Banh Cuon Tay Ho

Delicious Banh Cuon!

Delicate rice wrap that is not too oily and a good filling.  Served with the pork roll, fried yam+shrimp, pink raw garlic flavored beef.  Topped with fried shallots and of course served with a lot of nuoc Nam fish sauce.

Wifey got the turmeric catfish make your own roll.  Catfish was tasty with turmeric,  and green onions served on a hot plate.

TTT approved

Giant green onions and pork belly

What to do when you have uncured pork belly and giant green onions from the Korean market?

Stir fry that belly!

2 thinly sliced Shallots
Half a stalk of giant green onions or leeks
6 slices uncured pork belly cut into three
2 handfuls Bean sprouts
Garlic and ginger

Most importantly make sure you use high temp oil to get the right sear and wok hay into your food.  Sear aromatics and get bacon seared.  Add in greens and sear to get some light char.  Finish with bean sprouts and soy sauce/oyster sauce.

how did it taste?  The pork was crispy, the leaks were melted into the pork fat, and the bean sprouts were crispy adding a nice textural contrast.

TTT approved

La brasserie bordelaise in bordeaux

La Brasserie Bordelaise

Bordeaux, France

Bordeaux was beautiful.  I had two intentions on this business trip which included a good meal and some wine from Bordeaux. I walked through the streets of wine country and decided on the busiest restaurant.the restaurant had an awesome decor and ambiance with wine bottles everywhere, and smiling people.  The french waitress started off the night with hostility and not wanting to serve me.  By the end of the night I was getting free wine, free delicious frites.  From my understanding this is very French :-) .

I started off with a salmon tartar that was really good just mainly consisting of salmon, olive oil, parsley, coarse sea salt and some lemon.  Great way to start.  I was sitting at the bar and split a bottle of wine with someone that also used to live in U.S.  next I got a pan seared cod which was extremely moist and had good nice and crunchy skin.
the wine came from Saint Emilion and had a very good structure with some tannins and a good floral nose.  The fellow I met at the bar had a seared flank steak which was incredible and was just grilled with no salt or flavoring.  The salt was given for each diner to add on at the end to taste.  The meat had excellent beef flavor with a nice char and was moist due to putting the salt on at the end vs. I'm the beginning.  What a great experience.
TTT approved!

A delicious dinner from the sea ready in 10 minutes

One of the best things to cook when you are in a hurry is seafod!  Went to the fish market and picked up a few large scallops and a pre tenderized calamari steak.

Pan seared scallop over sauteed spinach had a nice sear and tasted sweet like the sea.  We pan fried the scallop without any seasoning by pre heating a pan to high heat using a high temp oil(grapeseed oil).  After searing for a two minutes served with a squeeze of lemon allowing the true flavors of the scallop to come out.

Kale salad with pine nuts

Panko crusted calamari steak - This was easy to cook and was ready in 5 minutes!.  Get a pre tenderized calamari steak, dip into egg wash then panko.  Pan fry for three minutes in a non stick pan for 2.5 minutes on each side and it's ready!  the calamari was soft, sweet, not chewy, and had a nice breading to it.
TTT approved.

AD HOC Fried Chicken at home

AD HOC Fried Chicken 

"World's best fried chicken" cooked at home

Thomas Keller's Ad HOC fried chicken is truly the best chicken you will ever eat.  The crunchiest, juiciest, and most flavorful fried chicken you'll ever consume.  Now the cook at home can make this recipe at home!  Enjoy the step by step pictures! 

• 
  
• 
  

Chicken Brine Recipe(Above)

• 
  
• For Coating and Frying
• Peanut oil for deep-frying (Don't change any other oil)
• 1 quart buttermilk
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Coating:
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• 1/4 cup onion powder
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Ground fleur de sel or fine sea salt
• Rosemary and thyme sprigs for garnish
• 5 lemons, halved
• 12 bay leaves
• 1 bunch (4 ounces) flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch (1 ounce) thyme
• 1/2 cup clover honey
• 1 head garlic, halved through the equator
• 1/4 cup black peppercorns
• 2 cups (10 ounces) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 2 gallons water

Artichoke bread in Pescadero, CA

Arcangeli Grocery Co. - Norm's Market

Sensational artichoke garlic herb bread.  Piping hot from the backcounters of Arcangeli grocery, this might just be the most memorable bread I've had. Yeasty and chewy on the inside with a slight crunch on the outside.  Perfect amount of salt, and most importantly sweet hot artichoke hearts on the inside compliment the bread perfectly.  Truly memorable and definitely TTT approved.  Buy multiple loafs is my recommendation.

