So I went to the store the other day to buy some pumpkins. It was just a few days after Halloween so I thought there’d still be some left, even if all that was left were the misshapen, blemished ones destined for the Island of Misfit Gourds. Think Charlie Brown and that tiny bare tree he rescued from the tree lot. Only this time, there was no Snoopy to save the day. Like Linus, I spent too much time in anticipation and not enough time in preparation. He sat and waited for the Great Pumpkin to arrive but forgot to prepare himself for the fact that the magical gourd might not come. I never took into account that there would be no pumpkins for sale after Halloween.
Why is it stores only sell pumpkins until Halloween? I understand the pre-occupation with Jack-o-lanterns. I was once a kid myself. But honestly, has our society devolved to the point where no one uses fresh pumpkin squash for anything? It’s Soyent Green all over again (if you ever see that movie, you may never eat again, ever!). I mean, canned pumpkin is ok, (store bought ready-made pie, not so much) but once you try using fresh pumpkin, you‘ll never see pumpkin pie in the same light again.
Maybe it‘s the daunting task of working with such a large vegetable. Maybe it’s the stringy slimy goop inside. Whatever the case may be, whatever your fears or trepidations, it’s a small price to pay for fresh pumpkin. Hopefully, these two methods that I use can make cooking with fresh pumpkin a little less arduous.
Method One: After discarding the seeds cut the pumpkin in half or quarters depending on how large the pumpkin is. Rub a little olive oil on the inside of each piece and place them skin down on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Roast for 30 minutes at 350° or until the pumpkin is soft and starting to brown. Cool completely. You should be able to peel the skin off easily. This method is best used for pumpkin pies, pureed soups and the such.
Method Two: I like this method best because it allows me to use pumpkin in more than one way, such as in savory dishes where I want the pumpkin squash to be soft, yet firm. It also allows me to prepare several pumpkins at a time and freeze them so I can have fresh pumpkin squash year round. After cleaning the pumpkin, cut it into thin wedges as you would a cantaloupe for your breakfast. Using either a steamer in the bottom of a large pot or a double broiler with a steamer, bring some water to a boil. Steam enough pumpkin for one container or plastic freezer bag at a time for 10 minutes. Cool the pumpkin in an ice water bath (called shocking) for at least 2 minutes or until completely cooled before placing the pumpkin in any freezer-safe container. Carefully cut the skin off each wedge like you would take the rind off a cantaloupe. They should last a couple months in the freezer if properly protected. There are unlimited possibilities with this one!
Well, I guess I’ll have to keep looking, or hope that pumpkins will be on sale again next week. There’s always butternut of course.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
The peach tree still stands, for now. I think I’ll wait until my mother has actually ordered the new peach tree until I cut down the old one. (And, no, Sarah, you can’t ‘gift’ me one from Farmville. I need a REAL peach tree!)
The air is crisp and noticeably colder. The Autumnal Equinox has come and gone. Our lawn is covered in inches of yellow and orange leaves. (Dang it, now I have to rake!) The mountain peaks received the first snow of the year. That’s good for the pears and great for the apples. Disastrous for the peaches. By this time of the year, the peaches start to get overripe making them dry, pasty and flavorless. I bought a couple at the grocery store the other day. They were nice and firm and out of season. I didn’t even try the second one. Nasty.
I went to a party the other day with some friends from Santa Barbara. It was a potluck affair which I always enjoy, not for the sake of showing off, but for the chance to try everything. Ah, the sacrifices we make! Someone brought a very interesting fruit salad that would be great in the summer. Watermelon, peaches, pears and apples. All fresh. Nothing canned. Quite yummy. Very depressing. Had there been strawberries, I might have cried. It’s not that I don’t like fall. Ok, I don’t like fall. I just love summer more.
But I will admit one thing that I am excited about. Pumpkins! Like Linus van Pelt, I am a believer in The Great Pumpkin. When the first of October rolls around, I quiver in anticipation of those grand gourds. (Actually I quiver in the cold air. I am a cold blooded desert lizard, after all) They are proof positive that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
When the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, pumpkins, along with corn and lobsters, were considered peasant food fit only for livestock feed by these Old World folk. Thanks to near disastrous winters and the kindness of neighboring Natives, the Pilgrims humbled themselves and pumpkins became the symbol of American cuisine.
Unfortunately, we seem to have relegated pumpkins to only pies and jack-o-lanterns to be smashed on Halloween night by tricking teens. There is so much more to pumpkins than being sacrificed to an overgrown kid in a plastic Power Rangers mask. Here are some examples -
Pumpkin Corn Chowder
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 medium potatoes chopped medium
2 cups peeled and chopped butternut, acorn or pumpkin squash
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons flour
In a 2 quart sauce pan, cook the bacon until almost crisp. Add the onions and sauté until opaque and tender. Add the potatoes, squash, water and salt and pepper, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the corn, thyme and parsley. Whisk the cream and flour in a separate bowl until smooth. Whisk the cream/flour mixture into the soup and simmer until thick.
Wild Field Greens with Pumpkin Squash and Maple Cider Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or 1/4 cup imitation plus 1 teaspoon maple extract)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
Mix the ingredients, except the oil, together in a blender. Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture in the blender while blending on medium high.
Salad:
Mixed greens
1 small (2-3 pounds) pumpkin (or acorn or butternut squash)
3 fresh corn, uncooked, shucked and shelled
1 pint red tear-drop tomatoes (or grape tomatoes), halved
1 bunch small green onions, chopped
Cut the pumpkin in half. Clean out the seeds and cut into wedges. Bring water in a steamer to a boil and steam the pumpkin wedges until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Chill in an ice water bath immediately. Drain well. Peel the skin off the wedges and cut the pumpkin into cubes. Mix all of the ingredients together with the greens. At time of service, add the vinaigrette and toss well.
