Vietnamese Noodle Salad (or Bun with Nuoc Cham)

My first introduction to Vietnamese noodle salad (or bun as my roommate who lived in South East Asia calls it) was by way of the sandwich shop in my office food court, which is run by a Vietnamese family. Mo, Tu, Th, Fr they serve hearty soup/sandwich combos and specials like Mac & Cheese and Beef Dip, but Wednesday we all look forward to noodle salad day. However when I switched to a pescetarian diet I was disappointed to discover the spring rolls on the salad were made with pork (and no veggie alternative) , so I finally broke down and made my own bun from scratch.

Apart from this dish being DELICIOUS, there are 3 other reasons why you will enjoy it:
1. You can vary the ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your fridge
2. The presentation is beautiful, so you will impress any one you make this for
3. It's shockingly easy! Can you chop vegetables? Can you mix a salad dressing? Can you cook meat (or even reheat spring rolls)? Then you can make this, and under 30 minutes!

Basic ingredients to make this are:
- vermicelli (rice noodles)
- some combination of spring rolls, meat, and/or tofu, preferably spiced with lemongrass
- fresh vegetables (I used cucumber, carrots, green onions, tomatos and lettuce)
- garnish/toppings (I suggest cilantro, crushed peanuts, and a lime wedge)

Making the Nuoc Cham dressing:
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbspn chili paste (more or less depending on your taste, and I like the Sambal Oelek brand)
- 1 tbspn sugar (to sweeten)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce (I'm told you can find a vegetarian knock off at Asian stores, but failing that you could dilute soy sauce with water and achieve a similar result, or use sesame oil)
- 2 tbspn lime juice

1. Dissolve sugar into 1/4 cup hot water. Add other ingredients and stir until combined. Adjust sugar and chili paste for desired sweet/spiciness. Add more water to dilute (should have the consistency of a vinaigrette dressing). Set aside.

2. Chop/shred your vegetables. I like to shred the carrots, lettuce and cucumber mostly for appearance but also because it's easier to eat with chopsticks.

3. Cook the vermicelli like you would spaghetti (in boiling water). It will have a very short cooking time (around 2 minutes). Drain when done and set aside to cool.

4. Cook your meat/tofu/spring rolls. I made this with shrimp (because they were on sale) but pork, chicken, beef, or even a meaty white fish would also be good. Tofu will also pick up a nice flavour from whatever you cook it in. I quickly marinated my shrimp in a mix of shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and sesame oil and then fried them until browned (had it not been -20 outside I would have barbecued them so they pick up that nice smokey flavour). If you are concerned with aesthetics, I strongly recommend barbecuing on skewers and serving the meat still on the skewer, lying crossed over each bowl.

5. Fill the bottom of each bowl with the noodles. Add vegetables on top. Then add spring rolls / meat / tofu. Finish by sprinkling cilantro and peanuts on top. Pour Nuoc Cham dressing on top (or serve at the table if you're entertaining guests) and garnish each dish with a slice of lime.

I enjoyed this dinner with a Riesling (2007 Dienhard Piesporter Riesling, from the Mosel region of Germany). A sweeter wine should help balance the spice in Asian foods. This particular wine was a little drier than I expected for a German Riesling, and slightly effervescent. The citrus and peach aroma follows through on the palate with a medium body and crisp finish that will compliment the strong flavours in this dish.

On another note, some one in my wine class brought an Indian Syrah in today (2008 Reveilo, if you're looking for it). A quick Google search reveals that it is one of the more revered Indian wines, but my tasting notes have the oddest comments. "Bouquet of old leather, campfire, and smoked paprika" and "a palate of roasted red pepper, spices, and smoked meat with a creamy finish." Huh.

Bon appetit every one, or in Vietnamese: Ăn ngon nhé!

Robbie Burns Day

I struggled with what to write in my blog today, mostly because the Scottish are not particularly renowned for gourmet cuisine. I remember for a school project we all had to bring in food from our heritage, and I was so jealous of my Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, and French classmates. While they prepared curries, noodles soups, sushi, latkes and crepes, I went to my grandmother's house and agonized over what recipe from a Scottish cookbook would be most appealing to my 12 year old classmates. And I remember every recipe started with melting a pound of butter, and ended with a garnish of pickles. I made Scotch eggs, which in retrospect would probably be more popular since the advent of thisiswhyyourefat.com.

