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Mom’s Secret for Stir-fried Broccoli: Bacon, Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar
One of Mom’s kitchen secrets that she’s instilled in me is a method for preparing American or Chinese broccoli in stir-fry. If you try to stir-fry broccoli, sometimes it’s difficult to get the stems cooked as much as the florets. Mom’s secret: Blanch the broccoli before stir-frying it. Our sauce of choice for broccoli stir-fry at home is a combination of oyster and hoisin sauce. You need to cook the broccoli in the wok only long enough to coat it with the sauce and mix it with the other vegetables or meat that you’re using. But Mom’s technique can be applied to a more Western treatment of broccoli as well. I love the contrast between crunchy garlic and tender but still crunchy broccoli, savory bacon and a touch of sweet and tart balsamic vinegar, so I’ll often use Mom’s technique with this combination of ingredients.
Collard Greens — A Southern Favorite
During all of the years we lived in Texas, I never learned how to make collard greens, even though it was a dish I loved to eat with fried chicken. It wasn’t until we moved to Oregon that I actually mastered collard greens, from a true southerner who had moved here to Oregon. Mary Irby Jones is from Mississippi and learned to make collards from her mother. When I told her I wanted to learn to make them, she offered to come over to show me her mother’s secrets.
Summer Succotash of Corn and Soybeans
If I lived by a culinary clock, pea shoots would herald the arrival of spring and corn would signal that summer had finally come. We love corn on the cob but also in a Succotash, where the combination of corn with other vegetables can add flavor as well as variety. For an Asian twist, I add edamame (soybeans).
A Hearty Asian-Style Vegetable Stew — For Those Days When You Just Can’t Eat Another Bite of Meat
It doesn’t happen frequently, but every now and then I just can’t bear to eat another meal of chicken, beef, pork or seafood. On those occasions when Mom’s in charge of the meal and asks what we want for dinner, I’ll say Kang Chup Chay, or our family’s version of a hearty Asian-style vegetable stew.
Cream of Corn Soup — An Easy Way to Enjoy Summer’s Bounty, Hot or Cold
There are a few foods I first experienced in grade school cafeterias that I’ll admit to still loving. One of them is tuna casserole, another is green bean casserole. The third is creamed corn, although I’m sure the creamed corn served to us in school came out of a can. My version is simple and tasty, and you can enjoy it either hot or cold. If you want to serve it as a refreshing cold soup, make it the day before and refrigerate it. You’ll be amazed at how simple and delicious this is.
BLT in CCCXLIX AD - The Romans were familiar with the bread, bacon and lettuce part of this famous quartet — even with the toasting of bread — but they would have to wait centuries before the Spaniards would deliver the tomatoes.
An egg pie with a crust of hash browns and topped with tomatoes makes a quick and easy breakfast on a lazy Sunday. Kick it up a notch by serving it with some salsa on the side. Mimosas, anyone?
Salmon Chanted Omelette — with Alaskan Sockeye Gravlax and Cream Cheese
The next time you’ve got company or are craving something a little different for breakfast, try making an omelette with some chopped shallots and chives in the beaten egg, and stuff the omelette with gravlax, cream cheese and capers. Yummy! Omelettes are so versatile. I’ve stuffed them with tater tots and sausage; tomatoes, bell peppers, bacon and cheese; crab and cocktail sauce; roasted peppers and beans. Heck. Be brave. Dream it up and just stuff it in an omelette and try it out. You may be surprised where your imagination leads your tastebuds!
Austin, Texas is the self-proclaimed Migas Capital of the Southwest and is certainly deserving. I have warm memories of lingering over a brunch of migas and aguas frescas with many of my dear friends in Austin, and I depend on them to lead me to the best table there. Well, I’m not in Austin, so I’ll just crank up my Oregonian Tex-Mex mojo.
