For the Birds

So I just want to reassure all of my loyal fans (search bots) that I'm still cooking, still eating, and still writing (rarely) on this blog. Unfortunately, I eat everything too quickly to publish pictures, and I'm on to the next dish before I can think about writing about it. There is an exception today: homemade suet.

In the process of making harira (you'll want to look that one up again), I ended up with a good half pound of lamb fat. What to do with all that flavor? I certainly wasn't going to dig in myself, but having just run out suet in the bird feeder, I decided to render it and make a little treat for my feathered neighbors.

Into the pot went all the lamb fat, cut into small pieces, and a half cup of water. I simmered the whole thing for about an hour until I had mostly melted fat and just barely a little bit of water. I didn't want to start deep frying the cracklin's in lamb fat...

Wait, that would have been delicious.

OK, well that opportunity is gone. Having rendered all the goodness I could, I strained out all the leftovers and let the liquid separate and cool in the freezer. After not too long, the fat had formed a nice creamy head, and the artist formerly known as water was now a gorgeous gelatin that I added to the harira.

The fat went back in the pan on low heat with a cup of mixed birdseed and sesame seeds, and it was all warmed up just to melt the fat. I poured the mixture into a mold and it's now hanging in the suet feeder waiting for my first customers.

Gone, but not pho-gotten

The link to the pho recipe from years ago was broken. Here's the recipe:

Beef Pho Noodle Soup Recipe (Pho bo)

Makes 8 satisfying (American-sized) bowls

For the broth:
2 medium yellow onions (about 1 pound total)
4-inch piece ginger (about 4 ounces)
5-6 pounds beef soup bones (marrow and knuckle bones)
5 star anise (40 star points total)
6 whole cloves
3-inch cinnamon stick
1 pound piece of beef chuck, rump, brisket or cross rib roast, cut into 2-by-4-inch pieces (weight after trimming)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 ounce (1-inch chunk) yellow rock sugar (duong phen; see Note)

For the bowls:
1 1/2-2 pounds small (1/8-inch wide) dried or fresh banh pho noodles ("rice sticks'' or Thai chantaboon)
1/2 pound raw eye of round, sirloin, London broil or tri-tip steak, thinly sliced across the grain (1/16 inch thick; freeze for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced paper-thin, left to soak for 30 minutes in a bowl of cold water
3 or 4 scallions, green part only, cut into thin rings
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (ngo)
Ground black pepper

Optional garnishes arranged on a plate and placed at the table:
Sprigs of spearmint (hung lui) and Asian/Thai basil (hung que)
Leaves of thorny cilantro (ngo gai)
Bean sprouts (about 1/2 pound)
Red hot chiles (such as Thai bird or dragon), thinly sliced
Lime wedges

Prepare the pho broth:

Char onion and ginger. Use an open flame on grill or gas stove. Place onions and ginger on cooking grate and let skin burn. (If using stove, turn on exhaust fan and open a window.) After about 15 minutes, they will soften and become sweetly fragrant. Use tongs to occasionally rotate them and to grab and discard any flyaway onion skin. You do not have to blacken entire surface, just enough to slightly cook onion and ginger.

Let cool. Under warm water, remove charred onion skin; trim and discard blackened parts of root or stem ends. If ginger skin is puckered and blistered, smash ginger with flat side of knife to loosen flesh from skin. Otherwise, use sharp paring knife to remove skin, running ginger under warm water to wash off blackened bits. Set aside.

Parboil bones. Place bones in stockpot (minimum 12-quart capacity) and cover with cold water. Over high heat, bring to boil. Boil vigorously 2 to 3 minutes to allow impurities to be released. Dump bones and water into sink and rinse bones with warm water. Quickly scrub stockpot to remove any residue. Return bones to pot.

Simmer broth. Add 6 quarts water to pot, bring to boil over high heat, then lower flame to gently simmer. Use ladle to skim any scum that rises to surface. Add remaining broth ingredients and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. Boneless meat should be slightly chewy but not tough. When it is cooked to your liking, remove it and place in bowl of cold water for 10 minutes; this prevents the meat from drying up and turning dark as it cools. Drain the meat; cool, then refrigerate. Allow broth to continue cooking; in total, the broth should simmer 3 hours.

