Archive for the 'Main Course' Category

Not Your Grandma’s Bánh Chưng

Published by Gastronomer on February 4, 2013 in Banh Tet / Banh Chung, Main Course, Recipe, Tutorial, Vietnamese and Vietnamese. 11 Comments

Growing up, Tết was all about not screwing up. It was imperative that on the first day of the New Year, everything ran as smoothly as possible, which meant acing tests, being respectful to my elders, and not arguing with my brother. My mother made me believe that everything that happened on this day, both good and bad, would be repeated throughout the year. This superstitious notion scared me straight into action and, truth be told, continues to taunt me as a full grown adult.

These days, Tết has become less about “being good” and more about gathering with family, cleaning house, and of course, honoring food traditions. There are many dishes associated with the holiday including candied ginger and coconut, braised pork, and preserved pineapples, but the most iconic and essential of all is the square and squat bánh chưng and its cylindrical cousin bánh Tết.

In honor of the upcoming New Year, which falls on February 10th, a group of friends and I gathered to tackle making bánh chưng from scratch. While we were all wholly enthusiastic about the task, none of us were very experienced, as evidenced by our poor, boiled-over mung beans early in the day.

Leading the charge was Chef Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park. Diep didn’t have a recipe (or YouTube tutorials) to guide us this afternoon, just vague memories from years ago of preparing bánh chưng with her grandmother.

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Thịt Bò Xào Hành Tây – Vietnamese Stir-Fried Beef with Onions

Published by Gastronomer on January 28, 2013 in Bun Thit Nuong/Xao, Family Recipe, Main Course, Recipe, Vietnamese and Vietnamese. 4 Comments

While The Astronomer desires nothing more than a hunk of grilled lemongrass pork atop his bún (vermicelli rice noodles), I’ve got a soft spot for stir-fried steak, a dinnertime staple at my house growing up. Pork is almost always my protein of choice, but beef gets a slight edge here for its intrinsic juiciness, ease of preparation, and sweet onion companions. The way the meat’s drippings mingle with the marinade and the nước chấm (Vietnamese dipping sauce) gets me every time. You bet your boots I pick up my bowl and slurp up every last drop.

To ensure that the beef is cooked through and the onions are caramelized evenly, I prefer to prepare this dish in smaller batches. The beef to onion ratio can be altered depending on personal preferences. My family tends to go heavy on the onions, about 1.5 onions for every 1 pound of meat. Any uncooked meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and in the freezer for a few months.

While I love thịt bò xào hành tây best served over vermicelli rice noodles with fresh herbs, lettuce, cucumbers, pickled carrots and daikon, toasted peanuts, scallion oil, and ladles of nước chấm, it also tastes stupendous served simply over steamed jasmine rice.

4 pounds flank steak, thinly sliced approximately 1/4 inch thick
3 large shallots, finely minced
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
3/4 cup finely minced lemongrass
3 tablespoons white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt, plus additional for stir frying
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon MSG (optional)
3 tablespoons fish sauce, plus additional for stir frying
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for stir frying
6 medium onions, sliced into “half moons” approximately 1/3 inch thick

Combine all ingredients from flank steak through vegetable oil in a large bowl. Using your hands, massage the mixture to make sure that the marinade is evenly distributed and coats every slice of meat. Allow the meat to soak in the marinade overnight or for up to 24 hours.

In a large wok or non-stick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add onions along with a light sprinkling of salt, and saute until desired doneness is achieved, about 5 to 10 minutes. Some people may prefer onions with a little bite, but I like mine cooked through and lightly caramelized.

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Vietnamese Chicken Curry Pot Pie

Published by Gastronomer on January 7, 2013 in Curry, Main Course, Recipe, Vietnamese and Vietnamese. 6 Comments

At Good Girl Dinette, a charming spot in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park, “American Diner Meets Vietnamese Comfort Food.” While The Astronomer and I are tremendous fans of most everything on the menu, from the blistered imperial rolls to the deeply caramelized pork confit, it’s the restaurant’s signature chicken curry pot pie that we find impossible to resist every time we swing in for dinner.

Each pot pie is baked to order, ensuring that the buttermilk biscuit topping is perfectly flaky, while the fish sauce-laced curry bubbles just beneath. There’s something about the way the buttery crust melds with the spice-laden stew that satisfies and surprises with each bite.

Not everyone is lucky enough to live a short drive away from The Dinette, and Chef Diep Tran’s pot pie is much too delicious to be reserved for locals only. Thankfully, those who reside outside the Southland can reproduce the dish at home with the help of this spot-on recipe that first appeared in the New York Times article “Based on an Old Family Recipe.” I’ve had it bookmarked for ages and finally got around to executing last week when the holiday rush died down.

The original recipe makes five hearty individual servings, just like in the restaurant. However, I made two larger pot pies using 10-inch round quiche dishes since I don’t own any gratin dishes. Also, I used chicken legs in place of the thighs because that was the only cut my market had in stock. Even with these minor tweaks, the results were most satisfactory.