Huevos Benedictinos and a Bloody Maria for Barbara
Memories of Barbara’s food haunts me from time to time. She once made a shrimp creole that was absolutely one of the best things I have ever eaten. She was using a recipe this time, one from Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. It involved making a seafood stock with the heads and shells of the shrimp. I took a whiff and doubted its benefit in the recipe. To me, it had an offensive smell. Now Barbara was doubtful. Her husband, Jimmy, said to use it anyway. Lucky for us that she followed his advice. It was memorable. And, after all, who am I to doubt a Paul Prudhomme recipe … or Barbara?
Open-face Buffalo Stew Sandwich — It’s Boffo!
The weather in the Mid-Willamette Valley has turned cool and wet again. It’s the perfect weather to light a fire in the fireplace, turn on some relaxing music and cozy up to a serving of hot stew and a glass of pinot noir.
Pork Hocks Slow-braised in Sweet Dark Soy Sauce and Star Anise
I’m convinced that there are spices that can make you high. I can be roaming the streets of Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and my hair will start to vibrate and stand on end when I get that first whiff of star anise in the air. My heartbeat quickens. My sweat glands go into overdrive. I start blinking uncontrollably, as my mind disconnects from my body and my feet start searching for the source of the heavenly aroma. Pungent, sweet, savory. Like licorice but more intoxicating. It’s a key ingredient in one of my favorite Thai dishes of ethnic Chinese origins, a stew of hard-boiled eggs, sweet dark soy sauce and pork hocks, that is flavored with star anise and cinnamon.
A Hearty Asian-Style Vegetable Stew — For Those Days When You Just Can’t Eat Another Bite of Meat
It doesn’t happen frequently, but every now and then I just can’t bear to eat another meal of chicken, beef, pork or seafood. On those occasions when Mom’s in charge of the meal and asks what we want for dinner, I’ll say Kang Chup Chay, or our family’s version of a hearty Asian-style vegetable stew.
Pork and apples make a perfect marriage. When stewed or baked with apples, the pork takes on the wonderful flavors of apples – sweet, but somewhere lurking in the background is that familiar tart flavor that’s a pleasant surprise.
Boeuf Beerguignon — Flemish-style Beef Stew
A beef stew appears on the tables in many cultures and countries. France has “boeuf bourguignon” as well as “daube de boeuf Provençal”. Belgium has “vlaamse stovery” or “les carbonades Flamandes”. Mexico and the Southwest have “carne guisada” which translates as “meat in gravy”. In Ireland it’s called, of all things, Irish stew and more times than not, it contains a liberal glug of Guinness Stout. Here in the US of A we have, well, beef stew and, being as we are the self-proclaimed melting pot of the world, we often make it any way we wish.
Taking the Roads Less Traveled, with Spectacular Results
Sometimes it pays off to explore the roads less traveled in Oregon. You never know what magnificent vistas await you. Today, we explored National Forest Service Road 2212, in the Willamette National Forest, and were rewarded with magnificent views of Mt. Jefferson and Detroit Lake.
A Gluten-free Culinary Adventure on the Rogue River
Celiac disease and gluten allergies don’t have to limit you from enjoying the outdoors and camping. One outdoor adventure company, ROW, has created a special culinary Rogue River rafting trip that provides gluten-free meals during the three-day rafting adventure.
Chowder is easy to make and once you’ve tasted it made from fresh cockles or clams, you’ll never feel the same about opening a can of chowder again. It will make you want to look up the tide tables and head to Tillamook Bay with your bucket and garden rake!
I love fishing for trout in Oregon and go out every chance I get. Our freezer is always well stocked with vacuum packed rainbow trout, labeled with the date and lake where the fish were caught. Part of the fun is also figuring out different ways of cooking the trout.Tonight for dinner, I decided to poach the trout in some white wine, skin them, and then serve them covered in a dressing of chopped olives, garlic, herbs and olive oil. It was delicious, judging from the empty plates and smiles at the dinner table.
