Faux Pho

Two posts in two days!!! Don't worry, it's gonna slow down again after today.

As amazing the pizza leftovers were yesterday, it was definitely time to eat something on the light side.  Eric mentioned soup so I started brainstorming.  For some reason lately, I've been craving Asian soups...maybe b/c I'm Asian? But really, I think it's because they're light and not cream based so when I want something light it does the trick.  I decided to make my version of pho/ramen.  I never like pho when I get it at restaurants b/c of that weird extra feet flavor that always seems to be involved.  However, I do love a good bowl of Asian noodle soup (i.e.: Ramen, Udon).  So I figure, why can't I just make it at home and hopefully not feel like I'm drinking someone's foot bath?  I decided to make beef pho.

To start, I bought a steak and marinaded it in some hoisin and miso paste.  This sat in the fridge for about 3 hours before I took it out to rest before grilling.

To make the broth, I didn't have time to go through the whole oxtail/beef knuckle process since by the time I decided to make this for dinner it was already past 3:00.  So instead, I used:

chicken stock

vegetable stock

star anise

cinnamon

garlic

salt

pepper

cloves

fish sauce

sugar

I let that cook a bit and once the spices all seemed to come together, I strained the broth to remove the bits and pieces that no one really wants to eat.  To that I added some veggies, which makes this more like ramen than pho.  You can add whatever you want really but I chose:

shitake mushrooms

baby bok choy

onions

I let the broth come to a boil and then I just let it simmer until it was time to make the noodles.  The noodles we had were instant noodles that somehow ended up in our pantry after a trip to the Asian market.  They only took about 4-5 minutes after the water boiled so I made them last.  In the meantime, I made the steak.  I recently purchased a stovetop griddle that's grill on one side, griddle on the other so I've been able to grill a lot of things now that it's freezing outside which is exciting.  I grilled the steak, just until it was rare almost medium rare b/c I knew it was going to continue cooking in the broth.  While it was resting, I made the noodles.  

To assemble, I put some noodles in a bowl.  Poured some broth over them and then put the veggies on top.  Then cut up some steak, and placed it on top.  Even though it looks pretty rare, it ended up being more around medium rare/medium by the time it was done "cooking" in the broth.  Since we don't like cilantro or bean sprouts, I served this with jalapeños, hoisin, and sriracha.  

I feel like this hit the spot.  We had gone to get some ramen a couple of weeks ago and even though it was good, I just wanted more.  Probably b/c it's been so cold out lately.  This was a perfect light meal that was filling and comforting.  

That's Amore!

Hello blog world people! It has been a LOOOONNNGGG time since last post.  Things have been busy....and lazy all at the same time so cooking has definitely not been something that I've been doing.  Well, not cooking anything new at least that's worth posting.  Through this blog I've found that after so many recipes, you start to run out.  Not so much run out of different things to make, but different things to make that I really want to eat and put the effort into.  However, for Super Bowl sunday I made some pizza rolls that involved also making my own sauce.  Since there was so much sauce leftover, I thought it would be a great idea to make some pizzas! Things got a little out of control....

I didn't take any pics of the sauce b/c I didn't really think about it.  I was in a little bit of a hurry and just threw it together.  I'll still share the process though in case you ever want to make pizza sauce from scratch.  The ingredients were:

olive oil

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

16 oz tomato sauce

6 oz tomato paste

5 tbsp parmesan cheese (I used shredded but you can use any..it just melts anyway)

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

a big pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp pepper

3 bay leaves

2 tsp fennel

This process is pretty easy.  Pour some olive oil into a pot and let it heat up.  Once it's hot, add the garlic and onion and cook them for a bit until they smell yummy.  Then you basically just dump everything else into the pot and stir it together.  Once it comes to a boil, turn it down and let it simmer, the longer the better.  Mine cooked for about 2 hours.  This sauce does become pretty thick so it may not be for everyone but I liked it. 

Onto the pizza! I decided to make 2 different kinds.  One was the "healthier" one of fresh mozzarella, san marzano tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  I bought my crust and just used thin crust Pillsbury.  My layers were: sauce, a little shredded cheese, mozz, tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil.  Final out of the oven version looked like this...

