Eating my way around New York.

 [Momofuku]

[BBQ in Koreatown]

 [Coffee cake from Pip's gluten free bakery]

 [Amazing lobster goodness at The Lobster Joint in Greenpoint]

[Ice cream with local beer + honey comb crunchies at Ample Hills Creamery]

[The birthday meal my mother prepared for me - banh xeo]

 [Clam pizza at Pepe's in Yonkers]

 [Garlic knots!]

[Some Tonkatsu and soup dumplings in Flushing]

Fried Artichoke + Lemon Sandwich

This sandwich was the result of a perfect storm of things. I've never cooked/prepped fresh artichokes before and I've been meaning to conquer this fear. I spotted a big container of baby artichokes at the supermarket and just bit the bullet. Also, after my experiment with scotch eggs over the weekend, I am a frying machine! I am addicted to the euphoria you get when you see a delicious brown crust on the food you're cooking. While I was prepping the lemon water for the artichokes, I remembered how much I absolutely love fried lemons on a plate of fried calamari. Lastly, I bought a baguette the other day and needed to get rid of it before our trip to New York. The best things can come from trying to use up stuff in your fridge.



The result? Fried yumminess.


(makes 4 sandwiches)

1 baguette, cut into four sections
2 lbs. baby artichokes
8 thinly sliced pieces of lemon, plus extra for lemon water
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tspns. salt, plus additional for sprinkling after frying
Black pepper
2 tspns. garlic powder
Vegetable oil for frying
Asiago cheese block (or about a 1/4 - 1/3 cup finely shredded Asiago cheese. You can also use Parmesan)
Slices of salami or prosciutto
Mayonaise
Mixed spring greens (optional)


Fill a big bowl with cold water and squeeze about half a lemon into it.

Prep the baby artichokes and cut them in half. This is a great slideshow on how to prep baby artichokes: http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/slideshows/2010/06/how_to_prep_baby_artichokes#slide=1

As you slice the artichokes, place them in the lemon water bath so they don't brown.

Heat some vegetable oil to 350F (or do the chopstick thing I reference in my other recipes).

Combine the flour, salt, black pepper to taste, and garlic powder in a bowl. Pat dry the artichokes and then dredge the artichokes and thin slices of lemon in the flour. Tap the excess flour off and place carefully in the hot frying oil. Fry until crispy brown, about 2-4 minutes each batch. When the lemons and artichokes are done, sprinkle some salt on them and top with finely shredded Asiago cheese.

To layer your sandwich: Mayo. Greens (if using). Salami. Fried chokes + 2 pieces of fried lemon + cheese. Chomp.

Scotch Eggs

Scotch eggs are something I've always heard about, but have never actually eaten or seen on a menu before. Maybe I'm just going to the wrong places (although growing up in a Vietnamese house probably has to do with me not trying one for the first 18 years of my life). This weekend I decided to just go for it and I am so happy to say it was a success! The moment I cut into this thing and saw that I did not completely overcook the egg into a pale yellow sad sack, I had culinary euphoria. I was so excited. I am still excited and it's long been eaten. I used turkey sausage because I liked the idea of a lighter taste to contrast the fried coating -- it's not exactly health food I know, but I preferred not to have too much extra fat that wasn't going to contribute to my enjoyment of the dish. Perdue has some good turkey sausages, I'm sure Findlay Market has very interesting varieties of sausage to experiment with (there's a lamb and cherry one that could be great I think). I highly highly recommend cooking the eggs beforehand and letting them cool overnight -- this helps make the eggs super easy to peel the next morning and slow the cooking of the egg once you fry it.

I can try for a runny egg next time, but for now, this'll do. This will do.

(for 2 servings)

3 large eggs 

2 turkey sausage links (in casing)

1/2 cup of flour 

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Cover 2 of the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes. Take off the stove, submerge in cold water, and drain. Place the eggs in the fridge overnight. 

The next morning, crack the uncooked egg and mix it with about a tablespoon of water. Whisk it a little bit to make an egg wash.  Set up your breading station and lay out the flour and panko.

Remove the sausage from its casing but keep each portion separate. Carefully peel the previously boiled eggs (although if you mess up a tiny bit, no one will know!). Wrap each egg with the meat from one sausage link so that it completely covers the egg -- no egg white peeping out -- and forms a ball. Dredge each sausage ball into the flour, tap to remove excess flour. You can play hot potato a little bit with it to remove the excess flour. Next, dip it in the egg wash mixture, then dip it in the panko crumbs.

Heat the frying oil to 350F degrees. If you don't have a fry thermometer, I heat the oil until I dip a wooden chopstick into the oil and bubbles start quickly forming around the tip. Place the balls into the frying oil. Cook each egg for 4-6 minutes, rotating a few times in the oil. 

Slice into it and enjoy, pat yourself on the back. 

