May the Fam Din Be with You!

September 14, 2019 The Culinary Chronicles1 Comment

HOLY COW!

It’s been a HOT MINUTE since I’ve last posted and boy–do I have a lot to catch you up on!

Since my last post, we’ve had four family dinners, a TON of kitchen experiments and foodventures, a little bit of travel and now we just bid a “see ya’ later” to my brother and his fam as they embark on a world wide adventure for the next year.

So let’s pick up where I left off – our May Family Dinner which covered three birthdays: Dad, L and yours truly!

Yes…May — I know.

For an appetizer, I chose to make dumplings because you know how much we love them!

I had been scrolling through Instagram one day and saw a picture of these cute dumplings with whole shrimp in them. I HAD to make my own version of them!

So I mixed up an easy filling of chopped shrimp, crumbled fresh tofu (for extra juiciness), scallions, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper and a bit of cornstarch. I then laid a butterflied shrimp (with tail on) down on a dumpling skin and put a bit of filling on top. A few pinches to seal and voila – Whole Shrimp and Tofu Dumplings.

I ended up pan frying them although steaming them would also be delicious and they turned out great! Super plump and succulent.

And not only did the shrimp tails add a little something to the presentation, they became quite functional as a means to pick up the whole dumpling with. Cute and useful!

That day also happened to be the series finale of Game of Thrones and if you read this post, you know my Fam LOVES us some GoT!

I had been saving this particular 2014 Game of Thrones Cabernet Sauvignon for some time…and that night seemed like the perfect time to crack it open.

And I just so happened to score this Game of Thrones themed Monopoly board from a dear friend — so obvi…. GAME ON!

The fur babies were very vested in the Iron Throne.

Back to the food….

At the 11th hour, I asked brother to make some oven roasted Crispy Pork Belly.

Because, really….it’s always a good time for pork belly.

I had seen this recipe from Kirbie’s Cravings and had wanted to give it a roll for a long time.

The process was really easy and the salt crust pulled out all of the moisture to give a SUPER crispy skin.

We’ll definitely be making this again.

And I can’t wait to play around with the marinade a bit too!

All of the Iron Throne excitement, left the fur babies tuckered out…..

Grandpa had to give Bella some love….

Speaking of Dad, his request for the night was Haemul Sundubu Jigae {Korea Seafood Soft Tofu Stew}. It’s something P first introduced Mom and Dad to YEARS ago when they visited her in SF. And when Mom got into her Korean cooking phase, she started making it, too!

I started mine by making a seafood stock with lots of aromatics and shrimp shells.

I then made an intense seafood stock out of dried kelp, dried anchovies, radish and then added the seafood stock to it. Then all of the aromatics were added including LOTS of Korean chili flakes before I threw in the seafood. Nina then helped cut soft tofu into the boiling stew.

We then cracked whole eggs into the boiling pots and topped with scallions.

DEE-LISH!

I also had another request (HEY, BIRTH MONTH PEOPLE!) – Crab Fried Rice!

I asked T to make this dish and asked her to keep it simple. Just rice, eggs, lots of crab, garlic and fish sauce. It was bomb!

Before we knew it, it was dessert time! And you betcha’ N spearheaded THREE desserts!

L had requested Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango.

Dad is a chocoholic so the birthday boy got an Icebox Chocolate Cake.

As for me, I got a Passionfruit-Mango Cake – loved it!

N baked the cake….

Nini decorated it….

and Luna added the extra sparkles!

You can see where we get the whole food photography thing from!

Needless to say, the May Babies were VERY happy with everything!

Do we really have to wait until next year to have our own dinner again????

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This Month’s Family Dinner Menu

Cocktails: Various Wines
Appetizers: Pan-fried Whole Shrimp and Tofu Dumplings
Entree: Crispy Pork Belly, Thai Style Crab Fried Rice, Haemul Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Seafood Soft Tofu Stew)
Dessert: Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango, Chocolate Icebox Cake, Passion fruit-Mango Cake

Sunday Family Dinner

Family Dinner Celebrates Mardi Gras

April 3, 2019April 4, 2019 The Culinary Chronicles2 Comments

March is always a tough month for us to figure out a theme for Family Dinner.

Do we go with the St. Patrick’s Day route like that one year?

Maybe an early Easter theme like last year?

Or that one year where we were so stumped, we just decided to make green food. (Maybe not our most inspired dinner but it was still tasty.)

So when we were kicking ideas around for this March, we were hemming and hawing FOH-EVAH!

And then it hit us…. MARDI GRAS is in March this year!

Sure, we’ve done a crazy N’awlins Seafood Boil and Southern Comfort food but we haven’t tried channeling Fat Tuesday before.

Now it’s said that the first Mardi Gras celebration in the states occurred in Mobile, Alabama – and my ‘Bama coworker won’t let anyone say otherwise (those Roll Tide folks are serious!). But since celebrations can be found all around the old French territories in the Southern Gulf, we decided to take inspiration from Creole, Cajun and Southern cuisine for our menu that night.

Seestrah T was up to bat first.