Miner’s Lettuce Salad with Pomegranate Dressing — Foraging in the Spring for Wild Greens
Mom and I took the dogs for a walk in a park not far from our home during one of the pauses in the rain, and I discovered to my surprise that several of the towering Douglas Firs in a grove at the edge of the park had green shawls of miner’s lettuce around the bases of their trunks. Miner’s lettuce grows wild in the woodlands of Oregon but its season is a brief one and it withers and dies back as soon as the rains stop and the weather warms. Native Americans ate this wild green. Early settlers of the Pacific Northwest also ate it. Folklore has it that California Gold Rush miners ate it to prevent scurvy, and thus its nickname. It’s also known as winter purslane, spring beauty or Indian lettuce.
Illahe 2008 Tempranillo Dessert Wine — Cure for a Sleepless Night
Forget the sleeping pills. For a sleepless night, draw a dark ruby ripple of sweet plum-flavored Illahe Tempranillo Dessert Wine past your lips. Let it bathe your tongue in nectar, dark as the night. And carry you away on moonlit wispy clouds to the stars. Before you know it, the glass will be empty and you’ll be snoring away.
H5O Bistro & Bar to Host Winemaker’s Dinner with Sokol Blosser Winery
[gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2" orderby="title"] Just in time for that special date or girls night out, join H5O bistro & bar this Thursday evening for an exciting wine dinner with Sokol Blosser Winery.
Memorial Day Wine Tour of South Willamette Valley Wineries
Instead of sticking close to home this Memorial Day, I decided for a change to head South with my wine buddies to the Eugene area for a change of pace and visit King Estate, Sweet Cheeks, Domaine Meriwether and Benton-Lane. This allowed us to take the less-traveled portion of Highway 99 from Monroe back to Salem via Monmouth and the Willamette River Bridge just south of Monmouth on a day that we knew I-5 would be clogged with people returning from the weekend vacations.
Domaine Drouhin Oregon — Beautiful Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay
Parlez-vous français? No? Well, that’s OK. English is perfectly fine at Domaine Drouhin Oregon, the U.S. outpost of the famed Maison Joseph Drouhin of Beaune, France. According to Domaine Drouhin, the first seeds for what would become Domaine Drouhin Oregon were sown in 1961. Robert Drouhin, head of Burgundy’s legendary Maison Joseph Drouhin, was visiting [...]
Elk Cove Vineyards in Gaston has a beautiful setting and focuses on making excellent pinot noir and pinot gris. It’s La Bohème Pinot Noir has been served twice at the White House during President Clinton’s term.
Fried Mussels with Ginger Miso Dipping Sauce
I had battered and fried mussels for the first time at Andaluz, a tapas restaurant right here in Salem. Chef David Rosales’ version had a light coat of flour and was served with a garlic aioli sauce. It was such a delicious way to enjoy mussels that I was inspired to create my own version. Preferring a more substantial batter, I played around until I came up with a recipe that was a combination of batter and breading and remained crispy-crunchy after frying, along with a more tangy, Japanese-inspired sauce based on miso. This dish makes a great appetizer. Think of them as mussel poppers! They’ll disappear in a flash.
Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls Stuffed with Smoked Trout
One of the fun things about mastering a culinary technique is that you can start innovating when you’ve got the technique down. Today I’m combining two techniques, smoking seafood and making Vietnamese spring rolls to come up with Vietnamese spring rolls stuffed with smoked trout. It’s a delicious way to enjoy smoked trout and makes for a light and healthy meal.
I remember living in Singapore as a child and how distinct the culture there was, with influences from the British, Malaysians, ethnic Chinese and Indians. Even though English was the official language, people who lived there spoke many languages. And the ambience was so vibrant…along with the food. One of my favorite foods was Indian: Tandoori, samosas, curries. That memory of Singapore made me crave Indian food. So when it came time to figure out what I was going to make for dinner, samosas came to mind.