Strain the pho broth through fine strainer. If desired, remove any bits of gelatinous tendon from bones to add to your pho bowl. Store tendon with cooked beef. Discard solids.

Use ladle to skim as much fat from top of the pho broth as you like. (Cool it and refrigerate it overnight to make this task easier; reheat befofe continuing.) Taste and adjust flavor with additional salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar. The pho broth should taste slightly too strong because the noodles and other ingredients are not salted. (If you've gone too far, add water to dilute.) Makes about 4 quarts.

Assemble pho bowls:

The key is to be organized and have everything ready to go. Thinly slice cooked meat. For best results, make sure it's cold.

Heat the pho broth and ready the noodles. To ensure good timing, reheat broth over medium flame as you're assembling bowls. If you're using dried noodles, cover with hot tap water and soak 15-20 minutes, until softened and opaque white. Drain in colander. For fresh rice noodles, just untangle and briefly rinse in a colander with cold water.

Blanch noodles. Fill 3- or 4-quart saucepan with water and bring to boil. For each bowl, use long-handle strainer to blanch a portion of noodles. As soon as noodles have collapsed and lost their stiffness (10-20 seconds), pull strainer from water, letting water drain back into saucepan. Empty noodles into bowls. Noodles should occupy 1/4 to 1/3 of bowl; the latter is for noodle lovers, while the former is for those who prize broth.

If desired, after blanching noodles, blanch bean sprouts for 30 seconds in same saucepan. They should slightly wilt but retain some crunch. Drain and add to the garnish plate.

Add other ingredients. Place slices of cooked meat, raw meat and tendon (if using) atop noodles. (If your cooked meat is not at room temperature, blanch slices for few seconds in hot water from above.) Garnish with onion, scallion and chopped cilantro. Finish with black pepper.

Ladle in broth and serve. Bring broth to rolling boil. Check seasoning. Ladle broth into each bowl, distributing hot liquid evenly so as to cook raw beef and warm other ingredients. Serve your pho with with the garnish plate.

Note: Yellow rock sugar (a.k.a. lump sugar) is sold in one-pound boxes at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. Break up large chunks with hammer.

Variations: If you want to replicate the splendorous options available at pho shops, head to the butcher counter at a Vietnamese or Chinese market. There you'll find white cords of gan (beef tendon) and thin pieces of nam (outside flank, not flank steak). While tendon requires no preparation prior to cooking, nam should be rolled and tied with string for easy handling. Simmer it and the beef tendon in the cooking broth for two hours, or until chewy-tender.

Airy book tripe (sach) is already cooked when you buy it. Before using, wash and gently squeeze it dry. Slice it thinly to make fringe-like pieces to be added to the bowl during assembly. For beef meatballs (bo vien), purchase them in Asian markets in the refrigerator case; they are already precooked. Slice each one in half and drop into broth to heat through. When you're ready to serve, ladle them out with the broth to top each bowl.

Cheese of the Week No. 11

I have to write this one down before I forget it. It was maybe the best cheese I've ever had.

Grayson (Meadowcreek Dairy): USA (Virginia), raw cow's milk, washed rind

Missy Kinz described the smell of French munster as "unforgivable." Well, Grayson gives off a funk that is equally unpardonable. Being a washed rind cheese, it has a briny, crunchy, funky-bacteria-loving rind that helps to ripen the cheese from the outside in. The paste near the rind was just becoming gooey, at its absolute peak of creaminess. It was described on the tag as similar to taleggio, but it's better than any taleggio we get here in the States. I find it more similar the Chimay Grand Cru, but better still. Chimay a la Biere is funkier, but not as delicious.

The taste is supremely earthy, nutty, fruity, grassy and rich. They must have some happy cows down there at Meadowcreek. It's not for the faint of heart (or nose), but if you like the funk, dig this cheese.

Japanese breakfast

I just returned from a trip to Japan with Yuki. What a great place! We didn't have a single bad meal, and we managed to do it on the cheap, too. The cities were bustling, hot, and humid, and after many days of sightseeing, we headed off to Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps for a hike. Along the way we came across a popular fish hut located just off the path on a stream. Their specialty, dating back many decades, is fire roasted trout straight from the stream. They trap them in a pen not more than 30 feet from the fire that was used to cook them. They're only about 6-8 inches long, so they're tender throughout, and I mean throughout. We were told by our server that you can eat every bit of the fish. I've never enjoyed a better fish head!