Linkipe: Girls brunch + Bread + Spreads

Until this month, I had never made bread before. Most recipes I read had so much kneading and resting involved, and mostly I was deterred because I thought, what if I took all this time to prepare this bread and I wake up and just want to go out for breakfast? What happens to that loaf? My laziness gave way when I prepared a holiday brunch for my close girlfriends recently. Around the holidays I am so family focused that I wanted to bring my girl friends together so we could celebrate each other. The idea was a light holiday brunch, casual, colorful, a secret santa component, lots of champagne. I took on a few things that I never tried before and hoped would work out (otherwise, the Frisch's buffet was only a short ride away...). Bread was one of those things and I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy it was!

The Menu

Rosemary + asiago bread

Cranberry "jam", bacon jam

Honeyed goat cheese + olive tapenade

Spaghetti squash salad

Fried eggs 

Orange + pomegranate fruit salad 

Grapefruit champagne cocktail 

Candied citrus peels (to bring home)

This was not a brunch based on my ability to come up with things, but rather an opportunity to make things I've never made before. Below is a list of the links I used in this pursuit!

1) Bread: http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

This bread is pretty dense -- I recommend adding things like rosemary and cheese or cranberries to it. When I made a plain version of the loaf, it was a little too dense for me but it was perfect with bacon jam!

2) Candied citrus peels, champagne cocktail, bacon jam: Martha Stewart kills it. The most time consuming thing for this whole brunch was the citrus peels. I was already using grapefruit, oranges and lemon elsewhere in our menu so it made sense not to waste the peels and I am glad for that, but the pith... Oh my goodness the pith. So incredibly annoying to scrape off. However, the end result is very pretty so kind of worth it. For the champagne cocktail, I used grapefruits instead of oranges.

http://www.marthastewart.com/355599/candied-citrus-peel?center=0&gallery=275603&slide=260580

http://www.marthastewart.com/910525/champagne-and-orange-granita-cocktail?center=0&gallery=275544&slide=910525

http://www.marthastewart.com/326881/slow-cooker-bacon-jam

3) Cranberry jam: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Jam-231007

This recipe doesn't use pectin, so it is runnier than what you imagine a typical jam to be like. However, it was really easy to execute, the color is gorgeous, and I liked that you could really taste cranberry rather than a bunch of sugar. The next time I make this, I will probably use less water. 

4) Honeyed goat cheese and olive tapenade: http://sweetpaul.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/10/re.html

I thought the combination of honey, goat cheese, and the tapenade was really great. However, my goat cheese did not brown up the way the picture looks! It just melted into a sad pool. So, I would probably just set the cheese out so it reaches a creamy room temp, drizzle honey over it, and set it out with the tapenade on the side. 

5) Spaghetti squash salad: This is an intentionally light salad since I knew we'd be eating dense bread and there was already cheese somewhere else on the table so I didn't want to overdo it and put it in here. It is not saucy either. This would be good with crumbled goat cheese or shredded parmesan or asiago cheese if you're eating it as a side to a protein.

(serves 6)

2 small spaghetti squash

1/4 cup pecans

1 tbspn. butter

1 bunch of kale, off the rib and cut into 1 inch pieces 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tbspn. olive oil 

1/2 lemon

1 tspn. dijon mustard

1/4 cup olive oil 

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Prick holes in the spaghetti squash and microwave for 4 minutes. Cut each squash lengthwise, then place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for half an hour. Scoop out the seeds, go at the squash with a fork and put the flesh into a big bowl. 

Melt the butter in a pan and toss in the pecans. Let them toast until brown and fragrant, then take it off the heat and let the nuts cool. 

Mix together the juice from the lemon, mustard, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Heat the olive oil in a pan and sautee the garlic until translucent. Add the kale, some salt and pepper, and sautee until the kale is brown in some spots (kind of like you roasted it).

Toss the pecans, lemon vinaigrette, and kale with the spaghetti squash and season to taste.

Lobster pot pie

One of the culinary treasures in Cincinnati is Findlay Market, the state's oldest running public market. There is stall after stall of great fresh ingredients -- every cut of meat you could imagine, fresh pasta, an amazing spice counter, and terrific seafood.... all amidst the delicious smell of buttery waffles from Taste of Belgium.

On a trip to the market on Friday, there was a special at Luken's -- $10 for a whole cooked lobster. Um, yes please. I had taken advantage of this around Tyler's birthday when I made lobster rolls but I hadn't seen it since. When I saw it on Friday I was excited because it's the holidays and I wanted us to have a special meal to keep up the holiday spirit -- seafood always makes us jolly!


