JUN6

Big Daddy Does Pho

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Devany

Big Daddy makes a few cooking attempts to ease my busy schedule. Last night he hit a homerun. Pho (pronounced FA), the simple (yet complex) Vietnamese Street food charmed him when we lived in Hawaii. He is not one for exotic flavors, so this surprised me a bit. Since then we have been to several restaurants here in Charleston that serve Pho. He decided to make it and it was an astounding winner. We paired it with a Belgian Ale and that was a fantastic match too. We had some leftover rare beef (tri-tip) so he froze it and sliced it thinly. I usually ask for my meat on the side when ordering Pho in restaurants, I don’t like it over cooked. We have enough broth for at least two more meals.

Pho 

INGREDIENTS:

Soup 4 quarts beef stock (homemade is best) 1 large onion, sliced into rings 6 slices fresh ginger root or galangal if you can get it 2 small stalks of fresh lemon grass tied in a knot 1 cinnamon stick 1 teaspoon whole black smoked peppercorns 4 star anise 1 pound sirloin tip, cut into thin slices 1 (8 ounce) packages dried rice noodles

Garnishes and Sauces 1/2 pound bean sprouts 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves 1 cup fresh mint leaves 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves 3 fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced into thin rings 2 limes, cut into wedges Hoisin sauce Sriracha (Rooster) sauce Fish sauce

METHOD :

1.	In a large soup pot, combine broth, onion, ginger, lemon grass, star anise, cinnamon, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.
2.	Arrange bean sprouts, mint, basil, and cilantro on a platter with chilies and lime.
3.	Soak the noodles in hot water to cover for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain. Place equal portions of noodles into large soup bowls, and place raw beef on top. Ladle hot broth over noodles and top with beef. Pass garnishes and sauces.

Let's Smoke Some Corned Beef!

APR23

Ancho and Brown Sugar Crusted Smoked Corned Beef

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Devany

Ancho and Brown Sugar Crusted Smoked Corned Beef

I made one of these for St. Patricks Day, but there were no leftovers! And I am a woman that loves a good Ruben Sandwich. So when I noticed that the corned beefs were on sale , I just had to buy another. I have a Digital Bradley Smoker which is one of my favorite pieces of cooking equipment. This is my second one, my first one was not digital, I bought it 12 years ago before they came out with the digital model. But you can do this with any smoker that does not place the food directly above the heat.

Make your rub:

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup dried Ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon crushed black pepper

1 tablespoon mustard seeds slightly crushed

1 Tablespoon fennel slightly crushed

Open your package of corned beef (or of course you can make your own easily, but that is another post) Pour the juice from the package into a dutch oven and reserve.

Apply the rub to the meat and place in smoker on low heat  for 4 hours.

Place the meat in the dutch oven and add 1 onion sliced and one pound of carrots cut up. Add liquid (beer or water) till it almost touches the top of the corned beef.

Bake at 350 for two hours.

Remove and let rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. Slice and plate. I like to serve this with Champ (mashed potatoes with cream and chives).

Thai Spicy Beef Salad : Yam Nuea

Last night my friend Ron came to dinner and we had a Thai and Viet Dinner. I made Vietnamese Summer Rolls with shrimp, peanuts, cucumber, herbs, radishes, carrots, rice noodles, ginger, chiles and bean sprouts. They were served with two sauces. I also made Spicy Beef Salad, Yam Nuea, which literally means "tossed beef". It is one of my absolute favorite things. While this recipe is exact, I usually eyeball the ingredients and adjust and taste until the flavors are at their most pungent. I make it spicy, but you can serve the chiles on the side if you have someone who cannot take the heat. This is also something I love to make when I have steak left over for any reason. Sometimes I just grill an extra one and save it for the next day's salad.. I have taken some liberties here by adding ingredients that may not be found the purest form of the recipe in Thailand, though I took measures not to "Americanize" the recipe. 

Thai Spicy Beef Salad : Yam Nuea

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless steak, almost any cut works for this, but I generally use sirloin or rib eye. 