The fish was killed and gutted, skewered, rolled in salt, then placed next to a blazing wood fire and roasted until the skin was crisp. It was absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately I didn't take a single photo of the food I ate while in Japan. I'll do what I can to recall the meals here soon.

Stuff it

I got a text today from my sis (yo sis!), and it was all about what she was whipping up for supper.

Well, I got inspired by this and decided to make stuffed poblano peppers, chile relleno. I mentioned on my notes from Texas a stuffed, fried avocado with beef and cheese. This is what I was aiming for in my poblanos.

Chile Relleno para mi hermana

a coupla fat poblano peppers
fire
vegetable oil
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. sirloin, in 3/4 inch cubes
4 oz. chihuahua cheese, or feta, or whatever you like, crumbled or shreded
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seed
5 peppercorns
salt
flour

Roast the peppers over fire or under a broiler until the skin is evenly browned and blistered. Stick'em in a Ziploc bag for 5-10 minutes and peel off the skins. Cut a slit in the sides and removed the seeds. Set aside.

Toast the dry spices in a frying pan until the cumin begins to brown. Grind'em up in your spice grinder. Set aside.

Sweat the onions in a few tablespoons of oil, then add the garlic and toss for 30 sec. Add the meat and the ground spices, and toss it all together. Cook until the meat has browned. Salt to taste.

Stuff some of this into the peppers and douse them with flour. Get some oil nice and hot for deep frying or pan frying. At this point, many stuffed pepper recipes would call for a batter dip. I didn't feel like making a batter, so I fried them with just the flour. Brown on all sides and serve.

I made some soft tacos with the rest of the filling. The salad with dinner had tomatoes, avocados, onion, lettuce, and a nice vinaigrette. Coulda used some Coronas.

Best soup ever

When I travel abroad, I don't expect to feel at home. Moreover, I don't want to feel at home, otherwise I would just stay in the U.S. So when I walked into the best regarded Moroccan restaurant in Grenada, Spain, and got blasted with Phil Collins, I did a quick about face and hit the cobblestones faster than you can say "sussudio."

Luckily there was a Lebanese restaurant just around the corner, and it was there that we tried harira for the first time. It would not be the last, though. This hearty soup is a complete meal in a bowl, a favorite during Ramadan for breaking the fast. I came across a great recipe on the web, and I'll share that here. It's really simple, it just takes patience while it stews for a couple of hours and teases you with its amazing aroma. It works with larger couscous instead of noodles, too. Credit goes to soupsong.com - thanks!

Harira

1 lb lamb, in small cubes (I used boneless leg and froze the rest)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
2 T butter
3/4 c chopped celery
2 onions, chopped
1/2 c each parsley and cilantro, chopped
2 lbs canned tomatoes, chopped
small pinch of saffron (optional)
7 c water
salt to taste
3/4 c lentils
1 c chickpeas, either canned or dried/soaked
1/4 c fine soup noodles or large couscous
2 eggs beaten with juice of half a lemon

You'll need a big pot for this one. Combine the lamb, spices, onions, celery, parsley, cilantro, and butter in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook another 10 minutes. Add the water, chickpeas, lentils, and some salt and bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, and stirring occasionally, for two hours. Season with salt and pepper, then add the noodles (or couscous). Cook for 10 minutes more, then slowly stir in the lemony beaten egg so you form long strands of egg and the soup is thickened. Serve hot.

Getting in the spirits

I don't know what it is about cold weather and the holiday season that makes me want to make (and drink) homemade liqueur. This next one is unique as far as page 1 of my google search is concerned: Thai Iced Tea Liqueur. Whatdya think? Here's the plan.

2 (15 oz.) cans evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1 c brandy, vodka, or whiskey
4 heaping Tbsp Thai tea powder

Heat the evaporated milk to a simmer. Add the tea powder and let it steep for about 5 minutes and then strain it through a fine mesh sieve or cloth into a clean bowl. Stir in the condensed milk and the liquor. Transfer it to a clean bottle and chill before serving over ice. It's creamy like Baley's, rich and sweet like Thai iced tea. Success!