Gastronomo

Oxblood

This cocktail is very refreshing and has the perfect balance of sweet and sour notes.  And because it also has jam, thyme and Lillet Rouge I consider it to be a cousin of my bourbon rouge jammer.  But don’t let this perty thing fool you, a few of these and you’ll be seeing double.

• 2 ounces Hendricks Gin
• 1 ounce Lillet Rouge
• ½ ounce Trader Joe’s maple agave syrup
• ½ ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon raspberry jam
• 3 springs thyme
• 5 ice cubes
• Seltzer water

Muddle thyme in the bottom of shaker.  Then add gin, Lillet rouge, maple agave syrup, lime juice, jam, ice cubes and shake vigorously for a minute (or until your arms are about to fall off). Strain into a coupe glass and top with seltzer water. Little pieces of thyme will inevitably wind up in your drink, if you have issues with this use another level of strainer before pouring into your coupe glass. I personally like to nibble on the thyme because I like the way it freshens my mouth.

banana pudding nilla wafer trifle

My new and improved recipe is simple, easy, quick and essentially fool proof. What’s the final verdict? DERICIOUS! 

banana pudding Nilla wafer trifle recipe

Vietnamese coffee affogati (cà phê sữa đá va ca rem)

Vietnamese coffee “drowning” (affogati) in vanilla ice cream will give anyone a gastronomical orgasm. Take a crack at this and serve it to your guests and they will be drowning in pleasure! 

• 2 tablespoons Cafe du Monde coffee 
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons condensed milk
• Vanilla ice cream (my favorite is Häagen Dazs)

Prepare coffee (I highly recommend using a Vietnamese drip coffee maker which helps retain the strong and bitter flavor) using the 2 cups boiling water.

Stir in the condensed milk. 

Spoon desired amount of ice cream into parfait glasses/bowls and pour coffee on top. You can determine the amount of coffee to add, not too much or the ice cream will melt but just enough so that you can take sips of the coffee. 

homemade herbed maple bacon

• 4 pound slab of pork belly
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon DQ pink curing salt (you must use this otherwise your pork will not have that beautiful pink bacon color we’ve been conditioned to love and associate bacon with)
• 10 sprigs of thyme
• 5 springs of rosemary
• 2 tablespoons of juniper berries
• 2 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 7 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed in a mortar and pestle or with the flat side/bottom of a chef’s knife
• 5 bay leaves, crumbled

Lay thyme and rosemary on top of a cutting board and lightly smash the leaves to release the oils and set inside a large bowl.

In a mortar and pestle, lightly smash juniper berries and add to the bowl. Add kosher and curing salt, black pepper, maple syrup, smashed garlic and crumbled bay leaves. Mix well. 

Rinse pork belly and pat dry with paper towel and set inside the ziplock bag. Rub this mixture all over the pork belly ensuring that you also rub into any crevices and on all sides. Close the bag. Without the rib, the pork belly tends to stretch out and flatten out. Set the ziplock bag on a flat surface (cardboard, plate, paper bag, etc.). Reshape the pork belly so that it’s perky and rectangular in shape. You have to foresee the fact that you will be slicing into this slab so the more rectangular and upright it is as a whole, the easier it will be to make nice long uniform slices. (I learned this the hard way. During my first attempt, I had used much more pork belly and cut them into three pieces and did not pay attention to the position/form that it was in during the curing process so when it was time to cut into it, I was left with a very misshaped form to cut from.

Store this entire setup (bag on flat surface) in the fridge for 7 days. If you can’t handle leaving it alone for 7 days (like me) you can rotate the bag so the juices get redistributed and/or open the bag up and smear the seasoning around. 

Day 7:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Rinse off all the seasonings under cold water and pat completely dry with paper towels.

Set on a rack over a sheet tray (or just directly on a sheet tray if you don’t have a rack) and roast for approximately 1-1/2 hours or until the internal center temperature measures at 150 degrees. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Slice and cook when you’re ready to taste some mind blowing homemade bacon (for me that means right away!).  

Coconut oil pancakes

I got my boyfriend Rob a jar of coconut oil and what does he do with it? He makes a stack of coconut pancakes!  One bite and I was floored, he really did take it to another level. This recipe yields the perfect pancake…fluffy and perfectly fragrant with a hint of coconut. 

You can make 4 large pancakes from the following recipe:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil*
• 1 egg

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add warm milk and coconut oil to dry ingredients and mix well. 

Heat up non-stick pan on medium heat. Pour in desired amount of batter (it all depends on the size of pancakes you like), when bubbles start to form all over (you can lift to ensure that the underside is golden brown) you can flip it. Remove from pan when both sides are golden brown. 

*Rob’s regular recipe calls for butter, if you do not have coconut oil (go get some!) then go ahead and substitute with butter or vegetable oil. 

coconut oil

Coconut oil is the newest addition to my pantry and it is motivating me to step away from my creature of habit dishes and to try new recipes. The flavor and fragrance of coconut is no stranger to Vietnamese fare so I am very excited about all the possibilities of substitutions and additions in my existing recipes and new non-Vietnamese ones as well. It is a great substitute for butter and there are many write-ups on the benefits and uses of coconut oil so I will leave that for you to do on your own. The one article that I will recommend is Melissa Clark’s piece in the NY Times last year. 

Trader Joe’s has the best price point at $5.99 per jar. Whole Foods carries a good variety of brands however the prices tend to be on the higher end. 

My uncle Anthony tells me that he has used it a facial moisturizer and I joked to him that if I did that I’d probably end up trying to lick my own face. I am not so sure about greasing my entire face up with it but perhaps just as eye cream. Again, the articles you can find are endless.