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Articles from May 2002:

Pho Bac - Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Soup ››:

If you've never had, or even heard of Pho before, my guess is that you will soon. Pho is the accepted shorthand for pho bo, a Vietnamese beef and noodle soup, whose popularity seems to have been growing dramatically over the past few years. Around Boston the number of Vietnamese style noodle restaurants has been growing steadily, even in the suburbs. Perhaps the biggest sign of the emergence of Pho on the culinary map here is the replacement of Jae's (a symbol of the ascendency of Asian/fusion cuisine in the '90s) with Pho Pasteur at the Atrium in Chestnut Hill. While I've known about pho for a while, I only tried it for the first time a few months ago, having made it myself after looking for something else to do with the fish sauce I purchased to make Pad Thai a while back. Since then, I haven't been able to get enough of it.

Pho epitomizes what I call honest cuisine. Simple and pure in flavor, it appeals to all the senses. For the eyes pho offers an intriguing composition of carefully arranged layers of noodles, vegetables and meat surrounded by a shimmering broth that was clearly boiling in its stockpot only moments ago. Leaning over the bowl you inhale deeply to capture the heady aroma of the rich broth spiced with anise, cloves and roasted ginger and the delicate fragrance of fresh basil, cilantro (and sometimes even mint). Working nimbly with chopsticks and spoon, you fill your mouth with the rich feel of well prepared stock, the chew of the slippery noodle and textured meat, and the crunch of bean sprouts or other vegetables cooked only by the broth that envelops them. The flavors you smelled evolve in your mouth, the beefy goodness (and sweet heat too if you added a squirt of chili sauce) intensifying and subsiding, delicately coating your tongue and warming the back of your throat. As you eat you are entertained by the alternating sounds of slurping noodles and sipping soup. A bowl of pho is simultaneously a transcendent, humble and happy experience, and clearly plain old good eats.

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Posted in scripts on May 30, 2002 @ 07:08 PM [26 Comments on Pho Bac - Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Soup]

Veal Piccata ››:

Two of the most popular scripts here on Simmer Stock are Spaghetti a la Carbonara, followed closely by Veal Saltimbocca. To follow up on this apparent interest in Italian dishes I offer now one of the simplest, but tastiest of Italian dishes: Veal Piccata.

Veal Piccata is lightly floured and sautéed slices of veal cutlet or scallopini served with a sauce made in the same pan of lemon juice, wine and parsley, thickened with a bit of butter. As with any dish whose ingredients and cooking instructions can be described in one sentence, Veal Piccata makes an excellent quick weeknight meal. Veal Piccata is also a very flexible entrée, well suited to experimentation with little risk of altering the basic nature of the dish. Common additions to the basic recipe include capers, garlic, shallots, sage, chicken broth. I've also seen a few recipes that call for prosciutto and even bacon and pine nuts.

For me, the forceful nature of lemon juice and wine define Veal Piccata, so I prefer to add only ingredients that complement, if not enhance, those flavors. The official Simmer Stock recipe includes minced garlic, shallots, sage and thin slices of lemon in addition to the lemon juice, wine and parsley.

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Posted in scripts on May 19, 2002 @ 08:46 PM [0 Comments on Veal Piccata]

Pan Seared Scallops with Tomatillo sauce and Cumin Salted Tortilla Chips ››:

Many people (myself included until today) incorrectly refer to Cinco de Mayo as Mexico's independence day. It's actually a holiday meant to commemorate the Mexican victory over French forces in Battle of Puebla in 1862 (Mexico's independence day is actually September 16th). Today the holiday seems to be “little more than St. Patrick's Day toasted with a Corona instead of a Guinness.” In the spirit of returning some civility and respect to the holiday, Simmer Stock offers Pan Seared Scallops with Tomatillo sauce and Cumin Salted Tortilla Chips.

The Tasty Tomatillo

Tomatillos resemble small green tomatoes with papery husks. They have a mild bright tart flavor and are used almost exclusively in salsas (fresh or cooked). Tomatillos can be found either fresh or canned at many American markets these days. Fresh are preferable to canned, but only if they are in good condition. The husks should be uniform green in color (broken is OK) and the tomatillo itself should be smooth and medium to dark green. If the husks are blackened and the flesh spotted or pitted in any way, turn to the canned. I've been making tomatillo sauce for years, usually with either chicken enchiladas (cooked chicken meat, onions, cream cheese, jack cheese and diced jalepenos wrapped in corn tortillas, smothered with tomatillo sauce and more cheese, and baked in a casserole) or with fish as in this recipe. The sauce couldn't be easier to prepare, involving little more than boiling whole tomatillos in water or stock with some chopped onion and pepper, pureeing the results and adding some fresh cilantro. With a stove, a saucepan and fifteen minutes to spare, you can make this sauce.

When The Chips Are Down

If you've never made your own tortilla chips, you've been missing out on some great flavor and impress-the-guests opportunities. Bagged chips are fine when watching the game on TV, but seem silly when served as part of a meal. Freshly fried corn chips, however, can be simple to prepare yet add some flavorful pizzazz to an otherwise plain dish. There are two ways to approach do-it-yourself corn chips: as a labor of love or as some quick cooking fun. The labor of love approach calls for rolling your own tortillas from masa harina and water. As with most labor of love approaches, rolling your own can be an enjoyable exercise (with an emphasis on exercise) and will definitely provide the best flavor. But it takes time, perhaps too much time on a sunny spring day for a meal that could otherwise be prepared in under a half hour. The quick and fun fresh corn chip method involves cutting packaged corn tortillas into fun shapes (a great “get the kids involved” task), frying them in oil, and seasoning them with salt and whatever spices and herbs tickle your fancy.

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Posted in scripts on May 05, 2002 @ 08:29 PM [1 Comments on Pan Seared Scallops with Tomatillo sauce and Cumin Salted Tortilla Chips]