When I got home, I mulled over what to do with this lobster. The idea of cold lobster on its own wasn't too appetizing to me. It snowed here, I wanted something warm which would stick to my ribs. I have never made lobster pot pie before and after some research on the internet, I came up with the combination below based on what I had laying around at home (a more dedicated cook probably would have made the crust or purchased some crust, but I had some Ritz crackers to get rid of and this was a perfect opportunity). I also tossed in some crawfish meat, but it is definitely not essential to have that in this dish -- lobster on its own in this is delicious. It was soooo good! And so decadent. It made us feel fancy and all warm inside, which is really what makes a good holiday dinner. Next time I'll make the crust and get one of those cute little lobster cookie cutters.... bon appetit!



Lobster filling: 

Meat from two cooked lobsters, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbspns. butter
2 tbspns. all purpose flour
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 tspn. paprika
1/2 cup of clam juice or fish stock
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tbspn. chopped parsley
Salt + pepper to taste

Crust 
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed by hand or pulsed in a food processor
1 1/2 tbspns. melted butter
A splash of hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter and sautee the onion + garlic until the onion is translucent. Toss in the lobster heads if you extracted the lobster meat yourself. Add the flour and sautee until all the flour is cooked (no white powder left in the pan). Add the clam juice, sherry, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the half and half and parsley then take off the heat. Place the mixure into 2 big individual ramekins, or a shallow baking dish.

Mix the Ritz crackers and melted butter together (and the hot sauce if you're using it). Place the crumb mixture over the lobster in the ramekins or baking dish. Bake until the lobster mix is bubbling and the mixture is a nice golden brown -- 10-15 minutes for the ramekins, 15-20 for the baking dish.

The Holiday Season begins!

This is not a recipe post, more of a personal one.

As soon as I have my last bite of turkey, I am ready for the smell of pine and snowy images and cranberry flavored products and Nutcracker figures all over the place. Maybe it's because I have so many fond memories of Christmas with my family. The Pham family tradition starts with stuffing ourselves on Christmas Eve -- sometimes we made turkey, sometimes we ate lots of seafood -- while listening to the same Amy Grant and Kenny G CDs we've been listening to since I was in elementary school. We drink lots of sparkling apple cider (and by "we" I mean me and my sister because we can put down a bottle each of the stuff). Then we gather in front of the tree, sprawling all over the floor and couch in our living room and take turns opening presents. My parents yell at my brother for getting them extravagant gifts, I patiently wait until it's my turn again and anxiously wait for other people to open the gifts I got them. Afterwards we lay there talking, sleepy with our bellies full and our hearts content. The next morning, we go to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

This is the first year I will not be in New York for Christmas. But regardless of where I am, during the holidays I reflect upon how lucky I am for my friends and family, I look forward to getting treats for the people I love,  and I anticipate the increase in my favorite year round activity -- eating with people I care about. All the holiday parties which pair festive cocktails with tasty appetizers and the belly stuffing feasts with friends and family fill me with an indescribable happiness which really make the holiday season special to me.

Yesterday I made a big pot of beef pho and invited some friends over to share it with us, prepping as I ran my holiday errands throughout the day. Beef pho is a different process for me than chicken pho -- it requires more than a chicken and some pho cubes. But it felt like I was making a "special occasion" meal as I made the stock with oxtail and other cuts of beef on the bone, got together my spices. I made some Vietnamese coffee ice cream (using this recipe), fried up some cha gio I had in the freezer for us to snack on while I prepared everyone's bowls. I'm so happy when I get to share tastes from my culture with my friends -- it quells a little bit of my homesickness, and it makes me feel as if they are getting to know me a bit better on some level. One dinner guest brought over some peppermint ice cream and hot fudge -- which I gladly put out in lieu of the coffee ice cream because who turns down fudge?!

Looking forward to more good times like this throughout the month -- tis the season to be grateful.

Autumn Fried Rice

Old, cold rice is usually the recommended base of good fried rice, and from there it is really all about your imagination....or what else is left over in your fridge. When you're cooking for two, you are often left with some weird amounts of leftover dishes and ingredients, which never really add up to a real meal unless you eat all your leftovers from various meals in one sitting. Fried rice is a solution to that. This autumn fried rice combination was the result of leftover lap xuong that I purchased to make xoi; one lonely beet and some kale that I used in a seasonal meal I made for Tyler's parents; rice I made a few days ago to go with some Trader Joe's frozen teriyaki chicken when I was lazy; a soy dipping sauce I made for some dumplings; and some leeks that I had leftover from this breakfast casserole. Who knew all these things would taste amazing together?!

The hiccup in this recipe is the soy dipping sauce -- I don't remember the proportions I used. It's a mix of soy sauce, water, white sugar, chili sauce (tuong ot), white vinegar, and sliced ginger.  Other than that, this is pretty straightforward (and so seasonally tasty!).

(makes 2 hearty servings)

1 bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped

1 golden beet, peeled and chopped (chopped firm persimmons might be great too!)