Fresh Green Beans with Pumpkin Squash and Pecans
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small (4 lbs) pumpkin, skinned and cubed
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
2 teaspoons ground rosemary
2 teaspoons basil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped fine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a large heavy skillet, or wok, melt the butter together with the olive oil. Sauté the cubed pumpkin on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin starts to brown and caramelize a little. Add the green beans and herbs. Sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the broth and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes or until the green beans are tender yet firm. Add the butter and salt and pepper and stir until the butter just melts.
MM - I’m salivating already! Next week - fusion cooking with Pumpkins!!!
The air is crisp and noticeably colder. The Autumnal Equinox has come and gone. Our lawn is covered in inches of yellow and orange leaves. (Dang it, now I have to rake!) The mountain peaks received the first snow of the year. That’s good for the pears and great for the apples. Disastrous for the peaches. By this time of the year, the peaches start to get overripe making them dry, pasty and flavorless. I bought a couple at the grocery store the other day. They were nice and firm and out of season. I didn’t even try the second one. Nasty.
I went to a party the other day with some friends from Santa Barbara. It was a potluck affair which I always enjoy, not for the sake of showing off, but for the chance to try everything. Ah, the sacrifices we make! Someone brought a very interesting fruit salad that would be great in the summer. Watermelon, peaches, pears and apples. All fresh. Nothing canned. Quite yummy. Very depressing. Had there been strawberries, I might have cried. It’s not that I don’t like fall. Ok, I don’t like fall. I just love summer more.
But I will admit one thing that I am excited about. Pumpkins! Like Linus van Pelt, I am a believer in The Great Pumpkin. When the first of October rolls around, I quiver in anticipation of those grand gourds. (Actually I quiver in the cold air. I am a cold blooded desert lizard, after all) They are proof positive that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
When the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, pumpkins, along with corn and lobsters, were considered peasant food fit only for livestock feed by these Old World folk. Thanks to near disastrous winters and the kindness of neighboring Natives, the Pilgrims humbled themselves and pumpkins became the symbol of American cuisine.
Unfortunately, we seem to have relegated pumpkins to only pies and jack-o-lanterns to be smashed on Halloween night by tricking teens. There is so much more to pumpkins than being sacrificed to an overgrown kid in a plastic Power Rangers mask. Here are some examples -
Pumpkin Corn Chowder
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 medium potatoes chopped medium
2 cups peeled and chopped butternut, acorn or pumpkin squash
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons flour
In a 2 quart sauce pan, cook the bacon until almost crisp. Add the onions and sauté until opaque and tender. Add the potatoes, squash, water and salt and pepper, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the corn, thyme and parsley. Whisk the cream and flour in a separate bowl until smooth. Whisk the cream/flour mixture into the soup and simmer until thick.
Wild Field Greens with Pumpkin Squash and Maple Cider Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or 1/4 cup imitation plus 1 teaspoon maple extract)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
Mix the ingredients, except the oil, together in a blender. Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture in the blender while blending on medium high.
Salad:
Mixed greens
1 small (2-3 pounds) pumpkin (or acorn or butternut squash)
3 fresh corn, uncooked, shucked and shelled
1 pint red tear-drop tomatoes (or grape tomatoes), halved
1 bunch small green onions, chopped
Cut the pumpkin in half. Clean out the seeds and cut into wedges. Bring water in a steamer to a boil and steam the pumpkin wedges until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Chill in an ice water bath immediately. Drain well. Peel the skin off the wedges and cut the pumpkin into cubes. Mix all of the ingredients together with the greens. At time of service, add the vinaigrette and toss well.
Fresh Green Beans with Pumpkin Squash and Pecans
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small (4 lbs) pumpkin, skinned and cubed
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
2 teaspoons ground rosemary
2 teaspoons basil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped fine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a large heavy skillet, or wok, melt the butter together with the olive oil. Sauté the cubed pumpkin on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin starts to brown and caramelize a little. Add the green beans and herbs. Sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the broth and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes or until the green beans are tender yet firm. Add the butter and salt and pepper and stir until the butter just melts.
MM - I’m salivating already! Next week - fusion cooking with Pumpkins!!!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Life's a peach and then you eat one
Wow. Has it really been that long? There I was, celebrating New Years and I could’ve sworn all I did was blink and it was St. Patrick’s day. I blinked again and it was summer. Now summer’s gone. I’ve got to quit blinking.
I know it’s nearing the end of summer, not because the days are getting longer or because I can actually go to the mall without being overrun by hoards of pre-pubescent (and some post-pubescent who act like pre-pubescent) kids escaping from their upcoming scholastic duties (Huckleberry Hound where are you!!??). Rather, I can tell summer’s drawing to a close because of the harvest. No more strawberries. No more watermelons. No more corn. No more peaches.
We have four trees in our back yard next to our so-called garden; two apple, one pear and an octogenarian peach on it’s deathbed. The pear and apples trees are overburdened but doing fine. They are so full of fruit, their branches are touching the ground. I need to do some serious pruning in the Spring. Those trees I’m not worried about. The fruit won’t be ready until just after the first cold snap to seal in the sugar. By then I’ll have lost at least half to deer, birds and worms. No biggie. There’s enough for all. What’s left or falls on the ground, I throw on my compost heap for next year’s garden.
It’s the peach tree I’m worried about. It’s been sick and dying since I moved in about eight years ago. About three or four years ago we pruned off all the dead branches, leaving just one still alive and producing leaves, but no buds. It looked like a natural born flagpole. My mom intended to have it cut down completely if it didn’t produce fruit. Low and behold, the next spring brought us about ten small, barely edible peaches, resulting in a stay of execution from the Governess.
Each Spring she threatens to call someone to have it cut down and each spring I convince her that as long as one branch still produces fruit, there’s no reason to cut it down. The last few Springs the tree has come through, producing more and larger fruit than the previous Spring. An arboreal mid-life crisis maybe? This year it produced probably as many as three dozen or so peaches. Even my mom was impressed. Unfortunately, we lost all of them. All appeals exhausted, not even the Governess can help the tree now. It is to be replaced next Spring by a younger, healthy tree, provided I don’t inadvertently kill it with my brown thumb.
