Kid's Choice: Quesadillas

Another Wednesday another opportunity to get the kids to think outside the chicken tender and Kraft Cheese and Macaroni box. Actually, I'm proud to report that we haven't made a box of mac and cheese in this house for at least a couple of months. It was Dylan's turn to influence the menu, he requested quesadillas.

I found this recipe for Chicken Quesadillas at Epicurious. Chicken, cheese, and tortillas, maybe not a huge step out of the box, but onions, garlic, and pepper jack help. I made one slight change, I used half cheddar and half pepper jack. While in the grocery store, Dylan saw me pick up the peppery cheese and insisted that quesadillas were made with cheddar, so we reached a compromise.

Dylan, Daddy, and I all thought these were great. I would prefer a little more heat, sliced jalapeños would be nice, but it was Kid's Choice. Alex, on the other hand told me he didn't like them. He got in a little trouble Wednesday and incurred a pretty serious punishment (no sweets for a month!!!!). I think he would have turned his nose up at anything Mean Mommy put in front of him. At least he ate the watermelon, that's as sweet as it's going to get for quite awhile.

Warm Pasta Salad with Baby Spinach and Tuna

On Monday, my nine year old son finally found his balance and rode his bike without assistance. Daddy was in school and missed the whole thing! So on Tuesday, I knew there would be a full blown demonstration of Alex's new found skills and that I should keep dinner simple. This pasta salad came to mind.

Warm Pasta Salad with Baby Spinach and Tuna

Serves 4

1 (6 oz) can light tuna in olive oil, drained and crumbled

1 (19 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed

1/2 English cucumber, quartered lenghtwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 C. halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 lb campanelle or any short curly pasta

For Dressing

1 garlic clove

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. chopped fresh rosemary

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/4 C. extra-virgin olive oil

6 C. baby spinach (5 oz package), coarse stems discarded

1/4 C. capers, rinsed

Toss together tuna, beans, cucumber, and tomatoes in a large bowl.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add to tuna mixture.

Make Dressing:

Mash garlic to a paste with salt and whisk together with rosemary and lemon juice. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Add baby spinach and capers to pasta mixture and toss with dressing.

We ate dinner early, I was even able to photograph my plate in natural light. Alex was able to show Daddy his bike riding and Dylan practiced his also. What a wonderful Spring evening!

Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Lime Sauce

This recipe is from the July 2007 issue of Gourmet. I had torn the page out and added it to my great big folder of recipes, but never prepared it until last Thursday night. I'm sure glad I finally got around to it. Boneless pork chops cook quickly on the grill and the bright citrusy flavors in the sauce will make this a summer staple for us.

I served Black-Bean and Tomato Quinoa with the chops. This was a great combination. The boys loved the quinoa, Dylan has never met a black bean he did not love. They enjoyed the pork chops as well, but did notice there were crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce. I think they are getting used to them.

I had an equipment causality while making the quinoa. The recipe has you steam it in a sieve after boiling. It helps to dry the grain, making it light and fluffy. My only sieve had a plastic handle, you can guess what happened. It melted! Thankfully it didn't ruin the food. Now I can get some proper stainless steel sieves.

Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

On Tuesday, I was given a rare opportunity to cook just for my husband and me. Alex had an evening baseball practice, so the kids were fed early. With no sensitive taste buds to consider, I could make something spicy. Puttanesca sauce popped into my mind. I've only had it twice before, both time from jars. One was good the other not so good. Once I started looking through recipes I realized there was no reason, ever, to eat Puttanesca sauce from a jar, it is quick and easy to make at home.

This sauce is bold and spicy. All the flavor comes from things I love that the kids hate, crushed red pepper, Kalamata olives, capers, and anchovies. Hubby and I really loved it. I used Perciatelli noodles, long tubular pasta that is like very thick Spaghetti. I love this pasta because it doesn't stick together, so the sauce coats every noodle beautifully.

I highly recommend trying this sauce. I woke up Wednesday morning thinking of the deliciousness, I had leftovers for breakfast!

Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

Makes 4 servings

1/4 C. extra-virgin olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 28.2 oz. can peeled tomatoes in puree

1/2 C. Kalamata olives, halved, pitted

3 anchovy fillets, chopped

1 1/2 T. drained capers

1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. dried crushed red pepper

3/4 lb. spaghetti

2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh Basil

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with puree, olives, anchovies, capers, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Simmer sauce over medium-low heat until thickened, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta; return to same pot. Add sauce and parsley. Toss over low heat until sauce coats pasta, about 3 minutes. Serve with cheese and basil.

Spicy Garbanzo Bean and Turkey Sausage Soup

With the rising temperatures, soup season (for me at least) is coming to an end. One last pot was my goal last night. While searching soup recipes on Epicurious, I discovered that on the left side of the screen you can narrow your search so it just shows you the healthy recipes. That left me with 253 options!

I chose Spicy Garbanzo Bean and Turkey Sausage Soup. We fed the kids early, I knew jalapeños and spicy sausage would not be popular. The soup was very good. The only change to the recipe I made was to not use all of the liquid from the beans. It is loaded with sodium, and the soup was fine without it. The lemon juice added the perfect amount of acidity to balance all of the flavors and the texture and flavor of the avocado slices were a nice touch.

As I type, my stomach is growling for the left overs. Sadly, I have no more avocado, it will still be yummy without it.

Kid's Choice: "Fried" Chicken

Wednesday was a long, tough day full of whining, complaining, and back talk. When dinner time rolled around, I didn't feel like the kids deserved a choice this week and that I should feed them Liver and Onions. Fortunately for the boys, I didn't have any liver in the fridge.

My oldest son has been requesting Fried Chicken for a few weeks. I've resisted because making it at home leads to the house smelling like a deep fryer for days. I found this well reviewed recipe for Oven-Fried Chicken and decided to try it out. As written, this recipe would feed a small army, I adusted it and made only one chicken cut up into eight pieces. It could not have been easier, it took me about ten minutes to make the cornflake mixture, coat the chicken, and put it in the oven.

I was happy to get four thumbs up from the kids and two more when my husband had leftovers after class. The chicken was juicy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The rest of our plates were filled with steamed baby carrots and broccoli. I'd like to think it was much healthier than chicken and all the fixings from KFC or Bojangles.

Grilled Rosemary Garlic Shrimp

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Charlotte. After an early morning baseball scrimmage, we spent most of the day, hard at work, in the back yard. My husband revved up the chain saw to clean up in preparation for a new fence. I continued to attack the weeds that had taken over my flower beds and grown in the cracks of my patio. My intention was to have this grilled shrimp Saturday night, but by the time I made it inside to double check the recipe it was close to 4:00pm. The shrimp is supposed to marinate for at least 4 hours and I hadn't even been to the grocery store yet. I decided, instead, to whip up some Nachos that we could eat while watching basketball and postponed the shrimp plans until Sunday.

Sunday was not as nice as Saturday. The rain started mid morning, I had the pleasure of sitting through a Tee Ball practice in it. The shrimp was marinating. Rain or shine, Sous Chef was going to have to go out and grill it!

It kept on raining, but we managed a delicious dinner anyway. I served the shrimp with a wild rice blend and asparagus. The kids liked this. Only rice was left on their plates. My youngest especially enjoyed squeezing lemon juice all over his plate.

A Taste of Home

Earlier this week, I started reading James A. Michener's Chesapeake. I was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Michener's descriptions of the region, particularly the Choptank River, have made me quite homesick. I miss the water, the sounds of gaggles of geese, and the Blue Crabs. In the book, the Choptank Indians make "Cakes of Crab", crab, vegetables, herbs, and corn meal fried in bear fat. I didn't think I could get my hands on any bear fat, but I could handle the rest and have a nice reminder of home to tide me over until my summer visit.

I looked at several recipes and settled on the one on the side of my Old Bay can. In my opinion, when it comes to crab cakes, less is more.

Serves 4

2 slices bread, crusts removed

2 T. mayonnaise

2 t. Old Bay

2 t. parsley flakes

1/2 t. prepared yellow mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 lb. crab meat

Break bread into small pieces. Mix in mayonnaise, old Bay, parsley, mustard and egg. Stir in crab meat. Shape mixture into patties. Broil 10 min. or fry until golden brown.

