Pho (Vietnamese Rice Noodle Soup)

Another one of my favorite things to eat is Pho. I will still eat a hot (& spicy!) bowl of Pho in the 100 degree summer heat!

A friend (thanks Diana!) gave me this recipe & I haven't made it the easy way (using canned broth) since! 

INGREDIENTS: 

Soup:

- beef bones (frozen bag from Asian Market)

- chicken bones (I use 2 leg quarters) - optional

- 5-6 star anise

- 3-5 cloves

- 2 cinnamon stick

- 1 piece ginger

- 1 head garlic

- 1 rock candy

- meatballs (I like the beef ball with tendons)

- yellow onion

- fish sauce

- salt

Herbs & garnish:

- cilantro

- basil

- jalapeño 

- bean sprouts

- green onions 

- lime

Spicy Beef (optional)

- 2 lbs ground beef

- 1/2 can red curry 

- 14 oz tomato sauce

- 1 tsp minced garlic 

- 1 tsp chopped lemongrass (or powder)

- pho noodles

- pho basket to cook noodles

DIRECTIONS:

Soup:

1) Using an 8 quart pot, boil the beef bones for 30 mins. Take out bones and wash pot. This makes the soup more clear (I actually skip the first part and throw beef bones & chicken in at once)

2) Fill pot back with water and put beef bones back in & add the chicken. 

3) Chargrill the yellow onion, ginger & garlic. Remove skins and put it in pot. 

 

4) Heat (I use a pan) the star anise, cinnamon, & cloves until aromatic. Wrap in cheesecloth and put in pot.   

 

5) Add the rock candy (pic above - don't heat it up with spices though!). Boil soup for at least 4 hours. Add water if needed (if it boils down too much)

Optional: After 2 hours I add beef tendons because it's my favorite thing about pho. 

6) Add salt & fish sauce to taste after 4 hours. 

7) Add meat balls. Boil for addition 30 minutes. 

8) I usually refrigerate overnight and let the fat thicken on top and scoop that up (yuck). The chicken thighs are fatty!

Spicy Beef:

1) Brown beef adding minced garlic and lemon grass. Drain. 

2) Return pan to stove on low heat and add tomato sauce and curry. Mix well. 

3) Let simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat. 

Herbs & garnish:

1) Wash and chop all herbs/garnish. 

Noodles:

1) Boil a pot of water (big enough for the basket)

2) Fill basket with noodles and give it a bath in boiling water for no more than a minute.

3) Place noodles in big bowl and ladle soup into bowl. 

Add spicy beef and herbs/garnish. Some popular items to add are hoisin sauce, Sriracha & hot chili oil. 

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Frozen breakfast burritos

Breakfast is the most important meal right? It sure is for me (and coffee)! If I don't eat, I turn into someone else, someone unpleasant. So.... When I was looking for an easy way to make something ahead and freeze, I saw this on Pinterest. Duh! Why didn't I think of that??? Okay honestly, I'm not a big fan of tortillas but I love everything in a breakfast burrito! As long as it's not corn tortillas, I'm good. Anyway, with about 10 inch tortillas, I ended up with 26 burritos.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 lb pork Sausage - I used Jimmy Deans HOT sausage

1 pack of tortillas - Choose size depending on how big you want your burrito. Mine were approx. 10 inches

2 cups of shredded cheese - Fiesta Blend

1 bag of hash browns 

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Salt/pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: 

Brown sausage and put on paper towel plate to drain.

Cook hash browns using fat from sausage (I know, I'm not dieting right now so who cares?! Haha) & put to side. 

Beat eggs with milk & season. Cook in same pan until done

Add back the sausages and hash browns. Stir to combine. Remove from heat. 

Warm up tortillas in a clean pan (or however you prefer to warm tortillas). It's easier to roll up when it's warm. It will tear and break if it's cold or even room temperature if not careful. 

Scoop desired amount on to warm tortilla. Add cheese. Roll. (I once forgot the cheese and my husband teased me about it until I made the next batch!)

Wrap in plastic wrap. I usually put 3 in a ziplock bag and throw them in the freezer that way. I'll bring 3 at a time to work. 

HEATING: remove plastic wrap and wrap in paper towel. Cook on high for 45 seconds. Turn over and cook for another 30 seconds. This will vary depending on the size of your burrito. 

Enjoy with salsa! Or whatever you like. :)

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Khao Poon Nam Phik (Spicy Coconut Noodle Soup)

I Heart noodles... really. I could eat noodles at every meal. Okay, I lied. I need rice too!

This is no way an authentic recipe but it works for me and my husband approves and
loves it too...

