Monthly Archive for January, 2009

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Potato Skins

Published by Gastronomer on January 13, 2009 in Family Recipe, Recipe and Side Dish. 10 Comments

Potato skins are one of a few all-American dishes in my family’s repertoire of recipes. Sometime in the mid-eighties, my aunt Thao sampled T.G.I. Friday’s “loaded potato skins” and wanted to recreate the magic at home. This recipe is the result of a lot of trial and error, and adjusting for personal tastes. Potato skins are prepared every year by my mother on Christmas Eve.

6 small to medium red skin potatoes (total 3 pounds)
6 strips of bacon
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced, using only the greens of the onions

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Scrub the potatoes clean then cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin. Set aside.

Cut the bacon strips vertically into small pieces. Cook the bacon in a frying pan on medium low heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until bacon is halfway cooked. Drain and set aside.

Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on a roasting pan or broiler pan, and fill with the partially cooked bacon. Bake for 20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and the potatoes are tender and starting to golden.

Remove the bacon-filled potato skins from the oven and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Return the potato skins to the oven for an additional five minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the potatoes with the green onions. Return the potato skins to the oven for another five minutes.

Serve the potato skins immediately with sour cream, ranch dressing, or my family’s favorite, Sriracha hot sauce.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Euro Pane Bakery – Pasadena

Published by Gastronomer on January 11, 2009 in Bakery, French, Pasadena and Restaurant Review. 6 Comments

After learning the bread making ropes under the tutelage of Nancy Silverton at La Brea Bakery, Sumi Chang opened Euro Pane Bakery in Pasadena. Even though Euro Pane has been around for over a decade, an empty table is still hard to come by once the weekend rolls around. Locals seem to really enjoy lounging here over a cup of coffee and the morning paper while their dogs nip at their toes.

My friend Laurie and I snagged an al fresco table when we brunched here a couple of Sundays back. Laurie’s been a fan of Euro Pane ever since she moved into town, and was excited to introduce me to one of her favorite local spots.

In addition to classic baked goods like croissants, fruit tarts and natural yeast breads, Euro Pane serves up a selection of gourmet made-to-order sandwiches.

Based on Laurie’s glowing recommendation, I ordered the opened-face egg salad sandwich on rosemary currant bread ($7). Each slice of bread was schmeared with a terrifically tart sun dried tomato pesto and topped with mixed baby greens and a mound of gooey egg salad. The sandwich was sprinkled with crushed black pepper and freshly chopped chives. What made the egg salad spectacular were the soft-boiled yolks—this slight variation made a tremendous difference in the salad’s overall taste and texture. The egg salad was pleasantly creamy and combined just right so that the eggs and dressing retained their distinct characteristics.

This one get’s my vote for the best non-banh mi sandwich.

Laurie ordered a tomato and feta sandwich with basil pesto, balsamic vinegar and mixed baby greens on ciabatta ($6.75). Each and every one of the sandwich’s components was as fresh as can be—the bread was crusty and sturdy, while the feta was assertively flavorful. The pesto melded beautifully with the vegetables and cheese.

We finished with caramel and sea salt macarons, which were delightful. Laurie thought that the macarons were slightly off on our visit, but there were no complaints from this camp—just lots of pleasant chews. However, we both agreed that it would’ve been nice if the sea salt crystals were spread evenly throughout the macaron rather than concentrated in the center.

After such a great experience at Euro Pane with Laurie, The Astronomer and I stopped in for a quick snack the following weekend. We shared a pear puff pastry ($3.75) that was too cold for The Astronomer’s tastes and too mild for my bold-flavor-craving self. A rare miss in a sea of hits.

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Euro Pane Bakery
950 E. Colorado Blvd., Ste. 107
Pasadena, CA 91106
Phone: 626-577-1828

Vietnam House – San Gabriel

Published by Gastronomer on January 9, 2009 in Banh Hoi, Bo La Lot, Cha Gio, Com Tam, Hu Tieu My Tho, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review, San Gabriel and Vietnamese. 4 Comments

When longtime reader and fellow Pasadena resident Danielle discovered that The Astronomer and I were moving into her backyard, she was quick with a dinner invite. We enthusiastically accepted, of course, because there ain’t nothing better than having a local show us the town.

Our dinner destination was Vietnam House, the epicenter of drama in the San Gabriel Valley. Danielle informed us that the brother-in-law who managed the restaurant was somehow pushed out of the family business. In retaliation, he and his wife left Vietnam House and opened up their own Vietnamese eatery a half mile down the street—Vietnam Restaurant. And get this, both restaurants’ menus are exactly the same. Scandalous, right? Even though Danielle favors Vietnam Restaurant over Vietnam House, she wanted to introduce us to the original shop.

We dined on a Saturday night and the place was packed. The majority of the guests were partaking in the house specialty—bo bay mon (seven courses of beef). Since we all agreed that bo la lot was the only reason to order seven courses of beef, we opted to go a la carte.

Danielle highly recommended an order of cha gio ($4.95) to start. The golden cha gio were served with heaps of greenery and individual bowls of nuoc mam. My first cha gio was excellent, tasty meaty filling and crisp wrapper, but the ones after it were bogged down by too much oil.