This recipe is a good one and our crab cakes were fine. There are things I will do differently next time. First, I will only use pure lump crab meat going forward, I know I will pay more but it will be worth it. Harris Teeter didn't even have it available when I did my shopping, but I know they will during the summer. Secondly, in the future I will fry, fry fry! My husband thought it would be healthier to broil, hmmmph.

I served this lovely Cherry Tomato salad on the side. This salad tastes like sunshine and I imagine it could only be improved with tomatoes straight out of the garden.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Due to busy mid-week schedules, we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day a few days early. This Irish Stew was a good project for a Sunday afternoon. My Sous Chef was on baseball practice duty so I was left with all the chopping, but he made it home in time to whip up the scones.

We made this stew (from Cuisine at Home, October 2008) back in the fall and really enjoyed it, a nice alternative to the traditional Corned Beef.

2 lb. lamb or beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2" chunks, seasoned with salt and pepper

1/4 C. olive oil, divided

2 C. onion, diced

2 T. garlic, minced

2 T. Tomato paste (I recommend this)

1/4 C. all purpose flour

1/4 C. dark beer (such as Guinness)

2 C. beef broth

2 C. chicken broth

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cubed

1 C. carrot, chopped

1 C. frozen peas

1 C. savoy cabbage, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown stew meat in 2 T. oil in a large pot over meduim-high heat, 8 minutes. Transfer meat to a bowl and set aside; reduce heat to medium.

Add 2 T. oil and onion to the pot and sweat, covered, until soft, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste, and cook until paste darkens, 2 minutes. Add flour, stir to coat, and cook 1 minute.

Deglaze with beer, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pot, then add both broths, meat and it's juices, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.

Stir in potatoes and carrot. Cook until potatoes are tender, 12 minutes, then add peas, cabbage, salt, and pepper; simmer 5 minutes.

Mini Cheddar Scones

Makes 32

2 3/4 C. all purpose flour

2 T. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. table salt

1/4 t. baking soda

10 T. unsalted butter, cold, cubed

1 C. Cheddar, shredded

1/3 C. minced fresh chives

1 C. buttermilk

2 T. water

1 egg blended with 1 T. water

Preheat oven to 375°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until pea-sized.

Stir in Cheddar and chives, then add buttermilk and 2 T. water; knead gently just until blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into an 8" square. Cut into 2' squares, then cut squares into triangles. Arrange scones on baking sheet, spacing 1" apart.

Brush tops with egg-water mixture and bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

Baked Chicken with Fennel and Apples

Yesterday, as I was scrolling through past posts, I came to realize that I cook with cheese a lot. Wednesday night in the quiche, Tuesday night in the mashed potatoes, last week in the polenta.....you get the picture. So, while choosing a recipe for last night's dinner I purposely set out to find something with no melted, cheesy goodness.

Another goal was to find something that didn't take much time to prepare because I also had to make Shortbread for my third grade son's class. They are finishing up their geography unit on Scotland. I was given a specific recipe, I hope they have nice cold cartons of milk to wash those cookies down!

I found this recipe in the November 2009 issue of Everyday Food. Yum, yum, yum, I thought this was delicious. The fennel, shallots, and sage leaves were amazing coated in all the juices from the chicken. The only change I would make is to cook the apples longer and cut them into smaller pieces.

My eldest loved the chicken and apples, the other stuff got pushed around on his plate. As for my youngest, not a great night for him. Let's just say his behavior at the dinner table was less than exemplary and leave it at that!

Kid's Choice: Quiche Lorraine

I had a leftover pie crust in the fridge so I used my subtle powers of persuasion on the boys to choose quiche for Kid's Choice night. They were excited, they love egg and cheese pie.

Coincidentally my sister made Quiche Lorraine this week also. Her's is a fancy French Culinary version. I am a complete klutz when it comes to pastry, so the store bought crust is more my style. I have made this recipe many times. For the cheese, I usually use Gruyère, this time I used Emmentaler. It was good, but I will go back to Gruyère next time.

refrigerated pie crust

8 bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

4 green onions, chopped

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, divided

6 large eggs

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. ground red pepper

1/8 t. ground white pepper

1/8 t. ground nutmeg

Fit pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate; fold edges under and crimp

Bake at 400° for 7 minutes; remove from oven.

