Delicious experiment

Even though I like to spend a lot of time going around the Denver area eating out, cooking is still the most rewarding form of eating :)  Since I have an obsession with pho, I took it upon myself to create my latest nom: Pho Chicken (not to be confused with chicken pho cause that stuff is just wrong).

I realized I had all the major flavors that go into pho in my house...things were about to go bad and the simple purchase of some chicken breasts would allow me to clean out my entire pantry/fridge.  First, I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and brushed both sides with sriracha. In hindsight, I probably should have waited on the sriracha because if you don't you have to cook the chicken very slowly so that the sriracha won't burn. I advise just searing the chicken with the s/p and leaving the sriracha for later....although mine turned out really well and was the right amount of spice so idk...

Heat up some butter/oil in a pan with garlic and let sweat. sear the chicken in the pan- u have to cook the chicken almost all the way for this particular recipe to work. also throw some lime juice and a couple leaves of basil to infuse into the meat.

set the chicken aside in a plate and cover it to keep it warm/cooking internally. you will have some wonderful basil/lime and chicken flavor in your pan. cook some sprouts and jalepeno slices (staple toppings in pho) in this flavor. add a cup of chicken stock and make some instant couscous in the pan. you can use whatever flavor you like but I used chicken since i was making chicken. the lime, basil, jalepenos and chicken stock already give plain couscous a nice flavor. add a few more sprigs of basil to the boiling broth before pouring in the couscous to really bring out the flavors.  maybe another shot of sriracha?

once you pour in the couscous and stir, place the chicken back into the pan and put the lid on. while the couscous is cooking, the chicken can continue to steam through.  now, couscous says 5-7 minutes off the heat but from my experience tonight you can simply leave the pan on low if you need to continue cooking the chicken. add a little more lime juice too while this is happening for great flavor. i used lime slices to make it pretty but the rinds kind of made the dish bitter. i liked it. but i'm weird. go with lime juice. JUST A LITTLE. sheesh. that stuff goes a long way.

when you're done you will be able to taste all the flavors of the pho toppings....except the meat. i'm sure you can make this with rare steak though.  if you want the dish to taste even more like pho- you can sautee the common spices that are used to make the broth in the chicken drippings left in the pan after you sear it. you will have the spicy sriracha blending in with the sweet basil and tart lime. you can also add a LIGHT drizzle of hoisin when you're done for the full effect.  honey could be good too. who knows.  you could even make a honey/lime vinaigrette with honey, lime and extra virgin olive oil. THEN add it as a sauce at the end (honey burns).  NOM AWAY!

Best BBQ in the West...or in the U.S. for that matter.

i'm only here for two weeks and I already have a hankering for some southern foods. so i guess BBQ isn't just a southern thing, but sweet yummy BBQ is TOTALLY southern. out west it's more spicy/chili powder oriented and in the eastern part of NC it's that nasty vinegar crap. luckily, while searching for restaurants to try on google maps, i found a link to famous dave's BBQ on 36th avenue. now, i know foodies usually have beef (no pun intended) ((but really, that's hilarious)) with chain restaurants*. but i went and it was AMAZING. fall-off-the-freaking-bones ribs with tons of sauce (plus extra sauces on your table in ALL kinds of flavors. i also had a GIGANTIC margarita. i only ordered a regular size but this thing was HUGE.  in addition to the amazing meat, the sides were also out of this world. i chose the selection, "ribs-n-meat" which is four ribs with your choice of one other meat: chopped pork BBQ, roast or BBQ chicken, catfish, hot wings or beef brisket. i was GOING to get the catfish which i'm SURE is phenomenal, but instead i went with the wings because i'm kinda a hot wings whore. surprisingly enough, the hot wings were NOT the best i've ever had. sure, they were good...but they had more flavor than kick...and not the kind of flavor you expected. sort of like sriracha, which i LOVE and am obsessed with...but just didn't do it for me. however, the sides were incredible. they had about ten to choose from but i chose collard greens and coleslaw. i NEVER pick coleslaw and i'm sure glad i did. they make their with horseradish and dill. it was so cold and creamy. just perfect against the BBQ. but those collard greens...y'all i am from the south and my grandmother knows how to make some collard greens. but these were almost as good. they were made with meat (obviously) and i wanted more when i was finished even though i was stuffed.

i know good food critics usually don't love EVERY place they go...but denver has offered up nothing but wonderful noms thus far.

peace & food,

Marnie

*For the record, I also hate chains on the whole. However, some of them (Like Famous D's and Red Lobster-yes! I said Red Lobster**!) are quite good.

