Smoked Salt & Pepper

  Chả Cá is a fish dish originating from north Vietnam.  Tumeric marinated fish is grilled table-side, which was always fun for me as a kid.  The fish is served with rice noodles, peanuts, and plenty of dill!  All these great flavors combine to make a delicious, yet light, bowl of savory, crunchy, satisfying goodness!  For our last visit to Houston, I had my mom teach me how to make this dish.  Here's her version: Ingredients: 4 monk fish or catfish fillets, cut in 1" pieces 1 tbs. rice flour 2 tbs Greek yogurt 1-2 tsp ground tumeric 1 inch galangal, ground in a mortar and pestel (or mustard powder) 1 tbs vegetable oil 1/2 tsp. shrimp paste (mam tom) 3 green onions, white parts smashed (save greens parts as below) Marinated for at least 4 hrs.  Bake at 400 for 5-8 minutes or until browned.  Fry in oil with  1 cup fresh dill 1 cup green onion, cut in 1" long slices until fish is crisp, about 2-3 minutes.  Serve with: Black sesame chips (b...

I’d gotten some amazing produce and meat from my Farm to Table produce box. Summer squash, purple and yellow small potatoes, ground beef from 44Farms, amongst tons of other things. And farm boxes and Whole30 always turns up my cooking creativity.  There are so many hashes on Whole30 but hashes start to bore me. So I made this Thai style green curry instead.  Ingredients 1 yellow onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 summer squash, any color, thinly sliced 1 lb ground beef 1/2 can coconut milk 3 tbs compliant green curry  Avocado oil Salt and pepper Directions Sauté yellow onions in a large, tall sided pan or wok over medium-high heat in avocado oil for 3-5 minutes or until softened  Add minced garlic and cook for additional 1 minute. Add summer squash and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until softened, stirring every few minutes, for 5-8 minutes.  Add coconut milk and green curry. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.  Serve over cauliflower rice or...

St. Louis style Whole30 spare ribs Dry rubbed a rack of pork ribs with: 1/4 c. Smoked paprika 1 tbs Onion powder 1 tbs Garlic powder 1/2 tsp Cayenne powder 1 tbs Salt 1 tbs Pepper Lemon rind Grilled in aluminum pan covered in foil with 3/4 c water +1/4c ACV for 2 hrs at 300F,  Then removed and grilled on grill with homemade no sugar BBQ sauce.  The literally fell apart on me when I tried to flip. Served with shredded Costco bag mix and Tessamae AvoRanch dressing 🤤😋 Homemade No Sugar BBQ sauce  https://40aprons.com/whole30-bbq-sauce-2/ 1 Tbs Ghee 1 c chopped onion 4 cloves minced garlic 1/2 c. Chopped dates coated in coconut flour ( Bard Valley Natural Delights Premium Chopped Medjool Dates) 4 Oz tomato paste 1 tbs Paprika 1 tsp mustard powder 1/4 c Coconut aminos Water  4 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar *I also had 2 very ripe figs I chopped and added Heat ghee in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes Add rest of ingredi...

Whole 30 quick b-fast:  Hard boiled egg plus Everything but the Bagel seasoning, fresh fig, Applegate bacon, water and/or tea/black coffee

My husband and son picked out pretty flowers for me and I picked out some groceries, then son played in some dirt next to chickens, then we (probably broke a rule 😬) and played pretend on some small Kubota farm equipment. It was a nice morning to visit  https://www.boggycreekfarm.com/  .  I also got 2 beautiful handmade ceramic cups (along with local ground beef, green eggplant, honeycomb, red jalapeño, coffee, pastries and sparkling water)