Miang Kham — A Tasty Thai Street Food Snack Pays a Surprise Visit to Us in Texas
Aunt Noi pulls out a bag and says she brought a snack for us. Next we notice her setting out several small covered bowls, a couple of spoons and a larger container of a stack a bright green leaves. She explains, as she’s opening the containers, that she’s brought a surprise that I’ve probably never had before. As I look over the contents of the bowls — crushed peanuts, dried shrimp, small lime pieces, garlic, chiles, toasted coconut, shallots and a thick sauce — I ask, “Is this Miang Kham?”
Salmon Chanted Hors D’oeuvres — Made with Homemade Alaskan Sockeye Gravlax
Gravlax hors d’oeuvres are easy to make as well as tasty. So take a walk on the wild side and make your own gravlax. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is. This post includes step-by-step instructions as well as photos.
Lemongrass Steamed Mussels with Thai Dipping Sauce
Mussels are one of those seafood dishes that you have to be careful about when serving company. Many people object to their strong flavor and aroma. Charles and I love them, however, and we were once talking about our favorite ways to cook mussels when my mother, Pranee, told me about a dish she cooked at a now-defunct restaurant in Houston called Renu’s. It was simply mussles that had been steamed in water infused with lemongrass and it was served with a dipping sauce that Thais commonly use for seafood: a mixture of fish sauce, lime and chopped chilis.
Miner’s Lettuce Salad with Pomegranate Dressing — Foraging in the Spring for Wild Greens
Mom and I took the dogs for a walk in a park not far from our home during one of the pauses in the rain, and I discovered to my surprise that several of the towering Douglas Firs in a grove at the edge of the park had green shawls of miner’s lettuce around the bases of their trunks. Miner’s lettuce grows wild in the woodlands of Oregon but its season is a brief one and it withers and dies back as soon as the rains stop and the weather warms. Native Americans ate this wild green. Early settlers of the Pacific Northwest also ate it. Folklore has it that California Gold Rush miners ate it to prevent scurvy, and thus its nickname. It’s also known as winter purslane, spring beauty or Indian lettuce.
Best Steak Salad This Side of the Pacific Rim — With Lime and Lemongrass Dressing
The secret ingredient to our version of steak salad is marinating the meat in some dried galangal root powder (available at any Asian grocery store) and a touch of oil an hour or two before cooking. The galangal will enhance the flavor of the steak and take away some of that “beefy smell” that turns some people off. Plus, while you’re searing the steak, it will add an other-worldy aroma to the beef.
Oregon Shrimp Salad-stuffed Avocado with Cucumber Goddess Dressing
There have been only a few times in my life when I’ve eaten a meal somewhere and the dish I’m eating makes a lasting impression, its flavors etching its memory into my taste buds and mind. Such was the case many years ago when I was eating at a now-defunct restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, called Celebration, and I tasted their creamy luscious cucumber dressing. They wouldn’t part with the recipe and it’s taken me several years of trial and error to replicating the flavor and consistency. And it makes a wonderful dressing for this salad of avocado stuffed with shrimp (it would be great with crab too!).
Sockeye Gravlax Salad with Pomegranate Balsamic Dressing
Gravlax can be used as the base for a light and flavorful salad topped with pomegranate balsamic dressing. The dressing of pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil offers a fruity burst of palate-cleansing flavor when paired with the gravlax.
Composed Summer Garden Salad with Salmon Croquettes and Pepper-Parmesan Dressing
My mother knew how to stretch a penny and on many occasions canned salmon came to our family table in the form of salmon patties. That would be “sall-mon” in our home with a distinct and noticeable lean on the letter “l”.
This tasted nothing like the salmon I have come to love in the Pacific Northwest. My mother’s salmon patties were tasty enough with some mayonnaise, onions, spices and an egg to hold it all together but the taste difference between those patties and fresh, line-caught salmon is like night and day. WOW!
Grilled Pacific Spot Prawns with Cold Somen Noodles in Miso Sauce
Cold somen noodles in miso sauce act as a foil for grilled Pacific spot prawns. This marriage of salty (noodles and miso sauce) and sweet (grilled prawns) are perfect for a light dinner on a hot summer day.