**Red Lobster gets kuddos for their broiling technique and quality of their seafood. USUALLY, no matter which one you visit, the food tastes and is always cooked the same. It has also never been fishy a single time I have tried it-which is why it is my favorite chain.

Strings

Strings is consistently ranked one of the top restaurants in Denver so last night I just had to go. They have patio seating, which I took. They have happy hour specials from 4-7 on the weekdays which includes $4 wines and appetizers. Their specials yesterday were lobster ravioli and their beef fillet. Prices are high, but low compared to other places I have been for the same kind of food/atmosphere. The most expensive thing was the fillet for $35. They have an fairly extensive wine selection, of which I chose a 2006 St. Jean Cab from California. It was so good I didn't end up saving much for my meal :)  I had the baby roasted artichokes for an app ($9) and they were literally one of the best things I have ever tasted. They are roasted with lemon juice and bread crumbs and are served with a garlic aoli. I also had the house made penne chicken bugutta, which was chicken and penne in a zesty tomato sauce with "foraged" mushrooms. Overall quite nice, but not quite as good as the artichokes. I could have been more adventurous and tried the duck, the lamb or the cow's liver....but I don't like eating cute animals (even though they're tasty!) nor do I enjoy liver (Note to Self: I haven't tried it in a while).

That's pretty much it, great food and great service  with a great ambiance at a fairly reasonable price for the quality of the food. Everyone should try Strings.

Things you should keep in the kitchen

I know grocery shopping costs a ton, but there are a few items that if you always keep in stock, you can cook pretty much anything. Now, don't feel like I'm telling you to go buy all these things at once...it takes time to build up the pantry. Anyways, here it goes.

Meat Products:
-if it's just you or a huge family, always keep at least one meat product in the house at all times. If you're living alone (like me) you can buy chicken breasts in six packs and keep them in the freezer. Maybe even splurge for something a little pricier now and again. If you have a huge family (shout out to Jenny and Rachel Ray) you can always buy chicken thighs and legs in those bags. They are CHEAP. Now, I'm a big fan of not putting anything gross in your body (i.e. i like natural, organic and non-hormone injected meats) so if you buy these bags of cheap chicken, keep in mind that they're probably not all-naturally fed (therefore cheap).
-IF YOU'RE A VEGETARIAN you should always keep mushrooms in the house. Don't like mushrooms? Sucks to be you. You can't really reduce beans in a pan and get the same effect for a sauce like you do with mushrooms. However, you can get some oil/brown bits in a pan after searing tofou, tempeh or seitan. No matter what meat or meat substitute, you can ALWAYS whip up a great meal with the other items you should ALWAYS keep in your pantry.
Spices:
- salt and pepper are obvious (sea salt and fresh cracked); but what else do you need to make a fabulous meal? The answer? Any and EVERYthing. Don't be afraid of spice. Experiment often. I would suggested always keeping some cayenne on hand. It can add a little or a lot of spice to ANYTHING. You can even put it on fruit. I, for example, sprinkled some over peaches cooked with chicken. Made a spicy and heavenly meal.
-red pepper flake. i know i just said cayeene but this is a different kind of heat.
-Cumin. It's smoky. Try it. It is in every dry rub known to mankind.
-garlic. fresh or cut up in the jar. the garlic powder is lame unless used in a dry rub or maybe in hamburger or meatloaf.
-Cinnamon. Now, I've heard if you're Asian you might not like this one, but the rest of you have no excuse. It doesn't JUST have to go in sweet things. I personally love me some butternut or acorn squash baked in the oven with some cinnamon.
-old bay. yuuuuuummmmmm goes on all things seafood. marinade your cocktail shrimp in a little sprite, lemon and lime juices and old bay before eating. takes the fishy bite out of them.