Cook bacon pieces in a large skillet until crisp; drain on paper towels, and crumble. Sprinkle bacon, green onions, and 1 cup cheese into prepared crust.

Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients; pour mixture into crust, and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of cheese and nutmeg.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes.

Grilled Flank Steak with Sautéed Portabella and Cremini Mushrooms

Spring was in the air Tuesday. Here in Charlotte, it was sunny and 70°. Inspired by the warmth, I ventured out and tried to make a dent in the weeds that have taken over my flower beds. It cheered me to find some perennials starting to poke out of the ground, searching for the sun through all the weeds.

Nice warm days seem to make me crave grilled meat, so this recipe immediately popped into my mind. We have made this many times, more for the mushrooms than for the steak. Not that the steak isn't good, it's that the mushrooms are fabulous. I served this with Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes and steamed zucchini and yellow squash.

This is not the most kid friendly dish in my house. My oldest son was recovering from a second bout with a stomach bug so I didn't have to worry about his aversion to balsamic vinegar, he had soup. My youngest did his best. He ate some steak, veggies, and potatoes, but wouldn't go near the mushrooms. More for me!

Scallops Provençale

Thyme was my inspiration ingredient yesterday. I had a bunch left over from the Salmon we made on Sunday. When you type thyme into the search field on Epicurious, 1391 recipes come up. I was short on time, I needed to narrow it down a bit more. Tomatoes Provençale came to mind, I've been wanting to make them for a long time. Amazingly, no recipe for Tomatoes Provençale appeared, but this recipe did.

The sous chef loves scallops. The kids, not so much. They were lucky our meal was not too complicated to prepare and that I was in a short order cook kind of mood. A truly rare occasion. When at the grocery store I grabbed them a can on Chicken Noodle-Os and planned on making them Cheese and Bacon Toasties.

I served the scallops over Parmesan Polenta. It was a really nice meal, light and clean flavors. It helped that I cooked the scallops perfectly. Yes, I am patting myself on the back.

Beer-Braised Sausages with Warm Potato Salad

A perfect one pot meal to make on a night when big wet snowflakes, that melt as soon as they touch the ground, fall from the sky. Oh well, at least dinner was good. I love recipes that have you cook everything in one big pot, there are less dishes to do after dinner!

The flavors in this recipe scream Germany to me, so I was surprised it called for sweet Italian sausages and not bratwurst. It is noted that other sausages such as turkey or chicken work well also. I know the kids like Italian sausage so I stuck with that.

This recipe is from the March 2010 Everyday Food (not sure why it is not online yet.....)

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausages

1 meduim yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

12 oz pale ale beer

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, halved

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 T. red-wine vinegar

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 1 T. olive oil over medium high heat. Add sausages and cook until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add beer, potatoes, and 2 cups water; season with salt and pepper and press to submerge potatoes in cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Transfer sausages to serving platter and keep warm. In a large bowl, stir together 1 T. oil, vinegar, and parsley. With a slotted spoon transfer potato mixture to dressing (reserve cooking liquid) and toss to combine.

Return pot to high heat; boil cooking liquid until reduced to 1 cup, about 12 minutes. Return sausages to pot and cook until heated through, 2 minutes. Place sausages and dressed potatoes on serving platter; drizzle half the sauce over top. Serve with remaining sauce alongside.

I made two changes, one that was unintentional. First I had dill in my herb garden that needed to be harvested so we chopped it up and added it to the dressing for the potatoes, a great addition. My unintended change was the sauce. The picture in the magazine shows a brothy sauce around the food on the plate. I must of reduced it more than called for, because I got a deep brown, thick sauce, that was delicious.

Only my youngest joined us for dinner last night. He loved the sausage, but was not too crazy about the potatoes. The other was sick, poor thing is thankfully on the mend today!