1 lap xuong sausage, halved and sliced 

1 egg

1 tbspn. water

Salt + pepper 

1 leek, light green/white portion chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 tbspn. vegetable oil, plus a little more to fry the egg 

About 3 cups of cold leftover rice (it just depends on what you like your ratio of rice to be in comparison to the other ingredients, or however much rice you have on hand)

Beat the egg with 1 tbspn. water and a pinch of salt. Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a pan (or wok). Pour the egg in and cook in one layer, like a pancake. Flip once. Remove and set aside to cool. 

Heat 1/2 tbspn. vegetable oil in the same pan. Add the lap xuong and cook until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to soak up the oil. Add the leeks and onion to the pan and sautee until translucent. Add the beets. Cook for about 5 minutes, until almost the desired doneness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the kale and sautee until wilted. Add the rice, breaking it up and tossing it with the vegetables. Slice the egg into strips. Add 1/4 cup of the soy sauce mixture and toss until everything is well coated. Add more soy sauce to taste. Top with freshly ground black pepper.

Linkipe: "Ham + Cheese" Breakfast Casserole

Two good friends of mine got married last night (yay!). I love weddings and I was especially excited about this one, all the more so because I knew there was going to be lots of dancing and drinking into the wee hours of the morning. I knew today would be a lazy day and I wouldn't have the energy to cook anything, so I prepped as much as I could yesterday afternoon. I washed and cut up some berries, I made a lemon vinaigrette for a simple salad to go with our brunch, I purchased an abundance of beverages to help us rehydrate, and I made a breakfast casserole which I could pop into the oven this morning + let cook while I curled back up in bed.

This casserole was really easy to throw together, and the substitutions I made based on what I had on hand did nothing to diminish its deliciousness! I used leeks instead of onions, old baguette instead of challah bread -- still yummy. Good recipe to master before the holidays...

Cheater's Wonton Noodle Soup Broth

This morning I had a craving for something warm and brothy. Asian breakfasts are a little different than the standard American breakfast -- I would say there are very few Asian dishes that are known as breakfast specific dishes. Noodle soups, porridge, meat pies, pastries -- these are all things that can be eaten throughout the day. So having a noodle soup for breakfast is not uncommon. (Having ramen as a snack is not that uncommon either -- it's a miracle I don't weigh more considering my childhood eating habits) A while back, I had leftover filling from the curried turnovers and I used it as wonton filling and threw it into the freezer. This morning was the perfect opportunity to turn them into breakfast.

Just like the cubes I mentioned in my cheater's pho ga recipe, there are special seasoning cubes for wonton soup. "Hoanh thanh" is the Vietnamese translation of wonton (sound it out, it makes sense). I am not listing any specific measurements because this is really something to adjust by taste, and depending on how many bowls you're making. For the broth, a good rule of thumb is to start out with one cube, taste, then add more as needed. As for the toppings, it just depends on what ratio you want. My mom likes more broth than toppings, my dad wants as little broth as possible and lots of toppings. It's flexible.

The soup base is not really the star of this dish -- what makes this kind of soup is the toppings. Some good combinations which you can use with this broth:

Roasted duck + bok choy + duck egg
Roasted pork + bok choy + bean sprouts
Chicken + garlic chives + bean sprouts
Dumplings + bean sprouts + scallions
Tofu + shitake mushrooms + napa cabbage + garlic chives + bean sprouts

You get the idea. You can get adventurous and add chorizo + garlic chives + bean sprouts too -- a little fusian cuisine. If you follow a formula of protein + something crunchy, it'll work. This morning I used wontons + tons of garlic chives + a boiled egg on top of shrimp egg noodles.

That all being said, this isn't a typical recipe. For people who are used to cooking like this, stop reading. You probably stopped a while ago the first time you rolled your eyes and said "duh". For those who have never made this soup on their own before, keep reading to see how super easy it is and have fun throwing this together throughout the winter.

Ok I'll stop talking. Time for cooking.

(for 2 servings)

1 hoanh thanh seasoning cube
16 oz. chicken stock
2 cups of water
An egg based noodle
Wontons

Suggested condiments: Lemongrass chili oil (pictured below); white or red wine vinegar

Bring a mixture of the seasoning cube, water and chicken stock to a boil. Taste -- if too salty, dilute with water. If not flavorful enough, try adding more chicken broth.

In a separate pot, bring some water to boil. Cook the noodles according to the package directions. If using wontons, cook them in this separate pot as well. Place your toppings + noodles in a bowl, ready for its broth. I wouldn't suggest cooking these things in the broth itself -- sometimes it makes the broth murky.

Ladle the broth over the noodles + slurp.

Sunday brunch with a good friend

Delicious quiche. Spinach salad with pears + hazelnuts + red onions + cranberries. Homemade zucchini bread. Caramel apple drizzle to top some ice cream for dessert. French press.

So what if it was just the two of us?