Shrimp and Grits seemed like a great option but she had already made a knock out version to pair with the brisket V smoked awhile back.

Thankfully by the powers of Google searches, she stumbled upon a recipe for Crab Beignets.

Crabs? YES PLEASE!

Beignets? HECK YES!

Can’t have a nod to this region without including lots of seafood and beginets!

These savory beignets were filled with goodies like LOTS of lump crab meat, onions, peppers, hot sauce, eggs, milk and baking soda for that lift. They were then rolled in cake flour and deep fried until golden brown.

We dunked them in a rémoulade and DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!

Nuggets of joy I tell you.

We all agreed that they were more like fritters than what you initially think of when you say “beignet”.

But none of us cared because we were too busy stuffing them into our mouths.

Since moving back to California, Luna has taken a great interest in helping out in the kitchen – particularly during Fam Din. She’s become more and more comfortable with her knife skills (under supervision of course) and is cooking complete dishes with her folks’ guidance.

All skills that we put to work as she helped her parents prep their dish for that night – Crawfish Étouffée.

Étouffée is French for “smothered or suffocated” and is a thick sauce (practically a stew) made most often with shellfish. It’s traditionally served over rice and it all begins with a “roux“.

A roux is a mixture of a type of fat and flour that has been cooked down to thicken a sauce. I’ve read in a few places that if your roux is made with butter and flour, it’s Creole. If it’s made with oil and flour, it’s Cajun. But please don’t quote me on that– it has the makings of an ongoing debate I sure as heck have no authority to settle.

V and L searched and searched for fresh crawfish to use in their étouffée but were out of luck. Crawfish season (crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs – whatever nomenclature you prefer) in California usually doesn’t start until July but sometimes you can find them in Asian grocery stores a bit earlier.

At the end of the day we opted to use the seawater cousin of crawfish – langostinos. These wild caught langostino tails can be found in 2 pound packs in the freezer section at Costco and they’re an awesome substitute. So yes, technically, we had Langostino Étouffée and not Crawfish Étouffée. The langostinos are quite sweet, tender – and these are SHELLED by hand so you don’t have to do the work!

After they spent some TLC getting a rich and dark roux (for that deep nutty flavor), they added aromatics and A TON OF EXTRA BUTTER! Kerrygold Irish Salted Butter – it’s their fav.

And then all the glorious langostinos joined the party!

Delish right?

They served their étouffée over a big scoop of white rice. Can you guess which kind?

Uncle Ben’s!! SERIOUSLY!

They were told that it’s what’s commonly used – so we did it! To be honest, we weren’t even sure how to cook Uncle Ben’s white rice. But when all was said and done, it was perfect.

In fact, it’s one of those things that tasted even better the next day!

By then the flavors had extra time to meld and party together which made me VERY happy to have leftovers.

V & L were overwhelmed with joy at how well their dish turned out.

And like all of the munchkins at some point have done, Nini is wondering —“Is this my family???”

Seester N directed the last two savory items of the night…with the assistance of the kiddos, of course.

Luna helped her big cousie Nina get the corn meal dredge prepared for the catfish that had been soaked in buttermilk, hot sauce and spices.

After the fillets were coated in the cornmeal, they hung out for a little bit on a rack so that the coating would set.

They were then deep fried for a few minutes until golden brown. Southern Fried Catfish –mmmmm!

(Psssst…..I spy a box of Uncle Ben’s in the corner.)

N also felt that if we were going to be in this region, we should have some okra. Hey- we did need some veggies.

So she dredged them and threw them in the hot oil, too. Because nothing says healthy veggies more than Cornmeal Fried Okra.

Work with us people…..

Doesn’t this plate just look heavenly???

We added generous douses of fresh lemon juice over it all to brighten the flavors and it was scrumptious!

The leftover fried catfish were remade the next day into little sliders on rolls with a schmear of the rémoulade from the Crab Beignets. I’m telling you, leftovers are a clutch component of Fam Din and we are always SUPER bummed during the months when our “doggie bags” are lighter than others.

DROOLS.

Doesn’t this make you want to chug some Hurricanes and run around in elaborate costumes on floats?!?

Side note: I did consider whipping up a batch of Hurricanes for the occasion but really…. Although it would have been on trend for the theme, who in their right minds actually like the tastes of hurricanes?!? Tooth-achingly sweet and so boozy it could combust into flames.

BLEH!

So we stuck to lots of vino instead.

Our Humanlings!

And a few photobombers in the background.

OMIGOSH – how the heck did that Uncle Ben’s box manage to squeeze itself into another picture????

Okay, let’s talk about dessert now, shall we?

I really struggled on this one, peeps. The sweet bite often seen during Mardi Gras is King Cake. In the states, King Cake is a sweet bread dough that is braided and formed into a ring. After it’s baked, it’s drizzled with an icing and decorated in the colors of the celebration – purple, green, yellow. According to an article from Eater,

“King cake is eaten on January 6 in honor of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, which historically marks the arrival of the three wise men/kings in Bethlehem who delivered gifts to the baby Jesus. The plastic baby hidden inside king cakes today is a nod to this story.”

That is all fine and dandy.