I do love peaches. Fresh. Canned. Freshly canned. Georgia peaces, California peaches, Arizona peaches, James and the Giant Peach. I once ate a Georgia peach that was so big I felt like James. It was huge! And was it ripe! I’m talking dripping-down-your-chin-sticky-hands juicy!
One project I’ve been working on lately is recipes for kids. In the last decade, thanks to authors like J.K. Rowling and Lemony Snicket, there’s been a renaissance of children’s books. A lot of them have included food. In the Harry Potter series alone there has to be at least 150 different dishes with about 90% being real British cuisine.
So I researched about 40 or so different kids books to see foods. I read everything from Eragon and The City of Ember to Chronicles of Narnia and Wind in the Willows. James was on the list too. All that was mentioned was the fizzy lemonade the wicked aunts drank. But did that stop me? NO! Like I said, I love peaches! There’s so many things you can do with peaches! There’s peach ice cream, peaches and cream, peach punch, peach fritters, peach tarts, peach pasties, peach lassi, peach Jell-o, peach jam, pickled peaches, and let’s not forget my great-grandmother’s famous peach brandy. So, all month, I’ll give you a peach recipe. It will be my version of the “Julie/Julia Project”. And here’s the first one -
PEACHES AND CREAM
1 lb fresh peaches
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
granola
De-pit the peaches and slice into wedges. You can peel them first, or leave the skin on. Your choice. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the granola. Divide the sliced peaches evenly among four bowls. Top with cream and sprinkle with granola.
And don’t worry…pumpkins are just around the corner!
I know it’s nearing the end of summer, not because the days are getting longer or because I can actually go to the mall without being overrun by hoards of pre-pubescent (and some post-pubescent who act like pre-pubescent) kids escaping from their upcoming scholastic duties (Huckleberry Hound where are you!!??). Rather, I can tell summer’s drawing to a close because of the harvest. No more strawberries. No more watermelons. No more corn. No more peaches.
We have four trees in our back yard next to our so-called garden; two apple, one pear and an octogenarian peach on it’s deathbed. The pear and apples trees are overburdened but doing fine. They are so full of fruit, their branches are touching the ground. I need to do some serious pruning in the Spring. Those trees I’m not worried about. The fruit won’t be ready until just after the first cold snap to seal in the sugar. By then I’ll have lost at least half to deer, birds and worms. No biggie. There’s enough for all. What’s left or falls on the ground, I throw on my compost heap for next year’s garden.
It’s the peach tree I’m worried about. It’s been sick and dying since I moved in about eight years ago. About three or four years ago we pruned off all the dead branches, leaving just one still alive and producing leaves, but no buds. It looked like a natural born flagpole. My mom intended to have it cut down completely if it didn’t produce fruit. Low and behold, the next spring brought us about ten small, barely edible peaches, resulting in a stay of execution from the Governess.
Each Spring she threatens to call someone to have it cut down and each spring I convince her that as long as one branch still produces fruit, there’s no reason to cut it down. The last few Springs the tree has come through, producing more and larger fruit than the previous Spring. An arboreal mid-life crisis maybe? This year it produced probably as many as three dozen or so peaches. Even my mom was impressed. Unfortunately, we lost all of them. All appeals exhausted, not even the Governess can help the tree now. It is to be replaced next Spring by a younger, healthy tree, provided I don’t inadvertently kill it with my brown thumb.
I do love peaches. Fresh. Canned. Freshly canned. Georgia peaces, California peaches, Arizona peaches, James and the Giant Peach. I once ate a Georgia peach that was so big I felt like James. It was huge! And was it ripe! I’m talking dripping-down-your-chin-sticky-hands juicy!
One project I’ve been working on lately is recipes for kids. In the last decade, thanks to authors like J.K. Rowling and Lemony Snicket, there’s been a renaissance of children’s books. A lot of them have included food. In the Harry Potter series alone there has to be at least 150 different dishes with about 90% being real British cuisine.
So I researched about 40 or so different kids books to see foods. I read everything from Eragon and The City of Ember to Chronicles of Narnia and Wind in the Willows. James was on the list too. All that was mentioned was the fizzy lemonade the wicked aunts drank. But did that stop me? NO! Like I said, I love peaches! There’s so many things you can do with peaches! There’s peach ice cream, peaches and cream, peach punch, peach fritters, peach tarts, peach pasties, peach lassi, peach Jell-o, peach jam, pickled peaches, and let’s not forget my great-grandmother’s famous peach brandy. So, all month, I’ll give you a peach recipe. It will be my version of the “Julie/Julia Project”. And here’s the first one -
PEACHES AND CREAM
1 lb fresh peaches
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
granola
De-pit the peaches and slice into wedges. You can peel them first, or leave the skin on. Your choice. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the granola. Divide the sliced peaches evenly among four bowls. Top with cream and sprinkle with granola.
And don’t worry…pumpkins are just around the corner!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Just What Dr. Bubba Ordered
It’s no secret that I love Dr. Pepper. I would even go so far as to call myself a complete soda aficionado. I like to think that as an adult I don’t drink as much soda as I did when I was a child but what can I say? It’s in my blood. No seriously. It’s in my blood. That’s right. My blood is carbonated. Haha. No, just kidding. If that was true then I’d be dead and this would really be a cool blog, then. Besides, my body heat would diffuse the bubbles before they hit the bloodstream.
But seriously, folks. Soda is another family culinary icon at our house. Remember George Bailey, that loveable banker who had many friends and helped many under-privileged people finance homes in Bailey Estates? His friends all called him Jimmy Stewart. (Papa Dollar, meet Mama Dollar. Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true?) In the movie, George worked the ice cream counter in front of a pharmacy. That was my grandfather and his brothers. They grew up working the counter, cooking the hamburgers and mixing the sodas by hand.
Growing up, every Saturday was Hamburger day. You could tell my grandfather still had the skills from his days at the pharmacy. Of course. there were always potato chips, Jell-O, salad, ice cream and, of course, two large ice chests full of soda. If memory serves me right, (it never does) I would eat two hamburgers, a handful of chips, lots of Jell-O and at least 4 cans of soda.
