Why Everyone Should Have a Slow Cooker!

I finally got a chance to use my crock pot that my sister got me for my birthday in August. I usually use Dutch ovens, but today I couldn’t be home to watch it. So it was the perfect reason to break in the slow cooker! There’s something SO comforting about anything slow cooked.. Brisket, short ribs, pork shoulder, arroz con pollo..

I’m loving brisket these days as we’ve just started our winter menu at work and brisket has been very popular. I usually buy brisket from Costco as it’s pretty affordable and good quality. But this time I was at trader joes so I bought a piece that was about 3lbs. It had some fat for flavor but didn’t require any trimming. As it was my first time using the crock pot, I had to play with times a bit. We had it with some creamy polenta, but you could have it with crispy bread, rice or potato purée. Here’s my recipe, hope you enjoy!

Serves 5 to 6

Ingredients

-3lbs brisket
-1 large yellow onion
-5-6 large fresh shiitake mushrooms
-2 cups chopped cremini mushrooms
-3-4 sprigs thyme
-1 sprig rosemary
-1/2 cup whole garlic cloves
-3 bay leaves
-3-5 cups beef stock
-salt and pepper

Directions

Roughly chop the onions and layer on the bottom of the crockpot. Remove and discard the stems of the shiitake mushrooms and roughly chop. Chop the cremini mushrooms as well. Add the shiitake to the onions. Cut several slits into the brisket and put whole peeled garlic cloves in. Add to the crockpot fat side up. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Arrange the cremini mushrooms, bay leaves and extra whole garlic cloves around the meat. If possible, bundle the thyme and rosemary with butchers twine. Otherwise tuck around the meat. I didn’t bother and it was just fine. It’ll be easy to pull out the stems. Finish with enough beef stock to just cover the meat. Cook on low for 7.5 hours.

The meat is done when it will shred easily with two forks. Once done, remove the meat to a baking dish. Shred with two forks and cover with a ladle of liquid to keep it moist. Lightly cover with foil.

Remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs from the broth. Also remove any bay leaves you can find. Skim as much fat as you can. You can use the sauce just as it is, but we quite like thicker gravy. Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. If you’d like it thicker, mix a couple tablespoons of corn starch and water in a small bowl. Add some of the puréed sauce to a pot and add a couple teaspoons of the corn starch mixture. Simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Plate your polenta or rice, top with shredded brisket and finish with the gravy. Top with some chopped parsley of you have it and enjoy!

Notes:

You don’t necessarily have to cover the meat with stock. You will have quite a bit of sauce/liquid left. The main reason I did was because I wouldn’t have time to turn the meat over. This way it was fully emerged and couldn’t dry out.

Leftover sauce would be a great soup. Add a bit of cream and more stock.

Leftover meat could be used over pasta or with a sandwich or quesadilla.

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NY TRIP (PART 2) : COMFORT FOOD

Comfort food. It’s a term that everyone, anywhere in the world, is most likely familiar with. It even has a Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_food). Simply put, it is food that brings us comfort. It could be Mom’s home cooking, the local diner, the local curry house (for you Brits) or any food, whether it’s simple classics or gourmet cuisine, that brings you satisfaction even thinking about it.

By now you should know that I am a serious food lover. If you’ve seen Anthony Bourdain’s recent episode of No Reservations in Vietnam, you might have an understanding of how my Vietnamese heritage “forces” me to eat, want to eat, and talk about eating all the time. Unfortunately, it’s something I seen to be unable to suppress.

With that said, when I think back on my year in New York, I naturally think about the food I ate. Of course, most of the food memories involve really good times with friends – whether it was dinner at a new BYOB or a great Sunday brunch. If you didn’t know already, New Yorkers love their brunch. I don’t know if it’s the ability to drink so early in the morning or rather to continue drinking after a late night or if it’s the social aspect of catching up with friends in your precious free time.

