Tag-Archive for ◊ mint ◊

19 Jan 2011 Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

Depending on where you live, you may or may not have a proliferation of “Pho” restaurants in your community.  If you do have a Pho restaurant nearby, I encourage you to try it out.  You’ll be rewarded with a huge bowl of broth and noodles, to which you add fresh basil, cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, peppers, chili sauce, and freshly squeezed lime.  The broth is quite tasty, and with the addition of all the toppings, the Pho has a very fresh taste.   On your first visit to a Pho restaurant, stick to Beef Pho or Chicken Pho, with the parts of beef and chicken that you are familiar with.  There are some other types of Pho which might be a bit challenging to an uninitiated American palate.

Having fond memories of Pho, I wanted to make it for myself.  I wanted to have a clear, rich, fat-free broth. I thought it would be great to have some of the broth on hand, and be able to boil it up and stir in some fresh ingredients whenever I wanted to.  I also think Pho would be a great dish to make ahead and then take to share with friends and family at a snow condo or beach house.   I found this recipe adapted from the cookbook Into the Vietnamese Kitchen at Steamy Kitchen.  It’s great!  I served it to seven friends, and three family members, and they all though it was great, too.  SCORE!

Before you make this dish, you should know how to pronounce it, “pho”  is pronounced “fuh” and not “foo” or “foe” or “poe” or  “puh” — that’s fuh-sho’!

If you have made your own chicken soup before, Pho is no more bother.  Follow the recipe below and make sure you buy good bones, start the day before, rinse and blanch the bones, have three hours to let the bones simmer. Then you can let the broth sit in the refrigerator overnight so that the hardened fat can be removed before finishing the pho.

Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

The broth

  • 2 onions, peeled, sliced across into 4 slices
  • 4″  of fresh ginger, peeled, halved lengthwise
  • 5-6 lbs of good beef  knuckle bones (beef shanks/knuckles $1.99/lb)
  • 6 quarts of water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • 5 whole star anise
  • 1 cardamom pod
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

In the soup bowls

  • 1 rice noodles (dried or fresh)
  • cooked beef from the broth
  • ½ lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thinly as possible.

On the side

  • fresh mint leaves
  • fresh cilantro
  • sliced fresh basil
  • limes wedges (2)
  • 2-3 chili peppers, sliced
  • bean sprouts (about 1 lb)
  • Hoisin sauce
  • Sriracha hot sauce

Char:

Turn broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.

Parboil the bones:

Don’t skip this part! Fill your biggest pot (12-qt capacity would be ideal) with cool water. Boil water first, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Boil broth:

Add ginger, onion, spices, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside. Continue simmering broth for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning – this is a crucial step. If the broth’s flavor doesn’t quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce and 1 teaspoon of regular sugar–and another pinch of salt, if needed (I over-salted my broth, so be careful). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect refrigerate broth overnight and remove hardened fat the next morning.

Prepare noodles & meat:

Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible – try freezing for 15-30 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Cut or shred the cooked meat from broth and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Guests will garnish their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles – for some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 – 45 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed.

Serving:

Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, bean sprouts, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. The hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests garnish their own bowls with the mint, basil, cilantro, peppers, lime, and sauces.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do. It’s a chin dribbling, big bowl of healthy, comfort food with a fresh & crunchy twist.  One of my favorite foods I believe. I have my fingers crossed that I will taste the real thing in Vietnam next year.  I hope this measures up. Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!

10 Dec 2010 Peppermint Bark Cookies

Mmmmm…, the flavors of Christmas! For me they are gingerbread, eggnog and peppermint.  Last December Bon Appetit magazine featured this Peppermint Bark Cookie. It’s a shortbread base topped with melted chocolate, crushed candy canes, and then drizzled with white chocolate.  When cooled this bar cookie is broken into irregular pieces. Yes, a bar cookie!  This is a very easy cookie to make!

I can’t think of anything more Christmas-y than a plate of Gingerbread Folk, Egg Nog Spritz, and Peppermint Bark Cookies…, with Tangerine Sugar Cookies, Jam Pinwheels, Caramel Bars, Chocolate-Caramel Coconut Bars AND my soon-to-be-posted White Chocolate Spice Cookies, too 🙂

Peppermint Bark Cookies

2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg yolk
6 ounces (approx 1 cup) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (try to use a better chocolate than chocolate chips)
½ – ¾ cup finely chopped red-and-white striped hard peppermint candy canes ( 6 – 8 candy canes)
3 oz. (½ cup) white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina–no white chocolate chips if you want really, really good flavor)