Despite their failure to impress gourmets, the Scottish mastered the art and science of whiskey. Since it's winter, I am sharing a hot toddy recipe to keep you warm!

Ingredients:
- scotch (or another type of whiskey)
- hot water
- lemon juice
- honey
- gingerale (optional)

1. Pour desired amount of scotch into a glass.
2. Add hot water and gingerale (if desired) to 3/4 fill the glass.
3. Squeeze in about a tablespoon of lemon juice.
4. Stir in a spoonful of honey.

Enjoy! And if you are bold enough to enjoy a haggis today (and hopefully give it a proper address, as Robbie Burns would have intended), Beppi Crosarial (the Globe and Mail's wine writer) wrote an interesting article on suggested wine and haggis pairings:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/wine-with-haggis-its-far-better-than-offal/article1436901/

Caprese poached eggs on homemade sourdough

The long awaited project for my first recipe was homemade sourdough bread! We've lived all week with a new addition to the house, ominously growing in the corner of the kitchen under the shelter of a teacloth. But what started as a curious science experiment soon caused fear and panic. The dough was growing larger and larger every day (is Calgary a particularly yeasty climate?) and I was fighting nightmares that I might come home from work one day and find the blob had taken over, ransacked my condo, even perhaps eaten my dog. Last night I finally broke down and turned Franken-dough into sourdough.

Franken-dough, 48 hours in

Sourdough recipe:
- combine 1.5 cups flour and 1 cup water until it makes a paste
- cover loosely and leave out somewhere cool, stirring every 8-12 hours (it should grow and bubble) - this is your sourdough starter
- starter should develop a sour smell after several days (I waited 3 days, but my pastry chef friend suggests I should have waited up to a week)
- combine another cup of water and cup of flour with the starter and leave covered overnight
- divide in half - save half in a sealed container in your fridge and you can use as started next time you want to make dough
- with the remaining half, add about 3 cups more flour and water to match and combine until you get a dough-like consistency
- preheat oven to 400 degrees Celsius and shape dough (rolls, baguette etc)
- bake until outside is golden brown, dough should be about 210 degrees inside

Overall I was satisfied with how the bread turned out for it's inaugural use, however I think I should let the starter get more sour next time for more taste. I also used about a cup whole wheat flour to add extra depth to the bread.

Just after I removed it from the oven

For those of you not ambitious enough to make your own bread, you can use any store bough baguette or English muffins or biscuits in lieu for this recipe. I hope you find this recipe surprisingly easy - the secret is to be very gentle when handling the eggs.

Ingredients for Caprese poached eggs:
- bread for base
- greens (I used spinach, but basil would be delicious)
- tomatoes
- eggs
- balsamic vinegar
- butter (if you choose to pre-butter the bread)


1. Make a balsamic reduction - add approx. 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar to a saucepan and heat to high. Once the liquid is reduced by about half this should be good (it will be much sweeter and thicker). Remove from heat immediately once desired thickness is achieved.
2. You may wish to toast (or if you're me, butter and then pan-fry) the bread base so it holds the eggs better. Up to you.
3. Slice tomatoes to desired thickness - about 1/3 inch is ideal - and prepare greens so they are ready to assemble on bread.
4. To poach the eggs, bring about an inch of water to boil in a saucepan, then add a teaspoon of vinegar and salt. Keep water at a gentle boil (you should have to reduce heat).
5. Crack each egg (you should do this into a separate bowl one by one in case you break a yolk) and slide into saucepan. Note - do not overcrowd the pan. I do max 2 eggs at a time.
6. The eggs should be soft-poached in 3 minutes. For hard-poached eggs, leave them in for up to 5 minutes. Arrange tomatoes and greens on bread while eggs poach.
7. With a slotted spoon, remove each egg individually and slide on top of vegetables.
8. Drizzle the reduced balsamic on top of each stack. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy while still warm!

