Taking a stab at making... phở ?

Sometimes, L and I will go out to a meal and think to ourselves, "We totally could have made that." And we go home and try. And if we can actually pull it off, it's terrific because we're usually able to do it at 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of a restaurant.

Well, one of our favorite things to eat is phở. But wait. Phở seems like the kind of thing that takes years to perfect. Proof? All of the disappointing phở places that exist. But 1 out of 10 has broth that takes to the next level. Super rich flavor. Velvety, substantial texture full of melted and integrated collagen. The perfect combination of spices to highlight pure beef flavor.

And then there's the cost. When you do find a go-to phở joint, you can get a steaming bowl of your favorite for $7-8. Would it be worth the cost and effort of going through the lengthy process to extract that amazing elixir from a batch of beef bones?

Easy Super Bowl white chili with chicken

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and that means it's time for something hearty and delicious. But with a super busy week and everyone in the household getting over sickness, we knew we'd be keeping things pretty low key. We needed something super easy to make, but where the shortcuts wouldn't sacrifice the most important thing: flavor.

That calls for white chili with chicken.

This is a perfect dish for a cold winter's day--and even better when the game of the year is on. It's a combination of fresh and canned ingredients, with layers of flavor from the different types of peppers. If you've got 20 minutes to work with, you'll be good to go. Another great recipe from the folks at Serious Eats. The only changes I made from their recipe were the addition of the tomatillos for flavor and thickening, cutting the amount of beans in half, scallions, and holding the cilantro for the end.

crispy bass, oxtail "carnitas"

Spent the weekend experimenting with a simple fish soup made from beautiful freshwater bass, ginger, tomatoes, shallot and thai chili--simple, rich and soothing nourishment for a foggy, drizzly weekend. I was simultaneously working on a big batch of pho broth, oxtails and marrow slowly melting into an epic pot of liquid collagen.

sardine

The 2015 edition of the month of frugality is underway, and that means a lot more cooking is happening in our home. Day 1: Dungeness crab risotto, spencer cut rib eye. Day 2: Pizza. Day 3: Hainanese chicken rice. Day 4: Gnocchi with oxtail ragu.

I'm also trying to make at least one new dish each week, every week, this year. We'll see how long this lasts...

For this week, the humble sardine. An appropriate ingredient for the month of frugality, but also one that is packed with flavor. The attempt is to replicate the grilled sardine appetizer from The Walrus and the Carpenter.

tasty bites from 2014

It is a bit of a tradition to put out a top 10 list of dishes from the year, but with a young child, there just isn't as much time to get out and about. I'm not really even blogging anymore. But L made a good point -- if I put up just one post a year, it should be this one. Well, I don't know about a thoughtfully composed "top 10", but there were definitely some memorable bites. Here are some of them, in no particular order:

Squid ink spaghettini. Il Corvo, Seattle, WA. Spicy, briny, savory, and just awesome. This is why Seattle is lucky to have Mike Easton.

Crispy young goat shoulder. Komi, Washington, D.C. One of the most delicious and pure meat preparations ever. Simultaneously crispy, tender, unctuous, substantial, and somehow light. The gem of an otherwise unjustifiably expensive meal.

Strawberry gazpacho with sardine. Aragona, Seattle, WA. The most unexpected dish of the year. Nothing about this should have worked, but the most precarious of balances was achieved, resulting in a stunner. In a way, it was the opposite of Aragona itself, where everything should have worked, but ultimately didn't.

Mushroom and cheese in different forms. WY, Brussels, Belgium. This was just an amuse bouche, but it was exhilarating. The entire spectrum of flavors and textures possible out of a grouping of wild mushrooms and aerated cheese. I can remember a lingering taste of roast duck. Really impressive.

50-day aged beef tartare, olive bread, beef boullion. WY, Brussels, Belgium. Another stunner from this lunch. The most delicious beef tartare preparation I've ever had.

Toast. The London Plane, Seattle, WA. It makes no sense. These toasts are so simple... 2-4 ingredients. Avocado, tuna and olive oil. Hazelnut butter and honey. But they're better than what you'll make with the same ingredients on your own. So weird, but I'm sold.

Pork and clam. A tucked away restaurant whose name I can't remember now, Paris. I can't believe I can't find my reference for the restaurant where I had this meal. It was a whirlwind day trip to Paris from Brussels, and so worth it. Pork and clams is a winning combination, but this dish was bound by a buttery bonito foam--an inspired addition.