Salad

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots or red onions, separated
• 2 tomatoes, wedged
• 1/2 cup sliced cucumber1/8 cup thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup very thinly sliced cucumber
• 1 inch piece of galangal (or ginger if you cannot find galangal) finely minced Thai chile peppers or Hawaiian peppers
• 1/2 cup each rough chopped Thai Basil, Mint, green onions and Cilantro
• 1 inch piece of galangal (or ginger if you cannot find galangal) finely minced 

Garnish (use all or any of these as you desire)

• Bean sprouts and/or lettuces, enough to make a bed on a platter
• Toasted sweet rice (see note)
• Toasted Peanuts
• Sliced kumquats 
• Lime wedges
• Chopped Thai Basil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 3 tbsp. sweet dark soy sauce 
• 3 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• 6 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. minced galangal or ginger
• 3 tbsp. chopped coriander/cilantro (including the roots)
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots (small red or purple onions)
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 3 Thai Chiles minced finely

INSTRUCTIONS

Barbeque the beef, it should be rare to medium rare on the inside and nicely crusted on the outside. Slice as thinly as possible. If the steak is wide, cut pieces in half so that they can be eaten without using a knife. 

Put dressing ingredients in a blender and combine.  Pour about 1/4 cup of the dressing over the beef slices and allow to marinade for about 30 minutes. If you do not have a blender or want to do this the old fashioned way, you can use a mortar and pestle to crunch up the dry ingredients and then add to the liquid. 

Put all salad ingredients together and toss in a bowl with the sauce. Place the salad on a platter lined with bean sprouts and/or cabbage or lettuce. Garnish as desired. 

NOTE: The toasted sweet rice is toasted in a dry skillet and then ground slightly either using a pestle and mortar or a small grinder. This is an essential textural element to the salad.

Serving:

Serve with sticky rice, lettuce, condiments and dipping sauce.

In Thailand the first two condiments below (Nam pla prik and Prik dong) are likely be on every household's table together with a separate small dish of plain white sugar and a separate small dish of ground chili powder. Spoonfulls of each are added to suit individual taste. You can make a portion of Nam pla prik and Prik dong and keep in a jar (non refrigerated) for serving as a condiment in this manner. These condiments keep very well.

Prik Si-iew wan, kratiem dong and Khing Ki mao are less common and usually served for particular dishes.

Nam pla prik:

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with fish sauce. Seal and keep for a week before using.

Prik dong:

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with white rice vinegar.

Prik si-iew wan:

Put two thirds of a cup of jalapeno peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with sweet dark soy sauce.

Kratiem dong:

Peel and slice two thirds of a cup of garlic, place it in the 1 pint jar, add 1 teaspoon of palm sugar, and one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of MSG (optional but recommended) and topped up with white rice vinegar.

Khing ki mao:

Julienne two thirds of a cup of fresh ginger (into match stick sized pieces). Place in the 1 pint jar. Add half a cup of whiskey (rice whiskey if available). Add 1/2 cup white rice vinegar, and fill up the jar with fish sauce.
You can play with this basic salad and substitute grilled tofu or grilled eggplant to make this vegetarian, of course then you need to find vegetarian fish sauce equivalent. I have seen this in Asian markets. You could also use it with pork tenderloin or shrimp. 

Guinness Short Ribs with Polenta

Every March I get out my "Guinness File" and start making some of my favorite things to celebrate all things Irish. Here's to Arthur Guinness! 

Guinness Short Ribs


Ingredients


1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
4 to 4 1/4 lb beef short ribs, cut into 4 inch pieces
4 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only) chopped (2 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 carrots, chopped (2 cups) into medium size pieces
3 celery ribs, chopped (1.5 cups) into medium size pieces
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped garlic (5 to 6 large cloves)
1 3/4 cups beef broth (14 oz)
1 440 ml can of Guinness
2 (14 to 15 oz) cans diced tomatoes

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375F with rack in lower third of oven.
2. Combine brown sugar, paprika, curry powder, cumin, pepper, salt.

3. Pat ribs dry and arrange in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan or a shallow dish, then generously coat all sides of ribs with spice mixture.

4. Wash leeks in a bowl of cold water and drain completely.
5. Heat oil in pot over high heat until hot but not smoking and quickly brown ribs on all 3 meaty sides (but not bone side) without crowding, in batches if necessary, about 1 minute per side.
6. Transfer meat to a large plate, then add leeks, carrots, celery, and bay leaves to pot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften (about 3 mins). Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
7. Add broth, beer and tomatoes with their juice, then add ribs with any juices and remaining spices accumulated on plate and bring liquid to a boil, uncovered.

8. Cover pot and transfer to oven, then braise until meat is very tender, 2 to 2.5 hours. Skim off excess fat from surface of sauce. Remove and discard bay leaves.

Short ribs improve in flavour if braised 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Reheat, covered, in a 350F oven until hot (1 to 1.5 hours).