My own attempt at Pho

I love pho.  It's so hearty, tasty and rich.
I was excited when I was at Ranch99 and found a jar of their broth base on sale. 
I bought a jar of the broth base, some beef flank, pho vermicelli noodles, and beef balls with tendons.  I went the cheap route and did not buy the tendons and tripe.

Where I live, its so hard to find good pho, so making at-home pho with a powdered broth base seems a win to me!

I first simmered the beef flank in water and onions to create a tasty broth, and to cook the beef down so its softer.  Then following the engrish directions on the broth jar label, I dissolved the broth powder and added in the seasonings bag. Finally adding in the beef balls to cook last.  When I was ready to eat, I boiled the pho vermicelli noodles for a minute, strained, then placed them into bowls.  Ladling the pho soup over the bed of noodles.

My pho does not *look* like your traditional pho, but it sure tasted like it.  And making it at home is so much cheaper and so easy too.  Maybe next time, I'll get the tendons and mint leaves.

Grilling is not limited to the summertime

One of the many perks to living in Los Angeles is that grilling is not limited to the summertime.  In fact, we grill year round because the weather is so wonderful!

Early last month, we had my sister and her husband over for dinner, so of course we had to pull out our grill!  I cannot remember the reason why we got our hands on some yummy rib eye steaks, but I'm glad we did.

The steak came out so tasty and tender -- it was a big hit.  Big thanks to the grill master!
I also baked up some fluffy baked potatoes and quickly chopped up a simple salad.

Yes, I know you wish you could come over to my house for dinner every night.  =).

our grill master.  kiss the cook! muah!

chopped salad

a little grill seasoning, and it's ready to go on the grill

 Rib eye steaks are my fav cut of steak.  I prefer my steaks rare or medium-rare.
The fat keeps it juicy and tasty.  Cut off the fat before eating.

baked potatoes

The (under dressed) hosts!

Oh well.  That glass of red wine makes us look a little bit fancy

tofu

I can't think of a better name for this dish. 
I was thinking along the lines of "scallion tofu", or "soy sauce simmered tofu" or "simmered tofu with scallions", but they all got too long.  We will just call this dish "tofu"  and leave it at that.

After returning from my Europe trip, my stomach felt all wierd.  My stomach would feel hungry, but did not have an appetite for anything meaty or anything greasy.  We spent the entire week eating veggies and tofu.
I was very happy with how the tofu dish came out.

Scallions were on sale at the asian market, 7 bunches for $1. 
I chopped up a bunch of scallions, and sliced up 2 boxes of tofu. (we eat lots of tofu in this house.  1 box is too small!).  I first browned each side of the tofu in my skillet, with a little bit of oil.  It actually takes a while to brown each sides, since the tofu is cold and moist.  Finally, when each side is golden is crispy, i pushed the tofu aside in my skillet, added a teeny dab of oil, and threw the chopped scallions in the oil.  Once the scallions started to cook (and you can smell its yummy smell), I used a spatula to turn the tofu and scallions together.  I was using high heat to brown the tofu, so turn down the heat to low, to add in the water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar.  Let it simmer until the tofu sucks up the soy sauce mixture.

Oven fries

I made these a while ago, but I must document this fantastic recipe.
I love french fries, but we all know they are so unhealthy.  Now that I discovered that baking up yams and potatoes at a high heat can make equally delicious "fries", I'm glad I can enjoy a healthier alternative.

First, you thinly slice the yams and potatoes.  Then toss them in in olive oil, sea salt, onion salt, and black pepper.  Bake in oven for 475 F for 30 mins or until desired crispiness.  It should be very crispy and tasty!


Yummy!
Of course, you can also use entirely yams or entirely potatoes!

Cinnamon Chicken Drumsticks

Ok.. I know this might sound weird (possibly even gross), but chicken seasoned with cinnamon actually tastes really good!!
It gives the chicken a uniquely sweet flavor.
I really recommend trying it out before passing any judgments!

This dish was actually inspired by a Persian dish my sister once made .

