, it can withstand being dressed a little early. You can toss vinaigrette into the kale now or later if you prefer.


Heat a skillet or grill to a high temperature. Dry off excess moisture off each lamb chop and place onto the grill. Cook for 5 minutes before flipping and give the second side another 4-5 minutes for a medium rare chop. If you prefer it more well done, adjust time accordingly. Give the lamb chops 5 minutes of resting time before serving.

Turn off heat under the carrot soup. Pour contents into a food processor or blender. Puree the soup until smooth. If the soup seems a little chunky, add a bit more water until the contents reaches desired consistency. Taste and season one last time. 

Serve the soup with the lamp chops and green salad & enjoy Katniss's first 'Capitol' meal!

Hunger Games - Fish Stew with Greens

Like a growing percentage of the country, I am a Hunger Games fan. No surprise either, USA Today just gave the top three spots for February 2012's best-sellers to the Hunger Games trilogy. The action, the drama, the love triangle, and of course the kick-ass female protagonist Katniss Everdeen.

Another part of the story that caught my attention was the food. The dish descriptions were so detailed it made me hungry. So naturally I began to make plans to attempt some of these dishes. I will be making some creations inspired by the Hunger Games, but these recipes will be MY interpretations. Since I'm the one who has to eat the product, I want it to be tasty... here we go!

With the movie coming out in less than 3 weeks (WOOHOO!!!!!!)  I thought I should try my recipes in chronological order from the novel. The first scenes of the book is Gale and Katniss hunting in the woods past the fence of District 12. After collecting their bounty and trading in the hob, she uses the remainder of their fish and greens to make a stew. Here is my version of that.


Ingredients:

1 lb white fleshed fish (cod/halibut/sole)
1 lb spicy Italian sausage
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, diced
2 cans low sodium chicken stock
6 cups water
1 cup cream
4 cups kale, chopped
salt & pepper

Directions:

Heat a pot over medium heat.  Put the vegetable oil into the pot and add the spicy Italian sausage. Brown the sausage for 5 minutes. Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes into the pot with the vegetable oil. Cook for another 5 minutes until the onions become translucent.

Add the chicken stock and water to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes into the boiling broth and adjust stove to medium-low temperature. Simmer for 15 minutes.

While the broth is simmering away, get the kale and fish ready. Take the kale off the stem and chop into bite-size pieces. Take skin off the fish (if there is any) so you are only left with the flesh of the filet. Cut the fish filet into one inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the fish and kale into the soup. Simmer for another 5-7 minutes until the fish is cook all the way through.

Turn the heat off and pour in the cream. Taste and season one last time and serve immediately.

Stuffed Zucchini

When things come into season and produce is really cheap at the supermarket I can't help myself. A trait I inherited from my mother, if it's on sale and fresh, buy it! However, it can lead to an overstuffed refrigerator and ten pounds of zucchini that needs to be consumed.

When you have too much of an ingredient, that ingredient needs to become the main component of a meal, as to use as much of it as possible. Luckily, I love zucchini so I made delicious stuffed zucchini boats and had it for dinner and lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

4 zucchinis
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the zucchini length-wise and scoop the inside out of the halves. Chop the flesh of the zucchini into similar sized pieces like the onions and tomatoes.

Heat the skillet over high heat. Put oil into the pan. Add the chopped zucchini, onions and garlic in with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper while letting the vegetables soften. After 5 minutes, the onions start to look translucent; add tomatoes to the pan and cook for a few more minutes.

Line an oven safe sheet pan with aluminum foil and place emptied zucchini halves onto the baking sheet. Fill the zucchini boats with the zucchini, onion & tomatoes. Stir together the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley in a bowl and top the zucchini halves with the mixture.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until breadcrumbs are golden brown. Serve with a side salad for a light meal or add a pasta or protein for a more filling dinner.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Arrabiata Sauce

Most people like their spaghetti with normal marinara sauce... tomatoes stewed into a thick sauce with some basil for aromatics and carrots for sweetness. I personally like my sauce with a little more KICK! My go-to sauce for pasta would definitely have to be the fiery spice of arrabiata sauce. This easy sauce can be made with things in most pantries for a quick and easy meal.

According to wikipedia, arrabbiata (the Italian word for angry) is a Roman sauce of garlic, tomatoes, and red chili cooked in olive oil. Basil is sometimes used, although the majority of chefs in Italy do not use basil for this recipe. The dish is usually served with pasta and chopped fresh parsley sprinkled on top. That's how I like! SPICY!



Ingredients:

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 large can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb whole wheat spaghetti

Directions:

Put a pot of water on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and infuse the oil with those flavors for 2 minutes. Watch carefully to not burn garlic or you have to start over. Add onions to the oil mixture and soften for about 5 minutes. Hand crush the whole tomatoes into the pot along with all the juices; this gives the sauce better texture.