Fried oyster. Rose's Luxury, Washington, D.C. I'd been wanting to try Rose's for over a year, and finally had an opportunity to go. It did not disappoint. Any of the dishes we tried could have made a top 10 list, so I'm putting the fired oyster, which ended up being the perfect start to the meal of the year. Two months later, Bon Appetit named Rose's their Restaurant of the Year. Deserved.

Uni pasta with truffle. N/Naka, Los Angeles, CA. An exquisite bite of pure umami. Decadent, luxurious, spectacular.

Matsutake mushroom congee with dungeness crab. La Toque, Napa, CA. A lovely dish prepared with a light hand, accented by the intoxicating wafting aromas of Thai basil.

Wine of the year: 2001 Hundred Acre. Finally opened this bottle with a gathering of good friends. At its peak, but still so fresh and vibrant. Seamlessly integrated, incredible polish. What a treat.

And just like that, 2014 is over. There's going to be a lot of new cooking going on in this household in 2015, and perhaps that will boost the number of posts. We'll see!

La Maison du Luxembourg

The ambiance is too business oriented, the lighting a bit too bright. And the service, while friendly, actually too quick (never thought I'd say that about a European restaurant).

Nothing ground-breaking, but the food is excellent, executed earnestly and with professionalism in the kitchen. At 45 euro for the fixed menu, this is actually a surprisingly solid value for the area near the European Parliament.

This is a roulade of sole and langoustine with charred leek and broccoli puree. The quality of the ingredients throughout the meal was superb.

clementine almond cake

This cake is absurdly easy to make--I kept double checking to make sure I wasn't missing something. Moist, flavorful goodness that gets better the next day... And gluten-free!

Clementine Almond Cake
by Nigella Lawson

375 grams clementines
6 large eggs
225 grams white sugar
250 grams ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder

Put the clementines in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the pips. Dump the clementines - skins, pith, fruit and all - and give a quick blitz in a food processor.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 375ºF. Butter and line an 8 inch Springform tin.

You can then add all the other ingredients to the food processor and mix. Or, you can beat the eggs by hand adding the sugar, almonds and baking powder, mixing well, then finally adding the pulped oranges.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for an hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you'll probably have to cover with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top burning. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, on a rack, but in the tin. When the cake's cold, you can take it out of the tin.

A birthday dinner for Deanne

64-degree egg, crispy prosciutto, lobster, carrot puree, 75-year balsamic

Spaghetti with a sauce of last summer's tomatoes

Crispy-skinned black cod, brussels, potato puree lobster reduction

Brown butter chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream

Kimchi Bokumbap (김치 볶음밥)

Making use of simple ingredients for a tasty meal. I love having leftover rice.

Smelt

Crispy smelt salad. Quinoa, delicata, kale, garbanzo, lime dressing. The surprise roe was a bonus. The bottom of the food chain can be a tasty thing.

Lobster

The price of lobster continues to be quite low, so why not take advantage? Ricotta gnocchi with lobster, potato cream, bacon and caramelized onion. Finished with a lobster sauce made with the shells. Decadent and delicious.

My favorite bites of 2013

With our new baby, work, and life in general, the amount of time I spend on this blog has dwindled dramatically. But the year end "best bites" list is a must do, and LaV has been reminding me of the need to put up a post today, so without further ado...

Fried butter chicken wings at Hue Ky Mi Gia. Wow, how did it take us six years to find this place randomly? A great stop for hot noodle soups on a cold day, but the eye-opener on their menu is their chicken wing "appetizer"--the best rendition of garlic fried wings I can recall. Probably super bad for you, but so worth it.

Soop naw mai at Little Serow. I waited for a year to finally have an opportunity to go to Little Serow in D.C., and this gem of a restaurant beat my taste buds into a pulp--in a good way--with crazy flavor intensity and heat. This was a dish of grilled bamboo and barely cooked shrimp. Smoky char paired with the gentle sweetness of perfectly cooked, nearly raw, pristine shrimp. I want to cook like this.

Banh cuon at Ba Bar. I don't think Ba Bar gets enough credit for their food. I've never had a disappointing meal there, and the prices are fairly reasonable for the quality. On the weekends, our absolute favorite is their banh cuon, made to order by Mr. Chau to give the meltingly fresh rice crepes just the right texture. A real treasure.