There’s not a whole lot that can’t be done with soda. I once took a pear, peeled it, cored it, cut it in half and soaked it overnight in a bowl of Sprite with a few drops of mint extract and green food coloring. The next day I let the pears drain and dipped them in some chocolate sauce. Once the chocolate set, I topped it with a scoop of mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Mmm.
One of the best examples of cooking with soda, however comes from none other than the Maestro, herself - Julia Child. I read somewhere (there’s that reliable memory again) that, while filming an episode of her famous, and very live, show, she did something that simply showed her coolness under pressure. They had gone to a commercial break, and one of the stage hands had gone onto the set to talk to Julia, taking with him his can of Pepsi. Towards the end of the break, the stage hand left, but forgot and left his Pepsi on the counter, in full view of the cameras. It wasn’t noticed until Julia was back on the air. She simply picked up the can and said, “Sometimes I like to add some Pepsi to the sauce and give it a nice sweetness,.” Or something like that. (And memory strikes out again. Rumor has it that if he doesn’t find his groove, Whitey’s gonna send him down to Triple-A).
Anyway, so imagine my joy when I discovered that someone, somewhere thinks like me. (wonder if she’s cute?) I saw an ad for Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. I just had to have some. Unfortunately, this being Utah, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I even tried the Jell-O aisle. Then I thought, what am I doing? I’m a chef! I felt like Hermione Granger wondering how she’s going to light a fire when she doesn’t have a match. Like Ron told her, “Are you, or are you not, a WITCH!” Well, no. I’m not. I’d be a wizard. But you get my point.
So I experimented at least 3 times. Nothing. Just horrible messes. I finally gave in to what I knew was the problem. Ketchup. I can’t stand ketchup. I do everything I can to stay away from it. There’s so many different kinds of sauces and condiments out in the world, why waste good food on ketchup? But I was not having success with my Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. I gave in. I had no choice. Plain tomato sauce just wasn’t cutting it. And wouldn’t you know it, ketchup saved the day. Well, saved the sauce anyway.
But I wasn’t quite satisfied. I had nothing to compare against my sauce. But I have such wonderful friends! One friend sent me a message saying she had seen the sauce at a particular supermarket. So there I went, and there it was in all its Dr. Pepper glory. (They also had A&W!) I bought a bottle and some country ribs. I get home and got cooking. I seasoned the ribs and got them nice and brown. I poured in a can of beef stock, covered and turned the heat to low. They’re simmering for an hour. Nice and tender. I dish it all up with potatoes and coleslaw, badda bing, badda boom, badda BBQ. I give everyone a sample of both mine and the bottled sauces. (Well, my brother doesn’t count really. He’ll eat anything…really) The consensus? No comparison. My sauce was best. Not that my sauce was spectacular or anything like that. It’s just that the bottled stuff wasn’t that good. It was too thick and too full of preservatives among other things.
So, here it is:
One 20 oz bottle Dr. Pepper (the new Cherry Dr. Pepper would work or even A&W)
½ C lemon juice
1 C ketchup
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
2 T dry chopped onions
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp dry basil
3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T steak sauce (like A-1)
½ tsp liquid smoke
Combine everything together in a sauce pan. Slowly bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. If you like the sauce a little thicker you can add some corn starch mixed with a little water.
But seriously, folks. Soda is another family culinary icon at our house. Remember George Bailey, that loveable banker who had many friends and helped many under-privileged people finance homes in Bailey Estates? His friends all called him Jimmy Stewart. (Papa Dollar, meet Mama Dollar. Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true?) In the movie, George worked the ice cream counter in front of a pharmacy. That was my grandfather and his brothers. They grew up working the counter, cooking the hamburgers and mixing the sodas by hand.
Growing up, every Saturday was Hamburger day. You could tell my grandfather still had the skills from his days at the pharmacy. Of course. there were always potato chips, Jell-O, salad, ice cream and, of course, two large ice chests full of soda. If memory serves me right, (it never does) I would eat two hamburgers, a handful of chips, lots of Jell-O and at least 4 cans of soda.
There’s not a whole lot that can’t be done with soda. I once took a pear, peeled it, cored it, cut it in half and soaked it overnight in a bowl of Sprite with a few drops of mint extract and green food coloring. The next day I let the pears drain and dipped them in some chocolate sauce. Once the chocolate set, I topped it with a scoop of mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Mmm.
One of the best examples of cooking with soda, however comes from none other than the Maestro, herself - Julia Child. I read somewhere (there’s that reliable memory again) that, while filming an episode of her famous, and very live, show, she did something that simply showed her coolness under pressure. They had gone to a commercial break, and one of the stage hands had gone onto the set to talk to Julia, taking with him his can of Pepsi. Towards the end of the break, the stage hand left, but forgot and left his Pepsi on the counter, in full view of the cameras. It wasn’t noticed until Julia was back on the air. She simply picked up the can and said, “Sometimes I like to add some Pepsi to the sauce and give it a nice sweetness,.” Or something like that. (And memory strikes out again. Rumor has it that if he doesn’t find his groove, Whitey’s gonna send him down to Triple-A).
Anyway, so imagine my joy when I discovered that someone, somewhere thinks like me. (wonder if she’s cute?) I saw an ad for Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. I just had to have some. Unfortunately, this being Utah, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I even tried the Jell-O aisle. Then I thought, what am I doing? I’m a chef! I felt like Hermione Granger wondering how she’s going to light a fire when she doesn’t have a match. Like Ron told her, “Are you, or are you not, a WITCH!” Well, no. I’m not. I’d be a wizard. But you get my point.
So I experimented at least 3 times. Nothing. Just horrible messes. I finally gave in to what I knew was the problem. Ketchup. I can’t stand ketchup. I do everything I can to stay away from it. There’s so many different kinds of sauces and condiments out in the world, why waste good food on ketchup? But I was not having success with my Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. I gave in. I had no choice. Plain tomato sauce just wasn’t cutting it. And wouldn’t you know it, ketchup saved the day. Well, saved the sauce anyway.