But here’s the thing–if I want a dessert, I don’t want to have something that evokes a breakfast pastry. And to me, that’s what King Cake tastes like.

I could’ve tried traditional desserts for the season from outside of the US like galette des rois, gâteau des rois or roscón de reyes. But I just didn’t think that any of them would’ve been a hit with the fam – particularly the kiddos.

Of course, there was the sweet beignet route, too. However Seestrah P has made beignets in the past before and nothing I could’ve made in that thread would’ve topped her Cafe du Monde inspired Beignets with Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream.

So I took some MAJOR liberties and finally settled on a French dessert – Profiteroles!

I figured a French influenced dessert still had a home in a Mardi Gras menu, right? Another stretch? But I went with it and nabbed Maya and Nina to help make the choux pastry.

Bella volunteered to guard them as they puffed and baked in the oven.

The choux pastry came together quick and easy (especially when you finagle 2 nieces to help you) and can be filled with just about anything. Common fillings are whipped cream, pastry cream, custard, fruit but I wanted use ice cream so that we could have a variety to choose from.

PLUS it gave me the perfect segue to bring in the colors of Mardi Gras based on the ice cream flavor:

Purple = Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip (this one was actually a gelato)
Yellow = Vanilla Bean
Green = Mint Chip

Since I didn’t make the ice creams (or gelato) myself, I felt compelled to make a chocolate sauce from Bouchon to drizzle over the tops. This WAS in honor of Fat Tuesday!

We created an assembly line where Nini filled the choux with ice cream, I drizzled the chocolate sauce and Luna topped them with matching sprinkles. Teamwork makes the dream work….especially when it’s this yummy.

And no surprises here but the the King Cake was not missed.

And guess what we did after we ate all of that?

We spent over an hour watching YouTube videos of people traveling all over Asia eating delicious (and sometimes crazy looking) foods. We’ve got some issues, I know.

I’m just going to call it research.

Until next time Friends….Cheers! ❤

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This Month’s Family Dinner Menu

Cocktails: Various Wines
Appetizers: Crab Beignets with Rémoulade
Entree: Crawfish Étouffée, Southern Fried Catfish
Sides: Cornmeal Fried Okra, Rice
Dessert: Profiteroles filled with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

Steamed Crab Dumplings – Happy Lunar New Year!

February 4, 2019 The Culinary Chronicles1 Comment

Hello Peeps!

I’m taking a quick break from the Fam Din recaps (told ya’ I would be making up for lost time!) to say Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!!!

Yes, it’s that time again…. Tết – the Vietnamese Lunar New Year!

All of the my Tết prep has been dutifully followed.

The house is sparkly clean, the altar is up and I popped into the bank to get “new money” to fill the red lì xì envelopes for the munchkins.

And OF COURSE, there has to be lots of “lucky” food!

There will be tons of noodles (longevity), fruit (auspicious) and Bánh Tét – steamed rice cakes (prosperity).

And it wouldn’t be the new year if I wasn’t making lots and lots of dumplings that symbolize wealth. I’m fairly certain that I’ve made a couple hundred dumplings this month alone!

Since the Year of the Pig rings in tomorrow, I thought I would take a moment to share with you these scrumptiously decadent dumplings I made for family dinner the other week.

Seester T had requested some type of crab dumplings for her Fam Din menu (more on that soon) so I got to work creating a filling that was truly indulgent and delish.

Since I wanted the crab to shine, I kept the filling quite simple and only supplemented the shellfish with beech mushrooms and cabbage. I did toy around with the idea of adding water chestnuts because I thought the added texture would be nice. But a quick convo with seestrah N had me doubting it.

Good thing too because I did a quick straw poll at dinner where I found out that most of my fam do not like water chestnuts. Who knew?

I will also say that this is definitely one of the times that I skipped the dirty work and bought pre-shelled lump crab meat. Who the heck wants to be picking through shells to get a pound of pure, luscious crab meat?!?

I definitely didn’t!

But it you’re up for it, more power to ya!

ps. I got mine at Costco. The quality is reliable and the price is reasonable.

Once the filling was made, it was time to assemble. I did a little different fold on these dumplings that made them look like cute little pouches.

I started off with my tried and true pleated method but then coiled the edges around to seal them up.

I was quite happy with how they looked after they steamed up. ❤

I suggest serving them with a generous drizzle of my homemade Sichuan oil but even a quick dunk in my soy-black vinegar sauce was delish too!

I got some solid feedback from the Fam on these so they’ll definitely be making appearances in the future. Added bonus – since the filling is so simple, they were actually quite easy and quick to make.

Though, I’ve got to give Costco some credit there for knocking out a few hours of manual labor. Thanks Costco!

So with that, dear Friends– Here’s to a wonderful New Year! May yours be filled with health, prosperity, joy and endless Foodventures!