The 2nd pizza was what my friend Whitney has started calling the "Christe Pizza."  I started eating my pizzas like this about a year ago and apparently lots of people like the mixture.  I meant to add onions to this one but forgot until after the pizzas were done :( This pizza includes: pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, and banana peppers.  I layered sauce, shredded cheese, and then the rest of the toppings.  I put the pepperonis and mushrooms down first, followed by a small layer of cheese again, then sausage and banana peppers, with another small layer of cheese...just to hold everything in place.  The sausage I used was mild Italian.  This was made on Pillsbury classic crust.  Final product:

I wish you could see the size of these things.  I get that they're in a 1/4 baking sheet so they're not HUGE looking in length or size, but I'm pretty sure each of these weighed at least 5-8 pounds each.  It was pretty intense.  They both ended up being about 3 inches in height and looked more like deep dish pizzas than "thin crust."  These pictures really do them no justice. 

These pizzas were great and it's amazing how much less money you spend when you make them at home!! We love our favorite pizza place so it's not like we will stop ordering out but both of these pizzas were made for the cost of less than 1...or less than 2 from some place like Dominos.  If you have the time, I would definitely suggest trying to make your own pizzas! 

Leftover Thanksgiving turkey....in July

When my mom was in town back in July, we decided to make Thanksgiving dinner.  After a couple of days of leftovers, I decided it was time to do something else with the turkey instead of just eating Thanksgiving over and over.  After doing some searching, Turkey Tetrazzini seemed like a yummy idea. 

The ingredients are:

turkey

bacon

cream cheese

onion

peas

chicken stock

garlic

mushrooms

white wine

salt and pepper

spaghetti

parmesan cheese

To start, I melted butter in a pan and added the garlic and onions.  After a couple of minutes, the wine were added to the pan with the mushrooms.  

While that was cooking and bubbling, I added the bacon into a separate pan and let it cook.  

After a while, the liquid will reduce from the mushroom mixture and it will become "pasty."  At this point, the bacon should also be cooked through so it can be drained of the fat.  At this point, you basically add the rest of your ingredients to the pan with mushrooms: cream cheese, noodles, peas, bacon, chicken stock, and cheese.  (I forgot to mention earlier but your noodles should already be cooked).

 You give everything a quick toss just to mix everything up and then put it in the baking dish for the oven.  Some parmesan cheese is sprinkled on top for extra cheesy goodness.

 Once it bakes for a while, you take it out of the oven.  It will basically look the same as it did before but more bubbly and the cheese will have melted.

To serve, I added some more parmesan cheese and grated pepper on top.  I really liked the mixture of cheese and bacon, which is always one of my favorite combos with pasta.  Cream cheese and bacon...yum.  This had a good thickness too it which I liked, b/c there is nothing worse than a runny sauce when it comes to pasta.  This was a great way to use leftover turkey without repeating a Thanksgiving meal of some sort, like a sandwich or another plate of leftovers.

Breaking (into) Amish...

Eric, being German, likes sauerkraut and me, being from Northern China, likes sauerkraut.  So every now and then I like to make it.  Looking into recipes and thinking about what I can do with it, I decided to make a meal from Amish country-Lancaster, PA, pork and sauerkraut.  Luckily, my best friend is from, and lives, in Lancaster so I could get some tips from her on what to serve as sides and how the meal is usually eaten.  Even though it wasn't New Years Day, it still sounded good and simple enough that I didn't have to spend a lot of time on it.  It is probably the easiest thing in the world to make and comes out great. The ingredients are super simple:

pork loin

sauerkraut w/liquid

pepper

caraway seeds

applesauce

brown sugar

So basically, you put the loin into the crockpot.  Then season it with the pepper and caraway.  I chose to put applesauce in with the pork but it's not necessary.  A layer of applesauce went on first.

The kraut went on top of the applesauce and I sprinkled some brown sugar on top.  At this point, the lid went on and there it sat for 8 hours.  