But I wasn’t quite satisfied. I had nothing to compare against my sauce. But I have such wonderful friends! One friend sent me a message saying she had seen the sauce at a particular supermarket. So there I went, and there it was in all its Dr. Pepper glory. (They also had A&W!) I bought a bottle and some country ribs. I get home and got cooking. I seasoned the ribs and got them nice and brown. I poured in a can of beef stock, covered and turned the heat to low. They’re simmering for an hour. Nice and tender. I dish it all up with potatoes and coleslaw, badda bing, badda boom, badda BBQ. I give everyone a sample of both mine and the bottled sauces. (Well, my brother doesn’t count really. He’ll eat anything…really) The consensus? No comparison. My sauce was best. Not that my sauce was spectacular or anything like that. It’s just that the bottled stuff wasn’t that good. It was too thick and too full of preservatives among other things.
So, here it is:
One 20 oz bottle Dr. Pepper (the new Cherry Dr. Pepper would work or even A&W)
½ C lemon juice
1 C ketchup
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
2 T dry chopped onions
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp dry basil
3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T steak sauce (like A-1)
½ tsp liquid smoke
Combine everything together in a sauce pan. Slowly bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. If you like the sauce a little thicker you can add some corn starch mixed with a little water.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Paging Dr. Bubba
Ok. Either my plumbing is clogged or this world is moving WAY too fast. Didn’t we just celebrate New Years? I think I just barely finished digesting Christmas dinner and it’s already summer . Well, actually summer doesn’t officially arrive until Summer Solstice on June 21st, but where I’m from summer can start as early as the first week of April.
Anyway, I should know this because that’s the day after my birthday (hint, hint). Yes, I’m a spring baby, barely. My mom tells me that I was born so fast the doctor didn’t believe I was on the way. So, I was born in the hallway around 10 at night. I think it’s because I wanted to be born a Spring baby, which is weird because I love summer.
No school. Everyday is a Saturday (which only works if you’re a kid). Swimming in pools and lakes (You can tell when someone is a native of Arizona because they‘re amazed that a river has water!). Drinking up gallons of lemonade (of all different flavors, of course), and more importantly - NO SNOW! Ok, so that’s not the most important thing about summer, but it works for me. Actually, the most important thing about summer is Barbeques.
I’m not talking about hamburgers and hot dogs, either. I’m talking about juicy, succulent, mouth-watering, smoke infused, sizzling heaven. Many indeed claim it as their religion. They brave near frigid weather in the stadium parking lots in the fall, or scorching backyard heat in the summer. They’ll fire up the grill for grandma’s Christmas fruitcake if they felt it would help. Others take it to the other extreme. They’re the ones who have everything to an exact science. The heat has to be exactly right, the meat marinated just long enough, and the grill is never cleaned to insure the perfect seasoning. And then there are the grillers in the middle - the religious scientists. Or the scientific religion. The Scien-gion. Naw, I’m just kidding.
But seriously. The religious BBQ fanatics usually hail from the North. I call them Packer fans. They don’t care what you grill as long as it’s grilled. Usually sausages - bratwursts and the like. The scientists come from the South. I call them Dr. Bubbas. And like real scientists with real science degrees, BBQ recipes vary depending on the region and it’s not uncommon to find the formulas closely guarded secrets.
To the rest of the country, BBQ is as BBQ does. We don’t care. Just throw some meat on the grill, slap some sauce from a bottle on it and there ya go. Packer and Bubba would never think of putting salmon on the grill and yet in Seattle it’s as common as buying a new umbrella because the last one wore out after fifty straight days of rain.
What we in the west associate with BBQ, particularly the sauce, is actually more of a Texas style BBQ, or what I call Generic Dr. Bubba. Compared to sauces from other regions, there’s really not a whole lot to it. There’s also Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Carolinas, Deep South, just to name a region or two.Each region has its own style, its own signature. Even Santa Maria, California has it’s own style.
Many of the sauces have similarities which sometimes makes it hard to distinguish the different regions. For example, Memphis, Kansas City and the Carolinas all use a lot of mustard compared to others. But Memphis is more sweet while Kansas City is more tangy and the Carolinas don’t use tomatoes at all. Also, Memphis, Kansas City and St. Louis are more about the ribs while the Carolinas and Deep South are more about slow smoked pulled pork. Whew! It’s kind of convolutedly complex. (is that even a word?)
For you recipe hounds, I’ve included several BBQ sauce recipes -
Generic Dr. Bubba BBQ Sauce
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium-sized)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar1 quart tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tablespoon Liquid BBQ Smoke
1/4 cup bourbon (optional)
In a large sauce pan, sauté the onions in a little olive oil. Add the garlic and mustard and sweat forjust a minute until nice and aromatic. Add the next four ingredients, mix well. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for about 1 hour. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another hour. Strain well. Pour into an airtight container and chill.
This next one is my favorite. It’s meant specifically for pulled pork. You can do pulled pork easily in the oven. Season a pork roast (about 2-3 lbs) with any rub you like. Rap it tightly twice with plastic wrap and twice with foil so there are no seams. Don’t worry the plastic won’t melt. Then roast it for at least 3 hours at 250° F. Shred it finely with a pair of forks.
Carolina BBQ Glaze
2 cups molasses
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon crushed chili
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
Mix the ingredients well in a large saucepan. Bring just to a boil and remove from the heat. Mix with the pulled pork and let sit for 15 minutes or so. Put some pork on a bun and top with coleslaw.
This sauce is the quintessential Carolina sauce. Brush it on your ribs while they’re on the grill, toss your chicken wings in it or dunk you fried chicken.
Carolina Moppin’ Sauce
1 C mustard
¼ C honey
½ C molasses
¼ C cider vinegar
¼ tsp each thyme, oregano and black pepper
Dash of Cayenne pepper
2 T Olive oil
All you need to do is whisk everything together in a bowl. You could even try using Dijon mustard.