With thoughts of bo la lot dancing in his head, The Astronomer ordered the banh hoi bo la lot ($6.95)—sheets of thin rice noodles topped with seasoned ground beef wrapped in betel leaves, crushed peanuts and scallion oil, and served with nuoc mam on the side. This dish was decently portioned and full of bold flavors. Thanks to a la carte, putting up with six mostly mediocre meats can now be avoided.

I ordered broken rice with the works for my entree. The com tam (broken rice) included bi (sliced pork skin and pork), cha (pork loaf), thit nuong (grilled meat), truong opla (fried egg), peanuts, cucumber slices, and scallion oil ($6.50).

Unlike The Astronomer’s modestly portioned banh hoi, my broken rice plate could have fed a small village. My favorite components were the bi and cha. The thit nuong was disappointingly chewy and dry. However, it must be noted that everything tastes fantastic doused in lots of fish sauce.

Danielle ordered Hu Tieu My Tho ($4.95) for her main course. Hu Tieu My Tho comes from the Mekong Delta city of Mỹ Tho. The dish is comprised of a clear pork-based broth, translucent tapioca noodles, sliced barbecued and plain pork, and garnished with shrimps and chives.

Thank you, Danielle, for showing two new kids on the block a little drama and a lot of hospitality.

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Vietnam House
710 W Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-282-6327

Bánh Mì & Chè Cali – San Gabriel

Published by Gastronomer on January 7, 2009 in Banh Mi, Chain / Multiple Locations, Deli, Los Angeles, San Gabriel and Vietnamese. 8 Comments

With the mountains and ocean less than an hour away from home base, The Astronomer and I have a range of leisure options during the weekends. Whereas The Astronomer grew up camping and canoeing in the Midwest, my outdoor experiences consisted of sixth grade camp (Camp Fox—represent!) and lounging on the beach in San Diego.

I am a self-proclaimed “hotel person,” so it came out of left field when I suggested to The Astronomer that we go hiking in the mountains nearby. Needless to say, he enthusiastically agreed. My friend Laurie suggested that we hike to Switzer Falls for our introductory outing.

Before heading to the mountains, we drove to the San Gabriel Valley for hiking snacks. For me, the absolute best part of hiking is eating in the woods, preferably perched atop a giant rock.

Bánh Mì & Chè Cali is a local chain selling Vietnamese sandwiches, sweets and small nibbles. According to gas•tron•o•my reader Danielle, the branch in Alhambra is the freshest. However, due to time constraints, The Astronomer and I visited the one on San Gabriel Boulevard.

Sandwiches hover around $2.25 at Bánh Mì & Chè Cali. There’s also an on-going “buy two, get one free” deal that The Astronomer and I couldn’t pass up. For our three sandwiches, we chose a thit nuong (grilled lemongrass pork), bi (sliced pork skin and pork), and nem nuong (sweet barbecued meatballs). The damage was $4.50—almost as cheap as Saigon.

Bánh mì sandwiches are perfectly portable meals that hold their shape surprisingly well even after being bruised and battered in a backpack. Overall, the sandwiches from Bánh Mì & Chè Cali were decent, but not fantastic. The baguettes were too thick and not ideally crisp, and the fillings were mostly so-so. With its strong lemongrass flavor, the thit nuong was our favorite of the three. The bi sandwich lacked scallion oil and tasted dry and bland as a result. I’ll have to try the sandwiches at the Alhambra branch before I write-off Bánh Mì & Chè Cali. A Chau is still tops in my book for bánh mì sandwiches.

The hike to Switzer Falls was beauteous. However, the falls turned out to be merely a trickle because California is deprived of rain. I didn’t mind.

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Bánh Mì & Chè Cali
135 S San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-286-8728

Home-Cured Salmon (Gravlax)

Published by Gastronomer on January 5, 2009 in Breakfast + Brunch, Recipe, Scandinavian and Seafood. 18 Comments

Last July, Girlie of Boots in the Oven posted about the simplicity of home-curing salmon. I mentally bookmarked the recipe for a later date because there was no salmon to speak of in Saigon. This past weekend, the fishmonger cut a fillet too large for a dish that The Astronomer was preparing, so I decided to “smoke” the leftover section. This simple method of preserving salmon is Scandinavian in origin and is called gravlax. Gravlax is similar to lox (cured salmon that has been cold smoked) and is sometimes referred to as Gravad lox.

I began with a skinless and boneless salmon fillet about five inches long, two inches wide and a half inch thick. Boots’ recipe calls for one part salt and one part sugar. Since I was only curing an itty bitty fillet, I went with one tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of salt. I poured the sugar and salt directly into a Ziploc bag and tossed in the fillet to coat (top photo).

After sealing up the bag, I stuck it in the refrigerator under the weight of five blocks of cream cheese (Boots used a baking sheet weighted down by miscellaneous foods for her much larger fillet). I jostled the bag every twelve hours or so to redistribute the juices. The bottom photo is what the salmon looked like after thirty-six hours of chilling in the fridge.

The salmon is ready for consumption after a full day in the fridge. The longer the salmon chills in the bag, the saltier it gets. After thirty-six hours, I removed the fillet from the bag, rinsed it under cold water and patted it dry.

Using a sharp knife, I cut the salmon into thin slices. The verdict? Really tasty. The gravlax tasted just like traditional smoked salmon. I seriously can’t believe how easy it is to make!

Gravlax tastes most excellent atop a toasted and schmeared bagel. For more ideas on how to prepare gravlax, check out Boots in the Oven and Cooking for Engineers.