Smoked Salt & Pepper

 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. ...

There is a great Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant that is 24-7 called Tan Tan in Houston.  It's wrapped up in so many great childhood memories for me.  They have this one dish that we kids would occasionally order that is a weirdly amazing and umami spin on macaroni.  Ketchup-y stir fry with beef and macaroni.  When I was looking up recipes, I saw that in Vietnam they actually use macaroni made with rice (something Vietnamese people did to mimic the Italian noodles with what they had).  I was unable to get rice noodle macaroni, and made it with HEB Veggie Pasta Ridged Elbow pasta and it turned out pretty good. Nui Xao Bo, Vietnamese Macaroni Recipe adapted from  food52 Ingredients: 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 tbs. low sodium soy sauce 1 tsp. oyster sauce 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. powdered chicken bouillon 1 tsp. sugar 1 bunch green onion, sliced-white and greens separated 1 lb. thin cut ribeye, sliced across the grain into about 1/4" slices 2 garlic cl...

What's better than baguette, shrimp, celery mixtures smothered in mayonnaise and baked until golden and bubbly? I don't know either.  This appetizer was, and occasionally still is, on heavy rotation in my family.  I'm pretty sure mom learned it from a family-friend of ours during one of the epic get-togethers they used to have.  It seems totally disgusting once you know the ingredients, but believe me, this is delicious.  And vaguely '70's-esque.  Much of the cooking I learned before I started asking mom about her cooking and techniques (she is a "just watch and learn" kind of cook/teacher), was from this old Betty Crocker ring binder my mother had in her recipe book collection.  There were some pretty retro dishes in there, but the directions, ingredients, and instructions were all pretty easy and assessable for a young Christine.  You betcha I can make a mean omelette! For some reason, I feel like this shrimp toast would fit right in that Betty Crock...

Xoi Lap Xuong (Vietnamese Sweet Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage) Makes: enough for a party of >20 people Ingredients: 1.25 lb (about 3 cups and 2 tbs) of sweet rice ~ 6 lap xuong (Chinese sausage), thinly sliced on the bias 4 green onions, thinly sliced 1/4 c. vegetable oil salt  1/2 tsp. sugar Maggi seasoning about 1/2 c. thick-sliced Xa xiu (Chinese bbq pork) crispy fried onion for topping Directions: Rinse the rice until water is clear and then soak overnight in cold water. Arrange the rice in a doughnut shape into a large steamer Sprinkle a pinch of salt and steam for about 15-20 minutes, occasionally mixing and ensuring the lid does not accumulate a lot of water Slice the green onions and combine with oil in a small glass bowl.  Add sugar and salt to taste and microwave for 45 seconds.  Fry lap xuong in a large skillet or wok on medium high heat until almost cooked, then add to steaming xoi (rice) Once the xoi (rice) is cooked, add green oni...

So I've been M.I.A. for some time, but here I am again.  My eventual goal is to get back into AFBA.  I totally fell off the wagon when I had John in terms of my blogging.  I have had a few cooking and recipe group chats with friends and family and it re-awoken my passion for sharing my recipes.  Most of these recipes are just from my family and friends, so it's such an easy way for me to keep track and share the foods and recipes and cooking methods that have been shared with me. I hope you readers (mostly my friends and family members) enjoy them!