A Vietnamese Moment

Now that residency is over, I have so much more free time on my hands. I have been experimenting with new recipes over the last few weeks and recently acquired two new cookbooks by Ina Garten -  "How Easy is That" and "Barefoot in Paris." I am always looking for new ways to roast vegetables and came across this very easy Garlic Roasted Cauliflower recipe by Ina Garten in "How Easy is That". Now there is a way to cut cauliflower so that you don't create a mess everywhere in your kitchen. Start by cutting off the stem, then with a smaller knife carve out the stem. After that, cut the cauliflower in half going through the stem first (face down). From there, you can peel your cauliflower florets and cut further to make them smaller.   Yield:  6 servings 1 head of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled 1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into large florets  4 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil, divided use Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 ...

This is a simple recipe for corn on the cob that makes it so flavorful and juicy! Ingredients - 3 ears of corn, peeled - milk (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup) - butter (1/2 stick) 1. In a pot, fill half way and bring to a boil. 2. Add butter and milk 3. Add corn and turn down the heat - simmer for 6-10 minutes 

Ina Garten is a genius at taking a simple recipe and elevating it - her instructions are clear, and include many things you already have!  4 to 5 pounds broccoli 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced Good olive oil 1½ teaspoons kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves) 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 2. Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart.  Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer.  3. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepp...

This is a lovely side dish that you can whip up in a 5-10 minutes with *minimal* ingredients. It's simple and very homey, reminds me of Vietnamese comfort food. Ingredients Green beans 2-4 eggs garlic fish sauce chicken bouillon 1. Slice green beans 2. In a pan, add oil and sauté garlic. Add green beans. 3. Add small amount of chicken bouillon and small amount of fish sauce to taste. 4. Add eggs. 5. Can add pepper as desired. 6. Season to taste. 

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 found this recipe online and tried it out. It's a nice, simple vegetable side dish that can supplement a variety of main courses. Totally yummy and ready in less than 20 minutes! Ingredients: 2 Chinese pork sausage (sliced into 1/4 inches) 1 tablespoon oil 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2-3 slices peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped (optional) 10 stalks Chinese brocoli (gai lan), chopped into 2.5 cm pieces  1 teaspoon sugar  Hot water, as needed Fish sauce to taste 1. Heat pan over medium-heat, add (very little) oil, garlic, ginger, and chinese sausages. Pan fry until chinese sausages are slightly browned and ginger and garlic are aromatic (about 2-3 minutes).  2. Add broccoli and sugar until soft, about 3-4 minutes.  3. Add enough hot water to cover 1/3 of ingredients. Cover pan with lid and simmer for 2 minutes.  3. Season with fish sauce to taste. Serve. 

My boyfriend is Taiwanese and one of his fondest childhood memories of visiting relatives in New York is eating these cucumbers. I have searched the internet far and wide, tried several different types of cucumbers, and several different recipes before I found the perfect one. This recipe is as authentic as I can get to his aunt's spicy chinese cucumber recipe. Persian cucumbers are a must - they have an extra crispy crunch to them that makes this dish extra yummy.  Spicy Chinese Cucumber Salad http://userealbutter.com/2009/04/04/spicy-chinese-cucumber-salad-recipe/ 2 lbs. cucumbers (my favorite are the Persian cucumbers) 1/2-1 tsp salt (to taste) 2-3 tbsps rice vinegar, to taste 1/2-1 tbsp sesame oil, to taste 1/2 tbsp sugar, to taste 2-3 tbsps soy sauce, to taste 1/2-1 tbsp chili paste, to taste (optional) Wash and then peel the cucumber skins in alternating stripes (or peel completely or not at all). Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop ...

There are a couple variations of this recipe. Rau muong (water spinach) is a simple vegetable dish that goes great with fried fish or meat. In Vietnam, this was once a staple vegetable of the poor. Now, it's present in many Vietnamese cuisines as a garnish, side dish, or main ingredient. No matter how you decide to stir fry your water spinach, you must start with blanching the rau muong. Food is blanched to soften, or to party or fully cook it, or to remove a strong taste. Blanching is the process in which you plunge food (can be done with fruit, veggies, pasta) into boiling water and then remove after a brief interval. Food is then submerged in iced water or washed under cold water. Placing it under cold water effectively haltens the cooking process. Ingredients: 1 big bunch of water spinach 2-3 cloves of garlic Oil Red bird's eye chili pepper (optional) sugar bot nem ga fish sauce (variation 1) maggi seasoning (variation 2) Blanching the water spinach 1. ...

I've been making an effort to blog more recipes... hopefully over the next few months, I get all the recipes I want from my mom. I haven't had much practice in making these dishes on my own though because I don't like to eat my own cooking (weird, I know). My next step is perfecting these dishes... hopefully I can make my boyfriend or dad eat whatever the heck it is I make. Anyway, this dish is present at many Chinese restaurants. It's super easy and quick to make... seriously, this is done in 10 minutes! The only thing is - I don't think I translated the name into English correctly... will update when I find out what the English name is! Ingredients: 1 large bag of snow pea shoots (the market I went to didn't have snow pea shoots so I bought pea sprouts instead... tasted exactly the same! I think they are the same...) Bot nem ga (chicken broth) 9 cloves of garlic Fish Sauce (optional) Oyster Sauce 1. In a large skillet, heat cooking oil on low/mediu...