I decided to serve this with mashed potatoes and some more applesauce.  I can't even tell you the last time I had applesauce but it was pretty good. 

After the 8 hours, the pork pulled apart beautifully.  The kraut,brown sugar, and applesauce from the pot had caramelized a little and the flavors really came together.  The best way to eat this was definitely to get a bit of everything in one bite.  All the flavors work really well together.  This meal was so easy and took maybe 5 minutes to put together.  It also made for great leftovers, which are a big thing in our house.

It all kinda reminds of me curry...but this was Tikka Masala!

I was in the mood for curry but didn't want curry.  We usually make green curry but something less soupy sounded better.  I don't usually make Indian food but since I was craving it, I decided to make it. It was a bigger process than I had expected but it was still pretty easy.  There are 2 steps to making tikka masala: the marinade and the sauce.  

For the marinade:

plain yogurt

lemon juice

cumin

red pepper

black pepper

cinnamon

salt

I cut the chicken into pieces and discarded the fat.  All of the ingredients were mixed together and I added the chicken.  This sat in the fridge for a few hours.  

For the sauce:

butter

garlic

jalapeno

coriander

cumin

paprika

garam masala

salt

tomato sauce

cream

To finish the dish, the butter is melted and then jalapenos and garlic are added to the pan.  Once it's been cooking for about a minute, the spices are added to the pan along with the tomato sauce.  

Allow this to simmer for 15 minutes and then add in the cream.  This will cause the sauce to thicken in about 5 minutes or so.  

In a different pan, I added the chicken and let it cook through.  Once it was done, I removed it from the pan and added some sliced carrots and mushrooms.  These weren't part of the recipe but I thought they sounded good so I decided to add them.  I also had some potatoes so I cut those into chunks and boiled them separately, then added them to the mix. 

Once these were both softened and cooked through, everything was added to the pan and allowed to combine.  I let it go to a simmer just to make sure it was all heated through and the flavors had come together.

 For the final product, I added some yogurt that had been mixed with lemon juice and some garlic powder.  I served the chicken on top of quinoa and with bread.

The veggies did an awesome job of soaking up the sauce.  It was really similar to a stew but Indian.  It came out a lot spicier than I thought, maybe because I decided to add a lot of spice to it since the jalapeno didn't seem that spicy at first.  Don't let it fool you though b/c after cooking for a while the spice definitely comes out.  Luckily, we had extra yogurt so that calmed it down some and the bread and quinoa also helped.  This dish hit the spot!  It's great for a cold day due to the heat.  It has great flavor and gets even better when leftover.  I'm pretty sure it got better each day.

The Dreaded Post

I have been really dreading this post b/c there are so many steps and so many ingredients.  However, this meal was delicious so instead of skipping it and acting like it didn't happen, I feel the need to share it. This is the infamous Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. So let's start with the long list of ingredients shall we?

For the stew:

solid chunk of bacon

stewing beef

olive oil

carrot

onion

bay leaves

salt 

pepper

red wine

flour

beef stock

tomato paste

garlic

thyme

For the onions:

pearl onions

butter

olive oil

beef stock

bay leaf

thyme

parsley

salt and pepper

For the mushrooms:

mushrooms

butter

olive oil

See! I told you the list was long. 

So to start, I chopped up my carrots, onions, and bacon.  I added more onions and carrots than the recipe needed just b/c they're so delicious.  Once the bacon was cut, it was simmered in some water, then dried.  

At the point, the oven was turned to 450 degrees and some olive oil was put into my dutch oven.  I LOOOVEEE using my dutch oven when it's cold out (which is when this was made). The bacon was added and browned then removed with a slotted spoon.  Then the beef was added and browned, then removed and placed with the bacon. 

In the same oil/fat, the carrots and onions were softened.  Once they're done, pour the fat out and then return the meat to the pot.  Everything gets tossed with salt and pepper and then sprinkled with flour.  At this point, the pot goes into the oven for a few minutes, uncovered.  Give everything a toss and then put it back into the oven for a few more minutes.  