Either way, one of my absolute favorite brunch places is Extra Virgin in the West Village. Granted this place usually has a pretty long wait on the weekend, I have never minded waiting. That’s probably because I kill the time by having one of their spicy Bloody Mary’s that will turn you into a Bloody Mary lover. If I recall a couple years ago, I didn’t really care for them until I had one here. It might be too spicy for some, but it gives a great amount of kick for me. But that’s not the reason I go back to this place. The real reason is the Gorgonzola fondue and fries. If you want to talk about comfort food, this super simple side dish makes me dream about New York. I have no idea why I love it so much. The sauce is just divine and the fries are fantastically thin and crispy. I kept bragging about it to my friend Adi who wasn’t really impressed until she tried it. It was a great reaction. First she commented on how the fries looked great. Then she dipped. Then her eyes opened wide and she moaned, a little. Needless to say we had to ask for more fondue to finish off the fries 🙂

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Exploring Arizona – Part 1

A beautiful Arizona desert sunset

Hi All – Hope everyone had a great weekend. This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting my sister’s good friend Kristen who was in town from Seattle with strict instructions to help her explore the area. After picking her up from the airport Saturday afternoon, the first place that came to mind (within my very limited knowledge of the area) was Sapporo in Scottsdale. I currently live far enough from Scottsdale and Tempe to not be able to go out and taxi-it home (sadly). However, Kristen was staying at a hotel so we went all out. We headed to Sapporo for happy hour. And despite being hungry we somehow got caught up doing sake bombs at the very very crowded bar instead. (It was the end of the Phoenix [golf] Open so the place was rammed). Although we mostly had a couple drinks at this place, I mention it because it’s a great sushi place (and I absolutely looove sushi), with a great happy hour, and a really good scene. So if you’re ever in town, I recommend it! Next time I’ll actually eat and take some pictures. 

I’ll skip through the rest of the night since it didn’t exactly involve a lot of food, but it was loads of fun and filled with dancing and lots of laughs. The next day, however, WAS filled with lots of food – food required to make me feel a whole lot better. We met up with a friend of Kristen’s – Tyler (a local) – who was so nice and gave us a few recommendations in town. 

We ate so much at the first place though, we only made it to one – LA GRANDE ORANGE in Arcadia (suburb of Scottsdale).  We were completely shocked when we walked into this place. First off, it was completely packed on a Sunday early afternoon which is always a great sign. It’s tucked into this really cute neighborhood and just had so much character. 

 I mean who sells little cactus plants at their grocery/restaurant/cafe? Of course this is Arizona… But seriously, this place is amazing. I wish it wasn’t so far away because I definitely would be there every day if I could. So this place looks like it took over two restaurants. The left half is filled with tables and an open area on the right wall where they make pizzas (so probably a former pizza joint). The right half is where you order food and buy mini cactus 🙂  Of course they, in fact, sell a variety of items from cook books, to clothes/aprons/etc with their logo, and loads of specialty grocery items. To be completely honest, I was starving and the amazing smells coming from the open kitchen and the long line prevented me from exploring. Before I get to the food, one last note on this place – the people/crowd were really really surprising to me because it was completely different from anything I’ve seen in my experience in Arizona thus far. There was actually an urban feel to it. Or maybe it was what I would expect at a place on Main Street in Venice? That blend of people from Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice? I saw very little bleach blonde, a lot of no-makeup-laid-back Sunday faces, no cowboy hats and even some dread locks! 

 

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Cooking For One – Part 2

This time around I decided to stop being redundant and put up my recipes first. This way on my posts you can look at the more important thing – the pictures 🙂

Next up in my cooking for one was a spinach salad. Spinach just happen to be on sale the other day, so I bought two huge tubs of it and it lasted me more than a week. Basically I’ve been super loaded up with iron these days. But I never get tired of it somehow. I love it in a salad, or sandwich or sauteed. And I might just stop using frozen spinach if I can help it. The flavor just isn’t the same. Anywho – you can find the recipe here.

This time I tried something a little different and made my super basic balsamic vinaigrette with white wine vinegar instead. As you can see I’m not super creative when it comes to salad dressings. I stick with my basics because normally when I feel like a salad, it’s a last minute thing and I want it to be simple. I also used some of the leftover chicken I bought on sale (and used in the last post). Because I didn’t want to mess up my Dad’s grill, I decided to just quickly pan “grill” it. I pounded it thin since I find it cooks faster and I like to take little bites. Seasoned it with garlic salt, black pepper and chili flakes. After cooking, I sliced into strips, used some in my salad and saved the rest for another day.