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Steamed Crab Dumplings
Makes approximately 45-50 dumplings

Ingredients:

2 cups finely chopped Napa cabbage
kosher salt
16 ounces cooked lump crab meat
4 ounces white beech mushrooms, chopped
½ tablespoon finely minced garlic
½ tablespoon finely minced ginger
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoons fish sauce sauce (more, if needed)
½ teaspoon black pepper
50 thin dumpling wrappers
serve with: chopped scallions, sesame seeds, Sichuan oil

Place the cabbage in a colander; sprinkle it with about ½ teaspoon salt and let sit over a bowl for 20 minutes. Wrap the cabbage in a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel. Squeeze out and discard the excess liquid and place the drained cabbage in a clean bowl.

Add in the crab, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, ½ teaspoon salt, fish sauce and pepper. Taste and add more fish sauce if needed.

Begin assembly of the dumplings. Lay one dumpling wrapper on a flat surface. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edge of the wrapper. Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of the dumpling skin. Pick up the dumpling, fold it in half and pinch the center together. Starting from the center, make about 4-5 pleats on the right side of the dumpling. Repeat with the left side of the dumpling so that all the pleats point towards the center. Wet one corner of the dumpling and wrap/coil the other end together. Pinch and seal so that it creates an enclosed pouch. Place the dumpling on a baking sheet and continue until all the filling/wrappers have been used.*

To cook, arrange the dumplings in a steamer (lined with cabbage leaves or parchment paper) and steam for 7-8 minutes. Transfer the dumplings to a platter and sprinkle the tops with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately with Sichuan oil or your choice of sauce.

*If you would like to freeze the uncooked dumplings, place the baking sheet directly into freezer for 2-3 hours after you have assembled them. Be sure that the dumplings are in a single layer and are not touching each other. Once the dumplings are frozen, you may transfer them to a sealed container. They can be kept in the freezer for a few months and should be cooked frozen. Add 1-2 additional minutes to the cooking time when steaming.

Sunday Family Dinner

These are a few of Leo’s favorite things….

January 16, 2018January 19, 2018 The Culinary ChroniclesLeave a comment

Pepperoni on pizza and cookie dough in ice cream–these are a few of Leo’s favorite things….

So when December’s Fam Din rolled in the day before our family’s big Christmas Party, we knew exactly what we had to make for the the little man’s 6th birthday. He was quite sure of what he wanted— pizzas, fatty steaks and cookie dough ice cream. Everything else, he left up to us.

Dinner also happened to fall on the night of the big game. And as Minnesota Vikings fans (SKOLLLLL!!!), very few other games mean as much as when we meet up with those cheese heads…I mean, those Packers. <barf>

So we had the game streaming in every room.

And apparently we needed more coverage because the boys ran out before dinner started to pick up a new TV. Nothing special…just a ginormous 65inch flatscreen.

I’ve got to admit, it was quite humorous watching all of our men attempt to mount the TV to the family room wall.

But they did it and it worked!

Poor Nina….she wasn’t feeling so hot that day–she had the terrible cooties situation everyone seemed to be getting hit with. And because she’s so caring, she even shared it with me a few days later.

Thanks Nina.

Thanks 😦

Seestrah P and her fam made it down for the holidays this year so it was a full house!

It’s rare that all five siblings can be together in one place these days so we definitely try to make the most out of it when we are.

I don’t think Dad understood the message below when we said “OK, funny shot!”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

While the game was on, the enormous TV was getting set up and the kids were running amok, we assembled a quick Charcuterie Platter…because it’s how we roll.

Truffle Salami from Trader Joe’s, Camembert, Toscano Cheese soaked in Syrah, Heirloom Grape Tomatoes, Olives, Truffle Marcona Almonds, and a few crackers.

In case you’ve ever wondered what down time at Fam Din looks like…..here you go.

Some chatting, some TV, lots of Mind Craft (despite our ban on devices!) and a little bit of dancing hair flips from Kaelani.

Of course, there’s lots of picture taking too.

And if your family is like ours — when we see peeps taking a group pic, we get FOMO and jump in.

Cue in Dad and T.

For the main appetizer (does that sound contradictory?), N made these little Spinach-Artichoke-Crab Puffs. Imagine rich spinach-artichoke dip mixed with lump crab meat—then surround it with flaky puff pastry and top it with more cheese and breadcrumbs.

Decadently delicious!!

LOOK! Nina arose from the dead!!!

It’s because she heard “Spinach-Artichoke-Crab Puffs” and shot right up.

Look at these two adorable munchkins.

And then Leia got Christmas’ed by her dad.

The look on her face is freaking hysterical.

Soon it was time to get the kiddos to prep their mini personalized pizzas.

There were lots of toppings from them to choose from — pepperoni, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, cheese, ‘shrooms and of course, homemade marinara.

It’s never too young to get them started with cooking…..because it means I can retire sooner.

Kaelani was so proud of her little pizza!

After the munchkins prepped, baked and ate their pizzas–we assembled larger ones for the grown folks to split.

Which means, throw EVERYTHING on and bake it up!

Which also included the leftover fillings from the Spinach-Artichoke-Crab Puffs.

Talk about decadent! They were delicious but super rich.

L slicing up pizza with flair!

As you may recall, birthday boy also requested steaks.

FATTY steaks to be exact.

So brother picked up a few prime steaks and dry aged them for a few days. He seared them on cast iron skillets that were screaming hot which gave them a beautiful crust.