  

The oven goes down to 325 degrees.  The wine and beef stock are added just to cover the meat.  Then the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs are added.  On the stove, all of this goodness needs to come to a simmer.  Now the pot goes in the oven, covered, for 3-4 hours. 

So I let this sit in the fridge overnight to marinade in the juices.

Before dinner time, I started making the onions and mushrooms.

For the onions, heat oil and butter in a pan.  Once it's sizzling and hot, add the onions and cook them until they're browned, preferably as evenly as possible.  Add the stock and herbs and simmer until the onions are tender and liquid has evaporated.  This will take at least 40 minutes so don't get impatient :) Take the herbs out and set the onions aside.

In the same pan, heat more oil and butter and when it's hot and sizzling, add the mushrooms.  Cook them until they're lightly browned, making sure to toss them frequently.

At this point, grab the pot from the fridge and strain the meat and liquid into a saucepan.  You want to keep the liquid since it will become your sauce.  Clean out the pot and put the meat back in.  I also kept the carrots and onions just b/c they were so yummy at this point I didn't want to waste them! Add the mushrooms and onions to the mix as well.  I basically just separated the sauce from everything else and took out the bay leaves.

So I stuck the pot back in the oven while the sauce was thickening.  While it's cooking in the pot, skim the fat off the top.  I ended up with a little over 1/2 cup of liquid.  Once it was down to consistency, the sauce was added to the pot and they were both cooked on the stove until simmered, giving a toss every few minutes to incorporate.

I poured mine over mashed potatoes but I bet bread or rice would be good too.  

Yum Yum Yum!!! This was so good!! It took FOREVER and lots of steps but I think it was worth it.  I don't know how often I will make this but it was so good!  It had a good balance of sweet and tangy.  I'm glad I left all the veggies in the dish b/c they soaked up a lot of that juicy goodness.  The best thing about this meal is that the longer it sits in the fridge, the better it gets! Everyday we had these as leftovers was another day that it just became more delicious.  Definitely plan out some time for this meal b/c it will take up some time but once you set your mind to it, it can be done!!

And now it's summer...

So I've been really bad about posting lately, mainly b/c the last dinner I made was boeuf bourguignon.  The list of ingredients and the recipe is so long, that I have just been putting off posting...for 2 months apparently.  Along with the fear of posting the longest recipe ever, I've been working on opening my own bakery/cafe along with working so things have been a little hectic.  I did, however, find some cupcakes that I made for my friend's birthday that I forgot to post so it'll be a good transition entry :)

So summertime is here! and as a Southern girl, what is better in the summer than strawberries...and cake??? So my friend wanted strawberry shortcakes for her bday so I made her strawberry shortcake cupcakes.  These were double layered cupcakes with chantilly cream and strawberries.  Instead of biscuits, I used pound cake.  Recipe includes:

butter

sugar

eggs

AP flour

salt

vanilla

strawberries

sugar

heavy cream

sugar

vanilla

(Sorry for the lack of pictures)

The method used is the creaming method: butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer with a paddle attachment and whipped until creamy.  Then add the eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Finally add the flour.  Since I was making cupcakes, I used an ice cream scoop and divided the batter.  Once they were done, I allowed them to cool and cut them in half.  I also chopped up the strawberries and let them sit in some sugar.  

To make the chantilly, I simply added a whisk attachment to the mixer and whipped the cream, adding sugar and vanilla to taste until stiff peaks formed.  

Assembly of the cupcakes went like:

cake

chantilly

strawberries

cake

chantilly 

strawberries

I piped the chantilly cream so it would be cleaner and look nicer :)

Final products looked like this:

There ended up being close to 70 cupcakes and they were gone so fast the birthday girl didn't even get one! I'm glad we had some leftover that wouldn't fit in the trays so we got to eat some at home as "tasters."  I'm not gonna lie, they were pretty freaking awesome.  The chantilly cream had just enough sweetness to it that it wasn't overkill but was creamy enough to still balance out the sweetness of the strawberries.  The cake came out great and didn't dry out.  YUM!