Healthy chicken fajitas

Chris arrived the next day and because I had so much darn chicken I decided we were going to have fajitas! In the spirit of being healthy, I decided I would make my own seasoning since it’s pretty easy to look up online and allowed one less ‘store-bought’ thing in our meal. I didn’t really measure and kind of just threw in an assortment of ingredients I found in various recipes online (the basics really). Find the recipe here.

For veggies, I decided to go a slightly different route since I’ve been reading lots about how bell peppers give you heart burn (aka make you gassy, not exactly romantic). Even though it is a summer squash, I’ve recently read about the benefits of eating zucchini (or known in the UK as courgette). It’s low in calories and a good source of vitamin A.

Healthy, homemade chicken fajitas

I also used mushrooms since (1) Chris and I both love them, (2) they also have great health benefits like being low in calories and a good source of potassium, and (3) we were at Costco and decided to get a huge box of them.

As you can see, we had a corn salsa with our fajitas. I decided to omit the black beans and bell pepper this time to make it a little lighter.

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My Mom – Hostess With The Most-ess

As previously mentioned, this past Sunday was not only Valentine’s Day but also the first day of the Lunar Year. On Saturday evening, my parents, aunt, uncle, grandmother and boyfriend sat down to a traditional Vietnamese New Year dinner. This was my first time being home for Tet since leaving for college some 7+ years ago. So it was a real treat to be with my family and to also teach Chris about our Tet traditions.  

It was rather funny and challenging to actually explain these things to someone. I had to look up a few things, but how do you explain why the Vietnamese (and most Asians really) are so superstitious? They just are? How do you explain that money is an important part of Tet without making Vietnamese people sound superficial?  

My summary of Tet for Chris was mainly that (1) red is important and symbolizes luck, (2) giving money to family [li xi] in red envelopes also symbolizes luck, (3) you have to be happy and nice to others or else you’ll have bad luck all year, (4) oh and you should eat lots because it’ll make you happy and will bring you good luck!  

Not having celebrated Tet for seven years is quite a long time – especially when those years include college, living in seven different cities and five different countries. More than anything, it’s made me think about culture and tradition and what it all means to me. Being a Vietnamese-American or just being a first-generation born in the US (like those of any ethnic background) often makes me feel conflicted. I feel more American than Vietnamese. I lived in Vietnam during the summer of 2006, and I was treated like a foreigner. Yet I have a lot of respect for my family and our traditions, even if I don’t really celebrate them when I’m not home. In the end, I concluded this weekend that having traditions are good for any family. Whether it’s as basic as having Sunday dinner or holding the family’s annual sports challenge (complete with trophy) – it’s a reason for family to be together, eat well and share family stories.  

Now for the name of this post – my mother the hostess. For as long as I can remember, my mom has wowed her guests with her flowers, her table settings and of course her food. She always has each course  timed perfectly and with the help of my aunts – you’ll finish your meal and see that all the dishes have already been washed and the kitchen is spotless. This is something I am constantly working on despite the many small kitchens and apartments I’ve lived in. Nevertheless, I persevere and hope to be able to create dinner parties as beautiful as Mom’s – because, after all, taste is one thing but presentation brings it all together! 

Below are photos from Christmas 2006 and this past weekend for Vietnamese New Year. Enjoy!

Christmas at Home 2006

 

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The Year Of The Tiger And My Dad The Cook

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!  Gung Hei Fat Choy!  Happy New Year! 

On February 14th this year, many people will be celebrating Valentine’s Day. But if you are of Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian or Korean decent, you will be celebrating the first day of the lunar new year. For the Vietnamese, this will be the Year of the Tiger or otherwise known as Tet. According to OnlineChineseAstrology.com, it is the Year of the Metal Tiger for the Chinese. 

