Wednesday, November 28, 2012

"Traditional" holiday stuffs

Ahh, there's nothing like the holidays. There's food here, food there and cookies, cookies, pies! Easy there. 

It's definitely not my favorite time of year, food-wise. Yeah, I said it. In true American fashion, holiday feasts have been heavily commercialized, mass produced and reduced to a catchy tune and a set of instructions in the back of a box. I don't like it.


Stores sell pumpkin pies, cooked and ready to unwrap. They have bread rolls that can keep on the shelf for three weeks before using. They have canned yams next to the marshmallows and brown sugar. There's pineapples next to the ham. Boxes of stuffing surrounded by canned gravy.


These quick fixes are pretty good, but you can't taste the love behind all the salt and sugar added to every single item. You can't taste the creativity from the can. I can taste laziness and preservatives. 


Let me tell you about my family before I go on. My grandma has worked in a kitchen all her life. My mom has worked in a kitchen all her life, even as a pastry chef. My dad has worked with food for more than two decades. We know food.
From the start of my life we have never had packaged cookies, pre-made pastries, bread that pops out of a can (gross). We never had pre-made meals, easy bakes, just-add-water, frozen microwave stuff. One reason is that we really couldn't afford that kind of stuff and secondly, we already know how to make it. Why buy it when you can make it? It makes the most sense.


I have eaten all these kinds of foods before, Hamburger Helper, Hot Pockets, Tony's, and they just aren't wholly satisfying. To me, it's like I can taste the machinery that made it. To me it's like cheating; it's super salty and sugary it's just not good — but it's delicious. That's how these holiday meals are.


It's unfathomable to buy a pumpkin pie when you can make it from a real pumpkin. You can spend the night making yeast rolls instead of buying a pale bag of rolls from the store.

So what did we have at our Thanksgiving dinner?

  • Turkey ... just a plain turkey
  • Homemade turkey gravy
  • Homemade cranberry sauce that I made
  • Homemade mashed potatoes
  • Homemade corn bread stuffing. Mom made the cornbread
  • Ham ... just a ham with pineapples
  • Homemade twice-baked sweet potatoes that I made with pecans
  • Homemade pumpkin pie that my mom made with real pumpkin
  • Homemade pumpkin cake that I made
  • Homemade tortillas from grama
  • And someone was in charge of bringing bread rolls and they got the ugly pale ones they sell at the store for $1. I didn't have any of these and they looked like they burned easily.

It was a pretty good dinner. I think the thing I also don't like about these holiday dinners are that people make things at different times. The food ends up on the buffet line cold or lukewarm. We eat on flimsy paper plates with plastic ware. I don't like that. Is that how everyone does Thanksgiving? The whole family? Uncles, aunts, grandparents and a bunch of kids? That's how we do it.


But it has a Disney ending. After the sweat, tears and disappointment of eating this special meal with a sharp spoon on an uncomfortable and cold folding chair, it's so fun to be with family. 


So for the next holiday meal, learn how to make buttery yeast rolls and make that pie from scratch. Make it a time to show your family what your cooking's made out of. It tastes so much better because it has so much or your time, effort and love baked right into it.


Mmm, it looks like we're going to have a Mexican Christmas dinner.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Dear soup, I apologize for ignoring you all my life.

I was never really a fan of soup. I always passed it by and chose another option if possible. In fact it's been one of my most hated dishes for a long time. Mutton stew, beef stew, chicken noodle, pesole stew, you name it, I'd rather not eat it. Impatience was part of it. I like to dig in, not slurp and sip. And I think heat was the other part; hot liquid was not a good texture and or feeling for me.
 
That changed when I visited Pho Saigon in Las Cruces. This Vietnamese joint with over 300 menu items carries a few of the world's best tasting dishes. I'm talking about pho and curry.

The "Curry Chicken, No. 40," here is genius. At first I was kind of turned off by a big bowl of yellow soup coming my way. But the waitress explained that this is how curry is made the traditional Vietnamese way; soupy. So I gave it a try after waiting about 15 minutes for it. 



I was in heaven. 

I am already familiar with curry spice from my adventures at home with similar Indian spices, so I kind of knew what to expect. I expected it to be very fragrant, smelling great and to be a little spicy... There was so much more. Coconut milk, a few hot peppers for heat, ginger, curry of course and probably a whole line of other spices that took me by surprise that first time, including turmeric, a very yellow spice that has an earthy taste to it (I also heard that turmeric is very healthy for you). 

Each spoonful was better than the last. I didn't even care that I burnt my tongue. 

This meal (at Pho Saigon) comes with a side of brown rice which I used to suck up each drop of yellow goodness. It's filled with red peppers, onions and chunks of chicken. 
I make curry like this at home now; soupy. Although it's no where as good as Pho Saigon, at least I got a few ideas and changed around the generic menu I was using. Now it's more enjoyable because it's soupy and yellow with turmeric.


The curry I make at home. (It comes from this mango chicken curry recipe, here. I add more water, lots of turmeric, take out the mango and use a mild curry spice for a little bit of heat. I also like to eat it with a dollop of plain yogurt inside the curry.)


Pho. I think that's all I have to say about it. But I'll elaborate. 

Pho Saigon, it's in the name. I have no idea why I haven't tried this dish. It never interested me before because it's a soup. I decided to give it a try today because my sister has been very curious lately and the weather has finally gotten chilly enough to crave something warm — like soup.

Also, I had a conversation with Dan Auerbach, he's from a little band called The Black Keys, about pho. He loves the stuff and he eats it everywhere he goes. When he came to Las Cruces for the first time for a concert, he visited Pho Saigon and ordered the pho, naturally. I, naturally, was there to meet him.