And while they rested, he threw a bit of butter on top so that it could slowly melt and seep into all that beefy goodness.

Just a smidge of butter, right?

And I have to tell you guys, those were some of the best steaks I’ve had in a loooong time! The combination of great quality steaks that were dry aged to intensify the flavors were just fantastic!

Nina helped put the finishing touches on my Lentils and Arugula Salad topped with Burrata.

The funny thing that Dad often does when we cook for him is to look at the ingredients we use, ask what the name of it is, how to spell it—and then ends up taking a picture of it. He cracks me up.

See that photobomber in back?

Told ya…. FOMO.

If you ever have a doubt– throwing burrata on top of ANYTHING will always make it more delicious.

Quick pic of the spread!

So nice, I had to show you twice!

V’s face is hysterical in this pic. Now that’s true appreciation of one’s craft.

Don’t mind me while I stand in the corner taking pics and stealing bites off of people’s plates while drinking my Cosmopolitan (it was that month’s cocktail but of course, I forgot to take pics of them–DOH!).

V and Pops!

And the girls!

Minus Kaelani because at that point she was getting a bath to prep for bed. She was NOT happy about missing out on the rest of Fam Din.

Oh the woes of a 3 year old….

Speaking of missing out…..the fur babies were definitely not wanting to miss out on any of the good eats! Here they are patiently waiting for their grandpa to hook them up.

They didn’t get as much as they wanted (Dad can eat!!) so Nini hooked them up with all kinds of goodness!

Yeah…I realize they eat better than most humans but they are our bebes.

And then it was FINALLY time for dessert!

Leo asked for Cookie Dough Ice Cream for his birthday dessert. But here’s the thing, although P did one heck of a job making it from scratch, it’s not a dessert that those of us 13 and older were excited about. So she did us a solid and made us a second dessert – Alice Medrich’s Warm Mocha Tart.

YUMilicious!!

Um, T–hurry up and finish vacuuming or else Maya and Luna are liable to inhale the tart.

Look at birthday boy’s face!

Candle perched upon a huge scoop of his favorite ice cream –that he, of course, had seconds of.

And with that–another shenanigans filled, delicious Fam Din came to a close.

Happy, Happy Birthday Leonidas!

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This Month’s Family Dinner Menu

Cocktails: Cosmopolitans, Various Wine
Appetizers: Charcuterie Platter, Spinach-Artichoke-Crab Puffs
Entrees: Dry Aged Rib Eye Steaks, DIY Pizzas
Sides: Lentils and Arugula Salad topped with Burrata
Dessert: Homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Warm Mocha Tart

Pastas/Noodles · Seafood

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Dungeness Crab

April 12, 2016April 13, 2016 The Culinary Chronicles3 Comments

More times than not, you’ll find me rummaging around my pantry and fridge without a plan in mind of what to cook.

Odd for a food blogger?

Well friends, if you’ve been with me for awhile—my quirkiness must have seeped through the screen by now. So there’s really no hiding my “offbeat” approach to things.

Flashback to yesterday night when I was on the verge of turning into a gremlin from hunger. A full blown GREMLIN I tell ya! And I knew I only have a few minutes to pull something together before I passed out on the kitchen floor.

I needed a quick pasta — STAT!!!

In dire moments when I’m short on time (or just lazy), pasta aglio e olio is heaven sent! It’s a staple pasta dish from Naples where you infuse good quality olive oil with tons and I mean TONS of garlic and a bit of red pepper flakes. After your pasta is cooked, you toss it in the infused oil and add some herbs and maybe some grated cheese. I do versions of pasta aglio e olio all of the time –sometimes adding a bit of anchovy paste or capers or even a bit of chorizo.

But imagine my utter glee when I remembered that I had some leftover Dungeness crab from the weekend. I seriously squealed “YAYYYYY!” when I saw it in the fridge and did a little dance…… yeah, it doesn’t take much to get a happy dance out of this gal.

I proceeded with my standard steps for pasta aglio e olio and at the end, tossed in some of the sweet crab meat and just a few pinches of grated parm. I piled a huge mound on the plate, sprinkled some more pepper flakes on top, fresh lemon zest, chives and to add that extra level of decadence for a Monday night–a drizzle of white truffle oil.

HUMINAH! HUMINAH! HUMINAH!!!!!!

It was fantastic! The wonderful sweet and sea flavor from the beautiful Dungeness crab mixed with the garlic punch and bright freshness from the lemon zest—along with the earthy oil. It was all somehow hearty and light at the same time.

Considering I was on the verge of turning into a ravenous monster before/during the cooking process, I hadn’t bothered to take step by step photos to blog about it. But once done, it looked, well–damn sexy! So I took about 37 seconds to snap a couple of pics before inhaling it.

Not only did I manage to suppress the gremlin from emerging but I rocked out a pretty awesome dish in about 15 minutes. That’s a rather successful Monday in this gal’s book.