“The Norwegian story goes that, once a group of [white tigers] starts moving across the fields, they will charge ahead and unthinkingly run straight off a cliff to their doom… The point is now is the time to attack the most difficult issues you face. -OnlineChineseAstrology.com”
 

I think that that most difficult issue for the women in my family at the moment is that my Dad is kicking their butt in cooking. No offense Mom, Bac Oanh, Tata and Ba – but you know it’s true. I’ve heard you all moan over Dad’s Banh Chung! (pronounced bye-ing choong) For those of you who have not had the good fortune of eating this, it is a Vietnamese rice cake filled with sticky rice, mung beans and fatty pork seasoned with black pepper and (of course) fish sauce. This rice cake is normally bought at Vietnamese grocery stores but almost never served at a restaurant. It is one of the traditional dishes eaten for the Vietnamese New Year. The legend states that King Hung Vuong held a competition to determine his successor and his young prince Lang Lieu created the dish Banh Chung and won the throne. From then on, it was decided that Banh Chung would become one of the traditional foods of Tet. Now enough of the history lesson and back to the food.
 

Banh Chung - Vietnamese Rice Cake

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Vietnamese Comfort Food – The Real Fried Rice

As it is with most ‘foreign’ cuisines, there are a couple dishes that make it mainstream. For Italian, it might be pizza and spaghetti with meatballs; Mexican might be nachos and burritos; and Chinese might be fried rice and stir-fry. And like it is with all food, no matter where it comes from, the home-made versions can sometimes be very different. As a foodie, I am always seeking out the ‘real’ thing which isn’t always easy to find. A lot of the time, the only way you’ll ever get a true version of a dish is if you have it in someone’s home or go visit that country yourself.

There is one particular dish whose mainstream version has always bugged me – fried rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_rice). I’ve recently been looking a lot of things up on Wikipedia to see what ‘the world’ has to say, and the description for fried rice was pretty much what I expected. The first thing Wikipedia points out is that it is “a popular component of Chinese food”. However, with Chinese food becoming more and more mainstream over the past decade (example: Panda Express: http://www.pandaexpress.com/)   I feel like the true flavors of dishes such as fried rice have lost their way. I have to point out though that I’ve never been to China (only Vietnam and Thailand), and I’ve never had fried rice in someone else’s house (who wasn’t family). But with that said, I have to confess my constant disappointment when someone orders fried rice from a restaurant (whether it be Chinese, Vietnamese or other) because I just know it is SO easy to make and would be a million times better home-made. Do you notice that the restaurant version is usually brown and a bit dry? Don’t you find it pretty salty too?

To be true to my last blog though, I have to remain unbiased here. Everyone has their version and their preferences. Nonetheless, I thought I’d at least share one of my absolute favorite recipes (it’s also the only dish my boyfriend will actually request that I make). It’s probably one of the first dishes I ever cooked before I was even ten. It’s one of those dishes that is seriously comforting on a Saturday morning or even for a quick mid-week dinner. (Note – it’s great for hangovers too)

It can be eaten for any meal of the day, and I’ll give you ideas for variations at the end. It really is best to use day (or two) old rice, but fresh rice is possible too. The best type to use is Jasmine or any long-grain rice (in the UK, Tesco sells what they call Thai rice). If you’re not sure how to make rice, just order a couple extra servings the next time you order in Chinese or Thai. My version is made with Chinese-style sausage which can be found at any Asian supermarket. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen this at a ‘regular’ grocery store but it can be easily substituted with any leftover chicken or pork. You could even use some leftover rotisserie chicken. Just be sure to add a bit of oil when heating it up so that it doesn’t dry out.

————————————————————————————

Serving for one (depending on your appetite just double or even triple the recipe!)

INGREDIENTS

2 shallots or half an onion  

2 garlic cloves or garlic powder

Small handful of cilantro (aka coriander)

Chinese-style sausage

~2 cups of cooked white rice

2 eggs

Maggi soy sauce or any other light soy

Vegetable oil or any other plain oil

Small piece of butter, to your liking 

Fresh black pepper

* Fish sauce is optional

* Sriracha hot sauce also optional

DIRECTIONS

If using cold rice, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature. This will help soften the rice a bit and speed up cooking. Try to break up any lumps while it’s still cold. It will allow the flavors to get into the rice easier.

Thinly slice your shallots. If using onion instead, chop into small pieces. Mince your garlic. See the picture for a little trick to mincing garlic. I cut it like I would an onion. Cut long slits into the clove. Then thinly slice it. This may not be the best description, but hopefully you get the picture. Roughly chop your cilantro and set aside to add in at the end. Finally, slice your sausage. If you’re using another type of meat just chop it up into small bite-sized pieces.

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