One of my coworkers joked recently that she knew her cooking had become routine when her husband remarked "I don't really feel like toast, and we just had eggs yesterday" when she asked what they should have for dinner. For any one in that midweek meal slump, I hope the fresh vegetables and balsamic reduction provide and unexpected flavour for an otherwise traditional fallback dinner choice.

Suggested wine pairing: mimosa would seem appropriate since this is essentially breakfast. I think you could even get away with a fruitier red, like Merlot, because of the strong, sweet flavour in the balsamic reduction. I enjoyed this with a glass of water (although am currently treating myself to a liquid dessert of Taylor-Fladgate).

Company ski trip to Banff this weekend - an education in beer and nacho pairings. I won't have a new recipe until later next week but I will make a Robbie Burns post Monday. Have a great weekend!

Year in review

I intend to publish a recipe and small accompanying story and photo once a week. However since I'm working on my first recipe post (and without giving away what it is, it requires multiple days of preparation) I will take this opportunity to provide my gastronomic year in review, and add a photo or two.

Best vacation -
There's been so rewarding culinary adventures outside Calgary this year, but nothing beats visiting both Paris and Morocco in the same trip. You'll learn quickly how much I LOVE butter, so French cooking definitely agrees with me. It's true that French food is simple, but far from boring. Photo above is the result of my stroll through the famed Rue Mouffetard, and the resulting ingredients for mushroom loaf (including morelles!). Lauren and I were also pleasantly surprised to find the French imperial footprint was left on Morocco's cuisine, providing a best of both worlds option for dining in the spice capital of the world (coffee and Parisian-style pastries for breakfast every day, and vegetarian tagine, couscous, hummus, and fresh vegetable salads for dinner, all heavily flavoured with cumin).




Best homecooked meal -
For my birthday I made my family (big fans of the summer dining al fresco) a veggie BBQ feast: stuffed red peppers, served with breaded tomatoes with sour cream and chives and BBQed asparagus. Complimented by red wine.



Most memorable meal -
Dec 31, 2009 I welcomed the start of my New Years celebration at Pok Pok, a renowned Thai-inspired restaurant in Portland, OR. The restaurant is in an older house in the Hawthorne-Division district of Portland, and is committed to serving really good food made fresh with local ingredients. I had their version of Som Tam (spicy papaya salad) to start, and the green curried half-crab as a main. Liquid dessert off the excellent cocktail menu is highly recommended.

Best new wine discovery -
I'm generally more a red wine person than white wine, and at that I usually prefer a heartier white like a Viogner over Chardonnay. However my wine instructor brought the most delicious Chardonnay to class recently from Mount Eden vineyards (California). This bold wine can stand it's own against a roast chicken or heavily seasoned fish, and has the most buttery finish I've ever tasted. Highly recommended.

Or how I learned to love cooking

For a lot of you (and I'm assuming my readers are a few friends and family here) I am a resource for your gourmet problems. "What wine should I bring to a Thai potluck tonight?", "What restaurant should we go to for our anniversary that won't break the bank?", and even "How late is Safeway open on Sundays" are frequent text messages I receive. However I wasn't always the die hard do-it-yourself gourmet health food enthusiast you know me as today. In university, my idea of cooking was scrambled eggs, or possibly an omelette if I was feeling brave. For the summer I lived alone in Kingston I used the oven to store my excess shoes. I even received a book called "Everything You Need to Know About Cooking but Are Too Afraid To Ask" for my birthday one year. This shouldn't be misinterpreted as me having no appreciation for fine food - quite the opposite actually (I still throw a great wine and cheese soiree and my hostess skills would be the envy of a 1950s women's magazine). However up until I graduated university, I simply lacked the patience to cook for myself and therefore knew very little of food preparation, often to my own detriment. Case in point...

In the summer between our first and second year at university, my 2 girlfriends and I got summer jobs together packing trees into boxes at a tree farm (seriously). One day at lunch as one of my friends was eating a pickle she remarked "Oh no! I spilled pickle on my pants" to which I pointed out the offending substance was the "pickle juice", not the actual pickle. Big mistake. A discussion ensued between Ashley, Andrea and I, within full earshot of all our coworkers, and I was surprised to learn that pickles are actually cucumbers that have been "pickled". And without fail, every time I tell this story, some one asks me with their most serious face: "But do you know the truth about grapes and raisins?"