Others:
-for fruits and veggies, always keep a variety on hand. they're good to snack on or as a whole meal to be on the healthy side. DON'T BE AFRAID TO COOK FRUIT. it can be very delicious. roasted plums are quite good and pears poached in white wine are also fabulous. having a burger? grill some pineapple. you can thank me later.
-always keep some cheese in the house. you can crumble it over fruit for an appetizer or dessert.
-always keep some kind of green. you can either make a salad or cooked it up for a quick supper or side-dish. some of my favorites are mustard greens, kale and collards. Simply sautee with some salt, butter and red pepper flake: salty, spicy and good for you too.
-always keep some chicken/beef/veggie stock on hand to add to dishes or help you make sauces out of pan drippings. i prefer organic. or you can make it yourself. just throw the meat and its bones in a stock pot with some water and aromatics (big word! like carrots, celery, herbs etc).
-flour, bread crumbs and eggs. you can always dip a meat in flour, then egg then bread crumbs to make it crispy and delicious. flour is always used to  make roux (ALONG WITH BUTTER! YOU NEED BUTTER! GET OVER IT!) and eggs can be scrambled together with anything to make a meal: tomatoes, peppers, cheese, hot sauce, artichokes, etc...

Some utensils:
You can make almost anything with just one fry pan, one medium sized sauce pan and a long wooden spoon. The spoon is heat resistant. The fry pan can be used for almost anything and the medium-sized sauce pan isn't just for sauces- it's for single servings of pasta, tea, anything where you need boiling water and more.  All you need.  Unless you like pancakes and omlettes; then you may need a spatula.

Well, I think that was it for the starter kit. Good luck cookin'!

settling in, SPROUTS and how to make any meal gourmet in less than 30 minutes

So I finally got the last of my things out of my car and into my apartment. Yay! In the meantime, I've already been back to Pho 75 again and this time I tried their summer rolls against the ones I've had previously at Lime and Basil. In Chapel Hill the summer rolls are wrapped in rice paper with vermicelli noodles, shrimp, a piece of pork, basil and lettuce. The dipping sauce is half hoisin and half peanut butter.  It's a pretty sweet sauce.  I have always loved it, but after having summer rolls at Pho 75 Lime and Basil has fallen short once again. While the rolls themselves are pretty standard, and even a little bit lacking when it comes to the basil, the dipping sauce is amazing. It is brown instead of dark and is mostly made up of the peanut half of the equation. Only a small amount of hoisin is used and instead of being sweet this sauce is spicy. The point of all this is that I will be back. With an appetite.

The next brilliant food-related thing I have discovered here in Aurora is SPROUTS.  Sprouts is a fresh market/grocery store that has a LOT of organic and all natural foods. They also have a HUGE wall and a couple of aisles dedicated to vitamins. I searched for like, ten minutes and still didn't pick one.  Another thing I like about this place is that some of the produce (depending on what it is) is always open for you to have a taste (like the berries or cherries). Now, I don't know if this was SUPPOSED to happen. But lots of shoppers and little kids were helping themselves. I took a cherry. It rocked. I bought. Good marketing strategy. Anyways, Sprouts definitely has a better selection of foods than anywhere in North Carolina. I was even able to find turkey fillets without asking the butcher to cut them special. There were some basic things I was missing...like, where the heck was the soy sauce? It sure wasn't near the sriracha or the asian food aisle. weird. anyways, if you have one, go to sprouts.