Kamut at Sitka and Spruce. Just like the old days, S&S introduced me to an ancient grain I'd never heard of. Whidbey kamut, celeriac, chanterelles, cranberries and tahini... a combination I would never have imagined, but one that worked in perfect balance of savory, nutty, earthy and sweet.

LaV's mom's beef noodle soup. We received so much support by family and friends when N was born, but nothing quite matches mom's cooking. And among the countless dishes made by our mothers over the weeks they stayed with us, I was most astounded by Lily's beef noodle soup. It's a simple dish that is hard to master--getting the right intensity of beef flavor is elusive, and many well-regarded restaurants try to do this dish unsuccessfully. This was a righteous bowl of beef essence, super nutritious and incredibly restorative.

Tomato sauce from the garden. We had an unbelievably long, glorious summer in Seattle this year, and the garden went absolutely nuts. By late August, as I was taking down the summer vines, I was still able to harvest 10.5 lbs of perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes... which I proceeded to make into the sweetest, brightest, concentrated pasta sauce. Wafty undertones of strawberries and tropical fruits, just a little went a long way. We'll repeat this.

Bone marrow fritter at Madison Park Conservatory. This was our first "date night" after N was born, and we spent a couple of hours on a beautiful summer evening on the patio at MPC. These fritters, served with a salad, were simply stunning. A crispy seasoned shell of thin, fried batter encasing a knob of marrow, which turned into molten fatty goodness during the frying process. The gush of richness at the first bite was everything I hoped it would be. Sadly, I tried this dish again on a subsequent visit, and it was not executed successfully at all. But for the magnificence of the well-made version, it makes my list.

Tripe and bone marrow at Spinasse. This one is a sentimental, but totally worthy, pick. We brought baby N to Spinasse with our friends Dawn and Andrew, and N got to meet the crew for the first time. Jason Stratton was the first person to make a version of tripe that I adored, but it is rarely on the menu these days (usually it's served in some form next door at Artusi). But, with the luck of the evening, tripe was one of the specials--over the top with lobes of melting bone marrow to make an intensely rich dish even richer. Nothing like tripe done this way.

Crispy rice noodles at Big Trouble in Little Uncle. Legit pop-up restaurant? Check. Chef formerly of Spinasse? Check. Awesome Hong Kong street food? Check. Crispy fried rice noodle goodness. That's it, but that's all it needs to be.

Córdoba cocktail at Aragona [alas, no photo to share]. Ever since my favorite bartender left Seattle for New Zealand a few years ago, I've been unable to settle on a go-to bar in Seattle for craft cocktails. Until now. After trying the Córdoba, I realized how truly long it had been since I'd had a cocktail crafted with such precision. Everything about this drink works in absolute harmony. This is going to be a great place to spend a lot of time.

Honorable mentions: The entire fantastic tasting menu at Providence, Poutine with pho gravy at Ba Bar, Huitlacoche and squash blossom quesadillas at the Banyan Tree, Sev puri at Vik's, Xuxos at Aragona, 2001 Revana, fresh oysters in Whistler

black cod

Crispy black cod, mussels and chorizo with creamy cauliflower puree and dashi-pernod caramel. Happy birthday to Kelly S.

Poutine, with a little Vietnamese flair

The magic ingredient? Pho gravy. Genius! At Ba Bar, Seattle.

This sandwich is a beast...

Pork belly biscuit sandwich with heirloom tomato. Just brunching at Mistral, an underappreciated oasis of calm on a Sunday afternoon.

chard bouquet

young chard

One of the benefits of having an overproductive set of swiss chard in the garden is perpetual access.to young, tender chard leaves. Dressed with a simple mustard vinaigrette and a healthy showering of parmesan. Add in some foccacia from Columbia City Bakery and a glass of a crisp white wine... Simple, healthy, and satisfying.

salad

Feeling grateful that the warmer-than-usual spring has brought us a bountiful garden already.

copper river salmon

Crisped skin off the grill. Garlic-chili spot prawn oil. This is a great time of year.

Vietnamese pork chop

Sweet, smoky, earthy goodness. A solid recipe from Bon Appetit, and a beautiful cut from Tails & Trotters.