Salmon in a Thyme, Shallot, and Lemon Marinade

I have been using this marinade for salmon since the recipe was published in Martha Stewart Living in July 2003. It is very easy and flavorful. The article says it works well with beef, chicken, lamb, and seafood. I served broccolini on the side. My older son cleaned his plate, made me so proud. My little one slept through dinner, woke up at 9:00 and had apple slices and peanut butter. Lucky kid.

Thyme, Shallot, and Lemon Marinade

Makes 2/3 Cup, enough for 2 pounds of meat or fish

3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 T. dry white wine

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch fresh thyme (12-15 sprigs)

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 lemon, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together juice, wine, and oil in a shallow nonreactive dish. Arrange meat or fish in a single layer in dish; turn to coat. Evenly scatter thyme, shallots, and lemon slices over meat or fish. Cover; refrigerate for length of time shown below for the protein you are using. Turn meat or fish occasionally.

Remove meat or fish from refrigerator, and let it come to a cool room temperature before cooking. Season with salt and pepper. Cook as desired. For salmon, I cook at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Marinating Times

Shellfish: 20 minutes

Thin and Flaky Fish Fillets: 30 minutes

Thick and Fatty Fish Fillets: 1 hour

Beef, Chicken, and Lamb: 6-24 hours

Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart

Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for another delicious recipe. This is a truly decadent tart, the vegetables take a back seat to a tasty triumverate of cheeses. Mascarpone, Gruyère, and Parmesan, oh my!

I first read this recipe last week. I knew I had to have truffle salt to do it justice. My sister has a jar and has raved about it. I immediately called Williams Sonoma, but they were out of stock. So much for instant gratification, I had to order it online. It was finally delivered on Wednesday. Thursday's dinner was planned.

I realized early in my preparations that this was going to be time consuming, so we served the boys an early dinner of Mac and Cheese (which I refuse to buy anymore but it magically shows up in the cabinet when hubby and the boys go to the grocery store unchaperoned).

Sous chef and I enjoyed a late dinner while catching up on the horrors of the Top 24 on American Idol. I limited myself to one small slice of tart, sous chef had seconds. I reheated another small slice for lunch on Friday and noticed the mustard more than I did the night before. I love what the truffle salt brought to this, a little does go a long way in providing an earthy layer of flavor. A worthy investment at $28 a bottle!

Kid's Choice: BLT Salad

The boy's requested BLT's this week. My first thoughts were to just make sandwiches and come up with something interesting to serve on the side. The more I thought about it, I realized I didn't want a sandwich for dinner, so I did a bit of research and came across this recipe for the salad.

I was worried the news of a salad would elicit groans from the kids, but I was pleasantly surprised. They thought it sounded good.

The salad was very easy to prepare. I did not cook the bacon in the oven for two reasons. I had only a tiny scrap of parchment and it saved time to do it on the stove so that I could do the croutons in the oven at the same time. The dressing is delicioius, next time I'd like to add some crumbled blue cheese. The croutons hold up well once the salad is dressed. My husband came home from class close to two hours after we ate and the croutons still had some crunch. I kept the bacon separate.

This is one of my cats, Mimi. I think she can smell bacon from a mile away, she loves it. Mimi is a very spoiled kitty, but not so spoiled that she has her own spot at the dinner table! Thankfully, she didn't manage to eat off of my plate and she was shooed away after I snapped her photo.

Orzo with Shrimp, Chèvre, and White Wine

Tuesday night was a hectic one in our house. My sous chef had a paper and presentaion due on Wednesday and my third grader had a biography project on Thomas Jefferson to finish. I had to come up with a meal I could prepare sans sous chef. Since I have made this shrimp dish many times, I figured I could handle it. I ended up having to tear the sous chef away from his studies to clean the shrimp. I hate doing it and he needed a break anyway!

I made one minor change to the recipe, I used Chèvre instead of Feta and I top the dish with the cheese before I put it in the oven instead of when it comes out. The more mild flavor and softer texture of the cheese was nice. In the past I have omitted or lessened the crushed red pepper for the sake of the kids, this time I used the full amount. Amazingly, there were no "This is too spicy" whines.