So here’s hoping you have a great BBQ season! As for me…I’m going to see if I can decipher the Dr. Bubba code.
Anyway, I should know this because that’s the day after my birthday (hint, hint). Yes, I’m a spring baby, barely. My mom tells me that I was born so fast the doctor didn’t believe I was on the way. So, I was born in the hallway around 10 at night. I think it’s because I wanted to be born a Spring baby, which is weird because I love summer.
No school. Everyday is a Saturday (which only works if you’re a kid). Swimming in pools and lakes (You can tell when someone is a native of Arizona because they‘re amazed that a river has water!). Drinking up gallons of lemonade (of all different flavors, of course), and more importantly - NO SNOW! Ok, so that’s not the most important thing about summer, but it works for me. Actually, the most important thing about summer is Barbeques.
I’m not talking about hamburgers and hot dogs, either. I’m talking about juicy, succulent, mouth-watering, smoke infused, sizzling heaven. Many indeed claim it as their religion. They brave near frigid weather in the stadium parking lots in the fall, or scorching backyard heat in the summer. They’ll fire up the grill for grandma’s Christmas fruitcake if they felt it would help. Others take it to the other extreme. They’re the ones who have everything to an exact science. The heat has to be exactly right, the meat marinated just long enough, and the grill is never cleaned to insure the perfect seasoning. And then there are the grillers in the middle - the religious scientists. Or the scientific religion. The Scien-gion. Naw, I’m just kidding.
But seriously. The religious BBQ fanatics usually hail from the North. I call them Packer fans. They don’t care what you grill as long as it’s grilled. Usually sausages - bratwursts and the like. The scientists come from the South. I call them Dr. Bubbas. And like real scientists with real science degrees, BBQ recipes vary depending on the region and it’s not uncommon to find the formulas closely guarded secrets.
To the rest of the country, BBQ is as BBQ does. We don’t care. Just throw some meat on the grill, slap some sauce from a bottle on it and there ya go. Packer and Bubba would never think of putting salmon on the grill and yet in Seattle it’s as common as buying a new umbrella because the last one wore out after fifty straight days of rain.
What we in the west associate with BBQ, particularly the sauce, is actually more of a Texas style BBQ, or what I call Generic Dr. Bubba. Compared to sauces from other regions, there’s really not a whole lot to it. There’s also Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Carolinas, Deep South, just to name a region or two.Each region has its own style, its own signature. Even Santa Maria, California has it’s own style.
Many of the sauces have similarities which sometimes makes it hard to distinguish the different regions. For example, Memphis, Kansas City and the Carolinas all use a lot of mustard compared to others. But Memphis is more sweet while Kansas City is more tangy and the Carolinas don’t use tomatoes at all. Also, Memphis, Kansas City and St. Louis are more about the ribs while the Carolinas and Deep South are more about slow smoked pulled pork. Whew! It’s kind of convolutedly complex. (is that even a word?)
For you recipe hounds, I’ve included several BBQ sauce recipes -
Generic Dr. Bubba BBQ Sauce
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium-sized)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar1 quart tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tablespoon Liquid BBQ Smoke
1/4 cup bourbon (optional)
In a large sauce pan, sauté the onions in a little olive oil. Add the garlic and mustard and sweat forjust a minute until nice and aromatic. Add the next four ingredients, mix well. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for about 1 hour. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another hour. Strain well. Pour into an airtight container and chill.
This next one is my favorite. It’s meant specifically for pulled pork. You can do pulled pork easily in the oven. Season a pork roast (about 2-3 lbs) with any rub you like. Rap it tightly twice with plastic wrap and twice with foil so there are no seams. Don’t worry the plastic won’t melt. Then roast it for at least 3 hours at 250° F. Shred it finely with a pair of forks.
Carolina BBQ Glaze
2 cups molasses
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon crushed chili
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
Mix the ingredients well in a large saucepan. Bring just to a boil and remove from the heat. Mix with the pulled pork and let sit for 15 minutes or so. Put some pork on a bun and top with coleslaw.
This sauce is the quintessential Carolina sauce. Brush it on your ribs while they’re on the grill, toss your chicken wings in it or dunk you fried chicken.
Carolina Moppin’ Sauce
1 C mustard
¼ C honey
½ C molasses
¼ C cider vinegar
¼ tsp each thyme, oregano and black pepper
Dash of Cayenne pepper
2 T Olive oil
All you need to do is whisk everything together in a bowl. You could even try using Dijon mustard.
So here’s hoping you have a great BBQ season! As for me…I’m going to see if I can decipher the Dr. Bubba code.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Is Comrade Beet Soup, da
Well, yesterday was Mother’s Day and what did I do? Nothing. It seems to be what my mother likes best these days- when my brother Ben and I leave her alone. When they said, “Let sleeping dogs lie,” they were referring to my mother on Mother’s Day. Since this is a food-blog, it should seem appropriate that I should talk about my mother on Mother’s Day. (Ok, so it’s the day after. But technically, isn’t everyday Mother’s Day? Yeah, you’re right. It is a stretch.)
My mother was the main influence in my life when it comes to food. When I announced that I was leaving Arizona State University and my aspirations of building rockets to Mars to become a chef, she was more than thrilled. I’d like to think it had something to do with our mutual love of food, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the fact that I was no longer going to be playing with things that could kill me ( i.e. rockets to Mars. Can I help it if I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning?), had a small, significant part in her jubilation.
I don’t think there was ever anything my mom cooked that I didn’t like. Not sure if I could say the same thing about my sisters. We always sat in the same seats around the dinner table. My sister Elizabeth would always sit next to me. I was her garbage disposal. If there was anything she didn’t like she would pick it out and put it on my plate because she knew I’d eat anything. (He likes it! Hey, Mikey!) I guess this would explain my fondness for mushrooms. I always got more than my fair share of mushrooms, thanks to Elizabeth.