Lastly, when you think you have zero time to cook and you're tired (I'm gonna kinda Rachel Ray this) there is always a simple solution that will have you feeling like you just consumed a gourmet meal. You'll be proud of yourself too :)  Just always keep at least one single serving of meat in your house. Buy chicken breasts in packages of six, buy beef tips and don't use the whole package at once....whatever you like to eat. This tip can also work with seafood too...cooking is just slightly different.  Anyways, season whatever you're making and sear it off in a pan to get the juices flowing. after you brown whatever it is, take it out and put some foil over it to keep it warm. IT'S NOT FINISHED COOKING YET.  so anyway, you have this stuff in your pan. you're looking at it like it's some vile toxin that must be removed BUT NOT DOWN THE SINK MY LORD IT WILL CLOG IT!  But this grease is your friend...not literally, it will sitll make you fat.  Just make a ROUX (OMG BIG WORD) and WHISK (or use a fork to whisk) that roux into the grease on medium low heat. Now listen up kids- a roux is just flour and butter mashed together with a fork. it thickens things up. you can also do this with a SLURRY (cornstarch in water). Either way just make sure that you don't stop stirring so that the rue or slurry doesn't just cook in one spot and make a clump. It is also important for the rue that you make sure the flour all gets cooked- you don't want something to taste like raw flour. Add a little stock of whatever meat you're using...keep the heat dow so it doesn't clump...

PSSST!  you just made gravy.  you did. and now you can put whatever you made back into the gravy, slap on a lid and cook. or, pour it over whatever you made after it's cooked. whip up a box of insta couscous ....maybe throw a little of your own groceries into it (olives, tomatoes, fruit, fruit juice(i like pineapple and mango couscous)). VIOLA!  you have made dinner and i bet it took you......15 minutes? It took me less. granted i was on the phone a burnt my turkey fillet and couldn't actually make the gravy. but whatever.  oh yeah...AND IF YOU'RE A VEGETARIAN you can always cooked down mushrooms and make this work....maybe even add a little veggie stock or wine and thicken the whole thing.  and on the subject of seafood.....if you're low on time i don't know why you'd be cooking seafood but if you're making clams or shrimp or mussels....maybe not fish.... you can still do this. just don't over-cook whatever you're making, seafood only takes like, three or four minutes. add a can of clam juice to the pan when the food is almost done and thicken with cornstarch...flour might be weird here. this will make a creamy seafood sauce to poor over something. you can also add some kind of cheese to make it more of a clam alfredo (although, dairy products with seafood is like, blasphemy to some people).  i think that was all....next I will post a list of things you should always keep stocked in your kitchen so that you can ALWAYS make a  quick meal. ENJOY!

My love affair with Pho...

I did not actually taste my favorite food in the entire world until about two years ago. I spent four years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and during the end of my sophomore year I was introduced to a little Vietnamese restaurant on Franklin Street named Lime and Basil. I think the first three times I went to Lime and Basil (which is the cutest little place with lime green walls) I got things like the curry or lemongrass chicken. Those dishes were all well and good and I was afraid to try the mysterious bowls of Pho which are pronounced "fuh" which just threw me off and upset me more because, personally, FOH sounds really cool. On top of that my Chinese friend ordered the pho with everything, which includes tendon, meatballs (which are NOT meatballs) tripe (stomach lining of the cow) and brisket in addition to the shank flank and eyeround which, to me, were normal cuts of meat. I did finally try her broth which led me to order my first bowl of pho. I was pleasantly surprised by the broth and how it mingled with the noodles. I also loved the eyeround steak. I did not, however, enjoy the shank and flank, and thought they kind of tasted like the meat you get in frozen dinners.

Therefore, my perfect bowl of pho is simply with eyeround and this is how they make it:
The broth is made overnight from oxtails and beef bones. Lots of spices, including: ginger, charred onion, cardamom, corriander, cloves, cinnamon sticks and, most important, star anise. It has kind of a licorice scent and some people say it has a licorice flavor...but it's not sweet at all, so I don't know about that. Rice noodles are put into a bowl and very thinly sliced pieces of raw eyeround are assembled on top. The boiling broth is then poured over the noodles to cook the meat in the bowl and it is topped off with sliced onions and cilantro.  The way you eat pho is also very important:

Every bowl comes with a plate of toppings, which typically includes bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos and a lime wedge. Any or all of these things can be added to the soup to change and add to the flavor. The table is also equipped with a bottle of sriracha and hoisin sauce (if the restaurant doesn't have these, don't even bother going). What I like to do (which isn't saying much because I don't even use the toppings anymore) is put a line of hoisin and a line of sriracha next to each other in a separate little dish to dip my meat in. My friend, on the other hand, enjoys putting the sauces directly into the bowl (I personally think this messes up the original taste of the broth). If you do like the toppings, I recommend adding them while the broth is hot to allow the basil leaves to wilt, the heat of the jalapenos to disperse and the sprouts to cook.