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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Dungeness Crab
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

kosher salt, divided
5 ounces dried spaghetti noodles, or other long strand pasta
3 tablespoons quality extra virgin olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more to garnish
½ tablespoon grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
4-5 ounces cooked Dungeness crab meat
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh chopped chives
white truffle oil to finish*

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the spaghetti noodles and boil for 8-9 minutes or until al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve ¼ cup of the starchy water that the pasta was cooked in.

While the pasta boils, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes to infuse the oil. Swirl the skillet often to ensure that the garlic does not burn. Add the red pepper flakes and infuse for another minute. Carefully pour in the reserved starchy pasta water, turn the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Whisk the items together and then toss in the pasta. Stir and toss for about a minute and sprinkle in the cheese and 2-3 generous pinches of salt.

Remove the skillet from the heat and gently fold in the crab. Plate the pasta between two dishes. Sprinkle the tops of each serving with lemon zest, chives and drizzle with white truffle oil. If you do not have truffle oil, drizzle with some additional quality extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!

Sunday Family Dinner

Sunday Family Dinner: Duck, duck, …huh?

April 15, 2015November 19, 2015 The Culinary Chronicles4 Comments

One of the questions I’ve been receiving a lot over the past few months is….“Are you all still doing your Sunday Family Dinners?”

And the answer is—absolutely YES!

But the truth of the matter is……

Well, you see…..

So, the reason is………..

I’m a terrible Procrastinator.

GAH! The cat is out of the bag!

It’s terrible, I know. Particularly because I spend hours a day ~~scolding~~ coaching college students on how to avoid procrastination.

Trust me, the ~~hypocrisy~~ irony is not lost on me.

Ugh.

So yes…since my last Sunday Family Dinner post in July (insert puppy eyes, shamed face here), mi familia still converge at one of the seesters‘ home and get together to get our cookin’ and eatin’ on.

And it’s been darn delicious too.

I definitely don’t want to miss the opportunity to share the past dinners (for my own personal food diary motives and also to share some tasty eats) so I’m committed to posting one recap a week until I catch up.

So hold me to it!

Our March fam-din theme was born the way most of ours come to fruition……..while we’re currently eating/feasting on that particular month’s dinner. Does any one else sit around the table with their family enjoying a meal while talking about what their next meal will be?

Just us? Figures…

Well, the theme for March started off with a single ingredient – DUCK. All the dishes were supposed to contain duck in some sort or fashion.

With the exception of dessert….because we may be adventurous but duck flavored dessert did not excite any of us.

Since foie gras is now legal again in California, we were planning on having a variation for appetizers. But at the last minute, foie was no where to be found and we didn’t have the time to get it shipped to us. No biggie…we just had to make a few alterations.

After doing a little research, I opted to pick up whole ducks from a local Asian grocery store as it was the most affordable route for us. Just a little FYI–most ducks sold at Asian grocers are Long Island (Pekin). So I swung on by our nearby 99 Ranch Market and picked up two duckies. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that they still had their heads and feet intact until I got home.

<Gulp>

I admit, I got a little nervous as I stared into their little eyes. But after a pep talk from big seester (more like a “c’mon, just do it!”), I put on my big girl pants and butchered/broke them down. After a quick thank you to the duckies for feeding us and the initial eebie-jeebies, I got over it. Hey, if I’m going to be a responsible carnivore, I’ve got to do the dirty work sometimes.

The main dish was to be a slow cooked sugo of duck with fresh hand cut pappardelle pasta. But since we had so much leftover duck “parts”, I decided to make a rich stock that would be used in the sugo.

We even used the duck skin and fat to make crispy, salty duck cracklings–which were surprisingly easy and a darn delicious way to celebrate every part of the duck.

We opted to use Mario Batali’s technique for the cracklings which was kind of a confit-render-fry method. I highly recommend it.

As always, we kicked off dinner with a cocktail. True, it wasn’t a duck themed cocktail but more of a nod to spring. I blended fresh mangoes, passion fruit, strawberries and fresh mint together to create a lovely tropical puree. I combined two parts of the fruit puree, 1 part vodka, 1/2 part coconut rum, 1/4 part fresh lemon juice and topped it all off with lemon sparkling water.

Bright, fresh, and packed a punch.

A duck punch.

To keep from getting h’angry, we noshed on baked artichoke-lump crab dib with toasted flat bread.

Didn’t you know that crabs were the ducks of the sea?

Just kidding… wait–am I?

And we also thought it may be a good idea to have some greens along with our meal. But our greens came in the form of —-

Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach….

Topped with Fresh Mozzarella….

With a shower of crispy Pancetta…

Studded with the freshly made Duck cracklings.

I mean C’MON guys…this salad was practically Vegan.

As I mentioned before, there was fresh hand cut pappardelle pasta. Sure, Trader Joe’s sells a perfectly good, packaged dry pappardelle. But why do that when you can guilt your seester into making the pasta from scratch?

She actually used two recipes for the two batches. The first one from Food and Wine had a better flavor from the extra egg yolks. But we liked the texture better from the one we found here. It’s still a work in progress to find the best pappardelle recipe. Any suggestions?