We had two rules at the dinner table at our house. One was on a plaque made of driftwood that hung in the kitchen. It said, ”Kwitcherbellyachin’ “ If you can’t tell what it said, I’ll translate - QUIT YOUR BELLY ACHING! In other words, quit complaining and eat! This leads to the second rule: If you don’t like it, there’s the kitchen. Help yourself. I don’t know if it’s a testament to my mother’s cooking skills or perhaps we were all just too polite, but I don’t recall these rules ever being enforced.
There was one incident, however, that has lived in infamy in our family. It is referred to only as, “The Borscht Incident.” I was too young to remember (I was 5 at the time, or so I was told), and my mom and sisters tell me I should be glad I didn’t remember. We’re talking full scale rebellion from the top down. It was the only time my dad ever objected to anything my mom made. That was in 1974. It wasn’t until the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when my mom and I decided to celebrate by making a different ethnic cuisine everyday that I was able to talk her into making it again.
Borscht, like every other ethnic cuisine varies depending on the region. Think of the great American BBQ. There’s Texas, Memphis, St. Louis, Carolinas, Gulf Coast. There’s even a type of BBQ known as Santa Maria style from the central California Coast that uses only Tri-tip.
Borscht is more commonly known here in the U.S. as a cold red beet soup, but it is actually primarily served hot in Russia. Sometimes it has meat - ham, pork, a sausage of some type, or a combination of all of them - but it can also be vegetarian. I have here recipes for both kinds :
This one isn’t actually Borscht. It’s a Polish dish called Chlodnik (pronounced hu-WOHD-neek). I like it better than regular Borscht.
3 C buttermilk
½ C sour cream
½ tsp salt
1 15 oz can diced red beets plus juice (or 15 oz can whole or sliced beets, diced)
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1 bunch red radishes, washed, diced
2 T fresh chopped dill
Dash of fine ground black pepper
Whisk the buttermilk, sour cream and salt together in a large bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes. Stir well before serving. Makes enough for about four people.
I have several recipes of Borscht that are really good, but some are very labor-intensive. Here is the one my mom had stashed away in a Russian cookbook. It’s actually a Ukrainian version. I think, but I’m not sure, that this is the one that caused the “Great Borscht Rebellion” :
Olive Oil
2 lbs beef or pork (or one lb each), cubed
3 cloves of garlic, minced (1 - 1 ½ tsp)
1 stalk celery, sliced
4 oz sliced mushrooms
10 C water
1 bay leaf
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried dill weed
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 large potatoes, washed, diced small
2 carrots, diced
½ small head green cabbage, shredded
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can white beans drained and rinsed
1 16 oz can shoestring beets, drained
1 T dried parsley
3 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crisp
Heat a large, heavy pot and slowly brown the meat. Add the onions, garlic and celery and sauté until the onions and celery are soft. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked. Add the water, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for one hour.
Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for a final 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you think it needs more dill, salt or pepper. You can serve it hot or cold. Don’t forget to garnish with sour cream!
You can see the difference between the two. They both make great soups for a hot summer day. Enjoy and Happy Mothers Day!
My mother was the main influence in my life when it comes to food. When I announced that I was leaving Arizona State University and my aspirations of building rockets to Mars to become a chef, she was more than thrilled. I’d like to think it had something to do with our mutual love of food, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the fact that I was no longer going to be playing with things that could kill me ( i.e. rockets to Mars. Can I help it if I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning?), had a small, significant part in her jubilation.
I don’t think there was ever anything my mom cooked that I didn’t like. Not sure if I could say the same thing about my sisters. We always sat in the same seats around the dinner table. My sister Elizabeth would always sit next to me. I was her garbage disposal. If there was anything she didn’t like she would pick it out and put it on my plate because she knew I’d eat anything. (He likes it! Hey, Mikey!) I guess this would explain my fondness for mushrooms. I always got more than my fair share of mushrooms, thanks to Elizabeth.
We had two rules at the dinner table at our house. One was on a plaque made of driftwood that hung in the kitchen. It said, ”Kwitcherbellyachin’ “ If you can’t tell what it said, I’ll translate - QUIT YOUR BELLY ACHING! In other words, quit complaining and eat! This leads to the second rule: If you don’t like it, there’s the kitchen. Help yourself. I don’t know if it’s a testament to my mother’s cooking skills or perhaps we were all just too polite, but I don’t recall these rules ever being enforced.
There was one incident, however, that has lived in infamy in our family. It is referred to only as, “The Borscht Incident.” I was too young to remember (I was 5 at the time, or so I was told), and my mom and sisters tell me I should be glad I didn’t remember. We’re talking full scale rebellion from the top down. It was the only time my dad ever objected to anything my mom made. That was in 1974. It wasn’t until the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when my mom and I decided to celebrate by making a different ethnic cuisine everyday that I was able to talk her into making it again.
Borscht, like every other ethnic cuisine varies depending on the region. Think of the great American BBQ. There’s Texas, Memphis, St. Louis, Carolinas, Gulf Coast. There’s even a type of BBQ known as Santa Maria style from the central California Coast that uses only Tri-tip.
Borscht is more commonly known here in the U.S. as a cold red beet soup, but it is actually primarily served hot in Russia. Sometimes it has meat - ham, pork, a sausage of some type, or a combination of all of them - but it can also be vegetarian. I have here recipes for both kinds :
This one isn’t actually Borscht. It’s a Polish dish called Chlodnik (pronounced hu-WOHD-neek). I like it better than regular Borscht.
3 C buttermilk
½ C sour cream
½ tsp salt
1 15 oz can diced red beets plus juice (or 15 oz can whole or sliced beets, diced)
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1 bunch red radishes, washed, diced
2 T fresh chopped dill
Dash of fine ground black pepper
Whisk the buttermilk, sour cream and salt together in a large bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes. Stir well before serving. Makes enough for about four people.
