A Vietnamese Moment

I've been a little mesmerized recently by Julia Child's French Cooking. This is the dish that made her fall in love with French cooking. As I came across this simple recipe online, I realized it's quite similar to the fish my Mama Tica used to make me in Costa Rica. The difference is - this fish emphasizes butter, butter, and yes, butter. *edit - I made this the other night with tilapia and it still turned out well! I think you can use any white, mild tasting fish. This recipe takes less than 10-15 minutes to make and is extremely elegant. Perfect for a weeknight meal! Ingredients - all purpose flour - boneless sole or other thin fish fillets, patted dry - kosher salt (to taste) - fresh ground black pepper - butter - 4 tablespoons minced parsley - 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving 1. Heat oven to 200 degrees and place large baking sheet inside 2. Place flour onto large, shallow plate. Season both sides of fish fillets with salt and pepper to taste. Dred...

This is a VERY easy recipe to make for those busy week nights and also requires minimal prep and ingredients! This recipe is very simple to follow, no need to even follow the measurements. Stumbled upon this NYT Shrimp Scampi recipe and it's a keeper! INGREDIENTS 2   tablespoons  butter 2   tablespoons extra-virgin  olive oil 4   garlic  cloves, minced ½   cup  dry white wine  or broth ¾   teaspoon kosher  salt , or to taste ⅛   teaspoon crushed  red pepper flakes , or to taste   Freshly ground  black pepper 1 ¾   pounds large or extra-large  shrimp , shell on (preferably)  ⅓   cup chopped  parsley (or grind)  OPTIONAL:    Freshly squeezed juice of half a  lemon   Cooked  pasta  or crusty bread PREPARATION 1. In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine or broth,...

I didn't go home for Thanksgiving this year. Instead, my friends met me Chicago and we created our own Thanksgiving meal. My friend got this recipe from a cookbook and we decided to make it. The verdict? A win! A recipe I will add to the cookbook.  Serves 10-12 people Ingredients - 2.5 lbs (about 2 loaves) high quality sandwich bread or soft Italian or French bread, cut into 3/4 inch dice (about 5 quarts) - 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter - 1.5 pounds sage sausage, removed from casings (I used Italian sausage)  - 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups) - 4 large celery stalks, finely chopped (about 2 cups) - 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or grated (about 2 teaspoons)  - 3/4 cup minced fresh sage (or 2 teaspoons dried sage) - 4 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken or turkey stock - 3 large eggs - 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley - kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1. Adjust oven racks to lower- and ...

A quick and simple way to use up leftover mushrooms in your fridge. An instant side dish to supplement any elegant meal, or in my case - pasta with canned vodka sauce The trick to browning mushrooms is not to overcrowd the mushrooms! A tip I learned from reading about Julia Child's work. And a little patience goes a long way in searing. Time: 10 minutes Ingredients - 2 tablespoons olive oil - 12 ounce mushrooms (such as maitake, oyster, and/or king trumpet) cut into large pieces - kosher salt - freshly ground pepper - 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces - 2 springs thyme - 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat until just beginning to smoke. Arrange mushrooms in skillet in single layer and cook, undisturbed , until bottom side is golden brown (about 3 minutes). 2. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Toss mushrooms, continue to cook, tossing often and reducing heat as needed to avoid scorching, until golden brown all...

Green Beans DTF Style Ingredients: Green beans, washed and trimmed 6 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2 tsp-1 tsp salt (salt to taste) 1. Cut and trim green beans. 2. *** Blanch the beans Fill a large bowl with ice and water. In a wok, bring water to a boil and add green beans. Cook for 30 seconds and remove. Immediately place in ice bath to stop cooking process. This quick blanch preserves the color of the beans. If you don't care about the look, you can skip this step. 3. Remove water from wok. Add shallow amount of oil to the wok. Add green beans and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until skin just starts to crinkle. Don't overfry or the beans can lose their crispness! 4. Remove green beans. Place beans onto plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil. 5. Drain all but 1 tbsp of oil out of the wok. Place wok back on stove. 6. Add garlic to wok and cook on high heat until aroma of garlic comes out and it begins to brown. Add green beans back in and stir fry wi...

I have a new interest in Julia Childs. I have been looking up her recipes and found this one so decided to try it. Luckily, I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen - all I need to get was an orange! It reminded me of a cake my mom used to make when I was younger. It's very delicious! A great first foray into the world of Julia Childs. Ingredients: 2/3 cup granulated sugar 4 egg yolks Grated rind of 1 orange 1/3 cup strained orange juice (about 1 orange) Pinch of salt 3/4 cup cake flour (scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter) 4 egg whites Pinch of salt 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9" round cake pan and measure out all ingredients. 2. Separate egg yolks and egg whites.  3. Gradually beat 2/3 cup sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating until the mixture thickens to form a ribbon when the beaters are lifted.  4. Add the grated orange peel, orange juice, and a pinch of salt.  5. Beat for a ...

This is a recipe adapted from the famed Nobu. His black miso cod is WORLD famous. Although I've actually never had it (or even been to Nobu!), I've had many copy-cat versions at different restaurants. One interesting fact I learned is that black cod is *not* actually a codfish - it's really sablefish. Sablefish is a buttery, white fish that flakes when you bake it and is ideal for this recipe.  Unfortunately, I didn't have black cod on hand but I did have some salmon fillets and it worked well. You can substitute with any fatty fish fillet!  Ideally, this recipe should be marinated 2-3 days prior for the best results. Can use salmon, sea bass, or black cod. Any buttery, fatty fish will do. Ingredients (from kitchen.com): 1/4 cup sake (4 tablespoons) 1/4 mirin (4 tablespoons)  4 tablespoons white miso paste (same as 1/4 cup) 2.5 tablespoons sugar (the original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of sugar but I do 2-2.5 tablespoons of sugar to cut the sweetne...