Gas Station or Delicious Mexican Restaurant?

Mercado & Taqueria De Amigos

So is this a gas station or a Mexican restaurant?  It's both.  You can kill two birds with one stone by getting your Mexican fix at Mercado Taqueria in Pescadero, Ca while or buying some batteries all from the same counter!  The food here was delicious.  The major difference was the tomato sauce which tasted similar to a san marzano tomato sauce.  It was light, sweet, slightly acidic, had some hints of mexican oregano and a bit of heat.  This was the foundation of the delicious mexican food we sample hered.

We ate

Trio of Tacos -  All Tacos had a bit of the spicy tomato sauce which made them awesome.

Fish - tasted like Cod.  It was fresh, seared perfetly, slightly sweet, and really delicious

Carnitas - Crunchy, flavorful, however nothing too different than other Carnitas

Lengua - AKA beef tongue wasAwesome.  Stewed to perfection.  Tasted like a cross between really delicious beef tendon and stewed short ribs.

Tamales - Pork tamales had a nice and light masa, pork was soft and succulent and taste true, but most imoportantly the delicate tomato sauce really completed this dish.

Definitely TTT approved.  If you don't want to wait at Duartes for an expensive overpriced meal, come spend $10 bucks here and you will not regret it i promise.  Remember to get some gas too for the ride home!

Spicy Sausage Orecchiette Pasta with Baby Kale

This pasta recipe is easy and amazing.  Orecchiette is in the shape of a ear, and the pasta shape cups little bites of sausage perfectly. The baby kale provide a nice refreshing bitterness to balance the heat and fat from the sausage.

Thank you Duy for this delicious recipe you got from the del.

4 large handfuls of Baby kale (from Costco)
2 hot Italian sausages (T.J.)
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 large three finger pinches of shaved parm (T.J)
1/2 bag orecchiette pasta (T.J.)
1/2 tablespoon red chili flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pair with Italian primitivo zinfandel from paso.

Instructions

Slice 4 cloves of garlic razor thin and saute in olive oil and along with the red pepper to infuse the oil.  Boil  the orchetta pasta 9 minutes of 75% of the recommended time to allow it to finish cooking in the pan. Add sausage crumbled into the pan and brown.  Take a paper towel and wipe up half of the oil.  Add kale into pan along with 1/2 cup chicken stock to cook down all flavors and until kale is slightly wilted.  Add orchetta pasta to pan.  Cook all together for 2 minutes.  Add 3 three finger pinches of shaved parmesan and toss.

 
Serve with an extra drizzle of EVOO, a slice of lemon, and top with some shaved parm.  Pair with a robust zinfandel to counteract the spicy sausage and you in for a treat!  TTT approved!

Vongole Pasta

Well TTT Food Fans, I am sorry to say but this Vongole looks better than it tasted. I've been watching some Italian cooking shows and I really want to master the art of simple spaghetti pasta with clams. Unfortunately it's not as simple as it looks. First, I overcooked the clams (note to self: stop cooking after they open else you'll bastardize them). Second, I used to much red pepper flakes (it burned in a few ways). Then noodles were too hard (should've used more white wine and pasta water) and lastly, there's wasn't enough clam flavor (either I was too cheap to buy more clams or the clams were sub-par... I blame it on the clams).

Recipe
1/3 lb of  spaghetti
10 manila clams
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes (don't do this, use just a pinch)
1/3 cup white wine
Handful of chopped Italian parsley
2 cloves of razor thin garlic
4 drizzles of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Not TTT approved.  Stay tuned for the next battle.....