I have several recipes of Borscht that are really good, but some are very labor-intensive. Here is the one my mom had stashed away in a Russian cookbook. It’s actually a Ukrainian version. I think, but I’m not sure, that this is the one that caused the “Great Borscht Rebellion” :
Olive Oil
2 lbs beef or pork (or one lb each), cubed
3 cloves of garlic, minced (1 - 1 ½ tsp)
1 stalk celery, sliced
4 oz sliced mushrooms
10 C water
1 bay leaf
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried dill weed
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 large potatoes, washed, diced small
2 carrots, diced
½ small head green cabbage, shredded
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can white beans drained and rinsed
1 16 oz can shoestring beets, drained
1 T dried parsley
3 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crisp
Heat a large, heavy pot and slowly brown the meat. Add the onions, garlic and celery and sauté until the onions and celery are soft. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked. Add the water, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for one hour.
Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for a final 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you think it needs more dill, salt or pepper. You can serve it hot or cold. Don’t forget to garnish with sour cream!
You can see the difference between the two. They both make great soups for a hot summer day. Enjoy and Happy Mothers Day!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Been a Pho Month
Wow...what a month. Been awhile since I posted but I've been busy. Very busy. Too busy if you ask me. But that's OK. I'm not here to vent (believe me, I would if I could but it would just give me a larger headache than I already have). I'm here to talk about food, and do I have a doozy!
My friend Lexy called me earlier in the month with a dilemma. Her husband, Trevor, served an LDS mission in Texas, Vietnamese speaking. When some of his mission companions complained that they had trouble finding good Pho. Which isn't surprising. It can be hard to find good just about anything sometimes....if that makes sense. Anyway, like the good husband he is, Trevor just had to brag about his wife's cooking skills. Granted he was justified in doing so, but Lexy had never made, much less heard of Pho until she met Trevor. And honestly, neither had I. To the Google-mobile! (I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry)
After exhaustive research (a whole five minutes I'll never get back), I learned quite a bit. First, it's pronounced "Fuh" and it's the national dish of Vietnam. It's basically beef noodle soup and it takes a long time to make. Took me three days. Here's the recipe:
2 lbs beef shank bones or oxtails
cold water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cloves
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 2 oz bag of star anise
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup fish sauce
one onion, diced
one large package Pad Thai noodles
Bean Sprouts
Mint leaves
1 lb beef (I used a nice London Broil), sliced paper thin
Heat a large pot with a little olive oil. Brown the bones or oxtail on all sides. Add enough cold water to cover the bones. Add the spices and fish sauce and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer. Skim off any scum. Cover. I started this about 3 Pm and let it simmer until I went to bed around 11. I put the whole pot in the fridge when I went to bed and pulled it out when I came home from work the next day. I added a little more water and started the whole thing over again. I did it again the next day, scraping off any solid fat before reheating it. The stock will be a nice thick jelly by this time. I gave it a little heat until it liquified and then I strained it, and instead of water I added about 2 quarts of beef broth (which I haven't listed because it's my own trick). At this point I added the onions and let it come to a rolling boil. This is important as I'll explain later. Cook the noodles in boiling water. Be careful not to over cook them. They cook fast and will still be very firm when done (al dente to the max!).
Now, in some large soup bowls (about 4-6), place the cooked noodles, sprouts, a couple of mint leaves and the meat (raw). You could even add chopped green onions and shredded cabbabe if you want. Pour the boiling broth on top. This is why the broth must be boiling hot and why the meat is sliced paper thin. The boiling broth will cook the thin beef instantly. If you cut the meat against the grain ( if you look closely you can see lines of fiber in the meat - like the grain in lumber), the meat is absolutely so tender! This kind of reminds me of Japanese ShabuShabu. I think Udon noodles would have been better, though but that's just me. Oh well. It was still delicious!
My friend Lexy called me earlier in the month with a dilemma. Her husband, Trevor, served an LDS mission in Texas, Vietnamese speaking. When some of his mission companions complained that they had trouble finding good Pho. Which isn't surprising. It can be hard to find good just about anything sometimes....if that makes sense. Anyway, like the good husband he is, Trevor just had to brag about his wife's cooking skills. Granted he was justified in doing so, but Lexy had never made, much less heard of Pho until she met Trevor. And honestly, neither had I. To the Google-mobile! (I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry)
After exhaustive research (a whole five minutes I'll never get back), I learned quite a bit. First, it's pronounced "Fuh" and it's the national dish of Vietnam. It's basically beef noodle soup and it takes a long time to make. Took me three days. Here's the recipe:
2 lbs beef shank bones or oxtails
cold water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cloves
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 2 oz bag of star anise
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup fish sauce
one onion, diced
one large package Pad Thai noodles
Bean Sprouts
Mint leaves
1 lb beef (I used a nice London Broil), sliced paper thin
Heat a large pot with a little olive oil. Brown the bones or oxtail on all sides. Add enough cold water to cover the bones. Add the spices and fish sauce and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer. Skim off any scum. Cover. I started this about 3 Pm and let it simmer until I went to bed around 11. I put the whole pot in the fridge when I went to bed and pulled it out when I came home from work the next day. I added a little more water and started the whole thing over again. I did it again the next day, scraping off any solid fat before reheating it. The stock will be a nice thick jelly by this time. I gave it a little heat until it liquified and then I strained it, and instead of water I added about 2 quarts of beef broth (which I haven't listed because it's my own trick). At this point I added the onions and let it come to a rolling boil. This is important as I'll explain later. Cook the noodles in boiling water. Be careful not to over cook them. They cook fast and will still be very firm when done (al dente to the max!).
Now, in some large soup bowls (about 4-6), place the cooked noodles, sprouts, a couple of mint leaves and the meat (raw). You could even add chopped green onions and shredded cabbabe if you want. Pour the boiling broth on top. This is why the broth must be boiling hot and why the meat is sliced paper thin. The boiling broth will cook the thin beef instantly. If you cut the meat against the grain ( if you look closely you can see lines of fiber in the meat - like the grain in lumber), the meat is absolutely so tender! This kind of reminds me of Japanese ShabuShabu. I think Udon noodles would have been better, though but that's just me. Oh well. It was still delicious!
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