My sister, Dan Auerbach and I at Pho Saigon before The Black Keys concert Oct. 10.

So if Dan is crazy about this stuff and it's listed as, like, No. 10 on a list of 50 Greatest Foods In The World, than I should give it a try. And I'm not just going to give it a try, I'm going to experience a few new parts of the cow while I'm at it. 


No. 11, "Saigon rice noodle Soup Special" with tripe, tendons, beef steak and beef balls. I'm pretty sure I've had tendons before, but they were attached to meat. I've never had tripe before, but the Mexican folks around here love it in menudo (you should see how many menudo specials there are on the weekends. Literally, every Mexican restaurant has an all-you-can-eat menudo special on weekends. Do you believe I've never had menudo either. I guess I'll try that next, since I'm keen on soup these days).



Bits of tripe and tendon.

Pictured is No. 33 "Yellow Noodle w/ BBQ Duck" and my pho in the back.

It was a surprising experience the same as the curry. How can a soup be this good? My past arch enemy?

 
The beef broth was heavenly. From the video below I see that it's made with vinegar and some other Asian spices. At first I couldn't put my finger on it. I didn't know what these flavors where. All I could identify was the light beef broth, mild rice noodles, thin beef, chewy tendons and rubbery tripe. Other than that everything together was exciting. It made me excited for the next bite. It was mild, but at the same time full of flavor. Something was a little sweet and something else was a little salty. 





The world wasn't wrong. Dan wasn't wrong. It's brilliant — even though it's a soup — and it's big. Pho easily moved up on my list of favorite foods. And these favorite dishes can both be found at Pho Saigon right here in the desert.

So try something new. Even though you thought you hated it, someone somewhere will make you love it.


UPDATE: After writing this blog about soup, I decided to make soup at home tonight because it's cold again. It's the Middle Eastern variety called aush. Noodles and beans with some chicken and a load of special spices. 


Aush on a cold day.

I love this stuff. I made this a few times before and it's even better when it's cold and you learned from your past mistakes. It's full of flavor from the bay leaf, the spoonful of turmeric, coriander and other spices I have in the pantry. It has lentils and mung beans that makes it hearty and healthy (and yes, those are Ramen Noodles, don't hold that against me). A scoop of plain yogurt takes it a long way in thickening it and mellowing it out just perfectly before serving. I know I'm not making it right and I probably shouldn't be calling it aush, but it's one of the best soups I've made.

See? I do love soup. It just has to be delicious and full of flavor.
I think in another blog I will write about my love for Indian and Middle Eastern food.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Breakfast for dinner

I've grown tired of the regular breakfast plate. Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Eh, I'm not interested in that. I like omelets and huevos rancheros. Other than that I keep it simple for breakfast and am a fiend for cereal. This might scare you, but I also don't like bacon. It's overrated. I liked bacon up until I started living with a person who doesn't eat pork meat. Years of no pork -- including bacon -- and I lost my desire for bacon and opened a door to so many other flavors.

The other day I looked in the fridge and we had eggs, the end of a turkey breast, broccoli and cheese. Omelets for dinner!

I know a lot of people are scared to make omelets because they usually turn out to be scrambled eggs and a frustrating headache. I remember when I gave up on omelets until I heard something from Emeril Legasse, "You get the pan hot like it's going to catch fire. You drop in the eggs and turn the heat down; almost off." I also think part of the trick is to have the right skillet that is not shaped like a round cake pan with strait edges, but one that has a gradual outward angel.
 




  • I saute the filling first: Small cuts of broccoli and turkey breast cubes.
  • Since I am trying to be a little healthier I use two egg whites and one whole egg scrambled with a splash of milk, salt and pepper.
  • The nonstick pan smokes a little and I spray a little butter spray all over.
  • In go the eggs. I move the liquid around while tilting the pan so there is very little liquid left. Turn down the heat and cover it with a lid. Emeril didn't tell you to cover it with a lid, but the lid makes it fluffy and thick so that it cooks from the top too; just like in an oven. After about 45 seconds the eggs are done. No need to flip it. Add the filling, fold it over and slide the large omelet onto a plate.
I can make a pretty good omelet. I especially love them with Ball Park beef hot dogs and cheddar cheese. There are no limitations when it comes to omelets, I say.

This broccoli and turkey breast omelet was a new creation. It was fairly good. The broccoli turned into a nutty taste, the turkey was light and the cheese... lets just say, next time I'll use a saltier cheese like cheddar or American. A white, mozzarella was no good for an omelet. I don't know why I did that. It was available, shredded and ready to go at the time, I guess. Sometimes you save money and you've got to make do with what's in the kitchen.
 
Turkey and broccoli is also a great combination for quiche. I made my first batch recently and that was also the first time I had quiche. It's one of my favorite egg dishes. It's kind of light and cheesy and it smells awesome. Here's the very easy recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-quiche/detail.aspx. I think one thing I would do is add a tad more biscuit mix and use half egg whites and half whole eggs to take a few calories and fat grams out. It was very rich.
 
 

I recently made these small ones in cupcake pans. They're so good.
 
I adjusted the recipe I linked to above to something like:
2/3 cup of biscuit mix
1/2 to 2/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1/2 or less of American cheese (cheddar)
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons of butter (make sure this butter is soft, or you'll be mixing it with your hands)
2/3 cup of small, fresh broccoli
 
Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes in a cupcake tin.
Makes 12 mini quiche.
 
I mean, once you make it a first time, you hardly need the recipe the second time and can adjust it anyway you want with different kinds of fillings.