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Spray a jelly roll pan or quarter sheet pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with long strip of 9-inch-wide parchment paper, leaving overhang on both short sides of pan.
  3. Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl.
  4. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy about 3 minutes more. Beat in vanilla, then egg yolk. Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just to blend.
  5. Using moistened fingertips, press dough to form even layer over bottom of pan. Pierce dough all over with fork. Bake until light golden brown and slightly puffed and edges begin to come away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes (check after 20, mine got overcooked).
  6. Place pan on rack; immediately sprinkle chopped chocolate over hot shortbread. Let stand until chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Using small offset spatula, spread chocolate over top of cookie in thin even layer. Immediately sprinkle chopped peppermint candies over the melted chocolate.
  7. Melt white chocolate (I put in a small freezer Ziplock and MW-ed on 50% power for 90 sec. Squished to melt, cut a hole in corner of bag and drizzled over chocolate and candy canes). Drizzle white chocolate all over cookies. Chill until white chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.
  8. Using paper overhang as aid, lift cookie from pan and transfer to work surface. Using large knife, cut cookie into irregular pieces.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in refrigerator in airtight containers between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper.

The cookie plate is looking spectacular now, isn’t it?

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen so often.  This is FUN!

10 Jul 2010 Andes Mint Chip Ice Cream

You know I couldn’t make just one, didn’t you?! Here’s ANOTHER really, really good Philadelphia Style ice cream. Philadelphia Style ice cream is, without a doubt, my choice for ice cream. It tastes lighter and it’s sooooo much simpler to make. I have fond memories of Andes Mint Chip Ice Cream. I have only know of one place that made it, and it went out of business years ago. When I was pregnant with Hannah, 26 years ago, I used to take a walk to this ice cream shop…, on a regular basis…, the cool Andes mint and the cold ice cream just seemed RIGHT! How exciting that I can make this at home now and I don’t have to be pregnant to enjoy it!

I found this recipe, and only modified it a little bit, at serving-ice-cream.com

Andes Mint Chip Ice Cream

1 ¼ cups cold whole milk (or 2%, 1%, or non-fat…remembering that each step down in fat content will affect the creaminess/iciness of the finished product)
2 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons peppermint extract (don’t even think of increasing this.  I did a few times and the ice cream base got bitter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
few drops of green food coloring, optional
1 box (4.67 oz.) Andes mints, coarsely chopped
½ cup mini chocolate chips OR ½ cup of chopped milk, dark, or mint chocolate

Stir milk, cream and sugar together, using a wire whisk or hand mixer, until sugar has dissolved. Stir in peppermint extract and optional green food coloring. Pour mixture into an electric ice cream maker. Process for about 15-20 minutes, or until mixture is very thick and slushy. Stir in all of the chopped mints and chocolate. Process for an additional 5 minutes. Remove ice cream to a freezer safe container and freeze until hard, two to four hours (if you can wait that long).

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  Have fun making ice cream.  I have been making homemade ice cream for so long that I really can just walk by all that processed stuff in the freezer section. It just doesn’t taste REAL.  It tastes sweet, yes, and cold, and sometimes there’s something gooey running through it, and, on the whole, store bought ice cream  has good mouth feel and texture and creaminess, but no TASTE.

08 Jul 2010 Chilled Green Beans for Snacking
 |  Category: Appetizers, Veggies  | Tags: , , , ,  | 2 Comments

Move over Doritos. Get out of here bagel bites. Got you beat baby carrots! I find these to be quite an addictive finger food. They are a perfect summer appetizer, seasonal, chilled, and good for you. What’s wrong with a pile of green beans before dinner? Nothing! What’s right about a pile of green beans before dinner? Refreshing. Tasty. A little bit of a crunch. Lots of color. A bit of red onion. A hint of mint. YUMMMMM.

This recipe makes a LOT of green beans. Unless you are serving an army of healthy eaters, I might be tempted to say make half a recipe. But on-the-other-hand, Costco sells green beans washed and trimmed in a 2 lb. bag. Just snip the corner and zap for 8 minutes. Now that’s convenient. And leftovers do keep well for a week or so. My kids hardly complain if they find a few chopped up in their salad or added to a pasta dish…

This recipe is from Epicurious.com. I’ve been making it for about four years now. I make it as an appetizer for almost every large gathering.

Chilled Green Beans for Snacking

2 lbs. green beans, left whole, but ends trimmed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

If you buy the 2 lbs of green beans from Costco, cook according to the package directions. For other green beans cook in a large kettle of boiling, salted water for 2-4 minutes or until they are crisp tender. Transfer hot green beans to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and pat dry. Wrap the drained green beans in paper towel and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. Whisk together mustard, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. Mix the green beans, chopped mint, and red onion with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Enjoy!

And thanks for stopping by my kitchen today,