INGREDIENTS:

·        3 chicken breasts (with bones) OR 1 whole chicken

·        5-6 cloves of garlic (slightly pounded to release flavor)

·        5-6 slices of ginger or galangal - See pic below

·        2 cans coconut milk (you can add more for a more creamier broth) - See pic below

·        1 can red curry paste (try ½ first if you cannot handle spicy) - See pic below

·        2 stalks lemon grass (slightly pounded to release flavor)

·        5-6 kaffir lime leaves - See pic below

·        2 cans bamboo shoots (more or less depending on how much you want) - See pic below

·        2 tbsp garlic salt

·        2 tbsp fish sauce - See pic below

·        1/3 bottle oyster sauce - See pic below

·        Chicken broth (if needed)

·        Fresh ground pepper to taste

·        Rice vermicelli noodles (I like the thin ones – I’ve tried the pho noodles but it was too thin for the thick soup) - See pic below

·        Herbs:

o   Bean sprouts

o   Thai Basil

o   Green onions

o   Cilantro

o   Lime

o   Jalapeños

o   Shredded cabbage

o   Mint (if you like mint)

 

 

DIRECTIONS:


1) SOUP: Put water in an 8 quart pot and bring to boil. You can choose to use raw chicken (1A) or precooked chicken (1B)

1A) RAW CHICKEN - (use enough water in pot so it doesn’t over flow when you put chicken in)

§  Add chicken, garlic & ginger/galangal

§  Boil for 20-25 mins on Med heat (longer for whole chicken)

§  Remove chicken, garlic & ginger

§  Shred chicken

 

1B) COSTCO (pre cooked) CHICKEN (shredded) – Fill pot 2/3 full

§  Add 1 heaping tablespoon of Chicken Bullion powder (or to taste)

§  Add garlic & ginger/galangal & bring to boil

2)  Add coconut milk, curry paste, garlic salt, fish sauce, pepper, oyster sauce, lemon grass, kaffir leaves

3)  Stir – Add additional seasonings to taste

4)  Add Shredded chicken & bamboo shoots

5)    Bring soup to boil & then down to simmer while you cook noodles…

6)  NOODLES: Boil water: add noodle & cook according to package, drain and rinse with cold water – add broth, herbs, peppers, etc and enjoy!

 As you can tell from my pictures, I add pepper oil, chili peppers, sriracha, hoisin sauce too. J

Some of my FAVORITE hot sauces... Did I mention I LOVE spicy foods?? haha I also love to add fried garlic!

Some Ingredients you'll need to get from the local Asian Market.

Galanga

Coconut Milk

Kaffir Lime Leaves

Red Curry Paste

Rice Noodle

Shredded Bamboo Shoots

Fish Sauce

 

 

Oyster Sauce

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Spicy Chicken Noodle Salad

This recipe is one of my favorites because I love that it's simple and it always seems to please the crowd (a plus!)

A good friend of mine gave me this recipe but of course, I tweaked it to my liking. 

This is for a "potluck serving size" so if you want to make 1 package of pasta, just cut the ingredients in half.

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:

- 2 lbs of angel hair pasta

- Shredded Rotisserie chicken breasts from a whole chicken (I buy mine already cooked at the market)

- 1/2 cup shredded carrots 

- 2 bunches of chopped green onions 

Dressing:

- 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar

- 1/3 cup Soy Sauce

- 1/3 cup Sesame Oil

- 2/3 cup Olive Oil

- Pepper Flakes (to taste- about 1 tsp)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Cook pasta according to package. Drain, rinse and let dry (if you don't wait for it to dry, your pasta will be watery).

2) Combine dressing ingredients & mix well. 

3) Add dressing to dry pasta and toss/mix/stir (just get it coated)

4) Add Chicken, green onions & carrots

I LOVE spicy foods so I always have extra pepper flakes to sprinkle on my plate. I try not to put too much in the dressing. It's easy to add more heat but you can't take it away!!! 

Enjoy!

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French Toast Bake

It's the holidays and there's lots of potlucks to cook for... Now that I have little ones running around, I need something quick and easy.

I've made this before and really enjoyed it. I haven't made it lately because it's got sugar & butter & more sugar... oh it's GOOD but not the healthiest... & I LOVE French toast.

I found the recipe when I first signed up with Pinterest... I pretty much followed Rach's tweaks except I didn't cut the edges of the bread.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1 loaf Texas toast (thick slices)
4 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Cinnamon powder for sprinkling
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
White sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1) Melt butter in microwave & add brown sugar. Mix well.
2) Pour butter/sugar mixture & layer onto bottom of a 9x13 pan
3) Beat eggs, powdered sugar, milk & vanilla
4) Lay single layer of Texas Toast on top of butter/sugar mix
5) Pour (or ladle) half of egg mixture on top (as evenly as possible)
6) Sprinkle brown sugar & cinnamon on top of bread
7) Add another layer of bread
8) Pour (or ladle) other half of egg mixture on top
9) Add thin layer of butter (if desired per Rach's instructions)
10) Sprinkle with white sugar & cinnamon

Cover and refrigerate overnight
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve!

INGREDIENTS:

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter:

Add 1 cup brown sugar & stir well.

Beat 4 eggs, 1 tbsp powdered sugar, 1.5 cup milk & 1 tsp vanilla (ignore that i'm using a 1/2 tsp spoon):

Stir, Stir, STIR! (Or use a mixer if you have one hehe)

Pour all the butter/sugar mixture in a 9x13 pan and spread evenly:

Layer bread (6) and pour half of the egg mixture as evenly as possible (go slow, let it soak):

Sprinkle brown sugar & cinnamon before second layer:

Add another layer of (6) bread:

Brush a thin layer of melted butter, about 2 tbsp (optional so this was not on ingredient list):

Pour other half (remaining) of egg mixture:

Sprinkle white sugar & cinnamon on top:



Refrigerate overnight:



Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Serve & enjoy! 

(I forgot to sprinkle it with powdered sugar as I was already running late for the holiday party! Everyone still LOVED it!)

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