My mom was an amazing cook! She would make wonderful meals and invite friends and family over - there's no way anyone would say no. The connotative meaning of "Nỗi Lòng Của Mẹ" is "the rising a mother's heart" - rising the way bread dough rises and fills its enclosure - which is fitting because this is how she expressed the enormity of her love for us. Birthdays were always our favorite foods, weekend meals meant my mother getting up at 4:00AM so that we'd have a big, steaming pot of her homemade pho waiting when we finally woke up. I was a super finicky eater, so my mom would make things one way for everyone else, then a different way just for me. (She'll be happy to know that I'm serving my penance for that when I cook for Nora and Eddie.)
I loved helping my mom cook - all my kitchen habits come from years of watching her work her magic in the kitchen....well, except the habit I have of using every pot in the house. I'm posting all of her recipes essentially to keep them safe. It's a combination of googling and memories - google to find several versions of the basic recipe and adding memories of my mom in. Here is the first of her recipes.
Banh Pate Chaud - a vietnamese puffed pastry stuffed with seasoned, ground pork, shrimp and mushrooms (or any combination). It makes for a delicious and addicting appetizer or snack! Traditionally the recipe calls for adding 2 T of pate (liver), but none of the kids liked the flavor so my mom added shrimp...or just made plain pork.
2 boxes of frozen puff pastry (my mother, of course, made her own puff pastry...but later on, even she admitted the frozen stuff was just as tasty and a million times more convenient)
1 lb lean ground pork
1/2 lb ground shrimp (fresh crab meat is delicious too!)
1/2 c chopped wood ear mushrooms (or shitake)
2-3 T spns of fish sauce (all of these measurements are approximate)
1-2 T spn of soy sauce
2-3 shallots minced
2-3 T spns of sugar
1/2 t spn of salt
fresh ground pepper
1 egg
butter
- In a large bowl, add the ground pork, shrimp and mushrooms and season the meat with all of the ingredients above (except the puff pastry). Once all of the ingredients are added, with your hands you want to mush all of the ingredients together until all of the seasoning is evenly spread throughout. Hands are very important - it's very difficult to get everything evenly seasoned with a utensil.
- After it is well mixed, divide and shape roughly into 12 (or however many pastries you're making) semi-flat balls. (I will come back and post pictures when I make this Thursday morning for TDay). If the size of the meatballs are large, you should first steam them in a bamboo steamer for about 15 minutes to ensure thorough cooking.
- With a cookie/biscuit cutter or a cup, cut the puffed pastry in circles that will fit the meatballs. Place one of the meatballs in the circle and place another circle on top. My mom would put a round collar in between the 2 circles so that they would puff higher (I'm going to try that).
- Press the edges of the puffed pastry together with a fork to seal. Brush the bottoms with melted butter and the top with an egg wash.
- Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and puffed.
ENJOY!!! (will edit to add pictures)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Kristin's Perfect Pot Roast with Garlic Mashed Potatoes
I'm not joking - this is like crack in a crockpot. In Kristin's own words:
Yankee Pot Roast
- 1 roast (whatever cut you like)
- carrots (however many you like, I just used baby carrots- about a half a big bag, I was also thinking parsnips would be good in this too...)
- 1 onion, chopped
3/4 - 1 cup beef broth (depending on the size of the roast)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbl dried parsley flakes (you can use fresh to but I did not have any on hand)
salt and cracked pepper (not sure how much I put in- maybe about a tsp of each??)
Sear roast in a little bit of olive oil and then just put everything in the crock pot to cook all day. (I added carrots part way through cooking time) I am sure that this would be good in the oven as well- whatever you want to use. I love the crock pot though because you do not have to babysit it and it comes out sooo tender!
Garlic Mashed Potatoes (I liked them so much when you made them that I tried them out myself!) got the recipe from this website: http://www.mashed-potatoes-recipe.com/garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/ I just did not add the parsley like the recipe said- probably would be good though
- 3 pounds russet or yukon gold potatoes
- 1 whole bulb garlic
-1/2 cup half and half (half milk half cream) (I did not have cream so I just used whole milk)
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Bring potatoes to a boil then reduce the heat and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and put them back on the stove for a few minutes, don’t burn them. After that, set them aside and not it’s time to move our attention to garlic. While the potatoes are boiling and simmering we will take the garlic bulb and cut the top of the whole garlic head. Oh, the garlic is still un-peeled, you don’t need to peel it. Now put the garlic into a heat resistant pan and cover it with drops of olive oil. Take some aluminum foil and cover the garlic (so it doesn’t burn) and put it into the oven.
How long does it take for garlic to bake? About the same time that it takes the potatoes to cook so you can do this simultaneously. Garlic is baked when is soft and as I said it will take about 20 minutes.
When the garlic is done let it cool down a bit, then squeeze the garlic out of it’s clothes with a fork and add it to the potatoes. (I put the garlic through a garlic press so it would be really fine). Now we are back on the old tracks. Mince the parsley and also add it to the potatoes, also add some pepper for the taste and some salt (if necessary) and mash the potatoes.
Heat cream, milk and butter and mix them into the potatoes. You could also do this before you mash the potatoes and garlic, maybe it tastes better if you do it after, but I don’t think so.
Yankee Pot Roast
- 1 roast (whatever cut you like)
- carrots (however many you like, I just used baby carrots- about a half a big bag, I was also thinking parsnips would be good in this too...)
- 1 onion, chopped
3/4 - 1 cup beef broth (depending on the size of the roast)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbl dried parsley flakes (you can use fresh to but I did not have any on hand)
salt and cracked pepper (not sure how much I put in- maybe about a tsp of each??)
Sear roast in a little bit of olive oil and then just put everything in the crock pot to cook all day. (I added carrots part way through cooking time) I am sure that this would be good in the oven as well- whatever you want to use. I love the crock pot though because you do not have to babysit it and it comes out sooo tender!
Garlic Mashed Potatoes (I liked them so much when you made them that I tried them out myself!) got the recipe from this website: http://www.mashed-potatoes-recipe.com/garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/ I just did not add the parsley like the recipe said- probably would be good though
- 3 pounds russet or yukon gold potatoes
- 1 whole bulb garlic
-1/2 cup half and half (half milk half cream) (I did not have cream so I just used whole milk)
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Bring potatoes to a boil then reduce the heat and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and put them back on the stove for a few minutes, don’t burn them. After that, set them aside and not it’s time to move our attention to garlic. While the potatoes are boiling and simmering we will take the garlic bulb and cut the top of the whole garlic head. Oh, the garlic is still un-peeled, you don’t need to peel it. Now put the garlic into a heat resistant pan and cover it with drops of olive oil. Take some aluminum foil and cover the garlic (so it doesn’t burn) and put it into the oven.
How long does it take for garlic to bake? About the same time that it takes the potatoes to cook so you can do this simultaneously. Garlic is baked when is soft and as I said it will take about 20 minutes.
When the garlic is done let it cool down a bit, then squeeze the garlic out of it’s clothes with a fork and add it to the potatoes. (I put the garlic through a garlic press so it would be really fine). Now we are back on the old tracks. Mince the parsley and also add it to the potatoes, also add some pepper for the taste and some salt (if necessary) and mash the potatoes.
Heat cream, milk and butter and mix them into the potatoes. You could also do this before you mash the potatoes and garlic, maybe it tastes better if you do it after, but I don’t think so.
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