Allow the sauce to simmer while preparing the pasta. Salt the pasta water and throw the whole wheat spaghetti. After the spaghetti is al dente (about 10-11 minutes for whole wheat), add pasta to the sauce pot.

Toss the pasta in with the sauce and turn of heat. Give the pasta a few minutes in the sauce and allow it to absorb the flavors of the sauce. (This would be a good time to prepare a salad to accompany pasta.) When ready to serve. Top the sauce pasta with parsley and give it one last toss before plating.

Twist the pasta with serving fork and place a heap of spaghetti on each plate. Top with a little extra sauce and sprinkle Parmesan  cheese over the dish for a extra richness and flavor.

Ultimate Romantic Dinner - Fondue

In lieu of Valentine's Day tomorrow, I was thinking about a truly romantic dinner. What should that entail exactly? Is it having someone cook you a great meal? Is it cooking together? Should it be extravagant and complicated? I think there needs to be a delicate balance between cooking and enjoying on a sensitive day like V-day. Someone cooking for you is nice but that would require spending some time apart. Cooking together and doing it well is a romantic notion to me but it can go awry when trying to do something overly complicated.

The answer... FONDUE! It's simple to prepare and it just requires 15-20 minutes of prep work. While one person melts the cheese into a sauce, the other can prepare all the dippers. Team work people!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Swiss
1/2 lb Gruyere
1 cup white wine
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Suggested Dippers:

Bread
Apples
Chorizo sausage
Baby potatoes
Broccoli

Directions:

Grate the cheeses into a bowl and toss with the cornstarch.

Heat your fondue bowl (read the directions on your specific fondue bowl, some can be heated on stove while others need to be transferred) or a pot over medium low heat. Rub the inside of the pot with garlic. Discard the garlic for a subtle garlic taste but I don't think there is ever enough garlic. I mince the garlic and put it into the pot with wine. Bring the wine and garlic up to a simmer.


Add cornstarch coated cheese slowing to the simmering wine a little at a time until all the cheese is melted. Add pepper and nutmeg. The cheese sauce should have the consistency of a thick sauce that coats the back of a spoon but drips smoothly. If the cheese sauce is a little thick, add a bit more wine. If too thin, sprinkle in some more cornstarch.

Prepare all the dippers into a good dipping size. Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Blanch the vegetables for a couple minutes before eating. 

Asian Braised Pork Belly

With my family background and my mother's love of home cooking, I grew up eating all sorts of food and a lot of it became a fusion of what she knew, what she liked, and what we had in the house. This braised pork recipe is my mom's, a mixture between filipino, vietnamese, and chinese maybe? Mostly made with things she always had in the pantry for an easy dish she could throw into a pot and leave for a few hours while she ran other errands.

 

Ingredients: 

1 lb pork belly

2 teaspoon vegetable oil

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 inch piece of brown rock sugar (1 tablespoon brown sugar)

2 teaspoons black pepper

Directions:

Take the pork belly and but into 1 1/2 inch cubes. 

Heat the vegetable oil in a small bottom heavy pan or dutch oven pot (with cover) over medium high heat. When oil begins to ripple, brown the pork belly in the pan for 2 minutes just to get the fat to soften a bit. Add garlic to the pan and continue to brown from another 2 minutes. Keep a watchful eye on the heat; do not like the garlic burn! 

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and freshly cracked black pepper to the pot. Let the liquid come to a boil and when the sugar is completely dissolved, add enough water to cover the pork belly. Cover the pot and let the pork belly simmer for an hour. 

After the first hour, check the pork. If the pot looks dry, add more water to the pot and simmer for another hour. Turn off the stove and let the pork cool in the sauce for 5 minutes before serving. Best served on top of white rice with a little of the sauce spoon on top of it and a side of vegetables. 

Italian Meatballs

What comes to mind when you think comfort food? Mashed potatoes. Meatloaf. Fried chicken. Mac n' cheese. And of course the Italian comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef/veal
1 egg
1 tablespoon whole milk/cream
1 cup onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoon lukewarm water (optional)
2 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put egg and cream into a mixing bowl. Beat the egg and cream together lightly and mix in the onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt & pepper. Add the beef into the bowl and fold together until the ingredients look evenly dispersed. Try not to overwork the meat.

Fold in the panko breadcrumbs and add the lukewarm water if the mixture looks dry or overly tight.  Form the meatballs with your hand to the size of your liking. Coat the bottom of a baking sheet and the meatballs with the olive oil and place in the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on size of meatballs).

Remove from the oven and finish cooking in your tomato sauce for 5 minutes and serve over pasta.