Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Recipe

13 Jan 2009

Potato Skins

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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.

Restaurant Review

11 Jan 2009

Euro Pane Bakery – Pasadena

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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

Restaurant Review

09 Jan 2009

Vietnam House – San Gabriel

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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