In my experience, I always thought the darker the broth, the better the pho that day. However, after having a bowl at Pho 75 in Aurora, CO today, I can see that a lighter broth can still be made just as flavorful as a dark one.

Pho 75, while located in a strip mall next to an adult store, has AMAZING and authentic pho at a cheap price. While this is the first place I have tried in the Denver area, it has already lived up to my previous pho experience in Chapel Hill. Although the original taste of Lime and Basil cannot be championed, I would say that this pho may technically be better. The bowls at Pho 75 come in small medium and large and you can order extra noodles or meat. They come out hot and when you lean over the bowls you get a pho facial that smells a little bit like Christmas. Initially, you think "yuck. this is gonna taste sweet".  Luckily, the broth is not sweet, but really savory. One review on google maps said that the broth tasted "complex" and I would agree. Each bite tastes a little different from the last, and the many different flavors mingle together to create a great tasting pho. The meat is of a very high quality and the basil is extremely fresh.

Well, that's enough of me rambling about Pho. If ya'll have any comments about pho where you live or how you make it just let me know! Happy Pho hunting!

nomnomnom,
Marnie

How to Make Sweet Tea

Ok, a lot of people think it's gross if they didn't grow up in the South- but I promise you with the right amount of ice and not TOO much sugar...sweet tea is entirely refreshing.

The pot: it's not a sauce pan....it's not a stock/pasta pot....it's that in-between pot that you may use for a single serving of pasta or to heat up chef boyardee because you want to feel like that's cooking. Call it a medium sized sauce pan.  Anyways, fill it 3/4 of the way full with COLD water.  That's important. I KNOW you're just going to boil it...but use cold water. If you live in the city....please use the water you would drink...not the water from the sink just because you're going to boil it and you think that's ok.  It's not. 

Throw in 8 tea bags (I prefer lipton). Don't forget to pull the staples off the strings...you don't want those to wind up in your throat.  Turn the eye on high. Now you kinda have to stand there and wait, this isn't a "i'll go watch TV for a minute" thing. Watch the bubbles as the tea starts to boil. Right as it is about to boil over, turn the heat OFF. If you do this with finesse, the bubbles will recede and not spill all down the pot. Let the tea stand or "steep" for two minutes. If you are using a plastic pitcher (this recipe is for a gallon pitcher BTW) you will need to use the extra room in the sauce pan/tea pot to fill it up with cold water. The cooled tea can then be poured into the pitcher over the one cup of sugar you have already added (dixie crystals is best!)

Now you're looking at me like I'm crazy. The tea doesn't fill the pitcher up.  Just take a deep breath, grab a long-handled wooden spoon, stir until the sugar is dissolved and then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with COLD water. If it's too watered down for you...add some more sugar.

Pour over a tall glass of ice and enjoy! You southern belle/dude you ;-)

Into to me (because 500 characters or less is lame)

So, my name is Marnie Bryson and I just moved to Denver Colorado from a small town in Western North Carolina. I graduated with a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and got a job here at The Children's Hospital doing autism research :)  I love food and am addicted to watching the food network (Emeril and Ina are my faves). I also love cooking anything savory...I'm just getting into baking and sweets :) My favorite food in the whole world is Pho, even though I've only had it at two places thus far. I really love all foods Asian and believe you will never starve if you have a rice cooker. I have also lived in the south my whole life so i have a love for all things southern (like sweet tea!). Well, I don't like grits or things that are super fried...but other than that. Please let me know what you think as I share my very amateur tips and criticisms of the many feeding troughs around Denver.