Shredded cucumbers, carrots, cantaloupe, red onion, cooked shrimp(also did half of the shrimp ceviche-style and marinated in lime and lemon juice) and shredded rotisserie chicken, pistachios with a dressing of nước chấm (fish sauce, minced jalepeños, minced garlic, salt and pepper). Some cilantro for garnish and ate with Trader Joe’s grainless cassava & coconut chia chips which were a pretty good substitute for the more traditional rice crackers  Inspired by frommaggiesfarm   http://frommaggiesfarm.blogspot.com  melon shrimp ceviche IG post and Andrea Nguyen’s VFAD smashed cucumber salad recipe  https://www.amazon.com/Vietnamese-Food-Any-Day-Recipes/dp/0399580352

I learned how to cook by making omelettes for weekend breakfasts with and then later, for my mom. It's a great dish to clean out your fridge with.  Any past-their-prime veggies or deli meats and cheeses can be used once you get the hang of what tastes good together. Ham and Cheese Omelette eggs (I usually number of people +2 eggs for how many I use) chopped ham or other deli meat shredded cheese salt and pepper butter herbs (green onions, parsley, etc.) Directions: In a small bowl, crack and beat the eggs with a fork until combined.  Add salt and pepper. Warm a large pan over medium heat and add a small amount of neutral cooking oil and a small pat of butter. Gently pour the beaten eggs in the pan and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom.  You can shake the pan or use a spatula to gently lift cooked edges and replace with the remaining uncooked eggs. Once most of the eggs are set, put your fillings (chopped ham and shredded cheese, cooked onions, cooked spinach, whatev...

 I have a NYTCooking subscription.  It is one of the many things I have taken pleasure in during the crazy COVID-19 times.  One of the recipes of the week was this Strawberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake and so I made it for my family's reunion a few weeks ago. I love a good icebox cake.  I mean, not baking or turning on our oven when it's 100F outside always is a great thing.  Jellos/jellies, southwestern fruit salads, and slice fruit can only get you so far sometimes.  Sometimes you just want to stick a fork (or spoon) in a dessert and eat something sweet. Strawberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake source: NYT Cooking Ingredients: 14 oz. bag of gingersnap cookies (I used Stauffer's) 1 lb. fresh strawberries 16 oz. mascarpone cheese 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 tsp. zest of lime 1/4 c. powdered sugar 1 tbs. white sugar ~3/4 tsp grated fresh ginger, separated into 1/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp Directions: Wash and sort strawberries, reserving about 5-8 of the prettiest strawberries for decor...

I realized that when my husband of 8 years and partner for 13 years just recently found out that my family owned a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in Houston, that there was a lot of service and food history I haven’t shared here on my blog.  Anyone who’s ever spent more than a day with me knows that I flipping love food and drink. That’s kinda why this blog is here. No one wants to hear me yap on and on about some obscure cooking technique in the real world. I start getting that glazed-over look when I start gushing about food. But the Internet is a wonderful (and sometimes terrible) place to just spit out your passion.  This is why I love food and drink.  Here are some of my (and my family’s) past history and work in the food service industry: My parents, along with a few of my dad’s family members owned a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant called Hong Kong Kitchen in Houston. This was when my mom quit her job in International Business banking after having my older sister. If ...

I’ve had this recipe saved in my Instagram Saved posts for some time and thought this week, in the middle of summer, would be a great time to try it out. It did not disappoint.  The recipe is from CookbyColor and was posted on Whole30Recipes IG Came together in about an hour (because the tostones) I served it with tostones, Siete chips, seaweed sheets, and avocado and topped mine with furikake, toasted sesame seeds, volcanic salt chili flakes (a gift from my acupuncturist from a trip she made to Greenland)  It was a nice weekday dinner.  Chopped sushi grade (fresh, frozen and thawed) ahi tuna, mango, Persian cucumbers and red onion into about 1/4” cubes. Added one deseeded Finely chopped Serrano pepper.  Dressed with: 1/3 c coconut aminos, 2 tsp fish sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1/4” “nub” of chopped ginger, chopped garlic clove, chopped whites of 2 green onions  Combined chopped stuff and dressing and tossed in bowl. Served over some bagged chopped salad/slaw mix. ...