A Vietnamese Weekend Part 2

The Vietnamese adventure continued on Sunday night. I had wanted to make the Asparagus and Shiitake Mushroom Stir-Fry (Mang Tây Xào Nâm Hu'o'ng) on Saturday, but failed to realize that dried shiitakes need to soak for a long time. I'm glad I waited, the asparagus paired so nicely with a steak. We had our warmest day in what feels like months, yesterday, and marked it by firing up the grill!

I'm very excited I've found another way to get the kids to eat asparagus!

Salt

1 1/2 lbs asparagus, woody ends trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces

6-8 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted, trimmed, and cut into 1/4 inch thick strips

Flavoring Sauce:

1/2 t. sugar

1 1/2 t. fish sauce

1 generous T. oyster sauce

2 t. canola oil

1 1/2 T. water

1 1/2 T. canola oil

Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus and parboil for about 1 minute, or until just tender but still firm. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside. Have the mushrooms cut and ready to cook.

To make the flavoring sauce, in a small bowl, combine the sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce, oil, and water and stir to disolve the sugar. Set aside.

In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until heated through. Raise the heat to medium-high. Give the flavoring sauce a stir to recombine, then add to the pan and stir to distribute evenly. When only a little sauce is visible, after about 1 minute, transfer to a plate and serve.

We ended the weekend with this creamy, delicious Coconut Sorbet (Kem Nu'ó'c Côt Dù'a). Yum! This was a hit with everybody.

Makes about 3 cups, to serve 6

2 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup sugar

Generous pinch of salt

2 1/2 T. light corn syrup

1/2 t. vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, sugar, salt, and corn syrup and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring or whisking gently, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to chill well and develop the flavor.

The mixture separates as it sits, so whisk to reblend, and then freeze in an ice cream maker.

I am notorious for not reading carefully through a recipe before I start cooking, so the chilling for 24 hours took me by surprise. We did not chill that long, the flavor was still very good. Next time I will follow the directions and see if there is a difference. It was good to bring the ice cream machine out. The bowl has been at the ready in the freezer for years!

As for my Vietnamese translations of the dishes, they may not be 100% accurate. I did the best I could, but you need special software to type all the correct accents and symbols.

A Vietnamese Weekend Part 1

This beautiful cookbook was a gift from my mother-in-law. I've looked through it many times, but have been slightly intimidated. How silly of me, the recipes are easy and the flavors wonderful.

On Saturday morning, I poured over the recipes and chose five dishes to try. We only ended up having three of them Saturday night. But not to worry, we had the other two Sunday night.

The first course was Egg, Shrimp, and Scallion Pancakes (Trú'ng Chiên Tôm). These were very tasty. We dipped them in soy sauce. The kids loved them!

Next, we enjoyed Salmon with Tomato, Dill, and Garlic Soup (Canh Riêu Cá). My husband and I loved this. My older son seemed to enjoy it, but the little one only took a couple bites.

The last dish of the night was Chicken and Ginger Simmered in Caramel Sauce (Gà Kho Gù'ng). To make this, I first had to make the caramel sauce. This is not a sweet, sticky sauce, it is actually rather savory. The recipe calls for boneless chicken thighs, for some reason Harris Teeter didn't have any. So I used breasts. I'd really like to try it again with the thighs, they are more flavorful.

1 2/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, well trimmed and cut into 1 inch chunks

Chubby 2 inch peice of fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced, and smashed with the broad side of a chef's knife.

3 T. caramel sauce

2 T. fish sauce

1/4 t. salt

2 T. water

1 scallion, green part only, chopped

In a small saucepan, combine the chicken, ginger, caramel sauce, fish sauce, salt, and water and stir to distribute everything evenly. Cover and bring to a strong simmer over medium heat. Stir again to break up the chicken pieces and replace the lid. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again so that all the chicken is evenly exposed to the sauce. Fragrant plumes of steam will shoot from under the lid and the contents will boil vigorously. The sauce will increase in volume as the chicken releases it's juices. If the contents threaten to boil over or the lid rattles, lower the heat.

After the 10 minutes, uncover and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce reduces and the color deepens to a rich reddish brown. Remove from heat, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Taste the sauce and adjust the flavor with extra fish sauce, if necessary. Serve over rice and garnish with scallion.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Vietnamese weekend.