For buttermilk biscuits

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
11 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For chicken curry

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
1/4 cup Madras curry powder
2 lemon grass stalks, tops trimmed, bases halved lengthwise and smashed
3 white onions, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1/2 to 3/4 cup fish sauce
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice
3 large Yukon Gold or baking potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1 1/4 cups coconut milk

Make buttermilk biscuits

Have ready five 24-ounce oval (or 2 10-inch round quiche dishes) gratin dishes.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder to combine. Transfer 1 cup of the dry ingredients to a food processor, and sprinkle with the cubes of butter. Pulse 5 to 7 times until the butter pieces are pea-size. Transfer to the bowl with the remaining dry ingredients, and stir to distribute the butter evenly.

Make several depressions in the flour mixture with your fingers; add the buttermilk a little at a time, mixing with your fingers, until it is all incorporated. Gently work the dough just until it comes together. Cover lightly, refrigerate 1 hour.

Note: Don’t sweat it if your dough looks a bit hairy and craggy. Chef Diep Tran assured me that the uglier the dough, the tastier the results. She was right, of course.

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Shrimp and Grits with Mushrooms and Bacon

Published by Gastronomer on June 1, 2012 in Main Course, Recipe, Seafood and Southern. 9 Comments

Every Christmas, The Astronomer’s mother fills our stockings with a year’s supply of stone-ground grits from Birmingham’s McEwan & Sons. This past holiday, we were gifted three pounds of white, yellow, and blue corn varieties—a hearty reserve to add a little southern comfort onto our southern California dinner table.

Even though I love grits best when they’re simply prepared with a pat of butter and a generous grating of cheese, I couldn’t resist trying something a notch fancier when I found this recipe for Shrimp and Grits in Robb Walsh’s Texas Eats cookbook.

While the addition of button mushrooms and scallions seemed perfectly complimentary, what really caught my interest was the suggestion to swap out plain tap water for homemade shrimp stock in the grits. The idea of imbuing briny shrimp flavor at every layer sounded so right on.

The most labor intensive part of this recipe is peeling and deveining the pound of shrimp and making a stock from the remains. But once that’s out of the way, the shrimp and grits come together in a relative snap. Bacon crumbles and a few lashes of Tabasco sauce add the finishing touches. Rich, creamy, savory, tangy, and spicy—this dish has it all.

For grits

4 cups shrimp stock
1 cup quick-cooking grits
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

For shrimp

1 pound head-on shrimp
6 slices bacon, diced
Vegetable oil
2 cups white button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup green onions (white and green parts), sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 or 2 dashes Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper

Make grits

Peel and devein the shrimp and set aside. The shrimp heads and shrimp shells will be used to make a broth for the grits.

For the shrimp stock, combine four cups of water with the shrimp heads, shrimp shells, and vegetable trimmings (parsley stems plus whatever you have lying around in the fridge) in a stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes to extract flavor.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve several times to remove any tiny shell or other bits. Use immediately, or let cool, cover, and refrigerate for a week or freeze for up to 3 months.

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Braised Rabbit with Pappardelle

Published by Gastronomer on April 24, 2012 in Main Course, Pasta + Rice and Recipe. 13 Comments

The Astronomer and I got married exactly two years ago today, under sunny L.A. skies with our family and friends around us. It was one of the happiest days of my life, one that never fails to put a huge and goofy smile on my face every time I think about it.

With our second anniversary upon us, I wanted to gift The Astronomer something in line with tradition, but with an edible spin. For our first anniversary, I made two varieties of Vietnamese spring rolls, goi cuon and bo bia, to represent paper. Since it is customary to bestow cotton upon one’s beloved in recognition of the second anniversary, I briefly contemplated whipping up some cotton candy, but ultimately decided to prepare a feast of cottontail.

For my first foray into rabbit cookery, I chose this straightforward recipe for Braised Rabbit with Egg Noodles from the May 2003 issue of Gourmet. Braising, a technique that calls for meat to be seared at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with liquid, practically guarantees moist meat and robust flavors. It sounded like the kind of forgiving recipe that would be ideal for this first timer.

After bathing in an aromatic brew of onions, garlic, orange zest, cinnamon, and red wine, the meat was fork-tender while the sauce was deeply savory with mellow citrus notes. The flavors whisked our taste buds away to the Mediterranean. Dinner was served outside on our picnic table, with snappy asparagus on the side and glasses of red wine to sip. The Astronomer requested seconds.

1 (2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound) rabbit, cut into 6-8 pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 (4- by 1-inch) strips fresh orange zest
1 (3- to 4-inch) cinnamon stick
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water or chicken broth
8 ounces dried pappardelle, tagliatelle, or fettuccine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat rabbit pieces dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep 12-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably with a lid) or a 5-quart wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown rabbit in 2 batches, turning over once, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer as browned to a plate.

Reduce heat to moderate and cook onions, garlic, zest, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves in remaining 2 tablespoons oil, stirring frequently, until onions are beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add wine and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until wine is reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, water, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

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