Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup (Phở Gà)

Ingredients & Cooking Directions for Phở Gà - Chicken Noodle Soup

Estimated Servings: 4-5

Step 1: Cook the broth

16 cups water

3 inches ginger

1 small peeled onion

2 ½ tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons sugar

3 ½ pounds chicken

Place a pot of water on top of a high heat stove and wait for it to come to a boil. In the meantime, roast your ginger and onion in the microwave for about 3 minutes. When the water comes to a boil, add in the salt, sugar, roasted ginger and onion to the boiling water. Then add in the chicken pieces to the broth using tongs or if you add them with your hands, make sure to wear gloves to prevent cross contamination. After adding all of the chicken pieces into broth, cover the pot with a lid, and allow the chicken pieces to simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Then skim the scum off the top of the broth until the broth is clear. Now cover the pot with a lid and continue to simmer the broth for about another 3 minutes. While the broth is simmering, let’s prepare our spice mix.

***Remember to wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling raw chicken.

Step 2: Toast the spices

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

5 star anise

1 whole cinnamon stick

7 cloves

1/3 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Break up your cinnamon stick into smaller pieces and add all of the spices into a small pan. Toast the spices on a medium heat stove for about 3 minutes or until the spices smell fragrant. Then pour the spices into a tea infuser, close it up and add it into the broth. Now put a lid on the pot and continue to simmer the broth for about another 7 minutes, making sure that the chicken is pieces are fully cooked.

***If you do not have a tea infuser, you can place the toasted spices into a cheese cloth and tie it up with a kitchen string.

Step 3: Boil the noodles

1 package Phở noodles

8 cups water

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. Then rinse and drain the noodles and set them aside until you are ready to assemble the dish.

Step 4: Assemble the dish

Thai basil

Bean sprouts

Cilantro

Lime wedges

½ cup sliced yellow onion

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Jalapeno slices

Sriracha and Hoisin Sauce

Make sure your herbs and veggies are washed and clean. Then mix the chopped cilantro, green onion and red onion into a little bowl for the garnish. After the chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken from the broth, allow it to cool and then separate the chicken meat from the bones. Then add the bones back into the broth to give it more depth in flavor and make sure to discard all of the small chicken bones to prevent choking. Then pour in your fish sauce and continue to simmer the broth for about another 30 minutes. This a good time to taste the broth to ensure that it is to your preferred taste. If it is too salty, add in more sugar a little at a time and if it is too sweet, add in more salt or fish sauce a little at a time. Now slice the chicken pieces into thin slices and set it aside until assembling time. To assemble, add some noodles in the bowl, then place the chicken slices on top and garnish with the onion cilantro mix. Finally add in the broth and top it off with some ground pepper. Serve with the herbs, veggies and sauces.

Sizzling Vietnamese Crepes (Bánh Xèo)

Ingredients & Cooking Directions for Bánh Xèo -- Vietnamese Crepes and Nuoc Mam Cham

Estimated Servings: 4

Step 1: Mix the Batter

12 ounces Bánh Xèo flour or rice flour
1 teaspoon turmeric
14 ounces coconut cream
3 cups water
½ cup chopped green onions 

Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk them together until the flour completely dissolves into the liquid and then set the batter aside.

Step 2: Make the Sauce

½ cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 ½ cups water
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon chopped Thai chili

Pour all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix it together until the sugar completely dissolves into the sauce.

Step 3: Prepare the Vegetables

Lettuce
Mint
Cilantro
Cucumbers 

Make sure all the vegetables and herbs are washed, clean, and dry. The cucumbers should be cut lengthwise into strips.

Step 4: Cook the Crepes
8 tablespoons vegetable oil 
1 cup sliced yellow onion
3 tablespoons chopped garlic 
1 pound lean pork meat (sliced thin)
1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
½ teaspoon salt 
½ teaspoon pepper 
½ pounds bean sprouts

Sprinkle salt and pepper on sliced pork and shrimp. Turn stove on medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large pan. When the oil gets hot, add in the onions and garlic stirring it around until fragrant. Then sauté the pork slices and shrimp with the garlic and onions, making sure to cook the meats all the way through. Spread the pork and shrimp out on the pan and pour in a ladle of the crepe batter (about 1/3 cup) swirling it around to create a thin layer. Put a lid on the pan and allow the crepe to cook for about 4-5 minutes. Then put bean sprouts on half of the crepe and cook it for about another minute until the crepe is crispy on one side and fully cooked on the other side. Fold the crepe in half and place it on a serving plate. Repeat this process until you cook all of the crepe batter. To eat the crepe, wrap the crepe in lettuce along with cucumbers, and herbs and dip it in the sauce that was prepared earlier.

If you build it, they will YUM!

What am I building you ask? I am building a “once in a blue moon” slider for this summer’s burger bash!  This is a tiny flavorful blue cheese burger slider that includes crispy mini onion rings, turkey bacon strips, lettuce, tomato and avocado moon-shaped wedges! You may be wondering where I got the idea to build such massive, yet tiny slider. Well, let me give you a tiny little clue with the following riddle:

What do you get when you cross a Smurf with a cow? Bleu Cheese!

Yes, one of my favorite childhood cartoon characters inspired me to make these tiny little blue cheese sliders, since sliders are tiny and blue cheese came from this cutie little riddle. I saw the Smurfs 3D movie this weekend and it was SMURFTASTIC!!!  I hope you guys enjoy my SMURFLICIOUS blue cheese sliders as I hum that loveable Smurf tune! La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

 

Blue Moon Sliders

 With Avocadoes, Bacon and Onion rings

Servings: 4

Ingredients

Burger

2 pounds ground chuck

2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 small shallot, minced

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

8 mini hamburger buns

Toppings

Crispy onion rings (see recipe)

Crispy turkey bacon strips

Avocado wedges

Green lettuce leaves

Vine ripe tomato slices

Ketchup, for serving

Crispy onion rings

5 cups vegetable oil

½ cup sliced yellow onions

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add the turkey bacon. Cook until crisp, 3 minutes on each side, remove to plate.

In a large bowl, combine chuck, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, shallot, blue cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix all of the ingredients together to combine them, but be careful not to over mix. Divide mixture into 4 patties and then divide each quarter in half to create 8 mini burger patties.

Brush or drizzle burgers with extra-virgin olive oil and grill on indoor electric grill preheated to high for about 4-6 minutes on each side. On an outdoor grill, cook 5 minutes on each side 6 inches from hot coals or over medium high gas flame with the grill lid closed. For preparation with no additional oil, broil 4 inches from broiler 5 minutes on each side.

For the onion rings, preheat oil in a large pan on high heat. Whisk 2 eggs and set them aside. Have flour on a large plate and set that aside. Spread the onion slices out and sprinkle them with salt. Pour all of the seasoned onions in the eggs and then remove them from the eggs and dredge them in the flour. Place onions rings into the hot oil in batches and fry until golden brown and crispy.

Serve sliders on mini hamburger buns with lettuce, tomato, avocado slices, onion rings, bacon strips and ketchup.