We used the pappardelle noodles to soak up all the goodness from the rich duck sugo that was topped with a bright herb gremolata. I’ll be sharing the recipe for the sugo this Friday.

And finally, DESSERT!

We had a lemon-herb pound cake that was soaked in Grand Marnier. The cake was smothered with a whipped cream that had freshly made lemon curd folded into it. It was all then topped with a mound of sweet macerated strawberries.

Did you know the nickname for strawberries is duck-berries?

Is that too far of a stretch? 🙂

And that, dear Friends, is a wrap on our “beak to tail”, ~~all things~~ most things Duck themed Family Dinner. I do promise to catch up on previous dinners as there is a lot of goodness to share!

And how adorable are our munchkins?

This Month’s Family Dinner Menu

Cocktails: Tropical Rum Punch
Appetizers: Baked Artichoke-Lump Crab Dib
Entrees: Caprese Salad with Crispy Pancetta and Duck Cracklings, Duck Sugo over Fresh Papparedelle
Dessert: Lemon-Herb Pound Cake with Macerated Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Sunday Family Dinner

December Sunday Family Dinner – Party of 16

January 14, 2014August 29, 2015 The Culinary Chronicles3 Comments

Have I ever mentioned that I’m the youngest of five kids? Four girls and one boy smack dab in the middle—wasn’t our brother so lucky?

Needless to say, it made quite the childhood experience with all of us growing up in one house with our parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles.

And it got even more crowded when 8-9 of us would cram into our Oldsmobile station wagon for our annual summer road trips from Minnesota to Texas to visit mom’s brother and his family. I don’t know how we all survived jammed into one car for so many miles (nearly 1200 each way!) but I guess anyone from a big family knows there’s no such thing as personal space. It may also have helped that it was the 80s and seat belt laws were non-existent!

I kind of wished we would have taped some of those road trips as I’m sure they would have been hysterical to look back at. We were kind of the Vietnamese version of the Griswolds.

Nowadays the five of us are a bit scattered around with my brother and his family in New York, one seester in San Francisco, two other seesters & their fams in Orange County and me in San Diego. And although we may never be able to recreate those old summer road trips to Texas, our Sunday Family Dinners have been one of our ways to start new traditions for our kids to look back at.

We’ve been going at this for about a year and half now, rotating the monthly dinners between the homes of my two seesters who live in Orange County. It’s been awesome that our sis from SF has flown down every few months to make our dinners but it’s a little difficult for our brother and his fam to make it from NY. But when we are lucky to have all of us for Sunday Family Dinner, it is quite the celebration–like the N’awlins Seafood Boil we did the first Fam Din we were all together. 50+ pounds of seafood…it was epic. Totally Gluttonous, but epic.

The whole gang was back together this past December to celebrate the holidays and spend some QT with each other. It’s probably the most time that the five of us have spent together in years!

We all attended our cousin’s baby’s first month celebration (Đầy Tháng), Mom’s death anniversary (ngày giỗ), a snow day in the mountains, Leonidas‘ (our brother’s son) 2nd birthday party, Christmas Eve festivities with the entire clan, the New Year’s Eve bash, endless meals in Little Saigon at our old favorite haunts, and of course– December’s Sunday Family Dinner.

8 siblings (including the sibs-in-law), 6 kids and 2 canine kids– a packed house again!

With all of the craziness that was going on, we tried to create a menu that had the least bit of stress and prep time. As for the theme, we did a slight homage to our N’awlins Feast and kept it open to EVERYTHING SEAFOOD! Well, except dessert….that would be a little too hardcore- even for us!

Dinner consisted of:

Grilled Octopus and Prawns
Ahi Poke on Noriten Chips
Fresh Manila Clam Pizza with Arugula
Grilled Cod Tacos with Pico de Gallo & Avocado Cabbage Slaw
Fisherman’s Stew with Saffron
Cream of Asparagus Soup with Crab
Queen of Sheba Torte with Grand Marnier Whipped Cream
Moscow Mules

We kind of pulled everything together at the last minute but I think it was a definite Nguyen-er!

Now if we could just convince my brother and his fam to move back to Cali, we could have dinners like this all of the time!

Snapshot of the fam a few months after yours truly was born. I may have been the originator of the faux-hawk.

**And a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to our seester, TUONG!**

Oh those Capricorns…..

Appetizers/Small Plates · Salads · Seafood

Spicy Crab & Avocado Salad

March 12, 2013March 30, 2015 The Culinary Chronicles16 Comments

More times than not, I’ve got a lot to say about everything. And when it comes to food– fuggedaboutit!

But then there are times when I take a bite of something and there are really just no words needed. Like with this Spicy Crab and Avocado Salad. MMMMMMM!!!!!!

TONS of sweet lump crab meat, paired with the creaminess of avocado, a slight crunch from the serranos and a kick of spice. Perfection!

Okay, okay. Maybe I do have a few words but trust me, one bite and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

By the way, in case you’re wondering–Why do I call this a “crab salad”? Well…the same reason why they call chicken salad, “chicken salad”. And yes, I may be trying to avert the question. 🙂

Laters!