Tacos have become such a part of mainstream American cuisine that on the West Coast other ethnic groups have begun topping the ubiquitous corn tortilla with their cultural culinary specialties. Forget the fish taco, ground beef taco, or shredded beef taco. Their time has come and gone. In Los Angeles and Seattle you can find Vietnamese and Korean food-truck chefs who are creating the latest taco sensations: Korean barbecue and Kimchi tacos, Bulgogi tacos, Vietnamese lemongrass chicken tacos. I mean, when you see a dozen kinds of tacos available in the neighborhood supermarket, and Taco Bells show up in China, what would you expect, right? The taco is ripe for a cultural hijacking. And so this native Thai decided that the time was ripe for….ta da…a Thai taco.
Garlic Ginger-poached Chicken and Garlic Rice
As far as American fare goes, chicken is one of those old stand-bys. Roasted, grilled or battered and fried, it has attained comfort-food status in most American households. In the Far East, chicken also has the coveted comfort-food status on many family tables. My recipe for this dish combines Thai and Chinese techniques of poaching a whole chicken in garlic and ginger and then serving it with a zingy sauce of crushed garlic and ginger, salted soybeans, soy sauce and vinegar.
Easy Drunken Noodles — Pad Kee Mao — for the American Kitchen
I’m not sure about the origin of the name pad kee mao, which literally translates as stir-fried drunken noodles. Mom says maybe because it’s good to wash down with beer. Or maybe it’s a good cure for a hangover. I think it’s one of those quick and cheap street foods that’s widely available around Bangkok to satisfy an appetite after a night of disco. Who knows for sure? Charles and I do agree, though, that the perfect thing to serve with this dish is a bottle of Chang beer (from Ayutthaya, Thailand). We’re lucky that we can find it here in Salem at Capitol Market. This version of drunken noodles takes very little time to prepare.
Tom Yum Seafood Soup with Kaffir Lime
As I was growing up in Thailand, kaffir limes were a common sight. Not so much here in the U.S. So imagine my surprise when I get a call from Charles, the excitement in his voice palpable, extolling that our little organic food store in Salem, Lifesource Foods, had kaffir limes and did I want any? Are you kidding? Yes! My family has gone to great lengths to make sure that wherever we’ve lived — Texas, Maryland, Oregon — we’ve always had a kaffir lime plant. Usually, Mom has to scour her friends in Houston and bring a live plant back on the plane after one of her annual visits there. Sometimes, we beg to have plants sent to us via FedEx. The fruit doesn’t contain much juice, but in Thai cooking, the rind and the entire fruit are used to impart their bright, clean, citrus flavor and aroma. The most common dishes that use kaffir lime rind or leaves are Tom Yum soup and Tom Kha soup.
Miang Kham — A Tasty Thai Street Food Snack Pays a Surprise Visit to Us in Texas
Aunt Noi pulls out a bag and says she brought a snack for us. Next we notice her setting out several small covered bowls, a couple of spoons and a larger container of a stack a bright green leaves. She explains, as she’s opening the containers, that she’s brought a surprise that I’ve probably never had before. As I look over the contents of the bowls — crushed peanuts, dried shrimp, small lime pieces, garlic, chiles, toasted coconut, shallots and a thick sauce — I ask, “Is this Miang Kham?”
Siam Sapphire — A Lemongrass Martini — Shaken, Not Stirred, Please
A few weeks ago, during a warm spell and a flash of inspiration, as well as a flashback to my childhood in Bangkok, I was inspired to make lemongrass soda. This weekend, with my 46th birthday party looming, I made some more of the lemongrass simple syrup to serve, but instead of just splashing it into soda over ice, I decided to shake things up a little and experiment with adding the lemongrass syrup to gin, shaking it in a cocktail shaker and serving it in a martini glass garnished with a kaffir lime leaf. YUMMY!
Why had I not thought of this before?
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