I like chicken drumsticks the best, so I always make this dish with drumsticks. But I'm sure you can do this with other parts of the chicken too.
Its so fast and simple:  I sprinkle cinnamon and kosher salt under the chicken skin, and put the skin back in place.  Placed the drumsticks on a baking sheet, and baked at 415 degrees for about 35 minutes.  It came out salt, sweet, crunchy on the outside, and perfectly moist on the inside.

This  is my go-to dish when I am rushed whipping up a meal.  ( I got home from work at 8:00pm today, and I was eating dinner by 8:45pm, because I made this dish.  What a life saver!)

Steamed Dungeness Crabs. My fav

Last week, after I went back to my hometown to dye my mom's hair, on our way back home, we stopped by El Monte Superstore to pick up some dungeness crabs.  I like going there since their groceries is always very affordable (this is also the store where I bought the bamboo for my bamboo chicken dish).

We always get our dungeness crabs from El Monte Superstore since its way cheaper than Ranch99, or any other American place.
Sadly, when we got there, the price of crabs was $7.99 per pound!
I have gotten it for $3.99 a pound in the past from that store, but unfortunately, the prices have gone up (must be because it's not crab season?).
Oh well, we still really enjoy eating steamed crab, so it will be worth it anyways.

Once we got home, with 2 crabs in tow, I busted out my handy dandy 3 tiered steamer (but I only used 2 tiers) and steamed up those sucks.  It takes probably 15 minutes, from start to finish.

The crab's natural flavor is quite delicious that I don't need any salt or butter or lemon.  Plain is the best.

Baked (not microwaved) potatoes

I love potatoes in almost any form.  One of my more favorite forms is the baked potato -- its natural flavor is so tasty, and all I need a little butter and salt and I am in a happy mood.  I also love that it goes well with most dishes.

A few weeks ago, I had my sister over for steaks (we made some rib eye on the ourdoor grill), and I also made a tossed salad.  I needed to quickly think of a side dish to go with the steak.  Why... of course easy-peasy baked potato would go well with the dish.  Like I always say, I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl.

When I am not cooking for guests, I don't mind eating potatoes cooked in the microwave.  Its fast (4 mins in the microwave) and still tastes great, but it does not have the wonderfully crispy potato skin that baked potatoes have.  Also, the potato meat is not as flaky and fluffy the way baked potatoes are.

(btw, don't let anyone tell you that you can make "baked" potato in the microwave.  They don't know what they are talking about.  You can make "microwaved" potatoes in the microwave, but you can only make "baked" potato in the oven.  You need the dry heat of the oven to get the crispy skin).

How I make baked potatoes is really simple.  Scrub all the dirt off the potatoes, poke it several times with a fork, then drizzle olive oil and kosher salt all over the potato.  I baked for 1 hour on 350, placed directly on a sheet of foil on the oven rack.  (If you are making more than 4 potatoes, then it will take about 1 hour 15 minutes).
Comes out perfect every time!

I enjoy a teeny bit of butter melted inside, and that's it.  The salt, I get from the kosher salt rubbed on the skin (prior to baking).

Bamboo Chicken

Jeff loved this dish, and I even inspired my friend to make her own version of this too.

I love bamboo but I rarely eat it since I don't go asian shopping often.  And when I do, bamboo isn't exactly on my mind when I shop, I am usually shopping for staples such as green veggies, fresh fruits, and meats.

However, during my recent visit to the Asian store (to buy dungeness crabs), the bamboo was placed in the front of the store... and I also happened to be really hungry when I was shopping, so I had to buy some!

To make the dish, I first thinly sliced some chicken (I use dark meat, but you can use white), and marinated it a little soy sauce, mixed with some tapioca starch to soften the meat up (gives it the gooey texture you find in a lot of asian dishes). 
I used canned bamboo rather than fresh bamboo since it's WAY cheaper, and sliced up the bamboo into smaller pieces.  In a skillet, added a little oil and cooked the chicken until it was almost cooked then added in the bamboo.  The bamboo can be consumed as is, so you are really merely heating it up on the stove, rather than cooking it.  Add in some oyster sauce to give it the sweet flavor and xiaoxing cooking wine for an additional layer of flavor (this is optional).

The dish was light and tasty.  The dish can also be substituted with beef, pork, or tofu.