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Spicy Crab and Avocado Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

5 ounces cooked lump crab meat
1 scallion, diced
1 teaspoon finely minced serrano pepper
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ tablespoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon Old Bay Seasonings
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 large avocado, halved and seeded
garnish with chives and additional Old Bay Seasonings

In a bowl, gently combine the crab, scallion, serrano pepper, mayonnaise, hot sauce, lime juice and Old Bay Seasonings. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper. Refrigerate the crab mixture for 30 minutes.

Spoon half of the crab mixture into each of the avocado halves. Sprinkle with a dash of Old Bay Seasonings and top with chives. Enjoy!

Seafood

Sriracha Crab Cakes–Bringing the heat to Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2013 The Culinary Chronicles9 Comments

Oh l’amour…..

However, if you’re like the gazillion of other folks out there, you may be still scrambling to solidify your plans to woo your loved one.

So let a sistah help you out……..skip the overpriced restaurants with the “meh” prix fixed menus and jump in the kitchen to cook a delish meal for your sweetie.

But that doesn’t mean you need to slave away in the kitchen all day to impress your Boo. In fact, not only are these Sriracha Crab Cakes super easy to make but they are sure to BRING THE HEAT to your Valentine’s Day!

The crab cakes are jammed pack with lump crab and have a wonderful kick of heat from the Sriracha and jalapenos. Oh yea…..

Pair them with a bright bottle of bubbly and chocolate covered strawberries and BOOM! Instant recipe for love.

You’re welcome 🙂

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Sriracha Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade
Serves 2 entrees or 4 appetizers

Ingredients:

Crab Cakes:
1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 garlic clove, finely minced
12 ounces cooked lump crab
1 red jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
¾ cup panko breadcrumbs, divided
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Sauce:
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
½ tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Begin preparing the crab cakes by whisking together the Sriracha, egg white, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, paprika, and garlic. Once combined, gently fold in the crab meat, jalapeno, scallions, parsley and ¼ cup of the bread crumbs. You may add additional breadcrumbs if the mixture is too wet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the mixture into fourths and form each portion into equal sized patties. Dredge the crab cakes with the remaining breadcrumbs. Cover the crab cakes and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the sauce by whisking together the sour cream, mayonnaise, Sriracha, cayenne and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet or cast iron on medium heat. Melt the 1 tablespoon butter into 2 tablespoons oil, swirling the liquid around the skillet. In batches, fry two of the crab cakes for 3-4 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown and heated through. Remove the crab cakes and wipe the skillet with a paper towel before adding the remaining butter and oil. Fry the remaining two crab cakes.

To plate, drizzle some of the sauce of each over each of the crab cakes and sprinkle additional chives and minced jalapeno over the top. Serve with additional lemon wedges.

Appetizers/Small Plates · Seafood

Ringing in Tết with Crispy Crab & Avocado Wontons

February 10, 2013February 11, 2013 The Culinary Chronicles10 Comments

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!!

That’s right, dear friends! It’s Tết – the Lunar New Year!

I have to admit, I just barely finished scrubbing down my home yesterday. As I’ve shared before, one of the rituals leading up to Tết involves some serious housekeeping. And heck–I do whatever I can to ensure that my loved ones and I will have a lucky and prosperous new year. No bad ju-ju here!

My clan won’t be gathering until next week but my mouth is already watering just thinking about all of the delicious traditional eats that are in my near future. Rice cakes, roasted pig, sticky rice…..yummers.

Since I’ll be getting my fill of all of the traditional Tết fixins’ next week, I thought I would whip up some quick, yet satisfying bites to pay homage to the Lunar New Year. These Crispy Crab & Avocado Wontons fit that bill! I figure that since dumplings are traditionally served during Chinese New Year to symbolize money, the same may go for these lovely wontons. After all, they are gold and look like little purses 🙂

The fried wontons are filled with lump crab and pairs beautifully with the creaminess from the avocados. The sriracha adds a slight kick and when dipped into the tamarind chili sauce–perfection!

And with that dear friends, please allow me to wish you a very Happy, Healthy, Meaningful, Joyful, and Adventurous Year of the Snake!

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Crispy Crab & Avocado Wontons
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Wontons:
6 ounces cooked lump crab meat
½ tablespoon sriracha hot sauce
½ cup diced avocados
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
kosher salt and pepper to taste
12 wonton skins
vegetable oil for frying

Tamarind Chili Sauce:

3 tablespoons tamarind juice concentrate
1½ tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon warm water
½ tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 red chili, minced finely

In a bowl, gently combine the crab, sriracha, avocados, chives and limejuice. Season with salt and pepper.

Take one wonton skin and brush the edge of each side with water. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture in the center of the skin. Fold the ends of the wrapper together, pinching to seal. Fold the other ends together to make a little parcel. Use your fingers and pinch together all the seams to thoroughly seal. Repeat with the remaining wonton skins.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pot to 375 degrees F.

While the oil comes to temperature, prepare the Tamarind Chili Sauce. In a bowl, whisk together all the items and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Once the oil is ready, fry the wontons in batches for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat until all wontons have been fried and serve with immediately with the Tamarind Chili Sauce.